Considering Time on New Year's Day

Time is precious indeed! Yet often enough nothing is spent so uselessly as time itself. With time, we buy eternity. Using it well, we can obtain glory and happiness - eternally. Abusing it, we incur condemnation in the fires of Hell - eternally.

The thought of eternity so filled St. Therese of the Child Jesus with anxiety, that often she would exclaim: "Oh Eternity! ... Eternity! ...Eternity!"

All the Saints were constantly preoccupied with profound thoughts of eternity: "O eternal happiness! ... O eternal misery!..." So they always followed the wise and prudent exhortation of the great Apostle Paul: "Therefore, while we have time, let us do good." (Gal. 6:10)

From the Ritual of the End of the Year

and New Year Vigil of the

Adoracion Nocturna Filipina

On the Octave of Christmas

In the 2nd day of the Simbang Gabi, we heard the genealogy of Jesus, Son of David, Son of Abraham. Being the list of the ancestors of Jesus, the genealogy showed us how God, in preparing for the Incarnation of his Son, elected a nation to whom his Son will be born. Today, we hear the letter of St. Paul to the Galatians: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law…” By saying that the Son of God is born of a woman, St. Paul teaches us that Jesus enters the family of all humanity (as every human being is born of a woman). By saying that the Son of God is born under the law, St. Paul teaches us that Jesus enters the family of Abraham. He is born into Israel, the chosen people of God. The Octave of Christmas celebrates these mysteries of the Divine Maternity of the Virgin Mary and the Circumcision of our Lord. For the past 8 days, we have been honoring the mystery of the Virgin Birth. The Infant lying in the manger is born to the Woman who knew not man. Today, this virgin-born child is circumcised: “When 8 days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus.”

To many of us, circumcision is simply a medical procedure that removes the foreskin from the male reproductive organ. This medical procedure is understood as a rite of passage, or as means for physical growth, or a matter of hygiene. Of course, some people really debate about the uselessness of circumcision. But to the Jews, circumcision is the seal of the covenant of God with Abraham. Any one who wished to benefit from the blessings of Abraham must be circumcised. The Jews thought that salvation rests on circumcision.

By being circumcised, Jesus is born under the law. He did not need to be circumcised because he did not need salvation. He is Salvation himself: “He will save his people from their sins.” If he did not need to be saved, why did our Lord submit himself to the Law? He did this to fulfill the law – He is the fullness, the completion of the Old Covenant.

Though not bound by the law, Jesus subjected himself to it “to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” He sheds his blood at his circumcision only to shed it more upon the Cross for the forgiveness of sins. His blood ransoms us from sin. By the shedding of his Blood, He obtains for us the very purpose of his incarnation: our adoption of children of God: “As proof that you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out ‘Abba, Father!’ So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then also an heir through God.”

Because Jesus shed his blood on the Cross, all legal observations that used to be regarded as essential to salvation have been done away with. “In Christ, there is neither Jew nor Gentile.” (Gal. 3:28) “In Christ, neither circumcision or uncircumcision accounts for anything; but only faith working through love.” (Gal. 5:6) “In him you were circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by human hands but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him by baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead.” (Colossians 2: 11-12) By virtue of the waters of baptism that have been empowered by the blood of Jesus and the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, we have been grafted like wild olive branches into the olive tree of Abraham. No longer slaves of sin, we are now children of God.

The Flight to Egypt

Herod was a builder of infrastructure and the ruins in Caesarea Philippi and the Wailing wall in Jerusalem are evidences of his reign. Thus, he was called Herod the Great. But even in his greatness, he feared the news of a new born King because he knew fully well that his kingship was not legitimate but one which he bought from the Roman Emperor by his money and influence. Thus, he ordered the slaughter of all boys 2 years below in Bethlehem and its environs in order to kill this new born King. “Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him,” the angel warned Joseph in a dream. And so, in the middle of the night, the holy family departed for Egypt and stayed there until they received the news about the death of Herod. Thereby, they returned to Israel and lived in Nazareth.

Like the holy family, the Christian family continues to be threatened by many external forces. Like Herod, governments have put the power of the law behind the many destructive threats against the family. Laws legalizing divorce, abortion, and euthanasia; laws redefining the family and accepting the legitimacy of homosexual marriages; laws funding the distribution of artificial contraception; laws that mandate sex education classes in schools – all these are destructive forces which threaten the family. Condoms are easily procured from non government agencies, so why do we need the power of the law to distribute them – the Holy Father once asked. The enemies of the family possess wealth and power. How can the family defend itself?

