Easter Sunday: The Living One is not among the Dead

EASTER SUNDAY 2019

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

APRIL 21, 2019

JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU!

Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early in Easter morning. She expected to find the corpse of Jesus there and she came to anoint him. But to her surprise, she found the stone removed from the tomb and when she reported it to Peter and John, they ran to the tomb in order to investigate. They found the tomb empty. There were the burial cloths and other linen. But the body was missing. Jesus was not in the tomb.

Why was Jesus not in the tomb? It was because he is risen from the dead. A tomb is no place for a living person. It is the resting place of the dead. It is not for the living. Why look for the living among the dead?

During the Lenten season, we were confronted by the reality of sin. Sin is the cause of death. Death entered the world through sin. Jesus engaged in a battle against the devil and eventually died. The sinless One seemed to be defeated by sin itself because he was afflicted with death. He had to enter death in order to destroy it from within. (His strategy was similar to that of the Trojan horse) Obediently accepting death on the Cross, Jesus destroyed the chains of death that bound us. He had to be chained by the shackles of death so that he can break it. He broke the chains of death by destroying the cause of death: disobedience. His obedience undid the disobedience of Adam and Eve. His humiliation overturned the arrogance of Satan. Once the cause is destroyed, the effect is shattered.

Through his death on the Cross, Jesus obtained for us the grace of the forgiveness of sins. (How do you destroy sin? It is destroyed by forgiving it in the same way that disease is destroyed by curing it.) This forgiveness is given to us through the sacraments of Baptism and Confession. When we are in sin, we find ourselves enslaved to the tomb. We were dead because of sin. But now he calls us to come out of the tomb. “The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.” Resurrecting from the dead, Jesus came out of the tomb and he bids us to follow him out of the death of sin into the life of grace. St. Paul tells us: “Clear out the old yeast (of sin), so that you may become a fresh batch of dough; inasmuch as you are unleavened. For Christ, our Paschal Lamb, has been sacrificed.”

He tells us to confess our sins and renounce them. By doing so, we cast away the yeast of sin. We are freed from our slavery to sin and therefore, are released from the curse of everlasting death. It is only when we are freed from sin that we cannot be harmed by death forever. Only Christ can do this for us. We have to believe in him and reach out for the instruments he gives us to obtain mercy and forgiveness. Those who ask for forgiveness will come out of the tomb and live. Those who refuse that mercy will remain dead in the tomb. Christ is not in the tomb because he is alive. The tomb is the place of the dead because Christ is not there. Whoever lives in sin is actually dead because Christ is not in him. Whoever obtains mercy is alive and is able to say: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20) “Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

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

Easter Vigil: Dying and Rising with Christ

EASTER VIGIL 2019   

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

April 20, 2019

Jesus, I trust in you!

“At daybreak on the 1^st day of the week, the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus took the spices they have prepared and went to the tomb.” We accompany tonight these women for we, too, had come from Galilee with Jesus. This journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, in a sense, is what our Lenten Journey is all about. It was a 40 day journey of prayer and fasting. It was a 40 day ascent to Jerusalem where, Jesus said, he was to suffer in the hands of evil men and die in order to enter into his glory. Throughout this Lenten journey, we shared in our Lord’s battle against the devil. Jesus began it by fasting in the desert where he was tempted by Satan. He overcame the seductions of the evil one by his constant absolute and unconditional obedience to the Father’s will. He was obedient until death, death on the Cross. He accomplished everything the Father sent him to do. His obedience undid the curse of Adam’s disobedience. His humiliation destroyed the arrogant works of the devil.

He invited us to accompany him in this ascent to Jerusalem. This he did by revealing to us ugliness and danger of sin. Then, he revealed to us the Father who is the true Source of Joy and Mercy. He invited us to repent lest we “perish as they did.” As what happened to the prodigal son, he wanted us to come to our senses and return to the Father. He assures us not to fear because he will not condemn us if we return to him. Through prayer and fasting for 40 days, we have prepared ourselves for tonight’s feast.

