God who is a Child

FEAST OF THE SANTO NIÑO C

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

JANUARY 20, 2019

Jesus, I trust in you!

When he was reproached by Mary for staying behind in Jerusalem without asking their permission, the child Jesus said to her: Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I had to be in my Father’s house? His answer seemed impolite and rude but it was actually a revelation which Jesus made about himself. By being in his Father’s house, the child Jesus revealed who he is: He is the only begotten Son of God. The teachers of the Law were all astounded at this child’s understanding and answers because he was no ordinary child. He is the Son of God. Last Sunday, at Jesus’ Baptism in the River Jordan, both the Holy Spirit and the voice of the Father testified to Jesus: You are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

The readings today testify to who the Santo Niño is. Many of us here are devoted to the Santo Niño. Who is the Santo Niño: he is the Son of God! Let us not forget it. The Santo Niño raises his hand in blessing us. The reason why we are blessed in him with every spiritual blessing in the heavens is because the Santo Niño is the Son of God. His Father is God and therefore he is Lord and God. If the Santo Niño were not God, then we will never be chosen in him to be adopted as children of God.

The Santo Niño holds the globe in his hand because he is the child born to us, the Son who is given to us. On his shoulders, dominion rests. His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, from David’s throne, and over his kingdom which he confirms and sustains by his judgment and justice now and forever. This child is Wonder-counselor, God-hero, Father-forever, and Prince of Peace.

The Santo Niño, therefore, is no ordinary child. He is God. Therefore, he must not be treated just like an ordinary child. We must revere him as God. He is not our toy, nor is he our doll, nor is he our personal pet. We do not subject him to our whims and petty pleasures. Instead, we venerate his image and revere his Holy Name. He is not our play thing. Instead, we surrender ourselves to him as St. Therese did: “I had offered myself, for some time now, to the Child Jesus as his little plaything. I told him not to use me as a valuable toy children are content to look at but dare not touch, but to use me like a little ball of no value which he could throw on the ground, push with His foot, pierce, leave in a corner, or press to His heart if it pleased him; in a word, I wanted to amuse little Jesus, to give Him pleasure; I wanted to give myself up to His childish whims. He heard my prayer.

“At Rome, Jesus pierced His little plaything; He wanted to see what there was inside it and having seen, content with His discovery, He let His little ball fall to the ground and He went off to sleep. What did He do during His gentle sleep and what became of the little abandoned ball? Jesus dreamed He was still playing with His toy, leaving it and taking it up in turns, and then having seen it roll quite far He pressed it to His heart, no longer allowing it to ever go far from His little hand.” (Story of a Soul)

This rather poetic meditation of St. Therese is the essence of devotion to the Santo Niño. Our faith in him is shown by our subjection to his Divine Will. Let our devotion to him be both mature and child-like. The revelry of dancing to the beating of drums is not enough. It should deepen into a real filial relationship with the Father. This filial relationship must imitate that of Jesus who saw it necessary to be in his Father’s house, doing his Father’s business. May the Father of Jesus and our Father give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him. May the eyes of our hearts be enlightened, that we may know the hope that belongs to his call, the riches of glory in the inheritance among the holy ones.

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

The Epiphany of the Trinity

BAPTISM OF THE LORD C

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

JANUARY 13, 2019

JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU!

So many people went to the Jordan River to listen to John the Baptist and to have themselves baptized and among them was Jesus. This is the implication of what the Gospel said today: “After all the people were baptized and Jesus also had been baptized…” They did not know that among them was the One of whom John referred to as the “One who is mightier than I is coming…” Jesus looked like everybody else. He was not shining with a halo as holy pictures depict him. He was like us in all things except sin, so would St. Paul say. He stood there, all wet as the rest of the people were. He stood there among the multitude of sinners. The sinless One stood among sinners and he did not look differently from them.

