Simbang Gabi 2 (Fatima Centennial): War and Peace

Jesus, I trust in you!

We will always remember the 2^nd Simbang Gabi as the day of the Genealogy of our Lord, that long list of our Lord’s ancestors from Abraham to St. Joseph, the husband of Mary. We are given a glimpse of Old Testament history which shows us that the Lord was born in time and also to a family. It is the story of God’s promise being carried out to fulfillment. This promise was necessitated our need for redemption from sin. This promise of a Savior transcended even situations that would have erased all possibilities of its fulfillment.

As we look at the genealogy, we find a gap which we now call the “Babylonian exile”. The Jews were carried off into slavery for 70 years from 607 BC to 537 BC. The Holy City itself was taken captive, the Temple destroyed and the citizens were exiled. This was brought about by the sins of the people: idolatry and rebellion against God. It was a time of despair. People thought that God has forgotten his promise of salvation. But the Lord has not forgotten. The exile ended and so history led to the birth of the Messiah. The Christmas proclamation would declare: “the whole world, being at peace…Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea.”

Our Lady’s apparition at Fatima occurred also at a very trying time. It was the World War I. The world has not seen anything like it. Our Lady came with a promise of the end of the war. Soldiers will return home. She said: “Pray the Rosary every day, in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.” (May 13, 1917)   She repeated this request on July 13: “Continue to pray the Rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary, in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war, for only she can help you…The war is going to end but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the pontificate of Pius XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that he is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father.” This worse war took place. The Spanish Civil War took place during the pontificate of Pius XI. It was essentially a war against God in which untold numbers of churches were destroyed, 14 bishops and 7,000 priests and religious were martyred. The number of martyrs produced by the Spanish Civil war was comparable to those of the Roman persecutions. The symbolic “firing squad” of the statue of the Sacred Heart in the geographical center of Spain was the manifestation of the anti-God nature of this war.

World War II began when the Nazis invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. This invasion was preceded by the “unknown light”, the Aurora Borealis, which was seen all over the northern hemisphere on the night of January 25-26, 1938.

What Our Lady said is significant: war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father are God’s punishment for the crimes of the world. And as we speak, Syria and Iraq (Babylon) are in war. This only shows that we have not converted. The secular world is losing the sense of sin. Jurists call it “crime” and psychologists label it a “complex”. “The rejection of sin has resulted in the loss of guilt; much of today’s evil is perpetrated without thought to repentance. The philosopher Max Scheller said that while sin multiplies everywhere, the sense of guilt diminishes.” The Bishop of Fatima said in 1975: “In the light of the Fatima message, sin is not a phenomena of the sociological order, but is…an offense against God with necessary social consequences. Perhaps no other century as the century we live in has had a life so sinful. But there is something added to the sins of this century: the man of today, more sinful than those who came before him, has lost the sense of sin. He sins, but laughs and even boasts of his sin…Man of today has arrived at this stage because he has placed a division between himself and God…believing that when God is ignored, everything is possible. The man of this century wishes to realize himself as stronger than God and against God, and comes finally to the point of being man debased, anti-man, because man can only perfectly realize himself in God.” (F. Johnson, 34-35.)

Our way out of this predicament is the way proposed by Mary. Let us repent and convert to the Lord. Let us pray the Rosary to obtain peace because only Mary can help us. She can help us arrive at the era of true peace for it was when the whole world was at peace, it was then that she gave birth to the Savior, the Prince of Peace. Let us pray the Rosary to the Queen of Peace.

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

Sent as Sheep among Wolves

PRAISED BE JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH!           

