Solemnity of the Mother of God: Born under the Law

Solemnity of MARY MOTHER OF GOD

Year of the Youth

January 1, 2019

Jesus, I trust in you!

When the shepherds went to Bethlehem, they glorified God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them by the angels. What was it that they were told? What was it that they had seen? They were told that they shall find in Bethlehem an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. That was the sign given to them and the moment they saw the infant of Mary, they already knew what it meant. They knew that this infant is the Savior who is Christ the Lord: “Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you who is Christ the Lord.” All these are summed up in the Name which today is given to the child: “He was named Jesus.” The Name “Jesus” means “God Saves.” This name tells us who the child is and what was he sent to do. He is God and he comes to save: “You are to name him Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.” The Son of Mary is God, therefore he is called Lord. The Son of Mary comes to save us from sins, therefore he is called Savior.

St. Paul tells us the implication of the great mystery of the Incarnation of God’s Son: “God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we may receive adoption as sons.” Jesus was born of a woman named Mary. God became man. Today, he is circumcised. He became subject to the law. Circumcision is the sign of the covenant between Abraham and God. Abraham was circumcised when he was 99 years old. Today, when the eternal God entered time, he was circumcised when he was 8 days old. God, who is above the Law, became subject to the Law. He went down to our humble level and he did this for a purpose. He came to ransom us from the Ancient Law of sin which subjected all mankind. He ransomed us at the price of his Blood shed upon the Cross. This is neither absurd nor silly as the president claims it to be. Christ died because a price has to be paid. That is what ransom is all about. It is about paying a price in order to obtain the freedom of a captive. We were captives, hostages of sin. Christ liberated us by shedding his blood on the Cross and dying for us.

By ransoming us from sin, Jesus obtained our adoption as sons of God. “To those who did accept him, he gave power to become children of God.” “As proof that you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out: ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave but a son.” We are no longer slaves but sons and daughters of God. Divine Filiation is the great gift of Jesus to us. To make us his sons and daughters is the ultimate reason why God created us. He wanted us to share in his Divine life. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is that share, that access that God gives us to himself. The Holy Spirit dwelling in us testifies to our freedom. The Holy Spirit in us helps us approach God with the confidence of sons and daughters. Because of the Holy Spirit in us, we are truly rich. He is the inheritance promised to us because he brings us to communion with the Trinity even here on earth. He is our foretaste of heaven, our pledge of eternal life.

The Holy Spirit is the Blessing God gives us every year, year in and year out. Every New Year we should never fail to beg God to send us the Holy Spirit. This is why the Church, at midnight of a new year, sings “Veni Creator Spiritus” (Come Holy Spirit). More than fortune and success for the New Year, the ever abiding presence of the Holy Spirit is most important for us. Sending Him to us is the ultimate reason why the Son of God was born of a woman. So long as the Holy Spirit is with us, we have nothing to fear. As long as the Holy Spirit dwells in us, all will be well. We will always be at peace.

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

Raising children for God

FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY C

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

DECEMBER 30, 2018

Jesus, I trust in you!

The issue of parental upbringing came to the fore with the bully video that went viral before Christmas. People began to ask: What happened to the kid that he grew up to be an arrogant bully? Public attention went to his parents. They began to ask: What kind of parenting did he receive? In fact, in a TV program, the bully’s father, apparently fed up by all these questions, texted the host: “Huwag mo akong turuan kung paano ko palalakihin ang aking anak.”

When Mary reproached (sumbat) Jesus for staying behind in Jerusalem without their knowledge, she gave Jesus the opportunity to teach about parenting. She said: “Son, why have you done this to us? Did you not know that your father and I searched for you with great sorrow?” Jesus said: “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I have to be in my Father’s house?” Contrary to what many parents think that their children are theirs and that these are raised according to their own liking, Jesus, in these words, is telling Mary and Joseph: “I am yours but also not yours. I belong to you but also not to you. I belong to the Father and I must be found in my Father’s house. I must do what the Father sent me to do.”

Parents must always remember that their children are theirs but not totally theirs. They belong to the Father in heaven. “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called children of God.” God entrusted his children to them. Therefore, parents fulfill the role of stewards. They raise children not for themselves but for the Father. Dear parents, you are raising sons and daughters for God. Therefore, you do not raise your children to become like yourselves. You raise them to become like Jesus because Jesus is the Son of God and therefore, he is the model of all Christian children. Most parents want their children to grow up resembling themselves. No! Let your children grow up to resemble Jesus. Your ultimate goal is not to lead your children to a successful career. Your goal must be to help them become saints. If you really love your children, you want them to go to heaven for all eternity. Therefore, teach your children to do the Father’s business. Help them discern the Father’s will at all time. “We keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And his commandment us this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us.” In the end, when you bring up God-fearing children, you will have loving children.”

Bring your children to the temple as Hannah did to Samuel and offered him to God’s service. Bring them to the temple as Joseph and Mary did to Jesus. Teach them to worship God and they will be blessed: Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord. Teaching them to love God will eventually lead the way to real obedience to you. Jesus went down to Nazareth and was obedient to them because he understood that his obedience to his human parents expressed his obedience to his heavenly Father. When children are raised up to become like Jesus, they grow up like him: advanced in wisdom and age and in favor before God and men.

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

Christmas Mass of the Day 2018: The Gift of Divine Filiation

CHRISTMAS MASS OF THE DAY 2018

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

DECEMBER 25, 2018

JESUS, I trust in you!

Christmas mornings for me are times of awe and wonder. My fondest childhood memories are those of Christmas mornings. I woke up with great expectation because I knew that I would find gifts beneath the tree and gifts from Santa who paid a visit the night before. I continue to wake up on Christmas morning with that same childlike wonder. I do hope that you would do the same.

Oftentimes, we say that Christmas is for children…and I believe it still to be so. It is because only by remaining like a child can we truly appreciate the great mystery that happened today. Of course, we may be overwhelmed by the “adult” concerns like the expenses that we must put up with in order to celebrate Christmas. But such should not deprive us of the joy that Christmas should give us. If I were asked, “What do you associate Christmas mornings with?” I would immediately answer: “The gifts.” And it is true: we associate Christmas mornings with gifts. It is the time when families open their gifts to each other. But we must not forget to open the best gift of Christmas…and that would be the gift of God’s only begotten Son born to us this day.

“In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God…” This is the child we find in the manger. He is the Son “whom God made heir of all things and through whom he created the world.” This is the Son who is “the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word.” He comes wrapped in swaddling clothes and lain on a manger. Do not be deceived by the wrappings. The world underestimates him because he seems too small, too powerless. What can a child do? How much can he give? “He was in the world…but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.”