John the Baptist himself admitted that he did not know Jesus: “I did not know him, but the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’” And so it happened: while Jesus was praying, the Holy Spirit descended upon him in a bodily form. The Holy Spirit singled Jesus out from the rest of the drenched humanity. And the heavens opened and a voice from heaven was heard: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The objective was simple: the event took place to reveal Jesus to all. This is why the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River is one of the 3 mysteries of the Epiphany. By descending upon Jesus, the Holy Spirit singled Jesus out. And the voice of God revealed to all who this man is: He is God’s Son, his Beloved on whom God’s pleasure rests. But by revealing Jesus, God also revealed something about himself. God revealed that He is a Trinity of Persons. The baptism at the Jordan was not only Jesus’ first public manifestation. It was also the first public revelation of the Blessed Trinity: the Son emerged from the waters, the Holy Spirit descended upon him and the Father publicly acknowledged him as his only begotten Son.

I want to preach about this because just before Christmas, the President said that the Trinity is silly. “How can one God be divided to 3 persons? That is silly! (kagalgalan; hangal)” But allow me to make clear this point: the Catholic Church did not invent the Trinity. The Trinity was revealed by God himself. The Trinity is God’s revelation of himself. The Church did not invent the Trinity. The Church simply listened to God as he revealed himself. If God did not reveal his inner life, if God did not reveal the Trinity, the Catholic Church would not have known it. And when did God reveal himself as a Trinity of persons? It was at the Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan. For the 1^st time in the history of the world, the Blessed Trinity made himself known. It may be difficult for our human minds to grasp it but still we believe in it because God said it so. I believe in the Blessed Trinity because God said it and he does not lie. When people say that the Trinity is silly, they accuse God of lying because they question the credibility of his revelation. “Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, by not believing the testimony God has given about his Son.” (1 John 5:10) Did the Holy Spirit lie when he descended upon Jesus and single him out? The Holy Spirit does not lie because he is the Spirit of Truth. Did God the Father lie when he publicly claimed Jesus as His Son? The Father does not lie. “He has testified on behalf of his Son.” And if we want to be saved, we must accept in faith this Divine Testimony. “God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever possesses the Son has life; whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life.”

By publicly revealing Jesus as his only begotten Son, God publicly admitted that he is Father. The Holy Spirit constantly gives us the interior witness about Jesus as God’s Son sent by the Father. Let us hold on firmly on this faith of our baptism. Remember that we were baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. This is the faith that saves us. Let us reject any insinuation that this truth is silly. God is not silly. God is not a liar.

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

Epiphany: The King who Dies; the God who Sacrifices

EPIPHANY 2019

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

JANUARY 6, 2019

Jesus, I trust in you!

Today is literally the 12^th day of Christmas. This year, January 6 is the 1^st Sunday of the month. We get to celebrate this year Epiphany as the 12^th day of Christmas, as the carol says it should be. The magi who saw the star rising in the east, went to Bethlehem to pay homage to the new-born king of the Jews. They offered him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They offered gold because the child is the King of the Jews. They offered frankincense because he is God. Up until this point, we understand the propriety of the gifts. But one strange thing that they offered is myrrh. Myrrh is oil which Jews use to anoint the dead. In their effort to delay the decomposition of a corpse, they anoint it with myrrh. As a gift to a new born king, myrrh seemed inappropriate because it speaks of death which is way beyond the concern of those who rejoice over the birth of a baby.

And yet, the myrrh speaks of the very mission of God incarnate. It prophesies the death of Jesus which is the very purpose why he came down and appeared to us here on earth. It speaks of the uniqueness of Jesus as both King and God.

The magi disturbed Jerusalem with their question: “Where is the new born King of the Jews? We have seen his star at its rising and have come to pay him homage.” They called Jesus “King of the Jews”. In this same manner, Pontius Pilate prepared a sign to be affixed on the Cross of Jesus. The sign would read: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” Where is the King of the Jews? He is up there hanging on the Cross for us. This makes Jesus unique as King. Subjects usually are prepared to die for their king. But Jesus is the King who dies for us his subjects.

One of the reasons why Jesus was condemned to die was because he called God his Father. In doing so, he made himself equal to God. Jesus claimed that he is divine. He knew that such a claim would lead him to death but he said, “If I do not say this, I will be a liar.” Worshippers kill a victim to offer their gods. But Jesus offered himself upon the wood of the Cross as a sacrifice in atonement for our sins. He who is God, is both priest and victim.

