The Primacy of God

Jesus, I trust in you!

Wanting to rescue us from the slavery to the devil, the Lord Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. Pope Benedict explained that the fasting of Jesus in the desert is “a descent into the perils besetting mankind, for there is no other way to lift up fallen humanity…He must recapitulate the whole of human history from its beginnings – from Adam on; he must go through, suffer through the whole of it, in order to transform it.” (Jesus of Nazareth, 26.) The slavery of the whole world to sin and death was brought about by the disobedience of one man (Adam). Adam’s disobedience came when he fell for the temptation of the serpent. Temptation is a seduction to sin. Satan enticed Adam and Eve to look at, take, try and taste what is forbidden. He wanted Adam and Eve to disregard God’s decrees and commands and instead, appropriate for themselves the right and the power to determine what is good and evil. It was a costly decision which Adam and Eve made because “a single offense brought condemnation to all men…through one man’s disobedience, all became sinners…”

The Lord Jesus wanted to return to man whatever was stolen from him by the devil. Adam was successfully tempted to disobey God. Jesus had to undergo the same temptation in order to undo Adam’s disobedience by his obedience. Anointed by the Holy Spirit, Jesus went to the desert. The devil challenges Jesus’ identity as the Messiah. The devil “seeks to divert Jesus from the Father’s plan, that is, from the way of sacrifice, of love that offers itself in expiation, to make him take an easier path, one of success and power…The devil, to divert Jesus from the way of the cross, sets before him false messianic hopes: economic well-being (indicated by the ability to turn stones into bread); a dramatic and miraculous style (with the idea of throwing himself down from the highest point of the Temple and being saved by angels); and lastly, a shortcut to power and dominion, in exchange for an act of adoration to Satan.” (Pope Francis, Angelus, March 9, 2014) “At the heart of all temptations is the act of pushing God aside because we perceive him as secondary, if not actually superfluous and annoying, in comparison with all the apparently far more urgent matters that fill our lives. Constructing a world by our own lights, without reference to God, building our own foundation; refusing to acknowledge the reality of anything beyond the political and material, while setting God aside as an illusion - that is the temptation that threatens us in many forms.” (Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, 28) 

Satan puts the question of relevance into the mission of Jesus as Messiah: What kind of Messiah are you if you do not bring universal prosperity, or world peace, or a better world? The Church, because she is the Mystical Body of Christ, is constantly confronted by the temptation to be relevant. Disregarding the Church’s record of charity, politicians constantly repeat what Satan said: “Why don’t you turn stones into bread? Why don’t you just impress us by your miracles? Why don’t you conquer all mankind and force them to live in peace?” If you do not solve the problems of humanity and establish a perfect drug and crime-free world, you are not the Messiah we need!

And so, Jesus came and until now, there is still hunger and poverty. Until now, the world is not at peace. Until now, there is no universal prosperity. The world is not yet a better world. And so, what has Jesus done? What has he given us? “The answer is very simple: God. He has brought us God…He has brought God and now we know his face. Now we can call upon him. Now we know the path that we have to take in this world. Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about our origin and destiny: faith, hope, and love. It is only because of the hardness of our heart that we think this is too little. Yes, indeed, God’s power works quietly in this world, but it is the true and lasting power. Again and again, God’s cause seems to be in its death throes. Yet over and over again, it proves to be the thing that truly endures and saves. The earthly kingdoms that Satan was able to put before the Lord at that time have all passed away. Their glory has proven to be a mere semblance (illusion). But the glory of Christ, the humble, self-sacrificing glory of his love, has not passed away, nor will it ever do so.

“Jesus has emerged victorious from his battle with Satan. To the tempter’s lying divinization of power and prosperity, to his lying promise of a future that offers all things to all men through power and through wealth – he responds with the fact that God is God, that God is man’s true Good. To the invitation to worship power, the Lord answers with a passage from Deuteronomy (the same book the devil himself had cited): ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him alone will you serve.’ God alone is to be worshipped…this unconditional Yes to the first tablet of the 10 commandments also includes the Yes to the 2^nd tablet – reverence for man, love of neighbor.” At the end, “angels came and ministered to him.” Psalm 91:11 now comes to fulfillment: The angels serve him, he has proven himself to be the Son, and heaven therefore stands open above him, the new Jacob, the Patriarch of a new universalized Israel.” (Benedict, Jesus of Nazareth, 44 - 45.)

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

The Joy of the Gospel

Jesus, I trust in you!

There is a sense of urgency in the sending of the disciples to preach about the coming of the Kingdom of God: Go on your way, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. By commanding the disciples to bring neither money bag, nor sack, nor sandals, the Lord wanted them to travel light. “Greet no one along the way” so that nothing can delay them from fulfilling their task. Perhaps you have seen those trucks that bore the signs “Government project: do not delay.” The mission to evangelize is something like that. Each of us is sent to evangelize: God’s project: do not delay.”

I suppose that this sense of urgency springs from the importance of the message we are supposed to bring to others: “The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.” The coming of the Kingdom of God is indeed important because it is the means by which God gives all men access to his divine life. The Father wants all of us to share in his divine life. That is why he gathers men around his Son and this gathering is the Church which on earth is the beginning of the Kingdom of God. The Lord wants to gather us all in the Church so that we might have life: “Oh, that you may suck fully of the milk of her comfort, that you may nurse with delight at her abundant breasts! For thus says the Lord: Lo, I will spread prosperity over Jerusalem like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing torrent. As nurslings, you shall be carried in her arms, and fondled in her lap; as a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; in Jerusalem you shall find your comfort.” The Lord uses the tender image of a mother nursing her child in order to reveal to us the tenderness of his love which desires nothing but goodness for all of us. The Lord comforts us through the Church which is the new Jerusalem. We should always consider the Church as our mother.  (Because of the popularity of receiving communion by the hand, the reception of communion on the tongue is unappreciated by many. I find this unfortunate because receiving Communion on the tongue reminds us of the time when as little children, we were fed by the hand of our mothers. This manner of receiving Communion expresses the motherly gesture of the Church.)