Do not underestimate him because of his humble appearance. Accept this gift of the Father because “to those who accept him, he gave the power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation, nor by human choice, nor by a man’s decision, but by God.” He transforms us and makes us like himself. He makes us children of God. This is the gift which no one but Christ could ever afford to give us: Divine Filiation. This is the richest gift because through it, we become heirs of God, co-heirs with Christ, and heirs of heaven. Nothing can be more precious. Nothing can be more valuable than this. “From his fullness we have all received, a grace in place of grace…grace and truth comes through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.”

Today, we see that Son who is at the Father’s side. Today he comes to us and dwells among us. He reveals to us the Father whom we do not see. He gives to us the inheritance we do not have. He made himself poor…and because of this, we are rich. What a gift on Christmas morning! He is the gift that only God can give.

Merry Christmas! 

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

Christmas Mass at Midnight 2018: Silent Night, Holy Night

CHRISTMAS 2018

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

DECEMBER 25, 2018

JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU!

If people ask me about my favorite Christmas song, I immediately answer: “Silent Night.” My mother told me that on my first Christmas on earth (December 1968), I cried whenever a caroler sang “Silent Night.” The same happened whenever it is played over the radio. Until today, the song haunts me in a very special way. This is the reason why wherever I am assigned, I always insist on singing “Silent Night” as entrance song for Midnight Mass. Apart from sentimental reasons, this song was really composed for the Midnight Mass. The story goes that in the Church St. Nicholas in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria, the organ broke down and it was impossible to repair it in time for midnight Mass. The priest, Fr. Josef Mohr. inspired by the peace of the surroundings, wrote a poem and asked Franz Xaver Gruber to compose the music for it. “Silent Night” was first sung on Christmas Eve of 1818…exactly 200 years today.

The song captured the atmosphere of the night of the Savior’s birth. Bethlehem was teeming with people because Caesar Augustus declared a world-wide census. Everybody had to return to their homeland to comply to this decree. St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin went home to Bethlehem just like everybody else who came from the Clan of King David. The situation there might have been chaotic but let us not forget that the census was made possible because the whole world was at peace. As there was no room in the inn, Mary and Joseph were forced to take shelter in a cave where animals were made to rest during the night. It was the ideal place for the birth of the Savior because it was away from the bustling hotels which were filled for the night. It was a very private place…a quiet place…for animals really rest at night. We humans have the tendency to disturb the silence of night time…but not the animals. At night, they simply kept silent because that is how they really are. The background of silence was the best context of the birth of the Word of God on earth. For when can the Word be heard most if not in the middle of silence?

It was a silent night. It was a holy night. Silence does not necessarily imply holiness. Sometimes, silence is imposed by threats (dulot ng banta). Bugbog o dignidad? Threats like this oftentimes condemn people to silence. (tumutulak sa mga tao na manahimik na lang) People keep silent because they do not want to get involved. Ayaw madamay. Others keep silent so as not to further aggravate the aggressor. (lalong mayamot) Tumahimik ka na lang para di ka masaktan. Fear also forces people to be silent. Wag kang kikibo kung ayaw mong masaktan.

But the silence of that night was not caused by fear. Rather, it was caused by love: Son of God, Love’s pure light; radiant beams from thy holy face with the dawn of redeeming grace. The Son of God appeared on earth tonight. He shines in the middle of darkness as Light from Light. But this light is not invasive (mapanghimasok) like the flash light of an arresting police officer. This light is the radiance (kariktan) of God’s face, a face that appears not to condemn (magparusa) but to redeem. It is not a light that hurts the eye. But rather, it is a radiance that attracts, a countenance (mukha) that invites contemplation because it is a loving and gentle (maamo) countenance. This holy infant, so tender (mayumi) and mild (maamo), sleeps in heavenly peace. Thus, we come to him in silence not because we do not want to startle him (Magbiro ka na sa lasing, wag lang sa bagong gising.) but because we want to whisper to him our love and affection. We love him because he “appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age…” Now, we are at peace because he is our peace with the Father and with one another. On this night of his birth, the only song that pierced the silence of the night is that of the heavenly multitude that sang: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Jesus himself told us that when we enter a house, we should say: Peace be upon you. And he said that if a peaceful person lives them, that peace will rest on him. Tonight, he entered our world and the angels greet us “peace on earth.” Are you a peaceful person? Are you at peace with God? Are you at peace with each other? Are you at peace with yourself? If you are at peace, then God’s favor rests on you. It means that you live within the scope of the silence of that holy night.

Tonight, let us approach the new-born King in silence. Let us beg him: O Prince of Peace, with humility you come to us. In similar humility, we come to you and beg you: let your peace come upon us tonight. Where there is hatred, bring us love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O Prince of Peace, Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace. Grant us your everlasting peace.

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

Sto. Nino: Let the children come to me

FEAST OF THE SANTO NIÑO B

YEAR OF THE CLERGY AND CONSECRATED PERSONS

JANUARY 21, 2018

Jesus, I trust in you!

People were bringing children to Jesus so that he may bless them. But the disciples rebuked them. After all, Jesus has become a celebrity of sorts. His healing power made him very popular. And so, a celebrity like him should not be bothered by trivial matters like children. Is this not what we do when we receive important visitors at home? Do we not order our children to go and play outside so as not to bother important guests? Do we not dismiss children in the presence of celebrities? Apparently, we are no different from the disciples of the Lord.

However, when the Lord saw this, he became indignant and said to them: “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them.” The Lord challenges the worldly paradigm that great people, celebrities, must be inaccessible and so remain mysterious. He associates greatness to accessibility. A great person must be accessible to others. In other words, “dapat madali siyang lapitan.” And who is the truly accessible/approachable one? He is the one who easily accommodates the little children. If little children can approach that person, anyone can approach him. And this is what the Lord reveals to us today: God is an approachable God. The Lord tells us: “Let the little children come to me. Do not prevent them.” No one is to be prevented from approaching him…not even the little children. In fact, in order to encourage children to approach him, he himself became a little child. Is it not true that children are not intimidated by other children like themselves? While they may shy away from adults, children will never be afraid of approaching other children like themselves. And so God became a little child. And never will he forget that he was once a little child. Adults like us can become very cranky towards little children. And when we do so, others reprimand us by saying: “Have you never been a child before?” Unlike our cranky selves, the Lord Jesus has never forgotten that he was once a child. Thus, he tells us that we should never prevent children from approaching him. He understands children because he was once a child.