2 weeks ago, the Supreme Court of the United States declared the recognition of same sex marriages in all the 50 states. This declaration was lauded by so many people all over the world as the liberation and victory of “love”. Although in the Philippines, we are beyond the jurisdiction of the US Supreme Court, many people are of the opinion that it will simply be a matter of time when same sex marriage will be recognized here. The prophecy of Our Lady of La Sallete in 1846 is being fulfilled: “All the civil governments will have one and the same plan, which will be to abolish and do away with every religious principle, to make way for materialism, atheism, spiritualism, and vice of all kinds…for disorder and love for carnal pleasures will be spread all over the earth.” (Our Lady of La Sallete, 1846)

In the first reading, God sent the prophet Ezekiel to the people of Israel, “rebels who have rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have rebelled against me to this very day. Hard of face and obstinate of heart are they to whom I am sending you.” (Susuguin kita sa bansang suwail. Pagkat mula sa kanilang ninuno, naghihimagsik na sila sa akin hanggang ngayon. Matigas ang kanilang ulo at walang pitagan.) Isn’t this an appropriate description of our present society which dares to redefine reality in order to suit our love for carnal pleasures? What we have today is an outright rebellion against God. And Christians who stand by the Gospel are labelled as narrow-minded bigots (panatiko). We are simply told that no one has the right to say that they know what God said. However, to say such is to deny the existence of Divine Revelation. We cannot deny the fact that God spoke to us through prophets and through his Son Jesus Christ.

Sa bayang matigas ang ulo, patuloy na sinusugo ng Diyos ang kanyang mga propeta: “Kaya puntahan mo sila at sabihin mong ito ang pinasasabi ng Panginoong Diyos. Sa makinig sila o sa hindi – pagkat matigas ang kanilang ulo – malalaman nilang may isang propeta sa gitna nila.” In spite of the stubbornness of the world, the Lord continues to send us: “Behold I send you like sheep among wolves.” (Mat. 10:16) the Lord does this because he does not give up on the world. He continues to call us to conversion, even despite the stubbornness of our hearts. Christians are supposed to be prophets who prophesy by walking against trends, by swimming against the tide. We bear a message that opposes the logic of the world. Thus, we expect opposition to the Gospel we are sent to preach.

Although being sent like sheep among wolves is frightening, the Lord assures us: “Ang tulong ko’y sapat sa lahat ng pangangailangan mo; lalong nahahayag ang aking kapangyarihan kung ikaw ay mahina.” The Lord arms us nothing but the cross and St. Anthony of Padua told us: “Christians must lean on the cross just as travelers lean on a staff as they begin a long journey.” We are sustained by that Cross. That is why we should say together with St. Paul: “Buong galak na ipinagmamapuri ko ang aking kahinaan upang palakasin ako ng kapangyarihan ni Kristo. Dahil kay Kristo, walang halaga sa akin kung ako’y mahina, kutyain, pahirapan, usigin, at magtiis. Sapagkat kung kailan ako’y mahina, saka naman ako malakas.”

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

Should we resist the precious and the sublime?

Father Z's comment on the red shoes and mozetta reflects the true humility which is demanded of the priest who should see the honorific gestures not as accorded to his person but rather to Christ in whose person he comes.

The seeming simplification of vestments and anything about the rites which Pope Francis prefers is really sending the wrong signal that the Church of the poor must have poor liturgy! I now hear people saying that the Church must veer away from its high church liturgies and perform low church rites in order to be more relevant, and even more "people-friendly". I find it disturbing that the liturgy is once again being regarded as a theater performance wherein we should look poor in order to appeal to the masses. In the present political season in the Philippines, I notice that political candidates no longer have themselves photographed in the formal barong tagalog wear but in t shirts and blue jeans. A politician (born again fundamentalist) used to put the title "bishop" before his name. Now he reverts to being called "brother". Are these for real???

Unfortunately, everybody wants to ride the "simplicity" band wagon on account of the new Pope. However, everybody seems to forget that sacred ministers are not actors who pretend to be poor in order to be relevant. Sacred ministers are, in reality, "sacramental signs" of Christ, who is seated at the right hand of the Father. We come in the name of Christ. We come in the person of Christ. In the Sacred Liturgy, the priest is Christ and Christ is the priest. The priest must have enough humility to be able to accept the fact that he is no longer his own.

I find Fr. Z's reflection very relevant to the present issue:

"The Catholic priest is simultaneously the victim offered on the altar.  All the older, traditional ceremonies of the Roman Rite underscore this foundational dimension of the Mass. If we don’t see that relationship of priest, altar, and victim in every Holy Mass, then the way Mass has been celebrated has failed.  If we don’t look for that relationship, then we are not really Catholic.  Mass is Calvary.

