The Epiphany of the Trinity

BAPTISM OF THE LORD C

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

JANUARY 13, 2019

JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU!

So many people went to the Jordan River to listen to John the Baptist and to have themselves baptized and among them was Jesus. This is the implication of what the Gospel said today: “After all the people were baptized and Jesus also had been baptized…” They did not know that among them was the One of whom John referred to as the “One who is mightier than I is coming…” Jesus looked like everybody else. He was not shining with a halo as holy pictures depict him. He was like us in all things except sin, so would St. Paul say. He stood there, all wet as the rest of the people were. He stood there among the multitude of sinners. The sinless One stood among sinners and he did not look differently from them.

John the Baptist himself admitted that he did not know Jesus: “I did not know him, but the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’” And so it happened: while Jesus was praying, the Holy Spirit descended upon him in a bodily form. The Holy Spirit singled Jesus out from the rest of the drenched humanity. And the heavens opened and a voice from heaven was heard: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The objective was simple: the event took place to reveal Jesus to all. This is why the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River is one of the 3 mysteries of the Epiphany. By descending upon Jesus, the Holy Spirit singled Jesus out. And the voice of God revealed to all who this man is: He is God’s Son, his Beloved on whom God’s pleasure rests. But by revealing Jesus, God also revealed something about himself. God revealed that He is a Trinity of Persons. The baptism at the Jordan was not only Jesus’ first public manifestation. It was also the first public revelation of the Blessed Trinity: the Son emerged from the waters, the Holy Spirit descended upon him and the Father publicly acknowledged him as his only begotten Son.

I want to preach about this because just before Christmas, the President said that the Trinity is silly. “How can one God be divided to 3 persons? That is silly! (kagalgalan; hangal)” But allow me to make clear this point: the Catholic Church did not invent the Trinity. The Trinity was revealed by God himself. The Trinity is God’s revelation of himself. The Church did not invent the Trinity. The Church simply listened to God as he revealed himself. If God did not reveal his inner life, if God did not reveal the Trinity, the Catholic Church would not have known it. And when did God reveal himself as a Trinity of persons? It was at the Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan. For the 1^st time in the history of the world, the Blessed Trinity made himself known. It may be difficult for our human minds to grasp it but still we believe in it because God said it so. I believe in the Blessed Trinity because God said it and he does not lie. When people say that the Trinity is silly, they accuse God of lying because they question the credibility of his revelation. “Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, by not believing the testimony God has given about his Son.” (1 John 5:10) Did the Holy Spirit lie when he descended upon Jesus and single him out? The Holy Spirit does not lie because he is the Spirit of Truth. Did God the Father lie when he publicly claimed Jesus as His Son? The Father does not lie. “He has testified on behalf of his Son.” And if we want to be saved, we must accept in faith this Divine Testimony. “God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever possesses the Son has life; whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life.”

By publicly revealing Jesus as his only begotten Son, God publicly admitted that he is Father. The Holy Spirit constantly gives us the interior witness about Jesus as God’s Son sent by the Father. Let us hold on firmly on this faith of our baptism. Remember that we were baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. This is the faith that saves us. Let us reject any insinuation that this truth is silly. God is not silly. God is not a liar.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

DEMONIC EXPRESSIONS

Be careful with words because they are not as innocent as they seem to be. A friend sent me a book entitled A Message of Hope: Confessions of an Ex-Satanist: How to Protect Yourself from Evil written by Deborah Lipsky who, for many years, lived as a prisoner of a satanic cult. Browsing through the pages, I came across this part which spoke of expressions that are not meaningless but actually attract demons from hell. I would like to share this part for our guidance: 

TOP 5 EXPRESSIONS THAT ACT LIKE A DOG WHISTLE 

SUMMONING THE HOUNDS OF HELL

1. "GOD DAMN IT"

In this phrase you are directly asking that the Creator of the universe to curse someone or something into hell for eve. It is said in an atmosphere of anger where no love is present, only hate. If you derive some sort of satisfaction from using this expression, that satisfaction means you are under the influence of demonic thought tampering. If saying it gives you a sense of power, you are trapped into the mindset of demons. To a demon, this selfish unholy request means that you have the audacity to ask God to commit an evil act on your command. In essence you are ordering God to do your dirty work!

2. "WHY DON'T YOU JUST DROP DEAD?"

By saying this you are actually pronouncing a form of a curse on someone else because you are wishing for them to die. When I was in school, I was constantly bullied. There was always a group of girls who would publicly humiliate me and then tell me to drop dead. As I tried to walk away, I would either trip in my nervousness or drop my books. That made them cackle in delight and hurl even more insult my way such as "loser" or "moron". To actually feel delight in someone else's pain is a "character trait" of demons. To laugh at someone else's misfortune after telling them to drop dead is an obvious tell-tale sign that they are under the influence of a cluster of demons.  Having "friends" or people support or encourage such behavior means there is a cluster of demons at work within that group.

3. "I SWEAR TO GOD"

This expression means that you are making an unbreakable vow in front of God regarding your innocence. Jesus himself warned against swearing to God in Matthew 5:33-37, "Again you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, do not break your oath, but keep oaths you have made to the Lord. But I tell you, do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your 'yes' be 'yes' and your 'no' be 'no'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."

