Simbang Gabi 8: The Priest as Minister of the Word

SIMBANG GABI 2017 8

YEAR OF THE CLERGY AND CONSECRATED PERSONS

DECEMBER 23, 2017

Jesus, I trust in you!

When the angel Gabriel announced to Zechariah the birth of John the Baptist, he had difficulty believing in it. Thus, he was made speechless, unable to talk until the day of the fulfillment of the words of the angel. And so, he spent 9 months in silence. Deprived of voice, Zechariah experienced what the prophets of old lamented in the past: “We have in our day no prince, prophet, or leader, no burnt offering, sacrifice, oblation, or incense, no place to offer first fruits, to find favor with you.” (Daniel 3:38) The silence of the Lord was a deafening silence.

It was at the circumcision of John when the silence ended. Asked about the name of the child, Zechariah wrote: His name is John. “And immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God.” The birth of John brought about not just the end of the silence of Zechariah but also the end of the silence of God. At last, a prophet was sent. And the one who was born was not just a prophet. He is the voice in the wilderness who would declare: “Prepare the way of the Lord.” The voice is born. The Word will follow soon.

The birth of John the Baptist gives us the occasion to speak about the Priest as the Minister of the Word. “The People of God is formed into one in the first place by the Word of the Living God, which is quite rightly sought from the mouth of priests. For since nobody can be saved who has not first believed, it is the first task of priests as co-workers of the bishop, to preach the Gospel to all men.” (Presbyterorum Ordinis, 4.) The first task of priests is to preach the Word of God. The priest is ordained to preach. He carries out the mandate which Christ gave to the apostles: “Go to all the world and preach the Gospel to all creatures.” This task is vital for the Church. “By the saving Word of God, faith is aroused in the hearts of unbelievers and is nourished in the hearts of believers. By this faith, the congregation of believers begins and grows according to the saying of the Apostle: ‘Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes from the preaching of Christ.’ (Rom. 10:17) ” (PO, 4.)

Thus, it is important that priests share the Gospel to everybody. “Whether by having their conversation heard among the gentiles they lead people to glorify God, or by openly preaching proclaim the mystery of Christ to unbelievers, or teach the Christian message or explain the Church’s doctrine, or endeavor to treat of contemporary problems in the light of Christ’s teachings – in every case, their role is to teach not their own wisdom but the Word of God and to issue an urgent motivation to all men to conversion and to holiness.” (PO, 4.) Like John the Baptist, the priest is just the voice. He is not the Word. The only Word is Christ. He speaks not in his own name. He repeats the words of Jesus himself: “The word that I speak is not mine but of the one who sent me.”

Because the word he speaks is not his but of the One who sent him, the priest “ought first of all to develop a great and personal familiarity with the word of God…He needs to approach the word with a docile and prayerful heart so that it may penetrate his thoughts and feelings and bring about a new outlook in him…Nor should (he) forget that ‘the greater or lesser degree of the holiness of the minister has a real effect on the proclamation of the word.’ As St. Paul said: ‘we speak, not to please men but to please God who tests our hearts’ (1 Thess. 2:4). If we have a lively desire to be the first to hear the word which we must preach, this will surely be communicated to God’s faithful people, for ‘out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.’ (Mt. 12:34)” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 149.)

Thus, the priest must be a man of the word of God. He is, first of all, an obedient listener and then an ardent proclaimer. He is the voice and not the Word. He is its servant and not its master. Like Zechariah, the priest must open his mouth and speak the praises of God.