The use of beautiful marble in the church building, precious fabrics and metals for vestments and vessels, music that requires true art and skill to perform, ritual gestures which to worldly eyes seem to be the stuff of bygone eras of royals and the like, all underscore the fact that step by step during Holy Mass the priest is being readied for the sacrifice, which – mysteriously – he himself performs.

Back when I resisted the liturgical kissing of my hand when being handed a chain, spoon or chalice, I had made the mistake of imagining myself to be more humble by that resistance.  That was a mistake.  Ironically, my resistance to those gestures turned the gestures into being about me.  Submission to the gestures, on the other hand, erases the priest’s own person and helps him to be what he needs to be in that moment: priest, victim, alter Christus.   The trappings, the rubrics, the gestures erase the priest’s poor person.  Resisting these things runs the risk of making them all about the priest again.

In a sense, I had made the objection of Judas about the precious nard which the woman brought to the Lord.  Jesus responded that the precious stuff should be kept for His Body, which was to be sacrificed.  People who object that we should have only poor liturgy are falling into the argument of Judas.  We must submit to the precious and sublime in recognition of the truth of what is going on.   To pit the sublime and complex and precious and beautiful against the low, simple and humble is schizophrenic and not Catholic."

ZENIT - Study: Children of Divorce Less Likely to Practice Religion

With the issue of divorce being debated on in Catholic Philippines, this article on the effect of divorce on the children's faith is worth our consideration. When divorce is legalized in the Philippines, we run the great risk of the considerable waning of the faith among our young people. I find it striking that the report says " the most important influence on young people in terms of their faith is the practice of religion by their parents." 

Also, "some interpreted their parent’s divorce as damaging their core spiritual values. They are also more likely to identify themselves as spiritual but not religious." We should really study the impact of divorce on the children before getting into it. The damage it causes is irreparable!

ZENIT - Study: Children of Divorce Less Likely to Practice Religion

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! 

Falsity is the Sign of the Devil

The Kiss of Judas

In his Angelus Message last Sunday, August 26, 2012, the Holy  Father spoke on the disciples who abandoned the Lord on account of the difficulty of the teachings on the Eucharist. His commentary on Judas Iscariot is worth reflecting on: 

"In the end, Jesus knew that even among the Twelve there was one who did not believe: Judas. Judas too could have left like the other disciples did; perhaps he should have left had he wanted to be honest. Instead he stayed with Jesus. He stayed not because of faith, not because of love, but with the secret plan to get back at the Master. Why? Because Judas felt that Jesus had betrayed him and he decided to betray Jesus in turn. Judas was a zealot and wanted a victorious Messiah who would lead a revolt against the Romans. Jesus frustrated these expectations. The problem is that Judas did not leave and his gravest fault was falsity, which is the sign of the devil. Because of this Jesus said to the Twelve: “One among you is a devil!” (John 6:70). Let us pray to the Virgin Mary, who helps us to believe in Jesus, as St. Peter did, to be ever more sincere with him and with everyone."

I think these are very courageous words. I think dissenters in the Church should not hide their dissent under the guise of Intellectual or Academic Freedom. If you do not believe... by all means, leave! Don't dissent and still call yourself Catholics! Falsity is the sign of the devil.


Read the entire address: ZENIT - On Believing in Jesus, Bread of Life

Epiphany and Modern Paganism

The Birth of the Lord took place inconspicuously under the shadows of that silent night, holy night. No one knew of His birth except for our Lady, St. Joseph, and some shepherds who were keeping watch of their flock that night.. Today, guided by a star, magi came and prostrated themselves in homage before the new-born King and they offered him gifts of gold in recognition of his royalty, frankinscense in recognition of his Divinity, and myrrh in recognition of the sacrificial character of his mission.. The coming of the magi brings to fulfillment what Isaiah said: “the wealth of nations shall be brought to you. Caravans of camels shall fill you; dromedaries from Midian and Ephah; all from Sheba shall come, bearing gold and frankinscence, and proclaiming the praises of the Lord.”

