THE FAVORED ONE

When we were young, my mother used to buy milk for only one of my elder brothers. That particular brother had received much attention from her whom she gave nutritious food and the most coveted sterilized milk. I was jealous of my brother for the attention he received from my mother. I thought she loved her more than me. I could not understand the reason why he had become my mother's favorite; after all, I am the youngest. Until later, as we grew older, I realized my elder brother had been too sickly at that time. He needed much attention from my mother to survive. And so he received a weekly ration of sterilized milk, while us, the strong ones, satisfy ourselves in looking at him while he drunk his milk bottoms up.    

In the Gospel (Jn 21:20-25), Peter seemed to be jealous of John, the youngest and beloved apostle of Jesus. Aside from John's closeness with Jesus, he seemed to receive another favor from Jesus: "What if I want him to remain until I come?" The other apostles understood this that John will not die. And truly John received a different end from the rest of the apostles. He alone, among the twelve, was not martyred. He died in his old age (93-94 years old) in Ephesus. Peter may have been left dumbfounded by Jesus statement about John. After all, he is the appointed leader, who had professed his love for Jesus. But God has a different plan for him.    

We may not understand fully the plan of God for us. Human as we are, we long to know the totality of anything to which we commit ourselves. But it is different in matters of faith that demand trust in God. Though we may not fully comprehend His will, we accept it; we believe in it, knowing that God will not push us to a clip of failures; ensured that He is laying things for the best.

God has different plans for every one of us. Though we are geared towards one goal (heaven), we may find ourselves bearing different crosses, treading different paths, growing in different paces. We are not to waste our energy in looking at what others have. We might miss whatever we have received from God. It is futile to look on others’ life and compare ours with theirs and afterward complain to the Lord for being unfair: Why is it that his cross is lighter than mine? Why did he get the best part, when I have given all my best for you? The Lord gives whatever is best for us. He plays no particular favorites in life. After all, we are all His favored ones.  

JOHN: GOD IS GRACIOUS

When the angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah and announced the good news that his wife will bear a son, Zechariah doubted God’s plan, and he was made mute. Should uncertainties and skepticism ensued in our faith in God, we are better off mute. Muteness silences us. And silence is the language of God. In silence, God communicates his will and desire for us. The silence of the baby in the womb of Elizabeth made Zechariah contemplate upon the fulfillment of God’s promise to him. The silence of those nine months prepared Zechariah to the hope that his son would usher in not just to him but to all humanity. After nine months of silence, surely Zechariah had so much to say, yet foremost of these is the great thing the Lord has done to him: the fulfillment of a promised Savior.

As no word or speech can contain it, the joy of being a new father; of a promise fulfilled, found its way through a song. Through his canticle (Benedictus), Zechariah blesses the Lord; He sang for the good things he had received from the Lord. Through the birth of his son, John the Baptist, the doubts in the heart of Zechariah were dispelled. God’s fulfilled promise drove out the fears and uncertainties from Zechariah doubting heart. Not only Israel, but also, Zechariah was set free from the slavery of unbelief, and was cast out of the darkness of sin. With faith in God, he was able to say good things about the Lord (for a faithful heart is a grateful heart). What else can we say (or sing) about God if not His goodness and kindness towards us.

Zechariah named the grace he had received from the Lord, John(יוֹחָנָן: Yochanan), meaning the Lord is gracious. Naming his grace was not even of Zechariah’s doing. He was able to sing his grateful heart out because he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Indeed, in the end, all is God’s grace for truly God is gracious.

Should we have nothing but doubts and disbelief, be mute, be silent. In silence, contemplate the goodness of God unfolding before our eyes. In the end, like Zechariah, may we sing for the good the Lord has done to us. Like the psalmist may we forever sing the goodness of the Lord.

STANDING ON THE RIGHT PLACE

God gives us different responsibilities that rightly correspond to our capacities. He does not give us a burden that we cannot handle (1 Cor 10:13). He has a tailored fit plan for each of us.   There are no generic formulas only special treatments. Every person is special, unique, unremittable, for God has a unique plan for each of us; married teacher, consecrated lay, a nurse who later became a nun, a chemist who found God in the chemicals he mixed, and billion other unique stories. Though many, all these are united to His overall plan of salvation for man. In these responsibilities God entrusts to us, He demands fidelity and commitment. Christ speaks of fidelity in commitments we make; fidelity in marriage (Mt 19:3-12); fidelity in God who cares for us (Ezekiel 16:59-63).

In all that we do, we ought to plant our feet and stand firm, but be sure you are standing in the right place (A. Lincoln). Thus, before committing oneself to a relationship or a responsibility, think about it a hundred times. Think, assess if you can accept and fulfill its demands, feel whether it is for you.  

Why do we betray God or the persons to whom we have committed ourselves? Why would a spouse look for another partner? Why would a priest leave the active ministry? Why would parents give up on their children? Sometimes, we fail to dedicate our whole self on the things we do, on the life we live, because in the first place it is not for us. We embrace something that is not meant for us, something God never intended for us. You entered medical school because it is what your parents wanted, but your heart beats for architecture. You never wanted to have a tattoo, but since everyone in your circle has, better have one. You keep on insisting to run the family business, but you never had any inclination in accounting. You have always been good at dancing but you keep on singing just so you can compete with your siblings. As we embrace things which are not meant for us, we experience difficulty, sadness, dissatisfaction. We may achievements from time to time, but there is a part of us that is unsatisfied. And we try to fill that part with something else; with incongruous things in the life we have embraced. Without us knowing we lose track of the life we have embraced, and of the life, we ought to embrace. We become unfaithful. We break our vows. All these because, in the first instance we fail to discern what is meant for us, what is God’s plan for us.     