And so, we are here with the women at the tomb. The heavy stone which the soldier used to seal the tomb was meant to keep the corpse of Jesus in it. But it was not heavy enough. The stone was rolled away. Nothing can keep Jesus in the tomb. “Death no longer has power over him.” The living One cannot be found among the dead. He is no longer in the tomb for he has risen from the dead.

And we will also rise with him to eternal life only if we accompany him in his death. We died with him when we were baptized. In the waters of baptism, the old Adam died and was buried in it. We have risen as a new creation. And this is what we are reminded of year after year. Every year, we pray and fast for 40 days so that on the Easter Vigil like the one we celebrate today, we would be worthy to renew our baptismal promises. We come to the tomb to be reminded again and again that we have already died with Christ and that we must live lives renewed in baptismal grace. Maybe time and again, we forget who were as like the prodigal son who forgot that he was his father’s son. Maybe time and again, we have become unfaithful to God, our first love, as the adulterous woman was.  But every Lent, we are given the grace to rise from where we have fallen to return to the house of the Father. Every Lent, we are given the grace to hear the loving words of the Lord: “I do not condemn you. Go and from now on, do not sin anymore.

Having been absolved of our sins through confession, we now come to the tomb. We stand rejoicing in the fact that God’s forgiveness renews all things. God’s forgiveness renews us. We stand amazed at what had happened. We are amazed at how the dead Savior can rise again. We stand amazed at how we, who were dead in sin, can be raised by the forgiveness of the Lord. We stand amazed at how we, who were condemned to die, “now live in newness of life.” “A dead person has been absolved from sin.”

To be here at the tomb during this Easter Vigil is indeed a grace which we should treasure. Let us strive not to lose this grace of new life. Let us not carelessly give it up for the fleeting pleasures of the world. Let us resolve to no longer go back to the slavery of sin. Let us “think of (ourselves) as being dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.”

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

Good Friday: The Costly Price of Justice and Mercy

GOOD FRIDAY 2019

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

April 19, 2019

JESUS, I trust in you!

Lent began with Jesus engaging in a fight with the devil as he fasted in the desert. The devil tried to dissuade him from fulfilling the Father’s will by seducing him with more convenient ways of acquiring glory and power. All Jesus had to do was to relinquish his divinity and kneel before the devil and the kingdoms of the earth will easily be given to him. But Jesus did not fall for this seduction because he knew himself and he knew who the devil was. He knows fully well that he is the Son of God sent by the Father to destroy the works of the devil his adversary.

He engaged in this spiritual battle and it was a very fierce one. In this battle, the Lord revealed to us the real ugly and deadly face of sin. Using the example of the Galileans executed by Pilate and the 18 people to perished at the collapse of the tower of Siloah, the Lord Jesus gave us a stern warning about the effects of sin: “If you do not repent, you will perish as they did.” Adam and Eve did not know better. They were easily deceived by the devil and so when they disobeyed, sin entered the world and together with sin entered death.

But in this battle, the Lord did not only warn us of the deadly effect of sin. In order to redeem us, he literally jumped into the devil’s lair. Today, the Lord allowed death to touch him. He, the sinless One, endured the wage of sin which is death. He did not sin. There was nothing in him to merit death. And yet, today, he died. He died for sins he did not commit. He died for sins which we committed. He died for the sins of the world.

It is easy to say that Jesus died in atonement for our sins. But it is only when we really meditate on his Passion…when we look at the sufferings he endured, it is only then that we will tremble at what we have done to him. That Negro spiritual song says it very well: “Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Oh, sometimes, it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” We look up to Jesus hanging on the Cross and we ask him: “Lord, who did this to you?” And when we look down, we see the hammer in our hands. And so, with hearts filled with remorse, we should rather say: “Were you there when I crucified my Lord?”

We rightly deserved to die in the very same way that the adulterous woman deserved to perish. We are guilty as charged. And yet, the Lord declares to us: “I do not judge you.” He does not point an accusing finger at us. Instead, willingly he opened his arms on the wood of the Cross to endure for us a death which is cruel and excruciatingly painful. Jesus bled to death. The medical term is “traumatic hemorrhagic shock.” We should have been on that Cross but he took it upon himself for us. He went to the very depth of death because what he did not assume, he did not redeem.