Today, the Lord appears to all nations and He invites them to His light. The Magi, coming from the superstitions of their pagan faith, have searched for the true God and found Him in the arms of the Virgin Mary. Guided by the elements of nature, they have discovered the Word through whom all things were made and apart from whom nothing came to be. Because they were deprived of Divine Revelation, they groped in the dark but thanks to signs in the sky, the found the true Light that dispels all darkness and all ignorance. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. The Magi began a procession of nations towards the one true Redeemer. And we ourselves are part of that procession for we have accepted the light of the Christian Faith and thus, we emerged from darkness into the Lord’s wonderful light. Thanks to the Cross which the Spanish missionaries planted on Philippine soil, we no longer grope in the dark. Rather, we bask in the light of the Christian Faith. Christianity is the best gift which the Lord has ever bestowed upon our nation for, as the Holy Father said, “Belief in Jesus Christ is the way to arrive definitively at salvation.”

Epiphany, being one of the 4 highest feasts of the Church, must be restored to its original place of prominence in the liturgical year. Unfortunately, Epiphany has become an inconspicuous ending to a holiday season that the world has higly commercialized. Epiphany must once again find its rightful place because its message is ever more relevant today because we find ourselves again in a world that is beset with paganism. The people that once sat in darkness and saw a great light are once again returning to the darkness they came from. And worse, the return to darkness is now disguised as intellectual enlightenment. Christianity is now being packaged as superstition and paganism as the new wisdom. “We cannot accept that salt should become tasteless or the light be kept hidden,” said the Holy Father, “the people of today can still experience the need… to hear Jesus, who invites us to believe in him and to draw upon the sources of living water welling up within him.” “The door of faith is always open for us, ushering us into the life of communion with God and offering entry into his Church. It is possible to cross that threshold when the word of God is proclaimed and the heart allows itself to be shaped by transforming grace. To enter through that door is to set out on a journey that lasts a lifetime. It begins with baptism…and ends with the passage through death to eternal life…To profess faith in the Trinity…is to believe in one God who is Love: the Father, who in the fullness of time, sent his Son for our salvation, Jesus Christ, who in the mystery of his death and resurrection redeemed the world; the Holy Spirit, who leads the Church across the centuries as we await the Lord’s glorious return.”

They are not called Acts of God for Nothing!

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

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

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

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

On Reinventing Jesus

In the bookstore, I found this book published in 2007 by Dr. Erwin Lutzer, a senior pastor of The Moody Church in Chicago. Little may he have realized it but Dr. Lutzer was proving the Popes right in their teachings against Modernism:

"Living as we do at the beginning of a new century, many new Jesuses are being fabricated year by year; this is the age of designer Jesuses. Often the only similarity is the name; the character traits are entirely different. So your Jesus might not be my Jesus and mine might not be the Jesus of my-next-door neighbor.

"...The Jesus whose biography is found in the New Testament is being treated like putty in the hands of those who wish to refashion Him to fit to their particular view of the world. Just take a moment to browse your neighborhood bookstore and you will find dozens of books, with topics ranging from Jesus and women's rights to Jesus and Zen to Jesus and inner healing. Jesus is used - or rather, misused - for every cause imaginable, from gas-saving minivans to religious zealots. I'm reminded of the words of the late Yasser Arafat, who at a press conference at the United Nations in 1983 called Jesus "the first Palestinian fedayeen who carried his sword." Think of it: Jesus was the first freedom fighter for Islam!

"It seems as though everyone wants Jesus in their parade," writes Joseph Stowell: 'From gay activists to abortionists to religious leaders to politicians, making Jesus fit their agenda and flying His flag provides a guise of propriety and credibility.'

"Stowell is right, but we have to ask: How can scholars take the radical, all-demanding Jesus of the Gospels and reinvent Him so that He, like a book on the shelf, is wholly within our power to do with Him as we will? This Jesus allows us to be in charge, never insisting that we come under His authority, never asking us to stake our eternal destiny on His claims.