The answer is found in today’s reading. St. Joseph protected his family by listening to the Word of God revealed by the angel. The Holy Father teaches: “Fidelity to God’s word leads us to point out that nowadays this institution (of the family) is in many ways under attack from the current mentality. In the face of widespread confusion in the sphere of affectivity, and the rise of ways of thinking which trivialize the human body and sexual differentiation, the word of God affirms the original goodness of the human being, created as man and woman and called to a love which is faithful, reciprocal and fruitful.

“The great mystery of marriage is the source of the essential responsibility of parents towards their children. Part of authentic parenthood is to pass on and bear witness to the meaning of life in Christ; through their fidelity and the unity of family life, the spouses are the first to proclaim God’s word to their children…Spouses should also remember that ‘the Word of God is a precious support amid the difficulties which arise in marriage and in family life.’” (Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini, 30 September 2010, 85.)

The only way to protect the family is by proclaiming to it the word of God, “With the proclamation of the word of God, the Church reveals to Christian families their true identity, what it is and what it must be in accordance with God’s plan.” (Ibid.) Thus, our drive must be to fortify the family by helping it listen to the word of God. “The ecclesial community must support and assist them (the family) in fostering family prayer, attentive hearing of the word of God, and knowledge of the bible.” The Holy Father urged “that every household have its Bible, to be kept in a worthy place, and used for reading and prayer.” (Ibid.) It is strange that all houses (even the poorest shanties) have television sets but many of them do not have a single copy of the bible. How can we raise our children in loving the word of God if not even a single copy of the bible can be found at home?

Yes, we may lobby in congress to block the passage of bills that threaten the family but we must not neglect to fortify the family from within. And this can be done only by enabling our families to listen to God’s word. “Let the word of God dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another.”

The Word was abbreviated

From this glimpse that all reality as the handiwork of the Blessed Trinity through the Divine Word, we can understand the statement made by the author of the Letter to the Hebrews: "in many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world" (1:1-2). It is very beautiful to see how the entire Old Testament already appears to us as a history in which God communicates his word: indeed, "By his covenant with Abraham (cf. Genesis 15:18) and, through Moses, with the race of Israel (cf. Exodus 24:8), he gained a people for himself in words and deeds as the one, living and true God. It was his plan that Israel might learn by experience God's ways with humanity and, by listening to the voice of God speaking to them through the prophets, might gradually understand his ways more fully and more clearly, and make them more widely known among the nations (cf. Psalm 21:28-29; 95:1-3; Isaih 2:1-4; Jeremiah 3:17)."

This condescension of God is accomplished surpassingly in the incarnation of the Word. The eternal Word, expressed in creation and communicated in salvation history, in Christ became a man, "born of a woman" (Galatians 4:4). Here the word finds expression no primarily in discourse, concepts or rules. Here we are set before the very person of Jesus. His unique and singular history is the definitive word which God speaks to humanity. We can see, then, why ‘being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a definitive direction…We are speaking of an unprecedented and humanly inconceivable novelty: ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us’ (John 1:14a). These words are no figure of speech; they point to a lived experience! St. John, an eyewitness, tells us so: "We have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14b). The apostolic faith testifies that the eternal Word became one of us. The Divine Word is truly expressed in human words.

The patristic and medieval tradition, in contemplating this "Christology of the word" employed an evocative expression: the Word was "abbreviated" (Origen, Peri Archon 1,2,8: SC 252, 127-129). The Fathers of the Church found in their Greek translation of the Old Testament a passage from the prophet Isaiah that St. Paul also quotes in order to show how God’s new ways have already been foretold in the Old Testament. There we read: "The Lord has made his word short, he abbreviated it" (Isaiah 10:23; Romans 9:28)…The Son himself is the Word, the Logos: the eternal Word became small – small enough to fit into a manger. He became a child, so that the word could be grasped by us. Now the word is not simply audible; not only does it have a voice, now the Word has a face, one which we can see: that of Jesus of Nazareth.

(Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini, 30 September 2010, 11-12.)

Midnight Silence

Midnights used to be quiet – well, that was before we thought of having midnight sales. Long before cable TVs that provided entertainment 24/7, long before casinos, bars, and other night spots, midnights used to be silent. People were supposed to be fast asleep, shops were supposed to be closed, networks have signed off – the midnight silence must have inspired people to sing: “It came upon a midnight clear, that glorious song of old, from angels bending near the earth to touch their hearts of gold.” Indeed, it was in the middle of the night that the Son of God chose to be born in a stable. He preferred to be born in midnight still.