And so, after that long and difficult battle, Jesus declares his cry of victory: It is finished! Refusing the devil’s shortcut, Jesus fulfilled the Father’s will through that long and difficult suffering. He loved his own and now, he loved until the very end. It was a declaration of accomplishment. Jesus declares that he has completed the task. He did not leave any stone unturned. His humiliation undid the arrogance of Satan. His unconditional obedience atoned for the disobedience of Adam and Eve and all of us, their sons and daughters. Justice is satisfied. Now we can avail mercy and forgiveness.

And so, let us value the mercy that we receive. Never should we take for granted the forgiveness bestowed on us. Keep in mind that mercy is not cheap. Someone paid dearly for it to be given to us. After a few days of penance, many of us will surely be tempted to return to their former ways of life. Don’t! Resist the temptation! Do not treat forgiveness lightly. Remember the Lord’s suffering. Remember his sacrifice. Jesus paid dearly for it. “Remember that you were not bought at the measly sum of silver or gold, but at the price of the blood of Christ, the blood of a spotless and unblemished lamb.”

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

Holy Thursday: A Life of Serving the Lord is a Life well spent

HOLY THURSDAY 2019

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

April 18, 2019

Jesus, I trust in you!

Holy Thursday this year means a lot to me as I am currently celebrating my silver jubilee year as a priest. The anniversary of the institution of the Eucharist and the Priesthood during the Year of the Youth gives me the occasion to go back to the day of my ordination as a priest. I was 25 years old then, with more hair and with greater idealism. I remember that afternoon of November 30, 1993 in the Manila Cathedral when the deacon called my name. At that time, I answered: “Ad sum! Present!” I was called and so I answered: “Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.” So inflamed was I with the love of God that I was willing to say “Yes” to every question Cardinal Sin asked me. Maybe, at that time, I did not know better. Maybe I did not realize the cost of these “yeses.” All I knew at that time was that I wanted to serve. I wanted to offer God my life. And true enough, I have offered the best part of my life to God. I have spent my youth in his service. I am now 50 years old and I am feeling that my body is slowing down. There are many priestly tasks that I used to do easily but now, I experience certain limitations. But whenever I look back to the day of my ordination, I smile and say to the Lord: “Lord, I offered to you the best years of my life and I want to serve you until the end.”

The Lord Jesus was 33 years old at that time. He was at the prime of his life, the prime of his youth. He must have seen himself in that 1 year old lamb that was sacrificed on the eve of the Passover. That year old lamb has experienced a life independent of its mother only for 10 months and now, it is chosen to be sacrificed to the Lord and to be eaten in the Passover meal. We pity the lamb for it was not even allowed to live a full life. But what accounts for fullness of life? Is it the number of years? The lamb of sacrifice teaches us that life is full not because it was spent for many years but because it was offered to the Lord. Although it is very young, the chosen Lamb lived a full life because it was offered in sacrifice to the Lord. We may have spent many years but if none of them were offered to God, it would have been an unfortunate wasted life.

And this is how Jesus spent his life. Last Palm Sunday, Jesus declared to his disciples: “I am among you as the one who serves.” And tonight, he shows us what he meant: he took off his garments, wrapped his waist with a towel, and began washing the feet of his disciples. It was the most menial task. It was a task assigned to the lowest of slaves. And yet, he insisted to do it…even with the protest of Simon Peter. It simply had to be done. “He took the form of a slave and was born in our human likeness.” Jesus teaches us that this is life well spent. It is spent as an offering to God. It is spent in service of others. He challenges the world which teaches us to live lives with a sense of entitlement. He says: “I did not come to be served but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many.”

This is the mark of those who wish to follow Jesus: “the kings of the gentiles lord it over them and those in authority over them are addressed as benefactors. But among you it shall not be so. Let the greatest among you be as the youngest, and the leader as the servant…I am among you as the one who serves…” Dear brothers and sisters, let us allow Jesus to lead us to a meaningful life: a life of giving more than receiving, a life of serving more than entitlement. “I, your Lord and Master, washed your feet. You must also wash each other’s feet.”