And so, we must never prevent children from approaching the Lord. At a very early age, we should accustom them to go to Church so that they may be familiar with the Lord. Sometimes, we encounter priests who get upset with the crying of a baby in Church. They easily dismiss parents by telling them not to bring their noisy children to church. But when will you bring your children to church? When they are teenagers? Do you seriously think that if you do not bring your children to church while they are young and impressionable, you can successfully bring them to church as independent-minded teenagers? I don’t think so. If you are unable to bring them to church while they are young, you may never be able to successfully bring them when they get older. This is why we must start them young. Their relationship with the Lord must begin at an early stage. At a very young age, they must learn to develop a friendship with the Lord because a relationship is not created overnight. By bringing our children to church, we provide for them the opportunity to know and befriend the Lord. This is the kind of friendship that will benefit them for a lifetime.

The Santo NiÑo invites us all to draw close to him. Do not hesitate. If little children should not be prevented from approaching him, no one should be prevented from drawing close to him. To God who made himself little for us, we should hasten without hesitation. After all, he said, “Let the children come to me. Do not prevent them for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

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

The Circumcision of the Lord

SOLEMNITY OF THE MOTHER OF GOD 2018

YEAR OF THE CLERGY AND CONSECRATED PERSONS

JANUARY 1, 2018

Jesus, I trust in you!

When 8 days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus…

Our obsession with the new civil year usually deviates our attention from the liturgical significance of the 8^th day of Christmas. What do we really celebrate on this 8^th day? The Gospel tells us that on the 8^th day, the Son of Mary was circumcised and was given the name Jesus.

What is circumcision? It is the cutting off of the foreskin of a boy’s reproductive organ. In the Jewish religion, this ritual is the sign of the covenant between God and Abraham. An Israelite man bears in his body the permanent mark of his belonging not only to the chosen people but also of his belonging to God. And this mark of the covenant is found in the most intimate part of a man’s anatomy because his relationship with God is the most intimate of all human relations. The cutting off of the foreskin signified the purgation of sin. On account of the fragility of our human nature and our inclination to sin, “the circumcision on the 8^th day prefigures the complete purgation of sin on the age of the resurrection.” (Gregory Dippipo)  

Born of a woman, born under the Law

Even though Jesus was like us in all things except in sin, nevertheless he subjected himself to the circumcision. He was born of a woman and born under the law so that he may redeem those who were enslaved by the law. His name means “God saves.” He is God who saves us by taking up our human nature and by subjecting himself to the law. In his human nature, God the Son received the permanent mark of belonging to the Father. He had no sin. He is the unblemished Paschal Lamb who “ransoms those under the law so that we may receive adoption as sons.” The blood he shed in this circumcision is the “first blood” – the first of the blood that shall be shed as a ransom for us from sin. His Blood buys us from the slavery of sin so that he may adopt us as children for God. “As proof that you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ So you are no longer a slave but a son and if a son, then also an heir, through God.”

This is the newness that he brings to us by his Incarnation. It is the newness of Divine Filiation. To those who accept him, he gave the power to be sons of God. We gave him a Mother. He gave us a Father. He assumed our humanity so that he may raise us into his Divinity. And this is depth of the new covenant in his Blood. He received the ancient mark of the circumcision so that you and I may receive the Holy Spirit’s indelible mark, the character, at Baptism. Now, we do not need to be bodily circumcised because we have received a spiritual circumcision when we were baptized. It was not only a foreskin that was cut off. The Holy Spirit abolished the misery of our fallen human nature by dwelling in us. We are no longer poor. We are rich heirs of God. This inheritance that we received is the Holy Spirit dwelling in us – the Spirit who enables us to call God: Abba!

We walk in this newness of creation. The New Year reminds us of this newness – our newness as sons and daughters of God. May we not hold on to our former slavery to sin. May we walk in the newness of the freedom of the children of God. He loved the Mother we gave him. May we love the Father he has given us.

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

The silence of the Octave of Christmas

As the shepherds made known the message that had been told them about the child, "Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart."

As things have slowed down in church, I thought that Christmas had turned quieter elsewhere. I was mistaken. People have not yet finished their shopping. Mall have devised a scheme to keep customers coming back - they declared holiday sales. Not satisfied with commercialism encroaching into Advent, it now invades the Christmas Octave. Many take advantage of the holiday spirit and prefer to spend the octave in leisure. People are everywhere...except in Church. 

This makes me wonder: How many of our faithful have taken time to sit in silence before the Manger of the Lord? I suppose that with all the activities that vie for our attention during the holidays, so very few can honestly say that they have spent time in silent prayer before the Lord's manger. 

Our Lady wrapped her new-born Son in swaddling clothes and laid him on a manger...and then, she silently reflecting on this great mystery that unfolded before her very eyes. She teaches us the proper attitude that we must take before this great mystery of the Incarnation. It is the attitude of prayerful silence.

I chanced upon a Mister Bean Christmas episode. It showed Mr. Bean playing with the figures of a Belen. The cow "moooed" and St. Joseph told it: "Shhhh." The donkey "neighed" and Our Lady said to it: "Shhhh." One of the magi coughed and his companions told him: "Shhhh." It is funny and it may seem irreverent for the standards of the pious and the devout. But from this funny episode, I realized that for one to stand before the manger, he must heed the warning: "Shhhh! Be quiet!" Be still, my soul, because you stand in the presence of God.

I suppose that the carol "Silent Night" did not only refer to the silence of the night when the Savior was born. It also referred to the silence of the mouth that is needed so that the heart may recognize the Savior who quietly came down from heaven.  Silence is needed so that we may enter into the depth of the mystery of the Lord's kenosis.

The Octave provides for us this opportunity for silence. The crowds prefer to stay away from Church and spend their time in places of leisure. And we have the Baby Jesus all for ourselves. Together with Our Lady and St. Joseph, we kneel in silence before the new-born Son of God. We kneel in the silence of a cave. 

And we take advantage of the silence of the octave. We should savor this silence before the guests (magi) come on Epiphany. When he is revealed on the Jordan River and in the marriage feast of Cana, it will noisy from then on. People will want to take hold of him: "Everybody is looking for you." The public ministry which epiphany will usher in will definitely be busy.

This is the reason why we have to keep the silence of the Lord's nativity while the octave gives us the opportunity to do so. When Epiphany comes, it will be busy for us once again.  Thus, while Epiphany is not yet here, let us go to Bethlehem and see this new-born king. let us be like Mary who kept all these things and reflect on them in her heart!