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

Becoming fishers of men

St. Andrew the Apostle

I was ordained a priest on the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle. I consider it a great honor to be ordained on this feast because St. Andrew was one of the first to the called by the Lord. As he walked by the shore of the Sea of Galilee, the Lord Jesus saw the brothers Peter and Andrew casting their nets. To them he gave the invitation: Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men. I like those words "fishers of men". The Lord called them and myself to become "fishers of men." The work of fishermen is really very simple. All they had to do was cast the net into the sea and haul into the boat whatever is caught in that net. I realize that my job as a priest is simply to cast the net and haul in what is caught. The Lord called me to be a fisher of men, not a member of a screening committee. All I have to do is to keep the Church door open and welcome anyone who enters through it. It is not my job to screen people and decide who should be deemed worthy to enter the Church and who should not. When a person finds his way to the Church, he has not done it on his own, Rather, it was the Father who called that person to approach his only begotten Son. It was the Holy Spirit moving in his soul. The fisherman simply casts his net and does not determine which fish should be caught in it. He hauls into his boat whatever the net catches. My task as fisher of men is to welcome those who find their way into the Church. It is not even my task to convert them or to touch their hearts. That is the work of the Holy Spirit.  Only the Holy Spirit can convert hearts. Only He can change lives. Only He can sanctify sinners. Only He can deify men. And I am not the Holy Spirit. I can only cast my net by preaching. Whatever happens to those who listen to what I preach is not within my control. I can only cast the net by celebrating the sacraments. Whatever happens to those who receive the sacraments is no longer my turf. Moving hearts, converting lives, sanctifying sinners, deifying men...all these are the work of the Holy Spirit. I can only cast the nets and nothing more,

At the Beginning of a New Pastorate

Hesus, nananalig ako sa iyo!

Sa unang linggo ng aking paglilingkod sa parokyang ito, parang nananadya ang Panginoon sapagkat tungkol sa mga pastol o pinuno ang mga pagbasa sa araw na ito. Sa unang pagbasa, binantaan ng Panginoon ang mga suwail na pinuno na parurusahan niya ang mga ito sapagkat “pinabayaan ninyo ang aking kawan. Hindi ninyo sila binantayan.” Upang maremedyuhan ang pinsalang dinulot ng kapabayaan ng mga tiwaling pinuno, sinabi ng Panginoon: “Hihirang ako ng mga pastol na magmamalasakit at mangangalaga sa kanila. Hindi na sila muli pang daranas ng takot at agam-agam, at wala nang maliligaw kahit isa.”

Ang mapagmalasakit na Pastol na hinirang ng Diyos ay walang iba kundi ang kanyang Anak na si Hesus. Sa Mabuting Balita ay nakita natin na nahabag si Hesus sa napakaraming taong nag-aantay sa kanya sapagkat para silang mga tupang walang pastol. At upang tugunan ang kanilang pangangailangan, tinuruan sila ng Panginoon ng maraming bagay. Tingnan ninyo kung paano ipinakita ng Panginoon ang malasakit niya sa mga tao: tinuruan niya sila ng maraming bagay. (Dito tayo madalas magkulang sa ating pangangalaga sa mga ipinagkatiwala sa ating pangangalaga…hindi natin tinuturuan ang mga ito ng maraming bagay tulad ng ginawa ng Panginoon. Siguro magandang tanungin rin natin ang ating mga sarili: naglalaan ba ako ng sapat na panahon na turuan ang aking mga anak?) Higit pa rito, inialay ni Hesus ang kanyang buhay upang iligtas tayong lahat at tipunin sa pagkakaisa ang mga anak ng Diyos na pinagwatak watak ng kasalanan: “Winakasan niya ang alitan ng dalawang bayan, kapwa ipinanumbalik sa Diyos at pinagbuklod sa iisang katawan. Naparito si Kristo at ipinangaral sa lahat ang mabuting Balita ng kapayapaan…Dahil kay Kristo, tayo’y kapwa makalalapit sa Ama sa pamamagitan ng Espiritu.”

Sa diwang ito nagsisimula ang aking paglilingkod sa parokyang ito. Aaminin ko pong may kaunting pangamba akong nadarama dahil sumusunod ako sa mga yapak ng mga batikang mga pastol na naunang dumaan na sa kasaysayan ng parokyang ito. Minsan, tinatanong ko ang Panginoon kung ano ba ang inaasahan niya sa akin sa pagdating ko rito. At parang sa mga pagbasa ngayon, narining kong tumugon ang Panginoon sa tanong na ito: “Hihirang ako ng mga pastol na magmamalasakit at mangangalaga sa kanila.” Ito po ang hinihingi ko sa Panginoon: na sana bigyan niya ako ng biyaya upang alagaan kayo nang may malasakit. Ipinagdarasal ko na matularan ko si Hesus at kayo’y turuan ko rin ng maraming bagay. Hindi ko alam kung talagang matutumbasan ko ang kakayanan ng mga nauna sa akin. Hindi ko alam kung matutumbasan ko ang inaasahan ninyo sa akin. Kaya nga sa pagsisimula ng paglilingkod ko sa inyo,  humihingi ako sa Panginoon hindi lamang ng karunungan at lakas kundi ng malasakit. Bigyan sana ako ng Panginoon ng kaloobang tulad sa kanya: pusong maamo at mahabagin…pusong may tunay na pagmamalasakit.