"No other name has inspired such great devotion and so much controversy; no other person has been tweaked to serve so many agendas. Scholars are writing books not about Christianity, but about 'Jesusanity', as my friend Darrel Bock describes it. Learning about these evolving images of Jesus will help us identify the one Jesus who stands above all others and is actually as good as His word!"

E. Lutzer, Slandering Jesus: 6 Lies People Tell About The Man Who Said He Was God, 4-5.

Benedict XVI on Secularism and New Forms of Christianity

In his address to the Evangelical churches of Germany, the Holy Father made reference to two concerns: the emergence of a new form of Christianity and the secularization of society:

To be sure, the risk of losing it is not unreal. I would like to make two brief points here. The geography of Christianity has changed dramatically in recent times, and is in the process of changing further. Faced with a new form of Christianity, which is spreading with overpowering missionary dynamism, sometimes in frightening ways, the mainstream Christian denominations often seem at a loss. This is a form of Christianity with little institutional depth, little rationality and even less dogmatic content, and with little stability. This worldwide phenomenon -- that bishops from all over the world are constantly telling me about -- poses a question to us all: what is this new form of Christianity saying to us, for better and for worse? In any event, it raises afresh the question about what has enduring validity and what can or must be changed -- the question of our fundamental faith choice.

The second challenge to worldwide Christianity of which I wish to speak is more profound and in our country more controversial: the secularized context of the world in which we Christians today have to live and bear witness to our faith. God is increasingly being driven out of our society, and the history of revelation that Scripture recounts to us seems locked into an ever more remote past. Are we to yield to the pressure of secularization, and become modern by watering down the faith? Naturally faith today has to be thought out afresh, and above all lived afresh, so that it is suited to the present day. Yet it is not by watering the faith down, but by living it today in its fullness that we achieve this. This is a key ecumenical task in which we have to help one another: developing a deeper and livelier faith. It is not strategy that saves us and saves Christianity, but faith -- thought out and lived afresh; through such faith, Christ enters this world of ours, and with him, the living God. As the martyrs of the Nazi era brought us together and prompted that great initial ecumenical opening, so today, faith that is lived from deep within amid a secularized world is the most powerful ecumenical force that brings us together, guiding us towards unity in the one Lord. And we pray to him, asking that we may learn to live the faith anew, and that in this way we may then become one.

ZENIT - Papal Words to Germany's Evangelical Church

On Secularism and Fundamentalism

The Christian religion and other religions can offer their contribution to development only if God has a place in the public realm, specifically in regard to its cultural, social, economic, and particularly its political dimensions. The Church's social doctrine came into being in order to claim "citizenship status" for the Christian religion. Denying the right to profess one's religion in public and the right to bring the truths of faith to bear upon public life has negative consequences for true development. The exclusion of religion from the public square - and, at the other extreme, religious fundamentalism - hinders an encounter between persons and their collaboration for the progree of humanity. Public life is sapped of its motivation and politics takes on a domineering and aggressive character. Human rights risk being ignored either because they are robbed of their transcendent foundation or because personal freedom is not acknowledged. Secularism and fundamentalism exclude the possibility of fruitful dialogue and effective cooperation between reason and religious faith. Reason always stands in need of being purified by faith: this also holds true for political reason, which must not consider itself omnipotent. For its part, religion always needs to be purified by reason in order to show its authentically human face. Any breach in this dialogue comes only at an enourmous price to human development.

Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, 56.

Secularism as the Enemy of the Word of God

We cannot deny the waning of the Catholic faith in many parts of the globe. The recent legalization of divorce in Catholic Malta is a recent proof of this claim. The world is rapidly sliding into secularism where the teachings of our Lord which once preserved social order is being discarded and rendered irrelevant.