The tenderness of a mother’s love always brings delight. It brings joy because it is life giving. A person who experienced a mother’s love grows and finds fulfillment. In the same way, we who experienced the love of God through the Church grow to maturity and eventually we seek means to fulfillment. The challenge to go and evangelize gives us the opportunity to find real fulfillment. “The Gospel offers us the chance to live life on a higher plane: ‘Life grows by being given away, and it weakens in isolation and comfort. Indeed, those who enjoy life the most are those who leave security on the shore and become excited by the mission of communicating life to others.’ When the Church summons Christians to take up the task of evangelization, she is simply pointing to the source of authentic fulfillment. For ‘here we discover a profound law of reality: that life is attained and matures in the measure that it is offered up in order to give life to others. This is certainly what mission means.’” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 10.) A loving mother gives life to loving children. Eventually her children become parents themselves. They who have been given life by their mother eventually desire to give life to others. This is precisely what evangelization is all about: it is about the passing on of a life-giving tradition. I have been given life. Now, I want to give life to others. I have been given joy. Now, I want to pass on this joy to others. “Consequently, an evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral! Let us recover and deepen our enthusiasm, that ‘delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing, even when it is in tears that we must sow…And may the world of our time, which is searching, sometimes in anguish, sometimes with hope, be enabled to receive the good news not from evangelizers who are dejected, impatient or anxious, but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow with fervor, who have first received the joy of Christ.’” (Ibid.)

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

The Legacy of the Open Door

Thanks to Fr. Aris Sison for this photo of the evacuation in the Holy Family Parish

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

The day has come at last when my tenure in this parish must end. Tomorrow, I will be leaving for a new assignment and it is time for me to say goodbye to all of you. I find it significant that my last day as your parish priest should coincide with the gospel reading wherein the Lord Jesus sends his disciples on a mission. They were to journey without anything except a walking stick and sandals on the feet. They were not to stay for long in one place but the disciples must keep moving on like Jesus who had no place to lay his head on. As they go from one place to another, the disciples live on the hospitality of good people: “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave.” 3 years ago, I entered this house and here I stay until I leave tomorrow. I stayed here because you welcomed me. As the good Lord pointed out, I lived on your hospitality and for this, I am very grateful. Thank you for welcoming me. Thank you for listening to what I have to say. You listened because you believed that I was sent to you by the Lord. By listening to me, you welcomed me not only in your home but in your hearts as well.

If there is one legacy which I wish to leave you, I hope that it would be the legacy of the open door. In my term as your pastor, I opened the basketball court to our neighbors who wished to play. I also opened the gates even during school days to welcome everyone who wished to pray. In times of calamities, I opened the Church to those who sought refuge from the storms. I kept repeating to you what Pope Francis constantly reminded us: that the doors of the Church must be kept wide open to welcome all people. Access to the Church must not be limited to the few students of the parochial school or to the few devout and decent people who come to pray. The Church must also welcome the poor, the dirty, and the sinner. At times, welcoming these people may compromise our security, our hygiene, or even our silence but still we have to open our doors because the Church must be a good neighbor who imitates the example of Christ the Good Samaritan.

As we have opened the doors of our parish to welcome all for the past 3 years, I beg you to keep opening your doors. Be always a welcoming parish. I beg you, do not lock the basketball rings to make it difficult for people to play. Always keep the gates open to welcome those who search for the Lord. Open the doors to welcome evacuees in times of crises. Open your doors to Christ who knocks and who redeems.

When we welcome Christ, we welcome the Father who blesses us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. Pinagkakalooban tayo ng Ama ng lahat ng pagpapalang espiritwal dahil sa pakikipagkaisa natin kay Kristo. Salamat sa malugod na pagtanggap ninyo sa akin. Aalis akong baon ang magagandang alaala ng inyong pagmamahal at pagsisikap na maging banal. Patuloy kong isasagawa ang iniatas sa akin: ang mangaral sa m

ga tao na pagsisihan nila’t talikdan ang kanilang mga kasalanan, ang magpalayas ng mga demonyo sa mga inaalihan nito, at ang pagpapahid ng langis sa mga maysakit. Sa aking pag-alis, manatili nawa sa inyo ang kapayapaan ni Kristo, ang kapayapaang inilaan niya sa mga malugod na tumatanggap sa kanyang mga isinugo. Salamat po at paalam.

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

Visit of the Weeping Madonna to Holy Family Parish

Mysterium Lunae

PRAISED BE Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

When the angel spoke to Zechariah about his son John, he said “You will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth.” And so, in today’s gospel, those words were fulfilled. At the birth of John, many neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy towards Elizabeth, and they rejoiced with her. In spite of her old age, Elizabeth gave birth to him. And so, the newborn child was indeed a sign of mercy…that kind of sign that gives joy. When the mouth of Zechariah was opened and his tongue was freed, all the more did the people wonder about this child: “What will this child be, for surely the hand of the Lord was with him?”

What will this child be? The prophet Malachi responds: “Thus says the Lord, ‘Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me…” When John the Baptist was confronted by the priests who asked him “who are you?”, John replied by quoting the prophet Isaiah: “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘make straight the way of the Lord.’” Pope Francis said that John is the voice, but "it is a voice without the Word, because the Word is not him, it is an Other." Here then is the mystery of John: "He never takes over the Word," John "is the one who indicates, who marks". The "meaning of John's life - he added - is to indicate another." And John really "was the man of light, he brought light, but it was not his own light, it was a reflected light." John is "like a moon" and when Jesus began to preach, the light of John "began to decline, to set". "Voice not Word - the Pope said - light, but not his own" "John seems to be nothing. That is John’s vocation: he negates himself. And when we contemplate the life of this man, so great, so powerful - all believed that he was the Messiah - when we contemplate this life, how it is nullified to the point of the darkness of a prison, we behold a great mystery. We do not know what John’s last days were like. We do not know. We only know that he was killed, his head was put on a platter, as a great gift from a dancer to an adulteress. I don’t think you can lower yourself much more than this, negate yourself much more. That was the end that John met".