The Mishandling of the Octave

I am disappointed with the way we treat the Christmas Octave. Churches are filled with people for the 9-day Simbang Gabi. There is a heavy turnout of parishioners, servers, musicians, lectors, and other ministers. Even in the Extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, servers and choir members are excited over the Rorate Masses. So many candles were lit and so much incense was burned to make the days of the Rorate more solemn.

But after the Midnight Mass, everything changes. On the morning itself of Christmas day, the churches are almost empty. Maybe, it is because people have fulfilled their Christmas obligation with the Midnight Mass that they saw it unnecessary to return for Church on Christmas day. However, it becomes more disappointing beginning the Feast of St. Stephen. There, we begin to see less and less people coming to Mass. Lectors and other ministers do not report for duty. Servers were limited to the minimum (1). Even the Sacristan did not see it necessary to light all the 6 candles on the Altar nor to light the Christmas Lanterns in and outside of the Church. The Choir and Cantors are nowhere to be found. And I am not referring only to the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. This year, I committed myself to a daily offering of the Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite throughout the octave and also until Epiphany. I was dismayed by how the octave of Christmas is being treated.

There is something wrong with our liturgical culture. So many assist Mass during the last 9 days of Advent but almost nobody will be there during the Octave. Isn't the Octave the extension of Christmas day? I recall our studies on the Liturgical Year. We were taught that the celebration of the Octave is due to the fact that the Divine Mystery commemorated on Christmas (or Easter) day is so rich that one day is not enough to celebrate it. And so the celebration is extended to 8 days. The 8 days are considered as only 1 day. Thus, the Gloria and the Creed are sung as on the day of Christmas (or Easter). And so everyday of the Octave is Christmas day (or Easter Sunday).

If this were so, why do we treat the Octave days so very badly? Have the Simbang Gabi exhausted us so much that we find it reason enough to stay at home and sleep throughout the Octave? It is as if were have been very busy preparing for the Fiesta and so we disappear and sleep off the actual festivity itself. And allow me to remind you that Advent, the Simbang Gabi, the Rorate Masses are but preparations. YES, ONLY PREPARATIONS!!!!! The Christmas (or Easter) Octave is the REAL CELEBRATION.

We have allowed the commercialism of the secular Christmas to creep into the sacred liturgy itself. We have anticipated Christmas in Advent that there seem to be nothing else to celebrate when the real Christmas came. Where are the servers? Where are the cantors? Where are the lectors? Where are the other ministers? (Where are the priests?)  If only our Lord could speak directly to us, he might say: "There were so many of you present during the preparations for my coming but when I can, everybody went out for their vacation."

Is this the way to treat the Octave days? If this were so, then I might take my vacation as well. This is no way the Octave should be treated. This is simply WRONG LITURGICAL CULTURE.

Christmas Day: Christ the Word Incarnate

CHRISTMAS MASS AT DAY 2017

YEAR OF THE CLERGY AND CONSECRATED PEOPLE

DECEMBER 25, 2017

Jesus, I trust in you!

The Word made Flesh

The new-born Baby is the Word of God made flesh. He is called Word because he is the self-revelation of God. St. Paul fittingly explains: “In these days, God has spoken to us through the Son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe, who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word.” With these words in mind, we look at the little Baby and we ask: How could this be? We find it difficult to believe because we know God to be powerful. And so, we expect something big…something grandiose…something Bongga! But all we see is a Baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying on a manger. Where is the refulgence of Divine glory? Where is the imprint of God’s being? Where is the might that sustains all things?

The difficulty comes from the fact that we keep trying to see the Baby from our own point of view…from the point of view of the world. We keep forgetting that God’s ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts. We keep imposing on God the way we want to see him. But the Baby born to us is not God the way we want to see him. It is the way God sees himself. It is the way God wishes to be known. God sees himself as the simplest of beings. God wishes to be known as the simplest Truth, the purest Good, as the truly Beautiful. And what could be truer than a new-born Baby, one that does not know how to pretend, one that tells you that what you see is what you get? What greater Good is there than a new-born Baby, one that simply makes you smile, one that elicits nothing from you but love? What is more beautiful than a new-born Baby, one that naturally attracts, one that does not even have to make an effort to draw people to himself? He is simply who he is!

We always say that Divine glory is hidden in this little Child. But this little Child is himself the Divine glory! He is “far superior than the angels and his name is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say: ‘You are my Son; this day I have begotten you.’” His glory is not his external garments. His glory is who he is: He is God’s Son! “We saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” When we look at this Baby what do we see? We see grace and truth! Grace is God’s gift of himself. Truth is who he is. When we look at this Baby what do we see? We see the invisible God. Jesus himself said it: “He who sees me sees the Father.” “No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.”

But he does not only reveal God to us. In this Baby, we see God giving himself to us. He gives himself to us so that we may transformed and become like him. “To those who accept him, he has given the power to become children of God.” The only begotten Son of God makes us like him – children of God. He became like us so that we can become like him. He came down to us so that we can rise up to him. Though Baptism, he shares us his Holy Spirit. He gives us a share of his Divine life. His Holy Spirit enables us to call God in the very same way Jesus calls him: “Abba! Father!” He transforms us and elevates us to himself. This was what Lucifer was afraid of: the “divinization of man”. He was afraid that God would also call us his sons and daughters. In vain did he try to prevent this from happening. But nothing could stop God from sharing his love. Nothing could stop God from sharing his Divine life. Nothing can stop God from giving himself. Nothing…not even Satan himself.

And so, we stand before the manger and we see our food. We look at the Baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and we see the victim to be sacrificed for us. We look into his eyes and we see so much love and that love is for us. That love will feed us. That love will die for us. We can say nothing else but “Thank you.” Thank you, Jesus for coming. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for simply who you are…grace, truth, and love. “From his fullness we have received grace upon grace…grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

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

Christmas Midnight Mass: Christ the Priest, the Victim, the Bread of Life

CHRISTMAS MASS AT MIDNIGHT 2017

YEAR OF THE CLERGY AND CONSECRATED PERSONS

DECEMBER 25, 2017

Jesus, I trust in you!

