TRANSFORMED BY THE LORD

I have a brother who lives a carefree life. Occasionally, he appears in troubles and fights in our barangay. In his problems, he will call my parents at home and beg for help. My father will immediately go to the barangay hall to settle the problems my brother initiated. One of our neighbors once commented, "Why don't you leave him alone and let him solve his own problems?" My father replied, "How can I forsake him, he is my son."  To this day, my brother still engages in occasional fights, and my father never tires in helping my brother. Parents will always be faithful to their children; faithful in guiding them to live a good life, however difficult it may be. I pray for that day when my brother would realize how much our father loves him, and when he ceases to give him some headaches in life.

God knows us: our unfaithfulness and fragility, and He never stops in extending His loving hands to redeem us. God knows Peter; he is impulsive, weak, and fearful. More than Peter reaming in Jesus, it is the Lord who had always made Himself present in the life of Peter. Whether on the shore of the sea of Tiberias or on his way out of Rome, the Lord has always been there for Peter, to redeem him from his blunders, to remind him of his identity as an apostle and shepherd, to reiterate to him who should he rely on, from whom his strength lies (God).

Before a burning charcoal, Peter denied Jesus three times. Before a burning charcoal, Peter was given the opportunity to profess his love for Jesus three times. From a supper to a breakfast, Jesus revealed His true identity to Peter. From a night of fruitless fishing, Peter was led to a new dawn of shepherding. Peter was strengthened by the faithfulness of God, and opportunities to redeem himself, in his life. He was transformed from one who rejected Jesus, to one who confessed love to Jesus; from a fisherman to a shepherd who was ready to die for his flock. Indeed, God provides means to redeem us, as He did for Peter. And Peter was never the same again; from a fisherman to a shepherd. This is God's expression of His desire for us not to slide backward in our journey towards Him, nor to be stuck in our sinful and murky present. He wants us to move forward; onward to the fulfillment of His plans in our life.   

God is faithful. He will never tire from redeeming us every time we succumb to sin or every time we turn our back from Him. He will approach us and put direction to our life. And we cannot but praise the Lord for He has rescued us.

The faithfulness of God bears fruit in our acceptance of the mission He bestows upon us. The love of God and love for God moves us to imitate Him, to be His missionaries and to love like Him. As God loves us, we learn to love him and do His will in our life, though this may entail sufferings, difficulties, and ultimately death. It may not be actual death, but dying in our selfishness and sins mark our act of loving and following Jesus. Wounds of suffering and death are marks of Christian discipleship. And cheerfully we bear these wounds, as the Lamb of God, though wounded and scarred by sin of man, is gloriously enthroned and praised in heaven (Rev 5:11-14).

The Lord asked Peter: Do you love me? Peter's affirmative response was followed by an invitation from Jesus: Follow me. It was short of asking: Are you ready to die with me? Mistreatment, after all, is part of our Christian mission. The wounds and suffering are permanent marks of our mission to preach God.

As Peter was transformed to a shepherd, he assumed a mission: to tend and feed God's flock. It is a difficult task far different from his profession as a fisherman. He would be persecuted on the account of preaching about the Risen One. Peter would be brought to places he never wanted. Weak as he is, he would be tempted to surrender and deny Jesus once again. But God would always redeem him, for Peter was willing to be saved. He knows to whom shall he go when he fails. God strengthens Peter throughout his mission. And in a like manner, God is always with us, especially in moments of failure, when our efforts bear no catch.

With joy, we suffer for the sake of Christ in the name of obedience to God. Like the apostles, we too can rejoice that we had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of God (Acts 5:27-32, 40B-41). We are blessed, not because of our own strength, but because of God who is present in our midst accompanying us. Should we ever have a miraculous catch, it is not because of our own skills, but through Jesus who instructs us, who guides us always. By God's power and might, our works and efforts can bear fruit. It is not the overnight efforts of the apostles that gave them a bountiful catch, but the words and instructions of Christ heeded by the apostles. "Cast into them" He said, as if to say "Try one more time but now with Me, with My guidance." And they had a miraculous catch. And they recognized the Lord. They recognized the cause of their joy in their lives: It is the Lord.