Jesus is King who dies for his subjects. Jesus is God who offers himself as a sacrifice. This fact that our King and God would be crucified and die on the Cross baffles the very logic of the world. It is so absurd that even our president could not understand it: “Paano ka makakaconcentrate kung yung Diyos mo ay nakapako sa krus…P I…ako diyos mo…ipapako mo? Ako…sasabihin ko: lightning, sunugin mo silang lahat!” The myrrh does not seem to blend with the gold and frankincense. But that is the logic of man. It is the logic of the world which to God is mere foolishness.

To the Jews, the Cross is a stumbling block. To the Gentiles, the Cross is an absurdity. But to those who are being saved, the Cross is the wisdom and the power of God. The myrrh dignifies the gold and glorifies the frankincense. Christ on the Cross is a King like no other. Christ on the Cross is God who has no equal. The reason why all of us belong to him is because he bought us at the price of his blood. We were redeemed by his death and resurrection. Therefore, in the persons of the magi, let us kneel before his cradle bed and pay him homage. Let us offer him the shining gold of our faith and charity. Let us offer him the frankincense of our humble worship. But most of all, let us offer him the myrrh of our self-abnegation. Let us die to ourselves for him who loved us and gave up his life for us.

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

Solemnity of the Mother of God: Born under the Law

Solemnity of MARY MOTHER OF GOD

Year of the Youth

January 1, 2019

Jesus, I trust in you!

When the shepherds went to Bethlehem, they glorified God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them by the angels. What was it that they were told? What was it that they had seen? They were told that they shall find in Bethlehem an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. That was the sign given to them and the moment they saw the infant of Mary, they already knew what it meant. They knew that this infant is the Savior who is Christ the Lord: “Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you who is Christ the Lord.” All these are summed up in the Name which today is given to the child: “He was named Jesus.” The Name “Jesus” means “God Saves.” This name tells us who the child is and what was he sent to do. He is God and he comes to save: “You are to name him Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.” The Son of Mary is God, therefore he is called Lord. The Son of Mary comes to save us from sins, therefore he is called Savior.

St. Paul tells us the implication of the great mystery of the Incarnation of God’s Son: “God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we may receive adoption as sons.” Jesus was born of a woman named Mary. God became man. Today, he is circumcised. He became subject to the law. Circumcision is the sign of the covenant between Abraham and God. Abraham was circumcised when he was 99 years old. Today, when the eternal God entered time, he was circumcised when he was 8 days old. God, who is above the Law, became subject to the Law. He went down to our humble level and he did this for a purpose. He came to ransom us from the Ancient Law of sin which subjected all mankind. He ransomed us at the price of his Blood shed upon the Cross. This is neither absurd nor silly as the president claims it to be. Christ died because a price has to be paid. That is what ransom is all about. It is about paying a price in order to obtain the freedom of a captive. We were captives, hostages of sin. Christ liberated us by shedding his blood on the Cross and dying for us.

By ransoming us from sin, Jesus obtained our adoption as sons of God. “To those who did accept him, he gave power to become 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.” We are no longer slaves but sons and daughters of God. Divine Filiation is the great gift of Jesus to us. To make us his sons and daughters is the ultimate reason why God created us. He wanted us to share in his Divine life. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is that share, that access that God gives us to himself. The Holy Spirit dwelling in us testifies to our freedom. The Holy Spirit in us helps us approach God with the confidence of sons and daughters. Because of the Holy Spirit in us, we are truly rich. He is the inheritance promised to us because he brings us to communion with the Trinity even here on earth. He is our foretaste of heaven, our pledge of eternal life.

The Holy Spirit is the Blessing God gives us every year, year in and year out. Every New Year we should never fail to beg God to send us the Holy Spirit. This is why the Church, at midnight of a new year, sings “Veni Creator Spiritus” (Come Holy Spirit). More than fortune and success for the New Year, the ever abiding presence of the Holy Spirit is most important for us. Sending Him to us is the ultimate reason why the Son of God was born of a woman. So long as the Holy Spirit is with us, we have nothing to fear. As long as the Holy Spirit dwells in us, all will be well. We will always be at peace.