Our Parish Belen for 2017

Tonight we return to Bethlehem as Joseph and Mary did as they sought to comply with the worldwide census declared by Augustus Caesar. They had to return to the city of David because Joseph was of the House of David. It was necessary for the Messiah to be born in the city of David because he is Son of David, the legitimate heir to the throne of his royal ancestor. But there is another reason for the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. The name “Bethlehem” means “house of bread.” Bethlehem is the fitting birth place for Jesus who is the Bread of Life. In fact the sign which the angels gave the shepherds was that of a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying on a manger. The manger is the receptacle of animal food. On it is placed the hay for the feeding of the ox and the donkey and even of the sheep. The new-born baby of Mary was laid on a manger not because the hay was soft but because Mary’s child is our food: “I am the Bread of Life. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will have eternal life. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. The food that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

It is rather remarkable that we celebrate today the birth of the Son of God in the flesh. And later on, he shall give his flesh as food for the life of the world. We cannot deny the Eucharistic character of this Holy Day that we are celebrating tonight. It is called “Christmas” and its name is derived from two words: Christ and Mass. The Church, even from ancient times, has understood the mystery of Christ’s Incarnation in the mystery of the Eucharist. In fact, St. John Paul II himself said that the Eucharist is the continuation of the mystery of the Incarnation to our times.

And it is in this light that we have a renewed appreciation of the mystery of the Priesthood. We are celebrating this Christmas in the Year of the Clergy and the Consecrated People. As Mary brought forth the birth in the flesh of God the Son, so also the priest, by the power of the Holy Spirit and the authority of the words of Christ, brings about the transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus. The Mass, presided by the priest, is not only our encounter with the Paschal Mystery. It is also our encounter with the mystery of the Incarnation: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. The Incarnation took place in Mary’s womb. The Transubstantiation takes place in the hands of the priest. The priest may not be as pure and sinless as the Virgin Mary. But nevertheless, the Son of God humbles himself to take flesh in the bread and wine offered on the altar during Mass.

In fact, we cannot miss the fact that the angels appeared to shepherds who were keeping watch over their flock at night. The sheep they were tending were the Awassi sheep, the only breed of sheep that is indigenous in Israel. The Awassi sheep breed in the summer and drop lambs in the winter. Thus, in Israel, the principal lambing season runs from December to January. These shepherds to whom the angels appeared were Levitical shepherds who were tasked to keep watch over the temple flock. The reason why the shepherds kept watch at night was that they were attending to the dropping of the lambs. Once a lamb is dropped, they bring it into the cave where it is wrapped in swaddling clothes to keep it from being injured at birth. The lambs they watch over were destined to be the Passover lambs that are supposed to be unblemished. Thus, the shepherds understood what the angel’s message meant: the one born on this night is the unblemished Lamb of God who would be sacrificed on Passover. Christ born today is not only the Bread of Life. He is also the Paschal Lamb, the Victim who would render God the most perfect and the highest act of worship. This Lamb of God is also the High Priest of the new covenant. Being the first-born of creation, he is the head of the household who offers the sacrifice of the family of humankind. He will offer not the blood of animals or of other human beings. He will offer his own flesh and his own blood for the redemption of the world.

As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, let us not look at him simply as a cute new-born infant. The one who rests on the manger is the Bread of Life. The one who is wrapped in swaddling clothes is the unblemished Lamb of God. The first-born of Mary is the first-born of creation, the High Priest of the new covenant. This great mystery is renewed every day during Mass. In the Mass, the priest acts in the person of Christ the High Priest. In his hands the incarnation takes place so that the Lamb of God may be offered to the Father and he be returned to us as the Bread of Life that we must eat to enter into communion with God and so receive access to the Divine Life. Truly, this is Christ’s Mass where Jesus comes both as Priest and Victim. Come, let us adore him.   

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

Epiphany: All Nations Belong to Him

Jesus, I trust in you!

Jose Rizal was fascinated by a gamu gamo or winged termite which is attracted by light. The small insect, desiring for light, drew near the flame of the oil lamp even though it was dangerous. And true enough, its wings caught fire.

Light has power to attract. And Epiphany, being the feast of light, shows us this lesson. The Magi coming from the East, went to Bethlehem in search of the King of the Jews. They were led to him by the light of a star which they saw rising in the East. “Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; but upon you the Lord shines and over you appears his glory.” Indeed, these pagans saw the light of a star which beckoned them to a greater light and that light is Christ, who is Light from Light, true God from true God.

The pagans were not given the light of revelation. God did not send them prophets. They sought guidance from the stars because it was all they had. Through the Babylonian Captivity of the Jews, they heard of prophecies about the coming of the King of the Jews who would rule the nations. The unfortunate occasion of Jewish slavery in their land became a blessing for the pagans. “Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance…they all gather to come to you…”

Light has power to attract. We are drawn towards the light. Christ’s light draws us to himself. Christ’s light is not dangerous. It does not kill like the flame of a lamp. Rather, his light gives life. “What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race.” The Magi found out that the closer they were to Christ, the greater light they enjoyed. First, it was just a star that they saw. Later on, in Jerusalem, they heard the prophecies of scriptures. Then, finally, they saw Christ himself and they prostrated themselves and worshiped him. They offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Little did they realize that it was not what they brought that were the gifts to the newborn King but they themselves were the gifts. “I shall bequeath you the nations, put the ends of the earth in your possession.” (Ps. 2: 8)

The Jews are not the only ones who belong to the Lord. Even if they were the chosen people of God, they are not the only ones who belong to him. The world and everything in it belongs to him. We are all the inheritance of the Lord. We are his people, the flock he shepherds. Thus, today, the Father reveals to all of us his Son as our Lord and King. He also draws us towards his Son for Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father draws him.”

Let us always be grateful to the Father for having revealed to us his only Son. As the magi experienced, so also do we realize that the closer we are to Jesus, the greater light we enjoy. The closer we are to Jesus, the more life do we possess, the more alive we are. The more light we enjoy, the greater is our capacity to see. The gospel of Jesus renders astrology useless. We no longer need the guidance of the stars. We are guided by a greater light given to us by the teachings of Jesus. When the magi found Christ, they no longer went back to their former ways. “They departed for their country by another way.” The Christian path is no longer a groping in the dark. It is not a guessing game. Rather, it is a confident journey from light to greater light. We do not worship a god we do not know. We know him for he has revealed himself to us. We know he is true and all his ways are sure.

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

Christmas: Choosing the Light

JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU!

Our Belen for 2016

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

When the Lord Jesus was born, it was in the middle of the night. People were fast asleep except the shepherds who were keeping the night watch over their flock. Nobody knew that it was the most awaited night, the night when the ancient promise of God was fulfilled. Everything was hidden in the darkness of the night.

But what was hidden in darkness will be proclaimed in daylight. Today, the Light of the world shines in the darkness. Not even the darkness is able to overcome it. No amount of darkness will ever limit the light. Light limits the darkness and not the other way around. Light dispels the darkness. The darkness does not dispel the light. Darkness is the absence of light. When the light comes, there is no darkness.