And here we see the greatness of this child. He will be great because he negates himself; he keeps pointing to the one who comes after him as someone so great that he himself is not worthy to untie his sandal straps. It is this kind of greatness that the Church must aspire for. The Church is a Church of the poor, a Church that always diminishes. Francis continues: "The Church must hear the Word of Jesus and raise her voice, proclaim it boldly. 'That' - he said - 'is the Church without ideologies, without a life of its own: the Church which is the mysterium lunae which has light from her Bridegroom and diminish herself so that He may grow.'

"This is the model that John offers us today, for us and for the Church.” Imitating John, we must be “a Church that is always at the service of the Word, a Church that never takes anything for herself. Today in prayer we asked for the grace of joy, we asked the Lord to cheer this Church in her service to the Word, to be the voice of this Word, preach this Word. We ask for the grace, the dignity of John, with no ideas of our own, without a Gospel taken as property, only one Church that indicates the Word, and this even to martyrdom.“

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

God's Preference for the Poor

PRAISED BE JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH!

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Mary breaks into song. She glorifies God for the wonderful things the He has done for her – such wonderful things that will identify her as blessed and loved by God. Her song is one of gratitude for God looked with favor upon her lowliness. She recognized the fact that even her election as God’s Mother is sheer grace coming from God.

Recognizing the wonderful things God has done for her, Mary begins singing about the wonderful things that God is about to do for the world. She sings about the inversion of the social order. She sings of how God constantly sides with the poor, the hungry, and the humble. She sings of how God will bring down the proud, the mighty, and the rich. “God shows the poor ‘his first mercy’. This divine preference has consequences for the faith life of all Christians, since we are called to have ‘this mind…which was in Jesus Christ. Inspired by this, the Church has made an option for the poor which is understood as a ‘special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity…” (Evangelii Gaudium, 198.)

Because God sides with the poor, we have to be, at all times, in the side of God. Thus, Pope Francis says: “I want a Church which is poor and for the poor. They have much to teach us…In their difficulties, they know the suffering Christ. We need to let ourselves be evangelized by them. The new evangelization is an invitation to acknowledge the saving power at work in their lives and to put them at the center of the Church’s pilgrim way. We are called to find Christ in them, to lend our voice to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them, and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them.” Pope Francis speaks of a loving attentiveness which we must give to the poor. This loving attentiveness entails “appreciating the poor in their goodness, in their experience of life, in their culture, in their ways of living the faith. True love is always contemplative , and permits us to serve the other not out of necessity or vanity, but because he or she is beautiful above  and beyond mere appearances…The poor person, when loved, ‘is esteemed as of great value.’…only on the basis of this real and sincere closeness can we properly accompany the poor on their path of liberation. Only this will ensure that in every Christian community, the poor feel at home. This approach (would be) the greatest and the most effective presentation of the good news of the Kingdom.” (EG, 199.)

This preferential option for the poor would demand from ourselves, as a parish, the need to address the lack of spiritual care which the poor suffer. “The great majority of the poor have a special openness to the faith; they need God and we must not fail to offer them his friendship, his blessing, his word, the celebration of the sacraments and a journey of growth and maturity in the faith. Our preferential option for the poor must mainly translate into a privileged and preferential religious care.” (EG, 200)

“None of us can think that we are exempt from concern for the poor and for social justice: Spiritual conversion, the intensity of the love of God and neighbor, zeal for justice and peace, the Gospel meaning of the poor and of poverty, are required of everyone.” (EG, 201.)  Therefore, in Christ, we are to find our anointing to bring glad tidings to the poor, to announce to them the year of favor coming from the Lord.

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

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.

Breaking our self-centeredness

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

While congress is busy legislating about our national dish, perhaps it would also be good to settle once and for all the issue of the national past time. If I had my way it would be “selfie.”  The social networks have provided the venue for self-broadcasting and now, it seems to be an unstoppable trend. Call it “self expression” but we cannot deny that the proliferation of “selfies” is really a manifestation of our self-centeredness. If I may use the words of Pope emeritus Benedict, we have become a “self-enclosed society.”

At the beginning of Lent, the Lord cautions us against self-centeredness. He warns us against false benevolence, that is, performing acts of charity for people to see. He also warns us against false piety that makes a show out of worship. He likewise warns us against self-assuring mortification. He thrice repeats his displeasure against religious acts done for other people to see. Those who perform such acts do not genuinely seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. Rather, they use charity, piety, and mortification as occasions to broadcast themselves. And how many times do we see ourselves as belonging to this “selfie” generation. We broadcast to people how beautiful, or intelligent, or busy, or important we are. As we receive ashes today, I appeal to you…please do not upload your selfies with ashes on your foreheads.

The season of Lent is much known to us as a season of Penance. It is a time for fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. These spiritual disciplines are meant to help us lose ourselves so that we may give due attention to God and to our neighbors. True fasting means voluntary self-denial so that we could breakthrough the barriers of

our self-centeredness and open ourselves to the Other. True fasting leads to authentic prayer. When I truly deny myself, my prayer becomes more focused towards God. Prayer becomes less about myself and more about God. True fasting leads to charity. When I truly deny myself, I become sensitive to the needs of my neighbors. The objective of our fasting is not to achieve the healthy weight and perfect figure. The objective of our fasting is to be able to share with those who have nothing. Our fast-to-feed program for this Lent is for the children survivors of the super typhoon Yolanda. Pope Francis presents to us the example of the Lord Jesus who made himself poor in order to enrich us with his poverty. Our self-denial, our voluntary poverty must enrich others. We lose so that others may gain. “…we imitate Christ who became poor and enriched us by his poverty. Lent is a fitting time for self-denial; we would do well to ask ourselves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others by our own poverty. Let us not forget that real poverty hurts: no self-denial is real without this dimension of penance. I distrust a charity that costs nothing and does not hurt.”

Our sacrifices must be low-key and hidden. We do not collectively engage in mortification, prayer, and charity to earn a place in the Guiness book of records. We do not want the recognition of the world. All we want to do is to seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. We need not gain the admiration of the world because we are not of the world. We do what is right only for the pleasure of the Father who sees everything in secret. “The world admires only spectacular sacrifice, because it does not realize the value of sacrifice that is hidden and silent.” (St. Josemaria Escriva, The Way, #185.) Spectacular sacrifice gains the admiration of the world. But the sacrifice that is hidden and silent merits the approval of God.