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

New Year 2019: Counting our days aright

NEW YEAR’S EVE 2018

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

DECEMBER 31, 2018

Jesus, I trust in you!

It is the last day of 2018 and as the clock moves slowly towards midnight, people all over the world will be engaging in countdowns. There is revelry everywhere because there is something about the passing of one year to another that captures the excitement of people. Of course, we are celebrating something that is secular because the transition involved civil years. That is why the celebration all over the world has a worldly, secular character. People will be dining and dancing the night away on to a new year.

But for us who follow Christ, tonight’s countdown has a special significance. It reminds us of the way we look at time with the eyes of faith. To us, history is not just a meaningless cycle of events but a journey from a definite point of time to another definite point. History is the human journey from Creation to the end of all time, the second coming of Christ. And at the center of this human historical journey is Christ, the Lord of history, the Lord of time. That is why we divide history into two: BC (Before Christ) and AD (the year of the Lord). Pope John Paul II, in the celebration of the great Jubilee Year 2000, made us aware of this once again: the birth of Christ is the center of all human history. The Incarnation is the definitive entrance of God into human history and this momentous event changed the course of man. Before he came, all of us were on the way to perdition. But God entered history, the Eternal One entered time and space, in order to change that course. He has put a stop to this slippery descent of man and brought it to a path of redemption. Being born in time, Jesus transforms it. No longer is time a countdown to punishment. Through Jesus, time has become a countdown to redemption. That is why at the beginning of Advent, the Lord bids us to stand erect and raise our heads, for our redemption is at hand.

And that is why we count time. We pray the Psalm: “Lord, teach us to number our days aright, so that we may gain wisdom of heart.” (Ps. 90:12) We ask for the grace to number our days aright. Yes, we number our days because our days are numbered. Time for us is not an unlimited commodity. It is something given to us in a limited way. As I have told you in the past, every year, every month, every week, every day, every hour, every minute, every second that passes brings us closer to the end…and that end is not something dismal, but something we long for because this end is our grand meeting with Jesus who will return in glory. The limited time given to us is a time of grace and mercy, an opportunity offered by the Lord to us to work out our earthly life in keeping with his divine plan and decide our ultimate destiny. (CCC, 1013) And this time which keeps going forward will never return. Once it passes, it is gone forever. There is no replay. There is no take two. You miss it…move on to the next. And remember, it is running forward faster than you think. This is why we must take advantage of every second, every minute to advance in grace and holiness. St. John Bosco said, “Do good while you still have time.” Yesterday, we saw Jesus advance in wisdom, age and favor before God and men. As 2018 is passing, can we truly say that we have advanced? Surely, we have advanced in age. We have become a year older definitely…and nothing can stop this. But have we advanced in wisdom? Did we learn from our mistakes? Have we become more understanding and more loving? Have we matured in thought and action? Have we become more discerning of the ways of the Lord? Or are we still gullible to the devil’s deceptions? Have we advanced in favor before God and men? Have we become more pleasing to God? Have we become more respectable before others? Am I a better person today than last year? Am I holier now than before?

Tonight is the time to sit in silence and reflect before God. How much time I wasted tinkering my gadgets and missing out on the people around me, the people who love me? How many opportunities to deepen my relationship with God have I wasted? How many opportunities for love and communion have I passed? For this, let us beg forgiveness. Lord, I can never take back the time passed. I am sorry.

Tonight is the time to sit before the Lord and ask him: Lord, how can I rectify my ways? How can I make up for lost time? How can I do better? This is what Resolutions are all about. Make your resolutions and seriously take them to heart. Do not immediately abandon them because you do not know if you will still be here next year. Make every second count and you will be wiser. “Lord, teach us to number our days aright, so that we may gain wisdom of heart.”

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

Raising children for God

FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY C

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

DECEMBER 30, 2018

Jesus, I trust in you!

The issue of parental upbringing came to the fore with the bully video that went viral before Christmas. People began to ask: What happened to the kid that he grew up to be an arrogant bully? Public attention went to his parents. They began to ask: What kind of parenting did he receive? In fact, in a TV program, the bully’s father, apparently fed up by all these questions, texted the host: “Huwag mo akong turuan kung paano ko palalakihin ang aking anak.”