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

Palm Sunday 2019: The Homage of Unconditional Obedience

PALM SUNDAY 2019

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

April 14, 2019

Jesus, I trust in you!

Our Lenten journey for this year began with the story of how the Spirit led Jesus to the desert to be tempted by the devil. There, the intention of the Incarnation was made clear: “That the Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil.” He engaged in a spiritual battle with Satan who sought to destroy man by seducing him to sin. Sin, which entered into the world through the disobedience of one man, must be destroyed through the obedience of the Son of God. Christ humbled himself by coming in human likeness and by his obedience until death, death on a Cross.

In the desert, the devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth which he would easily give Jesus if only he knelt to worship him. The Lord could have easily received power and glory from the devil but he refused to receive it from him. instead, in the garden, even though he was in so much agony that his sweat became like drops of blood, the Lord knelt and prayed to his Father: “Not my will but yours be done.” In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve refused God the homage of their unconditional obedience. They wanted to be like God by following their own will. They ate the forbidden fruit and through their disobedience, sin entered the world and together with sin entered death. Jesus offered to God what Adam and Eve refused to offer: the homage of unconditional obedience. He, who is God, emptied himself. He took upon himself the opposite direction which Adam and Eve aspired to take. Our parents aspired to be as great as God. Jesus went down to be a slave: “I am among you as one who serves.”

It is in the humiliation of the Cross that the Lord conquered the arrogance of Satan. By the depth of his suffering and humiliation, Jesus ended the reign of sin by invoking upon us the forgiveness of God: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” By enduring the agony of the Cross, Jesus satisfied the demands of justice He atoned for our sins. Thus, he is able to obtain the freedom of Barabbas. The Son of God liberated the criminal by dying in his stead. Rightfully did the thief say: “We have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” Because Jesus is without sin, he is able to atone for us. By atoning for our sins, he is able to give the repentant thief the promise: ‘Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

As Jesus was told by Satan to jump from the parapet of the temple, so now, he was dared: “If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.” But as he refused to jump from the top of the temple, so now he refused to come down from the Cross. He stayed on the Cross until he commended to the Father his spirit. He stayed on the Cross until he breathed his last. And so he glorified God. In doing so, he destroyed the work of the devil. The people who saw the spectacle returned home beating their breasts. By their repentance, they obtained mercy and forgiveness. Jesus brought back to God his prodigal children.

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

5th Sunday of Lent C: I Do Not Condemn You

5^TH SUNDAY OF LENT C

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

APRIL 7, 2019

Jesus, I trust in you!

The woman really deserved to die because she was caught in the act of adultery which was punishable with death by stoning. She was brought by the scribes and Pharisees to Jesus to test him. Jesus said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And in response, they went away one by one, leaving her alone standing before Jesus. She could have taken that opportunity to run away and escape death but she stood still before him. After all, the one who was left behind had all the right to execute her because he is the sinless One. Jesus, the Son of God, received from his Father the right to judge: “The Father judges no one, but he has given all judgement to the Son so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.” (John 5:22-23) She did not escape because she was guilty and deserved the punishment. She stood there and waited for execution.

But Jesus asked her: “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she replied. Jesus said: “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on, do not sin anymore.” Jesus had the authority to judge but for that moment, he did not use that authority. The sinless One refused to condemn the sinner. “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:17)

The Lord refused to condemn the woman even though she deserved to be condemned. In like manner, he refuses to condemn us who are all as guilty as the woman. Instead, he allowed himself to be condemned to death. He, the sinless One, took upon himself the condemnation we deserved. He let go of the stone which he could have used against us. He let free his hand of the rock of condemnation so that he may embrace the Cross and be crucified on it to atone for our sins. He took upon himself the heavy price of death which our sins deserved. This he did to satisfy the demands of Divine Justice so that he can be merciful to us. Forgiving our sins, the Lord puts them behind us. He remembers not our past, the things of long ago. Instead, he makes all things new. He makes a path in the desert. He tells us to “forget what lies behind but strain forward to what lies ahead.” On the Cross, the Lord makes all things new.