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

On the Last 8 Days of Christmas: Christ, Light in Darkness

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

“The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light.”

It is quite significant that the Lord begins his preaching in the borders of Zabulon and Nephtali, the Galilee of the gentiles. [There were two Galilees; one of the Jews and the other of the Gentiles. This division of Galilee had existed from Solomon’s time, who gave 20 cities in Galilee to Hyram, King of Tyre; this part was afterwards called Galilee of the Gentiles; while the remainder was called the Galilee of the Jews. Zabulon and Nephtali were two tribes that were taken captive by the Assyrians.] It was the Gentiles that the prophet Isaiah referred to as the people which sat in darkness. The Gentiles sat in darkness because they did not know the true God. They worshipped idols and demons and so they lived in the region of death. St. John Chrysostom said “they (gentiles) found it (light) not of their own seeking, but God Himself appeared to them…for men were in the greatest miseries before Christ’s coming; they did not walk but sat in darkness, which was a sign that they hoped for deliverance; for as not knowing what way they should go, shut in by darkness, they sat down having no power to stand. By darkness he means here, error and ungodliness.”

The Light of Christ draws us out of darkness

Darkness is debilitating. When we are covered with thick darkness, there is nothing much we can do. If this is true with physical light, it is even truer with spiritual light. “Darkness means error and ungodliness.” Therefore, ignorance of the true God is debilitating. One who is shut in by darkness does not know where to go. He loses the right sense of direction. He simply goes round and round until finally, in exhaustion, he sits in the dark as he hopes that light will soon find him. Many people falsely think that they can go through life without the light of religion. But Pope Francis himself says: “faith is a light, for once the flame of faith dies out, all other lights begin to dim. The light of faith is unique, since it is capable of illuminating every aspect of human existence. A light this powerful cannot come from ourselves but from a more primordial source: in a word, it must come from God. Faith is born of an encounter with the living God who calls us and reveals his love, a love which precedes us and upon which we can lean for security and for building our lives. Transformed by this love, we gain fresh vision, new eyes to see; we realize that it contains a great promise of fulfilment, and that a vision of the future opens up before us. Faith, received from God as a supernatural gift, becomes a light for our way, guiding our journey through time.” [Lumen Fidei, 4.]

Christ is the Light that enlightens every man. As the magi, after having encountered Christ, went home using a different road, one who encounters Christ cannot help but be changed by this encounter. As Christ illuminates every aspect of our human existence, we begin to see reality in a new perspective – which is definitely wider than the constricting point of view of our flesh. Christ, who enlightens us, calls out to us: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” After discovering that Christ offers us something better than the world can give, turning our back to the world is the only reasonable response. Why insist on what is limited when what is better is standing before us? Why insist on sitting in darkness when the inviting light of Christ is calling us to him? At the end of a black out, our instinct is to clap our hands in joy at the lifting of darkness and the coming of light. Christ our light shines on us and he has brought us “abundant joy and great rejoicing” for he has smashed the yoke of sin which burdened us and has shattered the rod of the devil who oppressed us.

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

Mary and the Church: Mothers with open hearts

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

Mary opened her heart to the shepherds.

One of the reasons why Jesus was born in a stable was Mary’s need for privacy as she gave birth to her first-born Son. Because the inn was filled with people, it was impossible for her to get the privacy she needed in giving birth. Thus, the stable was the best place for her to deliver the child. It may have been a place for animals…and yet there was the privacy she needed for the birth of God’s Son to take place. Thus, that she would open the stable and admit the visit of shepherds is to me a surprise. First of all, these shepherds were completely strangers to her. She did not know them. And we have to abandon the stereotype we give these shepherds as cute little drummer boys. These shepherds were rugged men who were accustomed to the outdoor life – perhaps the kind that you would hesitate to welcome into your own home. Nevertheless, she welcomed them and even opened her heart to them. She listened to their story of angels delivering a message about her new-born Son. “All were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds”…all, including Mary who “kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” Opening her heart to the shepherds, Mary was further enriched in her faith. It made her heart expand more in charity. She welcomed God’s Son into her heart and then in her womb. Now, she welcomed the shepherds into the stable…and then in her heart.

The Church is also a mother…just like Mary. In fact, Mary is Mother and model of the Church. She is what the Church wishes and should be. Therefore, in the new evangelization, the Church must imitate Mary. Pope Francis wrote: “The Church is called to be the house of the Father, with doors always wide open. One concrete sign of such openness is that our church doors should always be open, so that if someone, moved by the Spirit, comes there looking for God, he or she will not find a closed door. There are other doors that should not be closed either. Everyone can share in some way in the life of the Church; everyone can be part of the community, nor should the doors of the sacraments be closed for simply any reason. This is especially true of the sacrament which is itself ‘the door’: baptism. The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak. These convictions have pastoral consequences that we are called to consider with prudence and boldness. Frequently, we act as arbiters of grace rather than its facilitators. But the Church is not a tollhouse; it is the house of the Father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems.” [Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 47.] Sometimes, we close our churches for fear of being burglarized. And this is a legitimate concern. However, we must keep in mind that our churches are not museums or storage houses of precious artifacts. It is the house of God and its opened doors should reflect the opened heart of the Father.

The Church is the house of the Father with its doors always widely opened. And like Mary who listened to the shepherds, we must also take time to listen to the stories of those who enter the Church. “A Church which ‘goes forth’ is a Church whose doors are open. Going out to others in order to reach the fringes of humanity does not mean rushing out aimlessly into the world. Often it is better simply to slow down, to put aside our eagerness in order to see and listen to others, to stop rushing from one thing to another and to remain with someone who has faltered along the way. At times we have to be like the father of the prodigal son, who always keeps his door open so that when the son returns, he can readily pass through it.” (EG, 46.)

As the shepherds went out and amazed all with their story of what they heard and seen, so must we also be bearers of this glad tidings to all, especially to the poor. “If the whole Church takes up this missionary impulse, she has to go forth to everyone without exception. But to whom should she go first? When we read the Gospel we find a clear indication: not so much our friends and wealthy neighbours, but above all the poor and the sick, those who are usually despised and overlooked, ‘those who cannot repay you’ (Lk 14:14). There can be no room for doubt or for explanations which weaken so clear a message. Today and always, ‘the poor are the privileged recipients of the Gospel’, and the fact that it is freely preached to them is a sign of the kingdom that Jesus came to establish. We have to state, without mincing words, that there is an inseparable bond between our faith and the poor. May we never abandon them.” (EG, 48.)