When Mary reproached (sumbat) Jesus for staying behind in Jerusalem without their knowledge, she gave Jesus the opportunity to teach about parenting. She said: “Son, why have you done this to us? Did you not know that your father and I searched for you with great sorrow?” Jesus said: “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I have to be in my Father’s house?” Contrary to what many parents think that their children are theirs and that these are raised according to their own liking, Jesus, in these words, is telling Mary and Joseph: “I am yours but also not yours. I belong to you but also not to you. I belong to the Father and I must be found in my Father’s house. I must do what the Father sent me to do.”

Parents must always remember that their children are theirs but not totally theirs. They belong to the Father in heaven. “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called children of God.” God entrusted his children to them. Therefore, parents fulfill the role of stewards. They raise children not for themselves but for the Father. Dear parents, you are raising sons and daughters for God. Therefore, you do not raise your children to become like yourselves. You raise them to become like Jesus because Jesus is the Son of God and therefore, he is the model of all Christian children. Most parents want their children to grow up resembling themselves. No! Let your children grow up to resemble Jesus. Your ultimate goal is not to lead your children to a successful career. Your goal must be to help them become saints. If you really love your children, you want them to go to heaven for all eternity. Therefore, teach your children to do the Father’s business. Help them discern the Father’s will at all time. “We keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And his commandment us this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us.” In the end, when you bring up God-fearing children, you will have loving children.”

Bring your children to the temple as Hannah did to Samuel and offered him to God’s service. Bring them to the temple as Joseph and Mary did to Jesus. Teach them to worship God and they will be blessed: Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord. Teaching them to love God will eventually lead the way to real obedience to you. Jesus went down to Nazareth and was obedient to them because he understood that his obedience to his human parents expressed his obedience to his heavenly Father. When children are raised up to become like Jesus, they grow up like him: advanced in wisdom and age and in favor before God and men.

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

Christmas Mass of the Day 2018: The Gift of Divine Filiation

CHRISTMAS MASS OF THE DAY 2018

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

DECEMBER 25, 2018

JESUS, I trust in you!

Christmas mornings for me are times of awe and wonder. My fondest childhood memories are those of Christmas mornings. I woke up with great expectation because I knew that I would find gifts beneath the tree and gifts from Santa who paid a visit the night before. I continue to wake up on Christmas morning with that same childlike wonder. I do hope that you would do the same.

Oftentimes, we say that Christmas is for children…and I believe it still to be so. It is because only by remaining like a child can we truly appreciate the great mystery that happened today. Of course, we may be overwhelmed by the “adult” concerns like the expenses that we must put up with in order to celebrate Christmas. But such should not deprive us of the joy that Christmas should give us. If I were asked, “What do you associate Christmas mornings with?” I would immediately answer: “The gifts.” And it is true: we associate Christmas mornings with gifts. It is the time when families open their gifts to each other. But we must not forget to open the best gift of Christmas…and that would be the gift of God’s only begotten Son born to us this day.

“In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God…” This is the child we find in the manger. He is the Son “whom God made heir of all things and through whom he created the world.” This is the Son who is “the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word.” He comes wrapped in swaddling clothes and lain on a manger. Do not be deceived by the wrappings. The world underestimates him because he seems too small, too powerless. What can a child do? How much can he give? “He was in the world…but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.”

Do not underestimate him because of his humble appearance. Accept this gift of the Father because “to those who accept him, he gave the power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation, nor by human choice, nor by a man’s decision, but by God.” He transforms us and makes us like himself. He makes us children of God. This is the gift which no one but Christ could ever afford to give us: Divine Filiation. This is the richest gift because through it, we become heirs of God, co-heirs with Christ, and heirs of heaven. Nothing can be more precious. Nothing can be more valuable than this. “From his fullness we have all received, a grace in place of grace…grace and truth comes through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.”

Today, we see that Son who is at the Father’s side. Today he comes to us and dwells among us. He reveals to us the Father whom we do not see. He gives to us the inheritance we do not have. He made himself poor…and because of this, we are rich. What a gift on Christmas morning! He is the gift that only God can give.

Merry Christmas! 

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