There is only one way for darkness to stay…and that is by blocking the light. “He came to what was his own but his own people did not accept him.” Light is refused by putting up a barrier to keep it from penetrating the darkness. The barrier sort of protects the darkness from the light. Hiding behind that barrier, a person remains in the dark.

But it is unfortunate that one should refuse the light and choose the darkness. “For what came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race…” Life is light. Where there is light, there is life. Living things grow under the light. Death lurks in darkness. It would be sad if people choose the darkness because doing so, they would choose death over life. And who wants to die? The desire for death defies all logic. Everything that lives wants to remain alive. It would do everything to be able to extend life even for one second more.

Light empowers. “Those who did accept him, he gave the power to become children of God.” There can be no higher dignity for man than to be a child of God. To accept the light is to be chosen and loved by God as his dear children. This is the life he offers us. He offers us the life of the children of God. And to do this, his light comes into the world. “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” Like the sun at Fatima which one can look at without hurting one’s eyes, the Light of the world comes in the poverty of a little child. He is not a light that glares and blinds. He is a light that beckons, a light that attracts by its beauty. The sign of God is the poverty of a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying on a manger. The poverty of the human nature which he took upon himself makes the unapproachable light of God less intimidating and more approachable. This Light beckons us to go out of the dark. It draws us out of the darkness of sin and death. It invites us to take away the barrier that shields us from his light and life. It invites us to turn away from sin, to shun the works of darkness. The seeming poverty of God makes people underestimate his power. Our impatience to put things in order makes us resort to works of death: wars, killings, violence. But the peace and order that comes out of it is simply the silence of cadavers, the silence of cemeteries.

If only the world would accept Christ the Light, then it would receive from the fullness of his grace, grace upon grace. “Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ.”  This is the true life giving grace. The mercy of the Christ Child is one that truly transforms and gives eternal life. It is the one that opens and fills paradise and not graves. “The Lord restores Zion. Break out together in song, O ruins of Jerusalem! The Lord comforts his people, he redeems Jerusalem.”

If we accept Christ, he will reveal God to us. “No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.” Let us accept him for the Lord does not desire ruin for us but salvation. He desires not violence but peace. He desires not the death of the sinner but that the sinner should turn to him and live.

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

Consecrated to the Father, Hated by the world

At the Main Altar of Holy Family Church

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

The reason for the ritual of the presentation of the child Jesus to God is a law that requires every firstborn son to be consecrated to the Lord. This goes back to the night of the exodus when God sent the angel of death to take the life of every first-born male throughout the land of Egypt with the exemption of those who were behind the doors marked by the blood of the slaughtered lamb. Every first-born  son belongs to the Lord and he had to be redeemed from the Lord at the price of an animal sacrifice…in the case of Mary and Joseph, a pair of turtle doves which were the offering of the poor.

Obedient to the law, Mary and Joseph brought the 40-day old Jesus to the temple to present him to the Lord. Even without the ritual, the Lord Jesus already belongs to God. After all, God is his Father. Remember our meditation on Christmas night? We said that Jesus was born in one of the caves outside Bethlehem because there was no room in the inn. This also signified that Jesus did not belong to the world. He belongs to the Father. He is consecrated to the Father. He who is Mary’s first-born Son is the Only Begotten Son of the Father. “And we have seen his glory: the glory of the only begotten Son coming from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

And because he is consecrated to the Father, he will be a sign that will be contradicted by many. He came to his own and his own did not accept him. Contradicted will he be because he does not belong to the world. His teachings will directly contradict the teachings of the world. The values of the Kingdom are directly contradictory to everything that the world holds dear: wealth, power, influence, pleasure… His consecration to the Father was the reason for his life of obedience. He obediently accepted death, death on a Cross.

Abraham was promised a son even in his old age. When the promise was fulfilled, Abraham was put to the test. He was asked to offer his son in a sacrifice…something which, though difficult, Abraham was willing to do: “he who had received the promise was ready to offer his son.” Of course we know that before the sacrifice was consummated, an angel of the Lord kept Abraham from harming his boy. Isaac, Abraham’s son, became an image of Jesus, the only Begotten Son of the Father. Like Abraham, the Father was willing to offer his Son in the sacrifice on the Cross. But in his case, there was no angel who came to abort the sacrifice. The sacrifice was consummated. Christ obediently accepted death on the Cross. In the temple, Mary brought in the Lamb of sacrifice, Jesus her Son, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Simeon foresaw that Jesus would have to suffer deeply from those who rejected him and as a consequence, Mary would herself suffer with him in her heart: “A sword will pierce your heart.” Mary, being the first of the disciples, would be the very first to experience the hatred of the world on account of her association with Jesus: If the world hates you, know that it has hated me first. Like Mary, the disciple would have to suffer because he belongs to Jesus, and belonging to Jesus, he belongs not to the world but to the Father. Therefore, “Let us approach God who is thrice Holy to offer our life and our mission, both personally and as a community of men and women consecrated to the Kingdom of God. Let us make this inner gesture in profound spiritual communion with the Virgin Mary. As we contemplate her in the act of presenting the Child Jesus in the Temple, let us venerate her as the first and perfect consecrated one, carried by the God whom she carries in her arms; Virgin, poor and obedient, totally dedicated to us because she belongs totally to God. At her school and with her motherly help let us renew our ‘here I am’ and our ‘fiat’." (Benedict XVI, Homily on the Presentation of the Lord, 2010.)

Jesus, I trust in you! O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

The Word was abbreviated

SOLEMNITY OF THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Saint Peter's Basilica

Our Parish Belen for 2014

Sunday, 24 December 2006

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We have just heard in the Gospel the message given by the angels to the shepherds during that Holy Night, a message which the Church now proclaims to us: "To you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger" (Lk 2:11-12). Nothing miraculous, nothing extraordinary, nothing magnificent is given to the shepherds as a sign. All they will see is a child wrapped in swaddling clothes, one who, like all children, needs a mother’s care; a child born in a stable, who therefore lies not in a cradle but in a manger. God’s sign is the baby in need of help and in poverty. Only in their hearts will the shepherds be able to see that this baby fulfils the promise of the prophet Isaiah, which we heard in the first reading: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder" (Is 9:5). Exactly the same sign has been given to us. We too are invited by the angel of God, through the message of the Gospel, to set out in our hearts to see the child lying in the manger.