To use this expression to hide behind a false innocence is disgusting. Not only are you lying but you are manipulating the other person's trust by getting them to believe that God is vouching for your innocence. This expression is a favorite of demons everywhere.

4. "HOCUS POCUS"

Mainly this phrase is used in magic tricks but every now and then I hear it when someone says something to the effect, "There is a lot of 'hocus pocus' going on there." No Catholic should ever use this phrase as it is a derogatory corruption referring to the Eucharist: "Hoc est Corpus" or "This is my Body". Protestants back in the Middle Ages used this corrupted term to mock the Holy Eucharist...They would hurl this insult not only at clergy but also Catholic lay people on their way to Mass.

5. "KISS MY ASS"

I saved this expression last because it is especially vulgar. Sadly it is such a common expression in our society today spoken to show defiance. It is better known to Satanists elsewhere as the "oscularum infame" or "Kiss of Shame". During the traditional black mass this was considered a symbolic requisite towards earthly success. Participants would literally kiss the bare behind of the devil (usually the high priest
conducting the mass). Nothing gets a cluster of demons charging headlong towards somebody faster than using excerpts from the satanic mass.

(Deborah Lipsky, A Message of Hope: Confessions of an Ex-Satanist: How to Protect Yourself from Evil, Phoenix: Tau Publishing, 2012, 175-176.)

They are not called Acts of God for Nothing!

We have just come from remembering the tragedy of the storm Ondoy when another powerful storm Pedring hit us. The winds were so strong that we witnessed waves as high as coconut trees hitting the sea walls of Manila Bay and thus causing the flooding of Roxas Boulevard. Until now, people in Bulacan and elsewhere in the north are suffering on account of floods and yet, they have to endure another storm Quiel. Let us pray for them and also come to their aid.

Such destruction caused by an act of God may truly be a reflection of what the Prophet Isaiah said: “Now I will let you know what I mean to do with my vineyard: take away its hedge, give it to grazing, break down its wall, let it be trampled! Yes, I will make it a ruin, it shall not be pruned or hoed, but overgrown with thorns and briers; I will command the clouds not to send rain upon it.” In the parable today, the Lord said, “He will put these wretched men to a wretched death…” Why such anger? Why such destruction? It is because in spite of what the Lord has done for his vineyard, he did not receive any fruit from it: He planted the vineyard, spaded it, cleared it of stones and planted the choicest vines. “What more is there to do for my vineyard that I had not done?”

We have been talking about vineyards for the past 3 Sundays. And everytime, we hear the command to go and work in it. Hired workers, sons, tenants – we all work in the Lord’s vineyard. And as in the first reading and the Gospel parable, the Lord seeks the fruits of his vineyard, he shall also ask from us the same. What fruits will we show him? Will we be able to show him “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious”? Will we offer him fruit that is excellent and worthy of praise? Or will we yield him wild grapes? Or will we yield him nothing at all?

Perhaps, the breaking of the sea walls should be a warning to us. After all, did not the Lord say: “I will break itsw walls”? In all the destruction of nature happening around us, we should see more than just climate change or global warming. We should see them as messages coming from God. After all, these are not called “acts of God’ for nothing! These acts of God should make us reflect about the fruits that we bear…Are they commensurate to all the graces we have received from God? “Think about these things” The Lord has chosen us and therefore he expects something from us. He has chosen us to bear fruit that will last. Let us return to the Lord and seek his mercy. Let us not reject the Son of God. The Lord refers to Himself as the Stone rejected by the builders which became the cornerstone. take away the capstone and the structure collapses. St. Paul speaks of Christ as the One who holds all things together in Himself. Delete Him from the picture and everything else collapses because no one will hold all these together. Therefore, let us not reject the Son of God. Let us not reject his servants. Let us return to what we have learned and received and heard and seen in Christ so that the God of peace will again be with us.

Our Lady of La Sallete on the negligence of the Sunday Obligation and Blasphemy

on September 19, 1846, the Blessed Virgin appeared to two shepherd children Maximin and Melanie. She appeared with profuse tears falling from her eyes because of a grave message she brought mankind:

"If my people do not obey, I shall be compelled to loose my Son's arm. It is so heavy that I can no longer restrain it.

"How long have I suffered for you! If my Son is not to abandon you, I am obliged to entreat Him without ceasing. But you take no heed of that. No matter how well you pray in the future, no matter how well you act, you will never be able to make up to me what I have endured on your behalf.

"I have given you six days to work. The seventh I have reserved for myself, yet no one will give it to me. This is what causes the weight of my Son's arm to be so crushing.

"The cart drivers cannot swear without bringing in my Son's Name. These are the two things which make my Son's arms so heavy."

"...Do you say your prayers well, my children?

"Ah! my children, it is very important to do so, at night and in the morning. When you don't have time, at least say an 'Our Father' and a 'Hail Mary,' and when you can, say more.

"Only a few rather old women go to Mass in the summer. Everyone else works every Sunday all summer long, And in winter, when they don't know what else to do, they go to Mass only to scoff at religion. During Lent, they go to the butcher shop like dogs."