Is it true that the word of God has lost the power which was referred to in the first reading? What stifles the word of God? The parable of the Sower gives us answers worth considering. “Some seed fell along the path...others on rocky ground…others fell amongst the thorns.” The seed is the word of God and the various kinds of soil upon which the seed fell stand for the different hearts of men. Of course, the word of God did not survive in the hearts of those who outrightly rejected it. But there are those who have accepted the word of God and yet, end up stifling that word they received. These are the ones represented by the rocky ground and the thorns. In the Gospel, the Lord mentions 2 factors that stifle the word of God: love for the things of the world and fear of suffering.

Basically, these two characterize the secular spirit of the world: worldliness and fear of suffering. We have a term for this – we simply call it the “good life.” This kind of life is one that mistakenly associates comfort with goodness and, on the opposite end, suffering (or inconvenience) with evil. Pleasure is something which we should pursue and discomfort should be avoided. Basically, this is the fear of the Cross. This mentality is all around us. Artificial contraception is attractive because it separates sexual pleasure from the responsibilities that go with it. Now, you can enjoy the sex without worrying about its consequences – parang Coke Zero: real coke taste without the calories. Divorce is very attractive because it separates the pleasures of marriage from the obligation of “till death do us part.” I once heard a DJ over the radio say that he is allergic to sacrifice. “Basta enjoy lang nang enjoy. Pag naging mahirap ang sitwasyon, talikuran mo.”

And this is dangerous because secularization shortens our vision and limits it to the horizons of the visible world. Secularization falsifies reality by limiting it to only what is visible and makes us oblivious of the greater part of reality which is the invisible world. By instilling in us too much love for the things of the world, secularization condemns us to the world that passes away. By instilling in us the fear of suffering, secularization deprives us of that one instrument by which man is truly saved by Christ – and that is the Cross. In our shortsightedness, we fail to appreciate the redemptive value of our sufferings when they are endured in union with Christ. “Our sufferings in the present are nothing as compared to the glory that is waiting to be revealed in us,” so said St. Paul to the Romans in the 2nd reading. Remember that our sufferings and sacrifices are good for us. On the human level, such create in us a sense of character. On the supernatural level, such prepare us for the glory of our revelation as children of God.

If we want the word of God to bear fruit in us, we have to engage in self denial as an antidote to worldliness. We have to face our fear of suffering and carry our Cross because only in such way can we follow Christ who conquered the world and makes all things new. St. Paul tells us that athletes deprive themselves of many things in order to win a crown of leaves. Let us do the same. Let us cast away everything that encumbers our steps. Let us run the race so as to receive from him the crown of victory.

Need for Real Education in the Faith

Bishop Honesto F. Ongtioco, Bishop of Cubao, gave this homily during the Mass of the Holy Spirit this morning at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral of Cubao:

Noong nakaraang Huwebes, naging panauhin ng kaparian ng Cubao si Bishop Ambo David ng Pampangga. Nagbigay siya ng panayam tungkol sa kaugnayan ng Salita ng Diyos sa buhay at gawain ng mga pari. Sa pagwawakas ng kanyang panayam nabanggit niya ang suliranin ng Simbahan sa Europa: ang paglaganap ng sekularismo at ang mabilis na kamatayan ng pananampalatayang Kristiyano sa Europa. Napaisip ako sa sinabi niyang ang isa sa mga instrumento ng paglaganap ng sekularismo sa Europa ay ang edukasyon. Habang nagiging edukado ang mga tao, lalo naman silang napapalayo sa Simbahan. Marahil, isa itong indikasyon na hindi na nagagampanan ng mga paaralan at pamantasang Katoliko ang kanilang naatasang gawain bilang tagapaghubog sa pananampalataya.

Marahil, madali para sa atin ang ipagwalang bahala ang kalagayan ng Simbahan sa Europa sapagkat tila malayo ito mangyari sa Pilipinas. Sa pag-aakala ng marami, Katoliko sarado pa rin ang ating bansa: punung puno pa rin ang maraming simbahan at iginagalang pa rin ng marami ang mga pari. Subalit ganito rin ang Europa noong dekada singkwenta: punung puno rin ang mga simbahan, iginagalang ang mga kaparian, ang kulturang Europeo ay malinaw na kulturang Kristiyano. Subalit, sa loob lamang ng napakaiksing panahon, ay baliktad na ang kalagayan: wala nang nagsisimba, hindi na pinakikinggan ang turo ng mga Obispo, napakarami nang nagtatwa sa kanilang pananampalataya.