Ave Maria purissima, sin pecado concebida!

Standing in the side of the Sign of Contradiction

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

Familiarity breeds contempt. Perhaps this is the best explanation that can be given about the rejection which the Lord received from his neighbors in Nazareth. That his neighbors were impressed by his preaching was without any doubt. But they could not reconcile the fact that this amazing preaching came from the mouth of someone they thought they knew so well: “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” In fact, this remark betrays their ignorance of the Jesus they thought they knew all so well. The truth is, Jesus is not son of Joseph for he was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Son of the Living God. He is the one in whom the Father in heaven is well pleased. However, this truth lay hidden to them – yes, in spite of the fact that they had witnessed Jesus growing from being a boy into a man. This is the consequence of Christ’s kenosis: his self-emptying. The incarnation hid his Divinity. Jesus’ Divine nature was cloaked by his humanity. This humanity of God the Son is, in fact, a scandal. When the men of the synagogue were filled with fury and rose to drive him out of the town, the words of aged Simeon came to pass: “This child is a sign that will be contradicted by many.” He is destined to be the rise and the fall of many in Israel. The rise and fall of humanity will depend on their response to the Son of God come in the flesh. “He who believes will be saved. He who will not believe will be condemned.”

Until this very day, Jesus continues to be a sign contradicted by many. He continues to infuriate many people by his teachings. He continues to divide families: two against three and three against two. This is so because he is the unbendable Truth: either you are for him or against him. The Truth that he is makes him “a fortified city, a pillar of iron, a wall of brass, against the whole land; against kings and princes…” against false intellectuals and even powerful politicians. They will fight against him, and fiercely they really do…but they will not prevail against him. For the Truth is still the Truth even if no one believes in it…in the same way, a lie will always be a lie, even if the whole world agrees with it.

Today, powerful men bend Christ’s Truth and then disguise what they do as the way of righteousness. The political concept of “daang matuwid” is nauseating. How could contraception be righteous when in fact, it is intrinsically evil? How could divorce be righteous when in fact, it is a blatant affront to the sanctity of marriage? Where is righteousness in the use of bribery and intimidation to get a priority bill passed? And these people in power think that they can trample upon the rights of Christ with impunity. But they are badly mistaken. They will not prevail against him. Thus, we should always see to it that we be found always in the side of Christ, even if this means taking the unpopular stand. Our time is the best time to take sides with Christ. Dare to swim against the tide. Be a prophet and walk against the flow. Always look at Jesus. While the crowd rose and led him to the brow of the hill to hurl him down, Jesus passed through their midst and walked away. Dare to be different. Walk against the crowd. Walk with Jesus.

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

The Ascension and the 44th World Communications Day

For 44 years now, the feast of the Ascension of the Lord has been regarded as World Communications day. This is because before He ascended into heaven, the Lord gave his Apostles the mandate to go and preach the gospel to all creatures: “Repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” From the very beginning of her existence, the Church has taken this mandate seriously. Long before the invention of comfortable ways of travel, the Apostles traveled on foot and by sea in order to reach the farthest corner of the earth. Thus, in this way, St. Thomas reached India and St. Peter reached Rome. They traveled far and died preaching the gospel. Missionaries have followed the example of the apostles. Portugal and Spain, at the height of their power, sent galleons to the other side of the world not only to expand their territories and to search for spices but also to preach the gospel to all nations. Indeed, what Pope Paul VI said in Evangelii Nuntiandi is true: “The reason for the existence of the Church on earth is so that the Gospel may be heard in the farthest corners of the earth.”