Let this new year be truly a renewed opportunity for our conversion. Like Mary, may our parish be a more welcoming parish. May we be a more missionary parish. May we be eager to amaze people with our stories of what we have seen and heard. Let us go forth to everyone without exception.

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

The Holy Family: Custodian of the Incarnation

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

Jesus became man in order to destroy the works of the devil. That the demons know this is shown by the fact that during exorcisms, they would greet Jesus with the words: “Have you come to destroy us? We know who you are – you are the Holy One of God.” Thus, early on in the Lord’s life on earth, the Evil one made attempts on the life of the Holy Child. This he did through King Herod: “Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.” Herod, whose legitimacy as king is questionable because he was not a descendant of David, felt that the birth of this new-born King threatened the stability of his reign. The Light has come into the world and invites all to step into his radiance…but Herod chose to remain in the dark. The darkness of his mind was revealed when he commanded the massacre of all babies in Bethlehem and its environs. The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it…no matter what it does.

The darkness tried to overcome the Light but just before it could happen, an angel of the Lord commanded St. Joseph to rise and take the child and his mother to Egypt. God, who rules the world with a mighty hand, humbled himself by submitting himself to the protection of St. Joseph. He, who delivered the people of Israel from the slavery of Egypt on the night of the Exodus, was delivered from the hands of Herod and brought to Egypt in the middle of the night. Plagues did not come. The Red Sea did not part.  Their only protection was the thick shadow of the night. Their only means of transport was a donkey. Hastily brought by St. Joseph and the Virgin, God was running for his life. The Son of God was born into a humble family to be protected by it.

Through His humble submission, Jesus our Lord shows us that the Divine Life in us is protected by the Christian family. “Whoever honors his father atones for sins and preserves himself from them. When he prays, he is heard; he stores up riches who reveres his mother.” In so far as the family maintains its Christian identity and lives up to its calling to be salt and light of the world, the Divine life which Baptism imparted to its members will always be secured. When heart-felt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and mercy are practiced in a family…when love which is the bond of perfection is lived in a family, the Divine life will always be secured. 

And by remaining in the Divine Life, the family experiences joy. Pope Francis said: “Dear families, you know very well that the true joy which we experience in the family is not superficial; it does not come from material objects, from the fact that everything seems to be going well...  True joy comes from a profound harmony between persons, something which we all feel in our hearts and which makes us experience the beauty of togetherness, of mutual support along life’s journey.  But the basis of this feeling of deep joy is the presence of God, the presence of God in the family and his love, which is welcoming, merciful, and respectful towards all.  And above all, a love which is patient: patience is a virtue of God and he teaches us how to cultivate it in family life, how to be patient, and lovingly so, with each other. To be patient among ourselves. A patient love.  God alone knows how to create harmony from differences.  But if God’s love is lacking, the family loses its harmony, self-centeredness prevails and joy fades.  But the family which experiences the joy of faith communicates it naturally.  Ibid. That family is the salt of the earth and the light of the world, it is the leaven of society as a whole.” (September 27, 2013)

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

Christmas Mass at Day 2013: Encounter with the Word Incarnate

PRAISED BE JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH!

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. With the shepherds, our eyes behold a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. This baby is the Word of God who was made flesh. We look at the baby and we realize that through him, God is engaging in a conversation with us. “In times past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets…now, he speaks to us through his Son.” He speaks to us through his Son. “Christ is the ‘eternal Gospel’ (Rev 14:6); he ‘is the same yesterday and today and forever’ (Heb 13:8), yet his riches and beauty are inexhaustible. He is forever young and a constant source of newness. The Church never fails to be amazed at ‘the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God’ (Rom 11:33).” (Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 11.) We look at the baby Jesus and in him is found that depth of Divine riches, wisdom and knowledge. Year after year, we celebrate Christmas. Year after year, we look at the baby in the manger and yet, we are always amazed at what we see. There is always something new to discover about him. His riches and beauty are inexhaustible. He is forever young. Forever he is a source of newness.

At Christmas, as always, we encounter Jesus made flesh in the Eucharist. But we also encounter him made flesh in his word. Jesus is the Word of the Father. He engages us in a unique and personal conversation…a transformative conversation. In Jesus his Son, he tells us that he loves us. In the Baby Jesus, he begs to be loved by us. This conversation of love is an invitation to communion with him – for isn’t every conversation meant to promote understanding, acceptance, and communion? And we must be willing to be surprised at what the Word is able to do in our lives. The Word that comes from the Father’s mouth is so powerful. This is the Word through whom all things were made. In this Word, all things continue to exist. “God’s word is unpredictable in its power. The Gospel speaks of a seed which, once sown, grows by itself, even as the farmer sleeps (Mk 4:26-29). The Church has to accept this unruly freedom of the word, which accomplishes what it wills in ways that surpass our calculations and ways of thinking.” (EG, 22.) But wherever the Word takes us…it will definitely take us out of our loneliness, fears, and sin. He will definitely bring us joy. “In Christ, joy is born anew.”

The Word does not only bring us to communion. Our communion with him transforms us into missionaries. “The Church’s closeness to Jesus is part of a common journey; ‘communion and mission are profoundly interconnected’. In fidelity to the example of the Master, it is vitally important for the Church today to go forth and preach the Gospel to all: to all places, on all occasions, without hesitation, reluctance or fear. The joy of the Gospel is for all people: no one can be excluded. That is what the angel proclaimed to the shepherds in Bethlehem: ‘Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people’ (Lk 2:10). The Book of Revelation speaks of ‘an eternal Gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tongue and tribe and people (Rev 14:6).’ [EG, 23.] Therefore, like the shepherds who proclaimed to all what they have heard and seen, let us go forth and proclaim Christ, the Eternal Gospel. Go tell it on the mountain, over the hill and everywhere. Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet  of him who brings glad tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation, saying to Zion: “Your God is King.”