STAY WITH JESUS

Have you lost someone or something? We look or long for the things and persons we have lost in our life. Normally, we look for the lost things or person in the last place where we had them. We keep on going back to places we had frequented with a departed loved one so that we may be reminded of their presence.

In the gospel, after losing Jesus, two disciples were walking away from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They long for Christ, but they did not dare to remain in Jerusalem to look and long for Christ in the place where they probably met Him. Perhaps out of fear of suffering the same fate as their Master, they left. Though they long to understand what had happen to Jesus, their fear prevented them from doing so. Jesus was suddenly in their midst; in the midst of their confusions, fears, and faltering faith. He accompanied them in the search for understanding. When darkness was about to envelop them, they invited Jesus: stay with us Lord. He accompanied them through familiar events; through their “Jesus experience”: the breaking of bread. There they recognized Jesus and understood everything. Their heart and faith were enflamed and burning, so much so that they returned to Jerusalem and proclaimed their encounter with the Risen Lord. 

In our confusions and fear, God takes the initiative to strengthen us that we may overcome our fears. When our faith falters, and the light of our lamps is fading, the Lord enters the dark scene. But like the two disciples, do we have the same enthusiasm to invite the Lord (stay with us Lord) so that we may understand fully; that we may experience and recognize Him more? More than us inviting Jesus to stay with us, do we dare to stay with Lord and not walk away from Him and from our faith in Him; to courageously live our faith even in places that may endanger our life? Or do we run away? We can be strengthened by Christ if we desire so. We can be strengthened by Christ through the community he founded, the Church. We can always find the comforting presence of Christ through our shared experiences of God. Like coals gathered together, our Christian faith can remain burning by the warmness we can share with one another especially to those who had grown cold in their faith.

When our faith grows colder and we lose our trust in God, we are invited to remain in Jesus, to remain in His Church and to beg the good Lord to stay with us. And God will be our strength and source of light. His Church will keep us warm. Concretely, He gave us the Eucharist to nourish us with His words, and his very body and blood to sustain us in colder and darker days of our faith.

Stay with Jesus! 

UNDIVIDED ATTENTION

How much of our food do we actually absorb? In average, our bodies absorb only 40-60 percent of the nutrients of the food we take. There is a couple of factors behind this, such as how well you chew your food, the way the food is prepared (whether cooked or uncooked), the health of our organs, active lifestyle, etc. But one surprising factor of effective assimilation of nutrients into our bodies is food combining. Proper food combining renders our digestive system more effective. Poor food combining, however, causes gas (kabag), inflammation, upset stomach, etc. (di natunawan). A starchy food (like bread) should not be combined with proteins in the same meal. They require different enzymes for digestion. Starchy food needs alkaline while the stomach is predominantly acidic. Thus with alkaline and acid, the stomach is neutralized and may find it difficult to digest starch and protein all at the same time. One good example is the melon. You cannot mix melon with other food lest you risk having a stomach ache. It is recommended to eat one type of food at a time that may require the same digestive enzymes. Thus our digestive system can focus on one food at a time.             

In the Gospel (Jn 6:44-51), Jesus presents Himself as the Bread of Life. We often receive Him in the mass through His words proclaimed, and in the Eucharist, we receive during communion. But have we fully absorbed this Bread of Life? It promises endless joy and eternal life. Have we fully assimilating His teaching and commandments in our life? No! After taking the Lord in our life, we still long for other things that may provide us joy. We keep sinning and transgressing God. We still seek immortality through other stuff. We fail to absorb the bread of life and the values it offers us because we have combined it with other things. We have not really understood the rituals we perform; the sacraments we receive. Thus, their efficacies seem to be not complete. We may be reading the scriptures but not understand it fully. Thus, we are not moved by it to commit ourselves to it. We may not be fully nourished by it for we do not fully understand it. We lose focus on receiving the Lord in our lives, and consequently, we have not fully received Him in our life. If only we understand the scriptures and appreciate the graces we receive from the Lord, we can cry out, together with all the earth, to God with joy.

In the Acts of the Apostles (8:26-40), a eunuch desired to understand the Word of God. And he sought instructions from Philip. "How can I (understand), unless someone instructs me?" So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him. The eunuch took time and sat down, to focus and listen intently as Philip explained the word of God. The eunuch was so moved by what he understood, so much so that the instance he saw water, he begged to be baptized. The word of God was assimilated in his life abundantly.