In our times, digital communications offer to us new possibilities for reaching the furthest corners of the earth. In his message for today, our Holy Father wrote: “Church communities have always used the modern media for fostering communication, engagement with society, and, increasingly, for encouraging dialogue at a wider level. Yet the recent, explosive growth and greater social impact of these media make them all the more important for a fruitful priestly ministry.” In the light of the Year for Priests, the Holy Father addressed the need for the pastoral presence of priests in cyberspace. In as much as “All priests have as their primary duty the proclamation of Jesus Christ”, they have to respond to the challenge of preaching the gospel amidst the cultural shifts of the present. Priests must make use of new communications technologies: “Priests stand at the threshold of a new era: as new technologies create deeper forms of relationship across greater distances, they are called to respond pastorally by putting the media ever more effectively at the service of the Word.” “Priests can rightly be expected to be present in the world of digital communications as faithful witnesses to the Gospel, exercising their proper role as leaders of communities which increasingly express themselves with the different ‘voices’ provided by the digital marketplace. Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources (images, videos, animated features, blogs, websites) which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis.” (Responding to this challenge of the Holy Father, I am now maintaining a blog which you might want to visit. Just type “sense of the sacred. blogspot” in your search engines.) “Using new communication technologies, priests can introduce people to the life of the Church and help our contemporaries to discover the face of Christ.” However, the Pope also reminds us that “priests present in the world of digital communications should be less notable for their media savvy than for their priestly heart, their closeness to Christ.”

“God’s loving care for all people in Christ must be expressed in the digital world not simply as an artifact from the past, or a learned theory, but as something concrete, present and engaging. Our pastoral presence in that world must thus serve to show our contemporaries, especially the many people in our day who experience uncertainty and confusion, ‘that God is near; that in Christ we all belong to one another’ (Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Curia, 21 December 2009).” By being present in the Web, we “can thus help the men and women of our digital age to sense the Lord’s presence, to grow in expectation and hope, and to draw near to the Word of God which offers salvation and fosters an integral human development. In this way the Word can traverse the many crossroads created by the intersection of all the different ‘highways’ that form ‘cyberspace’, and show that God has his rightful place in every age, including our own. Thanks to the new communications media, the Lord can walk the streets of our cities and, stopping before the threshold of our homes and our hearts, say once more: ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me’ (Rev 3:20).”

On Liturgical Preaching

"A well-attended Catholic service is the evening Mass at the Christ the King Seminary in Quezon City. Parishioners like that the bespectacled priest descends from his seat in the altar to dialogue with them during the homily. They love it whenever the lights are dimmed at one point, giving the Mass the nostalgic feel of a school recollection."

I came across this article "Schools of Preaching" written by Christian V. Esguerra and published at the March 23, 2010 edition of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. The article speaks about the changing standards of preaching: "To some extent, preaching is 'performance,' according to Fr. Nilo Lardizabal, OP, assistant director of the Institute of Preaching...It involves strategies and techniques - and even 'gimmicks' - all with the clear purpose of communicating the living Gospel of more than 2,000 years ago in the here and now." The article confuses preaching with entertainment. And it even justifies entertainment as the means to send the message across to the listeners.

Unfortunately, many modern preachers have this bias against traditional liturgical preaching which is oftentimes labelled as "pontificating": "He cites instances when some priests, no matter how academically grounded they are, fail to establish a 'connection' with their flock during homily. The result, he says, is either a monologue or outright pontificating...'We discourage pontificating,' Lardizabal said. 'We have to be casual. We have to take off from the internet, YouTube, Twitter - cool, funky, unsophisticated."

I feel that this is outrightly a sweeping statement that "pontificating" does not "connect" with the flock. In the desire of many preachers to be "relevant" to the modern audience, they have become overly concerned with the gimmickry and the entertainment value of their preaching at the expense of the content. I remember that when powerpoint presentations became a fad in the seminary, more time was spent by the seminarians in finding pictures and videos to make the report more "cool and funky". The depth of the supposed lesson is oftentimes sacrificed.

And is this not the sorry state of liturgical preaching today? The richness of the Word of God is oftentimes sacrificed for the sake of making the preaching "cool and funky". How much substance is there in the usual Sunday preaching? Is liturgical preaching a real preparation for the faithful to recognize the Lord at the breaking of the bread? Who is at the center of the preaching: Christ or the preacher? In all honesty, how much conversion comes out of all this gimmickry?