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

Midnight Mass 2013: The Christmas of Essentials

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

“Do not be afraid! Behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the city of David, a savior has been born to you who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” The words of the angel tonight tell us of a Christmas that seems to be so far from what we know of it today. Indeed we all acknowledge the fact that this night is a night of great joy. But for many people, joy would mean merrymaking: food, wine, shopping and revelry. We all come here to church in our best look: new clothes, and even shoes. There is great expectation for gifts and of course, lots of love…love as in hugs and kisses.

But the good news of great joy is not about food, gifts and good company. It is about the birth of a savior, who is both Christ and Lord. The angel does not invite us to attend a grand Christmas ball. He tells us to go to the City of David, not to search for some celebrity wrapped in finery but for a new-born baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Christmas is not about glitter and tinsel. Rather it is about the darkness of the night made radiant by choirs of angels praising God as they sang: Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests! Christmas is not about parades. It is about a procession of shepherds to Bethlehem to see for themselves whatever the angel told them. And it would all be in accord with what they were told: a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. They would behold him: Savior, Christ, Lord, Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. They would behold him not wrapped in finery but in swaddling clothes, not in comfort but in a manger.

Padre Pio said: "The heavenly Babe suffers and cries in the crib so that for us suffering would be sweet, meritorious and accepted. He deprives himself of everything, in order that we may learn from him the renunciation of worldly goods and comforts. He is satisfied with humble and poor adorers, to encourage us to love poverty, and to prefer the company of the little and simple rather than the great ones of the world."

Christ made himself poor to be close to the poor. Pope Francis wrote: “ God’s heart has a special place for the poor, so much so that he himself “became poor” (2 Cor 8:9). The entire history of our redemption is marked by the presence of the poor. Salvation came to us from the “yes” uttered by a lowly maiden from a small town on the fringes of a great empire. The Saviour was born in a manger, in the midst of animals, like children of poor families; he was presented at the Temple along with two turtledoves, the offering made by those who could not afford a lamb (cf. Lk 2:24; Lev 5:7); he was raised in a home of ordinary workers and worked with his own hands to earn his bread. When he began to preach the Kingdom, crowds of the dispossessed followed him, illustrating his words: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor” (Lk 4:18). He assured those burdened by sorrow and crushed by poverty that God has a special place for them in his heart: “Blessed are you poor, yours is the kingdom of God” (Lk 6:20); he made himself one of them: “I was hungry and you gave me food to eat”, and he taught them that mercy towards all of these is the key to heaven (cf. Mt25:5ff.).” (Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 197.)

“God shows the poor “his first mercy”. This divine preference has consequences for the faith life of all Christians, since we are called to have “this mind… which was in Jesus Christ” (Phil 2:5). Inspired by this, the Church has made an option for the poor which is understood as a “special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity, to which the whole tradition of the Church bears witness”. This option – as Benedict XVI has taught – “is implicit in our Christian faith in a God who became poor for us, so as to enrich us with his poverty”. This is why I want a Church which is poor and for the poor. They have much to teach us. Not only do they share in the sensus fidei, but in their difficulties they know the suffering Christ. We need to let ourselves be evangelized by them. The new evangelization is an invitation to acknowledge the saving power at work in their lives and to put them at the centre of the Church’s pilgrim way. We are called to find Christ in them, to lend our voice to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them.” (EG, 198.)

The Pope does not speak only of activities or programmes of promotion and assistance. Above these, he is speaking of loving attentiveness to the poor. “This loving attentiveness is the beginning of a true concern for their person which inspires me effectively to seek their good. This entails appreciating the poor in their goodness, in their experience of life, in their culture, and in their ways of living the faith. True love is always contemplative, and permits us to serve the other not out of necessity or vanity, but rather because he or she is beautiful above and beyond mere appearances: ‘The love by which we find the other pleasing leads us to offer him something freely’. The poor person, when loved, ‘is esteemed as of great value’, and this is what makes the authentic option for the poor differ from any other ideology, from any attempt to exploit the poor for one’s own personal or political interest. Only on the basis of this real and sincere closeness can we properly accompany the poor on their path of liberation. Only this will ensure that ‘in every Christian community the poor feel at home. Would not this approach be the greatest and most effective presentation of the good news of the kingdom?’ Without the preferential option for the poor, ‘the proclamation of the Gospel, which is itself the prime form of charity, risks being misunderstood or submerged by the ocean of words which daily engulfs us in today’s society of mass communications’. (EG 199)

The Lord Jesus said: I will be with you until the end of times. He also said: The poor you will always have with you. Both are connected: Jesus will always be with us…not just through his abiding presence in the Blessed Sacrament, but also in and through the poor. And so if we are attentive to the poor, we become attentive to Jesus. Let this be our gift to Jesus: a Christmas closer to his Christmas…a Christmas of essentials, a Christmas of sharing, a Christmas for the poor. May our parish be a place where the poor feel at home for it is only in being so that we can truly and effectively proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom.

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

Misa de Aguinaldo December 24, 2013: Stepping into the Light at the Break of Dawn

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

Christ the Light

Advent began with a reminder by St. Paul: “The night is far spent, the day draws near.” Today, it ends with the song of Zechariah: “In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.” The words of Zechariah tell us of the impending coming of the day. Yes, we find ourselves still in the middle of the dark because the Kingdom of God has not yet fully manifested itself and the darkness and loneliness of the world still prevail, injustices still occur, hunger still is widespread. However, the day draws near. The dawn from on high breaks upon us. The Light has come.