Thus, he tells us what he told the adulterous woman: “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” He reminds us of the executed Galileans and the 18 people who perished at the collapse of the tower of Siloam and reminds us: “If you do not repent, you will perish as they did.” He rejoices at our return to him as the Father rejoiced at the return of his prodigal son. He rejoices to have us back safe and sound.

But from now on, do not sin anymore because one day, he will come to judge the living and the dead. “(The Father) gave him the power of judgment because he is the Son of Man…The hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation.” Let us repent while we can. He will not condemn us. Let us not wait for our sins to accuse us. Let us turn to him for the Lord says: “Even now, return to me with your whole heart; for I am gracious and merciful.” (Joel 2: 2-3)

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

4th Sunday of Lent C: Joy comes from the Father

4^th SUNDAY OF LENT C

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

March 31, 2019

Jesus, I trust in you!

The parable of the Prodigal Son was originally addressed by the Lord to the scribes and Pharisees who found difficulty in rejoicing over the return of tax collectors and sinners to Jesus. Instead of being happy over the fact that these public sinners are repenting and are changing their lives, the scribes and Pharisees found fault in the way the Lord ate with tax collectors and sinners.

They were like the elder brother in the parable. He could not understand why his father ordered the fattened calf slaughtered when the son who dissipated his property on loose women returned. Why give him a welcome party? Should he not have received a scolding instead? Should he not have been punished for his misdeeds? Should he not have been reproached (sinumbatan): “O anong napala mo sa ginawa mo? Matapos mo akong layasan, babalik ka ngayon kasi kailangan mo ako uli?” Why eat with him? In other words, why does the Lord eat with tax collectors and sinners?

The way the father rejoiced over the safe return of his way ward son shows how the mercy of God is indeed beyond our comprehension. In the Old Testament, the Prophet Jonah could not understand why God did not pursue the destruction of the Ninevites when they repented and converted from their evil ways. The Lord explained his mercy through a plant that sprouted and brought temporary relief to the prophet from the heat of the sun but was destroyed rapidly by a worm. The Lord said to Jonah: “You cared about the plant which you neither tended nor grew. It sprang up in a night and perished in a night. So should I not care for the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left?” ( Jonah 4: 10-11)

Sometimes, like the Pharisees and scribes, we think that sinners should be punished. Why was the repentant son not punished? Why was he welcomed instead? The answer is: the son was already “punished.” After dissipating his inheritance, he went hungry. He experienced the humiliation of having to tend swine for a living. The misery was not sent by the father. He merely reaped the consequences of living away and apart from his father. He understood that he got what he deserved. That is why he was even prepared to say: “I do not deserve to be called your son. Treat me as one of your servants.” It was his misery that awakened him to his senses and made him decide to return to his father.

Misery cannot come from the father, only joy. When the son returned home, he did not encounter reproach but a welcoming embrace. The father restored his lost dignity (the robe, sandals, and ring). He was humiliated enough by his sins. Why humiliate him further? “Let us celebrate a feast, because this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.” “In heaven, there is rejoicing over the repentance of one sinner.” The boy may have forgotten for a time was he was his father’s son but never did the father forget this. He constantly waited for his son to return and so rejoiced when he came.

And he wanted his elder son to share in his fatherly joy. He gently reminded his faithful son that the repentant boy was also his brother: “But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because YOUR BROTHER was dead and has come to life again, he was lost and has been found.” The sacrament of Reconciliation does not only reconcile the sinner with God. It also reconciles the sinner to the Church. The repentant sinner is not only God’s son. He is also our brother.

The Father rejoiced because he is a prodigal father. He lavishly spends his love upon us his children. Some may find it wasteful especially if that love is lavished on ingrates. But the Father loves anyway. He does not rejoice over the death of a sinner. He wants that sinner to return to him and live. He wants us to do the same. He wants us to share in his joy over the return of a sinner, the return of a brother. While the world clamors for the death of the sinner, the father gently waits for his conversion. “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you in behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God!”

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