When we realize what life God is calling us into, we experience joy, though it may demand sacrifices. The responsibilities in our vocations that God gives become more than chores to be fulfilled but means towards perfection, holiness, a joy in the Lord. Though how burdensome other people may see our responsibilities, there is an inner force that motivates us to continue. There is a meaningful purpose that inspires us.  

Should you grow weary in bearing the responsibilities in your life, pray that you may remain faithful! Beg the good Lord to give you strength to carry on, to remain enthusiastic (be full of God).

St. Hyacinth is a Polish Dominican priest. In the midst of burning church, Hyacinth was able to carry the Blessed Sacrament on one arm and a heavy alabaster image of Our Lady. Hesitant to carry the heavy image, as he admitted that he could not carry it by himself, he heard a voice saying “My Son will lighten the burden.” And so, he was able to carry the heavy image and brought safely out of the burning church. The life of St. Hyacinth teaches us that there is no burden too heavy for us to carry if and only we admit our weakness and humble enough to ask for help. As God’s entrusts us with various responsibilities, He never meant we shall go solo. He establishes a Church, a community, a family who would strength each other as they live the life God has given to them. We can do things joyfully with the help of others, especially of God. Our community helps us to lighten each other’s responsibilities.  

May we remain faithful and committed in the life God has given to us. May we plant our feet and stand firm on the right place God appointed to us.

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.” 

GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOU

10 Thus says the LORD: Only after seventy years have elapsed for Babylon will I visit you and fulfill for you my promise to bring you back to this place.

11 For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope.

12 When you call me, when you go to pray to me, I will listen to you.

13 When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart,

14 you will find me with you, says the LORD, and I will change your lot; I will gather you together from all the nations and all the places to which I have banished you, says the LORD, and bring you back to the place from which I have exiled you.

- Jeremiah 29:10-14

Once there was a woman named Teresa whose suitor Evan went to another country to work. Before he left, Evan promised Teresa that he would write her a letter every day. That was before the age of emails. And indeed, Evan was true to his promise. Every day, the postman would come to Teresa’s house to bring Evan’s letter. Finally, after one year of relentless letter writing, they were boyfriend and girlfriend to one another. Teresa and the postman.

There are instances in our life when we fall in love with the the means than with the end, when we fall in love with the wrapper than with gift, with the bridge than with the destiny. Same is true with our journey of faith. But there is a difference. We have a faithful God. Whatever he had said and promised he will do it. Whatever he says becomes. In the scripture, God expressed his enormous love for us. He had created all the wonders of this world for us to experience his great love for us. However, we had fallen in love with the means He had employed. We fell in love with the riches of the created realities, instead of falling in love with the Creator. We fell out of love from God, as we fall in love to these worldly allurements. Such is our fall. But despite this God remains to be faithful in his love for us.

Immediately after our fall, God expressed His desire to save us, to restore the grace in us. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel (Gen 3:15). Throughout the history of our salvation, we experienced God’s faithfulness to this promise of salvation, and our disobedience to him. It is an interplay of Yes and No. God says Yes to our salvation. God said YES to Abraham, to Moses and to Jacob, but they did otherwise. Isn’t it funny to realize that the story of the Israelites in the Old Testament is our same story today? God says YES to us. We say No to his Will, and Yes to ourselves. We made our own plans. We charter our own destiny. We write our own stories. We had lived our own lives for ourselves. But indeed, many are the plans in our hearts, but it is the decision of the LORD that endures (Proverbs 19:21). Until we learn to say NO to our selves, NO to our own plans, No to our own comforts, NO to the certainties and securities of this world, it is only then we can say YES to His love. YES to His will. YES to His plan for us. It is only then that we can be faithful in Him as He is faithful to His promise to us.  It is by our constant self denial that we can be faithful to God. As a holy man once said: It is by being faithful to our NO that we can be faithful to our YES.

Today, more than ever, we face a crisis in our Church and in the Society. We face the graft and corruption in our government. We experience the prevalent moral degradation in every nooks and corners of our communities. We have become indifferent to the sufferings of the other. We have thought of ourselves more than the others. We have realize our own plans more than that of God’s. The crisis in our Church and in the Society is a crisis of faith. Thus, we have to re-evaluate and examine our Faith in God and the amount of trust we give to the things we created.

We fall in love to the created realities, to the means God provided to us that supposed to lead us to Him, that would help us to understand ourselves. We have more faith in the created realities more than in the Creator. We have trust in the creation of our hands more than in the hands of the One who created all, the hands of God.

In our desire to attain the fullness of our lives, time and again we find ourselves busy realizing our own idea and designs, laying out own blueprints of our lives. We trust and relay to our own abilities and views. And time and again we are saddened, frustrated and unsatisfied.

But how does one measure the fullness of life? It is not by the number of houses we have, amount of riches accumulated, awards received, positions held. Our life is more than these things. We are worth more than these. Only in God we can realize our real worth. Only by allowing God to work in our lives, we can achieved total satisfaction. At the end of our lives, God will not ask us how much house, cars, money in the bank we have. God will ask us how we have obeyed his will? How much we have accepted, realized and had been faithful in His plan for us?  How much we have loved Him? How much we have loved?   

Upon returning from his work overseas, Evan came to know about the relationship of Teresa with the postman. He sought Teresa’s attention and love, again. And after some times, they get married, Teresa and Evan.

In the end, despite our disobedience and falling out of love from God, His plan for us will be realized: salvation attained, satisfaction achieved. For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29). His love never fails, His love for us endures forever (Ps 136:1-2).