The breaking of dawn invites us to step into the light. Christ invites us to follow him who is the Light of the world. No one who follows me will walk in darkness. How to we bring ourselves to step into the light. First, it begins by casting away deeds of darkness. It means conversion. It means abandoning our works of selfishness, pride and hatred in order to embrace the love of the Lord. Living in the light means loving God and our neighbors. Pope Francis wrote: “Loving others is a spiritual force drawing us to union with God; indeed, one who does not love others ‘walks in the darkness’ (1 Jn 2:11), ‘remains in death’ (1 Jn 3:14) and ‘does not know God (1 Jn 4:8). Benedict XVI has said that ‘closing our eyes to our neighbour also blinds us to God’, and that love is, in the end, the only light which ‘can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us the courage needed to keep living and working. When we live out a spirituality of drawing nearer to others and seeking their welfare, our hearts are opened wide to the Lord’s greatest and most beautiful gifts. Whenever we encounter another person in love, we learn something new about God. Whenever our eyes are opened to acknowledge the other, we grow in the light of faith and knowledge of God. If we want to advance in the spiritual life, then, we must constantly be missionaries. The work of evangelization enriches the mind and the heart; it opens up spiritual horizons; it makes us more and more sensitive to the workings of the Holy Spirit, and it takes us beyond our limited spiritual constructs. A committed missionary knows the joy of being a spring which spills over and refreshes others. Only the person who feels happiness in seeking the good of others, in desiring their happiness, can be a missionary. This openness of the heart is a source of joy, since ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive’ (Acts 20:35). We do not live better when we flee, hide, refuse to share, stop giving and lock ourselves up in own comforts. Such a life is nothing less than slow suicide. [Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 272.]

One who follows Jesus embraces the light. Remember that we are children of light and of the day. This is a brand that baptism has sealed us with. “My mission of being in the heart of the people is not just a part of my life or a badge I can take off; it is not an ‘extra’ or just another moment in life. Instead, it is something I cannot uproot from my being without destroying my very self. I am a mission on this earth; that is the reason why I am here in this world. We have to regard ourselves as sealed, even branded, by this mission of bringing light, blessing, enlivening, raising up, healing and freeing. All around us we begin to see nurses with soul, teachers with soul, politicians with soul, people who have chosen deep down to be with others and for others. But once we separate our work from our private lives, everything turns grey and we will always be seeking recognition or asserting our needs. We stop being a people.” [EG, 273.]

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

Misa de Aguinaldo December 23, 2013: Your Sons and Daughters Will Prophesy

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

St. John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Lord, is born and at his circumcision, the tongue of his father Zechariah was loosened when he insisted that the name John was to be given to the child. Remember that Zechariah was made dumb at the apparition of the angel and his ability to speak will only return when all that was told him would come to pass. And true to the angel’s word, his speech was restored. Zechariah’s silence before the birth of John portrayed the silence of God because for many years, no prophet was sent to Israel. John’s birth broke the silence not only of Zechariah but of God as well. God once again sends a prophet and after the prophet, his Son. First, the voice and then followed the Word.

But it is not only John who will prophesy. Zechariah will prophesy as well. Here we see the signs of the day of the Lord: “In the last days, God says,  I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions,  your old men will dream dreams.” Acts 2:17. To prophesy is not to predict the future. To prophesy is to speak in the name of the Lord. And the Spirit poured out on all people on the day of the Lord will make of us visionaries, dreamers, and prophets.

Pope Francis wrote: “In all the baptized, from first to last, the sanctifying power of the Spirit is at work, impelling us to evangelization.” [Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 119.] “In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples (cf. Mt 28:19). All the baptized, whatever their position in the Church or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelization, and it would be insufficient to envisage a plan of evangelization to be carried out by professionals while the rest of the faithful would simply be passive recipients. The new evangelization calls for personal involvement on the part of each of the baptized. Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization; indeed, anyone who has truly experienced God’s saving love does not need much time or lengthy training to go out and proclaim that love. Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we are ‘disciples’ and ‘missionaries’, but rather that we are always ‘missionary disciples’.” [EG, 120.]

“…each of us should find ways to communicate Jesus wherever we are. All of us are called to offer others an explicit witness to the saving love of the Lord, who despite our imperfections offers us his closeness, his word and his strength, and gives meaning to our lives. In your heart you know that it is not the same to live without him; what you have come to realize, what has helped you to live and given you hope, is what you also need to communicate to others. Our falling short of perfection should be no excuse; on the contrary, mission is a constant stimulus not to remain mired in mediocrity but to continue growing. The witness of faith that each Christian is called to offer leads us to say with Saint Paul: “Not that I have already obtained this, or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own” (Phil 3:12-13).” [EG, 121.]

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

Misa de Aguinaldo December 22, 2013: The Song of Mary, Queen of Prophets

All generations will call me blessed.

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

The Holy Spirit filled John the Baptist and sanctified him in his mothers’ womb. The Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth and made her recognize the blessedness of Mary. Rejoicing in the same Holy Spirit, Mary sang a prophetic song about the consequences of the favor that the Lord has shown her. First, Mary acknowledged that what God has done to her will change her life forever: All generations will call me blessed for the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his name.

Mary recognized the fact that the wonders that God has done for her will change not only her life but the direction of the history of the world. The Incarnation of God the Son in her womb was the decisive intervention of God into the affairs of the world. By the mystery of the Incarnation, God resolutely acted to save man who cannot save himself. Christ, the new Adam, will inaugurate a new creation that will restore whatever sin has destroyed. Christ will challenge the order of things in the world whose sense of values was upset by sin. Sin has created a world order wherein the proudly conceited, the powerful kings, and the constantly satisfied rich are always on top and they get to have their way at all times. Sometimes, they demand that courtesy be accorded to them on account of what they have. But Christ confronts this order and reveals to us that God is always at the side of the lowly, the humble, the hungry and the down trodden. When God magnified the Virgin Mary, he magnified all those who are like her: the humble, the poor, the down trodden. When God blessed Mary, he blessed all those who are like her. Thus, Christ would later on say: Blessed are the poor in spirit…The Lord Jesus in the womb of Mary will inaugurate a new order of things where the proud are scattered, the kings are cast down from their thrones, and the rich are sent away empty. In the new order of things, the lowly are exalted and the hungry are filled with good things. This new order is the order in the Kingdom of God that Christ establishes in the Church.

However, as we see it now, Mary’s prophecy is far from reality. Pope Francis speaks of the imbalance in the gap between the poor majority and the earning minority. This is caused by the prevalent idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy that has no real concern for human beings. As is constantly taught by the world, the thirst for power and possessions knows no limits. And so, anything that stands in the way of increased profits is devoured. [Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 55-56.]