God’s sign is simplicity. God’s sign is the baby. God’s sign is that he makes himself small for us. This is how he reigns. He does not come with power and outward splendour. He comes as a baby – defenseless and in need of our help. He does not want to overwhelm us with his strength. He takes away our fear of his greatness. He asks for our love: so he makes himself a child. He wants nothing other from us than our love, through which we spontaneously learn to enter into his feelings, his thoughts and his will – we learn to live with him and to practise with him that humility of renunciation that belongs to the very essence of love. God made himself small so that we could understand him, welcome him, and love him. The Fathers of the Church, in their Greek translation of the Old Testament, found a passage from the prophet Isaiah that Paul also quotes in order to show how God’s new ways had already been foretold in the Old Testament. There we read: "God made his Word short, he abbreviated it" (Is 10:23; Rom 9:28). The Fathers interpreted this in two ways. The Son himself is the Word, the Logos; the eternal Word became small – small enough to fit into a manger. He became a child, so that the Word could be grasped by us. In this way God teaches us to love the little ones. In this way he teaches us to love the weak. In this way he teaches us respect for children. The child of Bethlehem directs our gaze towards all children who suffer and are abused in the world, the born and the unborn. Towards children who are placed as soldiers in a violent world; towards children who have to beg; towards children who suffer deprivation and hunger; towards children who are unloved. In all of these it is the Child of Bethlehem who is crying out to us; it is the God who has become small who appeals to us. Let us pray this night that the brightness of God’s love may enfold all these children. Let us ask God to help us do our part so that the dignity of children may be respected. May they all experience the light of love, which mankind needs so much more than the material necessities of life.

Also we come to the second meaning that the Fathers saw in the phrase: "God made his Word short". The Word which God speaks to us in Sacred Scripture had become long in the course of the centuries. It became long and complex, not just for the simple and unlettered, but even more so for those versed in Sacred Scripture, for the experts who evidently became entangled in details and in particular problems, almost to the extent of losing an overall perspective. Jesus "abbreviated" the Word – he showed us once more its deeper simplicity and unity. Everything taught by the Law and the Prophets is summed up – he says – in the command: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind… You shall love your neighbour as yourself" (Mt 22:37-40). This is everything – the whole faith is contained in this one act of love which embraces God and humanity. Yet now further questions arise: how are we to love God with all our mind, when our intellect can barely reach him? How are we to love him with all our heart and soul, when our heart can only catch a glimpse of him from afar, when there are so many contradictions in the world that would hide his face from us? This is where the two ways in which God has "abbreviated" his Word come together. He is no longer distant. He is no longer unknown. He is no longer beyond the reach of our heart. He has become a child for us, and in so doing he has dispelled all doubt. He has become our neighbour, restoring in this way the image of man, whom we often find so hard to love. For us, God has become a gift. He has given himself. He has entered time for us. He who is the Eternal One, above time, he has assumed our time and raised it to himself on high. Christmas has become the Feast of gifts in imitation of God who has given himself to us. Let us allow our heart, our soul and our mind to be touched by this fact! Among the many gifts that we buy and receive, let us not forget the true gift: to give each other something of ourselves, to give each other something of our time, to open our time to God. In this way anxiety disappears, joy is born, and the feast is created. During the festive meals of these days let us remember the Lord’s words: "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite those who will invite you in return, but invite those whom no one invites and who are not able to invite you" (cf. Lk 14:12-14). This also means: when you give gifts for Christmas, do not give only to those who will give to you in return, but give to those who receive from no one and who cannot give you anything back. This is what God has done: he invites us to his wedding feast, something which we cannot reciprocate, but can only receive with joy. Let us imitate him! Let us love God and, starting from him, let us also love man, so that, starting from man, we can then rediscover God in a new way!

And so, finally, we find yet a third meaning in the saying that the Word became "brief" and "small". The shepherds were told that they would find the child in a manger for animals, who were the rightful occupants of the stable. Reading Isaiah (1:3), the Fathers concluded that beside the manger of Bethlehem there stood an ox and an ass. At the same time they interpreted the text as symbolizing the Jews and the pagans – and thus all humanity – who each in their own way have need of a Saviour: the God who became a child. Man, in order to live, needs bread, the fruit of the earth and of his labour. But he does not live by bread alone. He needs nourishment for his soul: he needs meaning that can fill his life. Thus, for the Fathers, the manger of the animals became the symbol of the altar, on which lies the Bread which is Christ himself: the true food for our hearts. Once again we see how he became small: in the humble appearance of the host, in a small piece of bread, he gives us himself.

All this is conveyed by the sign that was given to the shepherds and is given also to us: the child born for us, the child in whom God became small for us. Let us ask the Lord to grant us the grace of looking upon the crib this night with the simplicity of the shepherds, so as to receive the joy with which they returned home (cf. Lk 2:20). Let us ask him to give us the humility and the faith with which Saint Joseph looked upon the child that Mary had conceived by the Holy Spirit. Let us ask the Lord to let us look upon him with that same love with which Mary saw him. And let us pray that in this way the light that the shepherds saw will shine upon us too, and that what the angels sang that night will be accomplished throughout the world: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased." Amen!

Dayuhan sa mga Makamundong Bagay

PURIHIN SINA HESUS, MARIA AT JOSE!

Isang pagpapatala ng buong mundo ang iniutos ng Emperador Augusto kaya naglakbay si Jose, kasama ang kanyang maybahay na si Maria, patungong Bethlehem dahil si Jose ay mula sa lipi ni Haring David. Dahil sa pagpapatalang nagaganap, lubhang napakaraming tao noon sa bayan kaya nga walang lugar para sa mag-asawa sa panuluyang bayan. Wala nang lugar para sa kanila sa panuluyang bayan: makahulugan ito dahil ito’y lalong naglarawan ng sinabi ni San Juan sa pasimula ng kanyang sinulat na Mabuting Balita: Nasa sanlibutan ang Salita. Nilikha ang sanlibutan sa pamamagitan niya ngunit hindi siya nakilala ng sanlibutan. Naparito siya sa kanyang bayan ngunit hindi siya tinanggap ng kanyang mga kababayan (Jn. 1:11). Walang lugar para sa Manunubos ng sanlibutan. Ang lahat ng bagay ay nilikha sa kanya (Col 1:16), ngunit walang lugar para sa kanya. “May lungga ang asong gubat, may pugad ang mga ibon, subalit ang Anak ng tao ay wala man lamang mapagpahigaan at mapagpahingahan.” (Mt. 8:20) Siya ay sumilang sa labas ng lunsod at ipinako rin siya sa krus sa labas ng lunsod (Heb 13:12). 