In fact, it was silence that made him choose to be born in a stable. I had the wonderful privilege of spending my priestly anniversary this year in Bethlehem. It was really a God-given gift that I found myself on that day in the cave where our Lord was born. An even greater gift still was the chance to offer Mass on that day in the Church of the Nativity itself. The stable where our Lord was born was a cave – yes, a cave. And it wasn’t strange at all for the people of those times lived in caves. The inn that was said to have refused St. Joseph and Our Lady was no Hilton or Peninsula. It was a cave. Travelers paid for a small space in that cave where they could rest for the night. The couple was not refused because the innkeeper was inhospitable. No, there were so many people in Bethlehem that night that every inch of space in the cave was already taken. The innkeeper, seeing the delicate condition of our Lady who was about to give birth, thought that a cave filled with people is not the proper place for a woman to give birth in. There was just no privacy. It was all too noisy and inconvenient. This is why he offered the holy couple a more suitable place – a place a lot quieter, a lot more private, a lot more respectable – and that would be the stable: the cave where his animals were kept. It was the silence of the stable that made our Lord choose it for his birth place.

Why did he want to be born in the stillness of midnight clear? Why did he choose to be born in a quiet stable. I think the choose of stillness and the preference for silence came from who he, the child was: He is the Eternal Word of the Father, the definitive self-revelation of God to us. Being the Word, He prefers the stillness of midnight and the silence of a cave. A word can only be appreciated when listened to. It cannot survive in the middle of noise and activity. When something serious needs to be considered, we do not choose to talk things out in a noisy entertainment bar or in a public market place. We choose a nice quiet place where the conversation can be carried out with people listening to the one speaking. Though he is the Son of the Eternal Father, Jesus did not arrive amidst the sound of blaring trumpets. He came amidst silence because what he wanted to reveal was important – it was a matter of life and death for us. Everything he came to reveal was necessary for our salvation. And so we have to listen, and listen well. Did not God the Father express this as his will when on the Mountain of the Transfiguration he said to the disciples: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.” To listen to the Son, the believe what he says, and to obey what he commands – such should be our disposition as we stand in silence and wonder before this child who lays in a manger. Have you not noticed? The malls have closed early, vehicles in the highway are sparse – for once in many months, at last all is silent, all is still. Let us take advantage of the silence of this night to welcome Him in our lives. Let us listen to the word proclaimed to us. Let us receive the sacrament of his Body and Blood. Let us spend this night in prayer. Let this night be truly what we have just sung: Silent Night, Holy Night, all is calm, all is bright. Round yon virgin Mother and Child. Yes, Christmas may be for family reunion and godly cheer. But let us postpone it for tomorrow. As for tonight, let us stay before the manger and keep the holy Babe company. Let us stay with his Mother Mary and St. Joseph. Let us allow the angels sing about the blessedness of this night. Let them sing of the glory of God. Let them sing of peace to men of goodwill.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

the Benedictus

As the Simbang Gabi ends today, the Advent season likewise draws to a close. Tonight, the joyous season of Christmas begins. I find it significant that the entire season of Advent (and the Simbang Gabi for that matter) ends with the Canticle of Zechariah which now is known to us as the Benedictus. This is the hymn which the priest Zechariah sang when his tongue was loosened at the circumcision of his son, John the Baptist. Looking at his newborn son, Zechariah could not help but recall everything the angel said about his son who “shall be called Prophet of the Most High” and his mission “to go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.” But as you may have noticed, Zechariah’s appreciation of his son’s role in the plan of salvation enables him to look forward to the coming of the Lord whose way will be prepared by John: “he has come to his people to set them free… for us (he is) a mighty Savior of the house of his servant David.” Realizing the proximity of the fulfillment of God’s promises, he sings: “In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall 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.” This conclusion of the canticle is a fitting conclusion of the entire season of Advent. We will appreciate this more if we keep in mind the reading that opened Advent for us: “You know the time; it is the hour now for you to wake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand.” (Romans 13: 11-14) At the beginning of Advent, St. Paul reminded us of how far advanced was the night that covered all of us with its darkness. And time pressed forward and Zechariah reminds us now where we are at the end of Advent: “the dawn from on high shall break upon us.” The night is far spent…we find ourselves at the break of dawn. The Savior is about to put an end to the reign of darkness. He is coming as the Light of the world. He is the Oriens, the Radiant Dawn, the splendor of eternal light and the Sun of justice who comes to shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death.