The constant witness of the Church is the humble path towards the spread of the order of the Kingdom of God. The Pope said: “Money must serve, not rule! The Pope loves everyone, rich and poor alike, but he is obliged in the name of Christ to remind all that the rich must help, respect and promote the poor. I exhort you to generous solidarity and to the return of economics and finance to an ethical approach which favours human beings.” [EG, 58.] Like the Pope, we should never tire of giving witness to the teachings of Christ. The Kingdom of God is slowly built by constant witnessing. May we keep following the Lord along the road of humility, service, and solidarity with the poor.

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

Misa de Aguinaldo December 21, 2013: A Visit Turned into an Encounter with God

Praised Be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

An Ordinary Visit, A Divine Encounter

Having heard from the angel that her cousin Elizabeth was with child in spite of her old age, Mary set out in haste to the house of Zechariah in order to visit her. The encounter seemed like an ordinary visit of one woman to a relative. But something else took place: the Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth and sanctified the six month old John the Baptist in her womb. The baby John leapt for joy in his mother’s womb while Elizabeth recognized the blessedness of Mary. This encounter became an occasion of joy because at that moment, Elizabeth and John the Baptist encountered Jesus who was then in Mary’s womb.

An ordinary visit that turned into an encounter with the Lord – this is what the visitation turned out to be. And this becomes for us a paradigm for the new evangelization. Pope Francis wrote: “Today, as the Church seeks to experience a profound missionary renewal, there is a kind of preaching which falls to each of us as a daily responsibility. It has to do with bringing the Gospel to the people we meet, whether they be our neighbours or complete strangers. This is the informal preaching which takes place in the middle of a conversation, something along the lines of what a missionary does when visiting a home. Being a disciple means being constantly ready to bring the love of Jesus to others, and this can happen unexpectedly and in any place: on the street, in a city square, during work, on a journey.

“In this preaching, which is always respectful and gentle, the first step is personal dialogue, when the other person speaks and shares his or her joys, hopes and concerns for loved ones, or so many other heartfelt needs. Only afterwards is it possible to bring up God’s word, perhaps by reading a Bible verse or relating a story, but always keeping in mind the fundamental message: the personal love of God who became man, who gave himself up for us, who is living and who offers us his salvation and his friendship. This message has to be shared humbly as a testimony on the part of one who is always willing to learn, in the awareness that the message is so rich and so deep that it always exceeds our grasp. At times the message can be presented directly, at times by way of a personal witness or gesture, or in a way which the Holy Spirit may suggest in that particular situation. If it seems prudent and if the circumstances are right, this fraternal and missionary encounter could end with a brief prayer related to the concerns which the person may have expressed. In this way they will have an experience of being listened to and understood; they will know that their particular situation has been placed before God, and that God’s word really speaks to their lives.” (Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 127 -128.)

We fail to recognize the effectiveness of this person to person approach because our paradigms for evangelization are narrowed to the formal catechism classes, seminars, and homilies. We think that formal classes are the only effective ways of preaching the gospel. While we cannot deny the importance of dogma and theology, we must also accept that fact that the Holy Spirit enlivens our faith through dialogues of life experiences. Only a few have the charism of teaching, all of us are capable of conversations and visitations. The Holy Spirit moves in our lives and sharing with one another how He touches us is a moment of witness and evangelization. We are all disciples and being a disciple means being constantly ready to bring the love of Jesus to others. May we be bearers of glad tidings as Mary was to Elizabeth and John.

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

Misa de Aguinaldo December 20, 2013: The Encounter of the Two Submissions

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

Behold, the Handmaid of the Lord

The fullness of time has come. At last, God sends his Son, born of a woman. The gospel records this joyful moment. The angel Gabriel was sent to the Virgin Mary whom he greeted with the words: “Rejoice, full of grace.” Mary has every reason to rejoice because through the angel, the Lord comes knocking at the door of her heart. The words of the angel to her are a Divine invitation to open her heart to accept God’s Son into her womb. Remember what the Fathers of old said: Before Mary conceived Christ in her womb, she conceived him in her heart. Mary had to accept the Divine Proposal first before the Incarnation could take place. Her free consent, her loving obedience of faith, was necessary for the Holy Spirit to fructify her womb. The Son of God lovingly submitted to his Father’s will: Behold, I come to do your will. Mary also had to lovingly submit to the same will: Behold, the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done to me according to your word.

Two humble submissions bring about the most decisive encounter between God and man. God the Son lowered himself. The Virgin met him in this abasement. Lowering himself, the Son became man’s salvation. Humbling herself, the Virgin became God’s mother. God the Son emptied himself and shared our humanity’s poverty. In that abasement, Mary encountered Christ and welcomed him into her life through her own humility…she called herself “handmaid of the Lord.” And where man encounters God, there is joy. Pope Francis wrote: “The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew.” (Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 1.)

Here is the proclamation of the Gospel: “Christ is the ‘eternal Gospel’ (Rev 14:6); he ‘is the same yesterday and today and forever’ (Heb 13:8), yet his riches and beauty are inexhaustible. He is for ever young and a constant source of newness. The Church never fails to be amazed at ‘the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God’ (Rom 11:33)… Saint Irenaeus writes: ‘By his coming, Christ brought with him all newness’. ”(EG, 11.) At the Annunciation, we clearly see the Divine initiative. It is God who comes down to man. It is he who announces to us the Good News. “Jesus is ‘the first and greatest evangelizer’. In every activity of evangelization, the primacy always belongs to God, who has called us to cooperate with him and who leads us on by the power of his Spirit. The real newness is the newness which God himself mysteriously brings about and inspires, provokes, guides and accompanies in a thousand ways. The life of the Church should always reveal clearly that God takes the initiative, that ‘he has loved us first’ (1 Jn 4:19) and that he alone ‘gives the growth’ (1 Cor 3:7). This conviction enables us to maintain a spirit of joy in the midst of a task so demanding and challenging that it engages our entire life. God asks everything of us, yet at the same time he offers everything to us.” (EG, 12.)

God asked everything of Mary, yet at the same time he offered everything to her. In like manner, the Lord asks of us our total submission. He asks everything of us. But this is nothing as compared to what he offers us. In return for our offering, he gives us all of himself. He gives us himself, so that his joy may be ours and our joy may be complete.

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