Itinuring siyang tagalabas, isang dayuhan sa sanlibutan. Mula pa sa kanyang pagsilang, naging dayuhan siya, tagalabas sa larangan ng mga itinuturing na mahalaga at makapangyarihan sa pamatayan ng sanlibutan. Subalit ang tila walang halaga at hindi makapangyarihang sanggol na ito ay mapatutunayang siyang nagtataglay ng tunay na kapangyarihan, nakasalalay sa kanya ang lahat ng bagay. Ang santinakpan ay nilikha sa pamamagitan niya at para sa kanya. Niloob niyang sumilang sa labas ng lunsod dahil ang lahat ng mga itinuturo niya ay sumasalungat sa mga pinahahalagahan ng sanlibutan. Sa pagparito niya sa ating kasaysayan, iniwaksi niya ang lahat ng makamundong kayamanan at kapangyarihan. Sumilang siyang wala ni anuman maliban sa lamping ipinambalot sa kanya ng kanyang ina. Hindi siya humiga sa malambot na kama. Bagkus ang dayami ng isang sabsaban ang naging pahingahan niya. Hindi siya sumilang sa isang sikat na angkan ng mga maykapangyarihan sa panahong iyon. Bagkus, sumilang siya sa isang angkan na pinaglipasan na ng panahon, ang lipi ni David. Dati, sila ang makapangyarihan, ngunit hindi na ngayon. Ang naghahari ay isang dayuhang emperador na nagtalaga ng isang tau-tauhan sa pagkatao ni Herodes. Ginawa ito ng Panginoon upang ipakita na ang lahat ng mga pinahahalagahan ng mundo ay mga huwad na kayamanan at huwad na kapangyarihan. Siya ang tunay na liwanag ng mundo at pinapasok niya ang sanlibutan upang punitin ang kadilimang nagkukunwaring liwanag.  

Kaya nga ang sinumang nagnanais na sumampalataya at sumunod sa kanya ay kailangang tumalikod at iwanan ang lahat ng mga bagay na inaakala ng sanlibutan na mahalaga upang makilala niya ang katotohanan ng ating pagkatao at sa liwanag niya ay matagpuan natin ang tamang landas.

Upang makita natin siya, kailangang lumabas tayo sa lunsod. Kailangang sadyain natin siya na sumilang sa labas ng bayan. Hindi natin siya makikita sa gitna ng mga nagniningning at kumukutitap na ilaw ng lunsod. Hindi natin siya mapapansin hanggat hindi natin inilalayo ang ating sarili sa mga mapanlinlang at pansamantalang mga kaligayahan ng mundong ito. Hanggat hindi natin tinatalikuran ang lahat, hindi tayo magiging karapat dapat sa kanya. Kaya nga sa gabing ito, magtungo tayo sa Belen. Huwag tayong palilinlang sa mga huwad na liwanag. Ang gabing ito ay pinagningning ng liwanag ng mga anghel. Pakinggan natin ang kanilang sinasabi: Sa gabing ito sumilang sa inyo ang inyong Tagapagligtas, si Kristong Panginoon. Ito ang Mabuting Balitang magdudulot ng kagalakan sa lahat ng tao. Ito ang Mabuting Balitang magdudulot ng tunay na kagalakan. Wala ito sa kayamanan. Wala ito sa kapangyarihan. Wala ito sa makamundong kaaliwan. Bagkus, ito’y matatagpuan lamang sa kanya na sumilang ngayon bilang isang abang sanggol. Naparito siya upang bigyan tayo ng buhay, ng tunay na buhay, ng buhay na walang hanggan. Halina sa Belen. Halina at siya’y ating sambahin. 

Hesus, nananalig ako sa iyo. Ave Maria purisima, sin pecado consebida. 

The Joy of Belonging to the Lord

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

Simbang gabi begins on Tuesday and we could almost feel Christmas. We may be excited over the increasing level of the celebrative mood and this may distract us from the true essence of the joy which the 3^rd Sunday of Advent speaks of. We are given today the prophecy of Isaiah which was read by the Lord Jesus when he went to preach in the synagogue of Nazareth. The prophecy says: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me. Obviously, Isaiah was prophesying about Jesus who is the Christ, the one anointed by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit sends Jesus to the poor, the brokenhearted, to captives and prisoners. Why the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives and prisoners? What do they have in common? For one, these people are sad because they feel neglected and forgotten. These are the people who have lost everything, (the poor) they have nothing, (the brokenhearted, the captives, the prisoners) they have no one. (And so, if you are brokenhearted this Christmas, know that Jesus was sent to you. If you are poor this Christmas, Jesus was sent to you. If you are captive of anything, if you are imprisoned by any addiction, know that Jesus was sent to you.) To them and to us, Jesus was sent to bring glad tidings, healing, and liberty. In other words, Jesus was anointed to bring Joy. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Joy and he anoints Jesus to bring joy.

But what joy does the Lord bring to us? It is the joy of belonging to God. It is the joy of knowing that God has not forgotten us and has not abandoned us. The proof that he has not forgotten nor abandoned us is that he sent his Son – his Son who is the manifestation of God’s tenderness, of his mercy and compassion. Jesus was sent to announce a year of favor from the Lord. The Lord favors us. The Lord remembers us. Because of this, we can sing: “I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul; for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels.” This joy is not the happiness of winning a million dollars which eventually will be spent and exhausted. It is the joy of being presented in marriage (the joy of a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, the joy of a bride bedecked with her jewels) – this is the joy of knowing that I am loved, the joy of knowing that I belong to someone. I am loved not just by anyone. I am loved by someone who is great, one whose greatness John the Baptist recognized: the one who is coming after me whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie. This great God is in haste to come to me. This great God is in haste to bring me glad tidings. Nothing will prevent him from coming. St. Paul said: Do not stifle the Spirit (Huwag ninyo hadlangan ang Espiritu Santo). Let us not prevent God from bringing us his consolation. Let us not be afraid of his consolation. I have met a woman who was constantly tormented by the devil. She was in constant fear of happiness because the devil tormented her with the thought that if she experiences the slightest happiness, sadness would not be far behind. She was enslaved by this obsessive thought. Pope Francis tells us that we should never be afraid of the tenderness of God. We should not prevent him from giving us his consolations: “Do not be afraid because the Lord is the Lord of consolation, the Lord of tenderness. The Lord is a Father and he says that he will be for us like a mother with her baby, with a mother’s tenderness. Do not be afraid of the consolations of the Lord.” (Francis, Homily for MASS with Seminarians and Novices, Rome, 7 July 2013.) Let us never hesitate to meet the Lord Jesus for “the joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. With Jesus Christ joy is constantly born anew.) (Evangelii Gaudium, 1.)

Jesus, I trust in you. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.