Kung tutuusin, nakikita na natin dito sa ating bansa ang mga palatandaan ng sekularismo: ang lumalaking hayagang pagsang-ayon ng maraming mga katoliko sa RH at sa diborsyo. At totoo na ang edukasyon ay ang instrumento ng mabilis na pagguho sa pananampalatayang kristiyano. Hindi ba ang mga pangunahing mga tagapagsulong ng mga makabagong pananaw na salungat sa mga turong Kristiyano ay ang mga “edukado” – silang mga may mataas na pinag-aralan? Saan tayo nagkulang? Ano ang nangyari sa mga pamantasan at paaralang Katoliko? Naging tanyag ang ating mga pamantrasa’t paaralan sa paghubog ng mga graduates na bihasa sa kani-kanilang larangan ng pag-aaral. Subalit nagkulang sa paghuhubog sa kanila sa larangan ng pananampalataya. Ang katekismo ay naging malabnaw at nauwi na lang sa “values formation” lamang. Oo nga’t natuturuan natin ang mga kabataan ng kabutihang asal, ngunit higit pa riyan ang dapat nilang matutunan. Kailangan nilang matutunan ang mga aral ng pananampalatayang kristiyano.

Magandang halimbawa ni Manny Pacquiao na minamaliit ng marami dahil sa kanyang hamak na pinanggalingan. Pinaninindigan niya ang turo ng ating pananampalataya hinggil sa RH. Kinukuwento niya na naging bahagi ng buhay ng kanilang pamilya ang panalangin. Tuwing alaskwatro ng madaling araw, tinipon ni nanay Dionisia ang kanyang mga anak para sa sama-samang pagdarasal ng Rosaryo. Ano pa mang hirap ang kanilang pinagdaanan, napagtagumpayan nila ito dahil sa pagtuturo ng kanilang ina. Mula sa kanya natutunan niyang pagpahalagahan ang Simbahang Katolika at ang kanyang mga katuruan.

Mula sa kuwento ng pambansang kamao, natututunan natin ang halaga ng tunay na katekesis. Religion must once again be the core of the curriculum of our Catholic schools. Yes, we want to produce competent graduates but we must never forget that the purpose of Catholic education is “education in the faith.” Ang siryosong at tapat na katekesis sa ating mga paaralan at pamantasan ang magpapaampat sa mabilis na paglaganap ng sekularismo. Sabi ng ating Santo Papa: “Concern for young people calls for courage and clarity in the message we proclaim; we need to help young people to gain confidence and familiarity with sacred Scripture so it can become a compass pointing out the path to follow. Young people need witnesses and teachers who can walk with them, teaching them to love the Gospel and to share it, especially with their peers, and thus to become authentic and credible messengers.” (Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini, 104.)

Napakasimple ng mga palatandaan ng matagumpay na katekesis. Narinig ko ito kay Msgr. Gerry Santos: Alam natin na nakapagbigay tayo ng epektibong katekesis kapag nakita natin ang mga kabataan na nagsisimba at marami sa kanila ang mahikayat na magpari at mag madre. Reality check lang mga kapatid: ilan sa mga estudyante ninyo ang nag pari at nag madre?

Sa Misang ito sa karangalan ng Espiritu Santo, muli nating italaga ang ating sarili sa tunay na paghuhubog sa pananampalataya. Maging masigasig tayo sa katekesis at hingin natin ang tulong ng Espiritu ng katotohanan upang gabayan niya tayo sa lahat ng katotohanan at ang mga kabataan ay maakit na sumunod sa yapak ni Kristo.

Sabi nga ng Santo Papa: “Study centres supported by Catholic groups offer a distinct contribution to the promotion of culture and education – and this ought to be recognized. Nor must religious education be neglected, and religion teachers should be given careful training. Religious education is often the sole opportunity available for students to encounter the message of faith.” (Verbum Domini, 111.)