And our lives as Christians are constantly “oriented” toward Christ the Orient, the Rising Dawn. Our sense of space is always “oriented.” When I went to the Holy Land, I brought with me a compass which proved to me that in the Motherland of the Church, the birth place of Christianity, all Christian Churches had their altars facing the east. If the Jews prayed facing the west (where the temple used to stand), the Christians faced the east (where the Mount of Olives stood). The Christian heritage of prayer had a specific liturgical direction, which is the east, the rising sun. The orientation of the Christian space is but a reflection of the orientation of the Christian time. The Benedictus is the official morning prayer of the Church. Christians greet each morning with this canticle of Zechariah. Our daily morning canticle, as also our yearly celebration of Advent does, reminds us that we constantly look forward in joyful hope to the definitive dawn of the eternal Day, the glorious return of our Savior Jesus Christ. To us, history moves forward to a definitive end, which is the parousia, the second coming of Christ. History is not a directionless movement of time. Slowly and surely, it moves towards the glorious revelation of Jesus Christ.

I find it significant that in the old funeral rites, the Benedictus is sung just before the body is laid to rest in the tomb. The canticle seems to be the Church’s way of assuring the dead that they shall not remain in the shadow of death forever and so they must await their resurrection on the last day. In between Mount Zion (where Jerusalem and the Temple stood) and the Mount of Olives (where Jesus ascended to heaven) is a valley called the Valley of Jehosafat. According the Jewish tradition, at the end of time, God will descend on this valley to judge the whole world. Thus, at the foot of the Mount of Olives, the Jews buried their dead with their faces towards Jerusalem. They do this so that when God descends on the valley of Judgment, the dead will rise facing Jerusalem. However, at the other side of the valley, at the foot of Zion, just outside the walls of the ancient Jerusalem, the Christians buried their dead with their faces towards the Mount of Olives (which was east of Zion). They do this so that when Christ returns to judge the living and the dead, the dead will rise facing the Mount of Olives. In fact, when we bury our dead, we must position them in such a way that their faces are turned towards the rising sun because they lay in joyful hope for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall come to judge the living and the dead.

Even with our excitement over the proximity of Christmas, the Church does not forget the very purpose of Advent, which is, to keep us vigilant for the return of Christ. The day or the hour we do not know but we are sure that it will come. The Lord indeed keeps his promises. At his incarnation, he fulfilled his promises to the prophets. At his resurrection, he fulfilled his promise to his Apostles. He has one last promise to fulfill and we know he will keep it: his coming at the end of time. And so, we bid farewell to Advent with the ancient Christian prayer: Marana tha. Come Lord Jesus. Halina Hesus halina.

In the spirit and power of Elijah

After nine months of silence, Zechariah was able to speak at the circumcision of his son whom he named “John”. He spoke blessing God and fear descended upon his neighbors who recognized that the child born to both the priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth was no ordinary child: “What will this child be? Surely the hand of the Lord was with him.”

“What will this child be?” He will be the fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi: “Lo, I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and terrible day, to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with doom.” When the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah by the altar of incense in the temple, he said that the child to be born of Elizabeth “will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.”

“In the power and spirit of Elijah…” indeed, Elijah will for ever be remembered as the prophet who brought down fire from heaven to awaken the Israelites from their idolatry. The image of fire evokes not only passion but also purification. St. John the Baptist would prepare a people for the Lord by preaching a baptism of repentance. Being the voice crying in the wilderness, he will speak with powerful and passionate words: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every mountain shall be made low and every valley be filled.” His tongue is like a sharp sword because he speaks not in a flowery and politically correct manner. No, he speaks direct to the point: he tells Pharisees and Sadducees “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” He tells Herod directly that “it is not right for you to take your brother’s wife?” There is no pretense in his words: “Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees. Every tree that does not bear fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” To him, the coming of the Lord is not an excuse for parties nor a license for enjoyment but something we should truly prepare for by our conversion: “Yes, he is coming…But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire, or like the fuller’s lye. He will sit refining and purifying silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, refining them like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the Lord. Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will please the Lord, as in the days of old, as in years gone by.” John the Baptist pointed always to Christ as the one mightier than himself; he is the voice but Christ is the Word. The Holy Father said: “It is the word which illuminates, purifies, converts; we are only its servants.” (Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini, 30 September 2010, 93.)

What does it mean to us that the Baptist is born? It means that the day of the Lord is near! “I will send you Elijah before the day of the Lord comes.” Indeed, the day of the Lord comes – the Simbang Gabi draws to a close. Christmas is 2 days away. Are our preparations near completion? But do not just think of your shopping list. Think of the preparations that really count: “to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous…” Have we become a people fit for the Lord? “The day of the Lord comes, the great and terrible day.” The One to be born to us may be a little child but helpless as he may be in the manger, his Divinity has never been diminished. He who will be born is the Son of Man who will separate the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the chaff. He is the Truth before whom everything hidden comes to light. He will come to judge the living and the dead!