We shall all be taught by God (cf. Jn 6:44-51). But have we given our undivided attention to Him that we may understand Him? Or have we poorly combined the Bread of Life with other food that only poisons us?

UNSTOPPABLE

Have you ever been stopped from spreading the good news?

When my father received from me the news that I would be ordained as a priest, he immediately went around our neighborhood and spread the news. He informed my uncles and aunts, and his compadres on the farm. I was informed about this a day after, and I called him to stop spreading the news. I was shy in letting people know about this great gift and honor I was about to receive. My father replied with silence. And I took that as a gentlemen's agreement between us. A day after I called, I was informed that he continued to spread the news about my ordination. I let him be. 

Good news is uncontainable. One feels compelled to share it. This is evident in numerous social media posts and shout-outs announcing that they had passed the board exam; that she finally said yes to the marriage proposal; that he had achieved his lifegoal of opening a restaurant, etc. The list of good news goes on and on. People are unstoppable from spreading them, like my father.  

In the Acts of the Apostles (5:27-33), the apostles, led by Peter were apprehended by the chief priests and authorities from preaching about Jesus. How can the apostles stop in preaching about Christ, when they were so convinced by what they preach? They were merely obeying God: "We must obey God rather than men." The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are a great manifestation of God's love for man. His words, which were realized by His deeds, should persuade them about the authenticity of His message and identity. And they were strengthened by the Holy Spirit to do so. How can they be stopped from doing so when this encounter with Jesus had changed their life; when it had become the very principle that governed their life!?

How can a believer, like the apostles stop preaching this good news!? We found true life in believing and obeying God. Our encounter with Jesus changes our life for good. We truly live and spread the good news by imitating Jesus who obeyed the Father and served His needy brothers and sisters. This is what it means to believe in Him. The good news we received obliges us to live by it, and share it. Nothing can stop us from doing so except our unbelief. But there is no compelling reason not to believe in Him. He is risen from the dead, vanquishing sin and death, overcoming the deceptions and lies of Satan, the greatest foe of man since time in memoriam.

The Lord has risen. This is the best news! Live by it. Spread it.   

REMAIN IN JESUS

Do you believe in the existence of the wind; gravity; brain; the universe? Do you believe you have a soul? We believe in these things but has anyone seen any of them? Who saw the gravity? Who saw the universe in its entirety? It is easy to believe in the things and people we see. It is difficult to be persuaded by those we have not seen, but it is not impossible.

Fear of the unknown prevents us from seeking to know such unclear things in our life. We are too afraid of what we may discover. Consequently, because of our fear, we end up more afraid and uninformed of the truth of things unknown to us. Courage can bring us to realities we never thought of before. Fear keeps us in darkness. If the sixteenth-century voyagers did not take courage and sailed to the unknown, would the Americas be found? If Magellan remained in the Iberian peninsula, would he be able to discover the route to the Philippines and prove that the world is round (and not flat)?  Thus, in our life, Christ brings peace to us that fear may be removed from us. As fear blocks our minds from seeing the truth, the peace and assurance brought by Christ encourage us to face the truth in our lives: the victory of God over sin and death; the victory He had won for us. With peace among us, with truth among us, we cease to be afraid to believe things that may be unbelievable; we begin to proclaim the truth no matter how difficult it may be proclaimed; though how unbelievable it may be.

If ever we remain in darkness and fear and we miss the presence of Christ, it is because we are absent in His presence, we grow afraid, and consequently, the truth becomes unknown to us. We doubt like Thomas, who was missing in action from the upper room where the apostles were. Thus, we should not be missing in action and miss the acts of God. Christ manifests Himself to us in many ways. Do we recognize Him as our Lord and God; as the one in control of everything though how difficult the situation may be? Remain in Jesus. Be in His presence; that we may constantly believe and have faith in Him always as our Lord, as one greater than anything and anyone else in our life.

Jesus as Lord is greater than our sin. His mercy is more than enough to cleanse us from our sins. Are we at peace in this? Do we believe this? Unless we are at peace and believe this, we will constantly be afraid and be enslaved by sins, lies, and deceptions.  Have you seen the boundless mercy of God? Be at peace.  Jesus is our Lord and God. Believe and you shall see!