Cycle C - Year II:

6 March 2016: Fourth Sunday of Lent

(Liturgical color: Violet or Rose)

Gospel: Please read Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

The Father's unfailing love!

Once a young man was asked, what is his best description of a father. His response, "A dad is the one who will always believe in you."

The central message of the Lenten season is a call to repentance. But sometimes we are apprehensive and fearful that the "graveness" of our sins is beyond forgiveness.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son in this Sunday's Gospel assures us of God's unconditional love for all His children, both the upright and the sinners. It depicts God like a father who always believes in us, in our capacity for repentance and change of heart.

It is said that the Parable of the Prodigal Son is probably is one of the most familiar and beautiful stories found in the Gospel, because in it Jesus reveals to us the great and infinite depth of His Father's love and mercy. That is why sometimes it is referred to as the Story of the Forgiving Father. It is one of Sacred Scripture's most wonderful commentaries on the relationship of God and His people.

Let us reflect further on the message of the parable for inspiration in our day-to-day Christian living.

In the parable, the younger son asked his father for his part of the inheritance, and then foolishly squandered all his share. He is a symbol of the person who cuts himself or herself from God through sin. We are shown the unhappy effect of sin by what happened to the younger son in the story. His experience of hunger evokes the anxiety and emptiness a person feels when he or she is far from God. In the end the prodigal son decided to return home and ask his father's forgiveness.

The father doesn't greet him with reproaches but with immense compassion. He welcomes his son home and rejoices that the one who was lost has now returned. The father has his son back, and that is all that matters to him. In showing forth such love and mercy, he restores the dignity and worth of his son. In other words, he gives him new life.

Such is how God deals with us in our own sinfulness. Like the father in the parable, God is waiting for us with open arms, even though we don't deserve it. Yes, it doesn't matter how big our sin is, all we have to do is open our heart and return to the Lord. Because God always hopes for the return of the sinner, and wants him or her to repent.

In this parable Jesus teaches us that no one is excluded from God's forgiveness and that sinners can become beloved children of God again when we repent and convert. For no one is really rotten to the core. Every person intrinsically responds to God's call for repentance. That is why Jesus is seen in the company of "questionable" people, and was criticized for keeping their company and even eating with them. Yet our Lord sees promise in His "strange" friends and He was not blind to their needs. Because the tax collectors and sinners were the lost ones, like the prodigal son. Jesus befriends them; for He comes in search of the sinners, awaiting their return.

During our Lenten pilgrimage, let us return to the Father's love and mercy by means of the Sacrament of Reconciliation in which, by confessing our sins, we put on Jesus Christ again and become His brothers and members of God's family.

But then we may also ask, "What about the attitude of the older son in the parable who was angry that his father welcomes home again his squanderer-brother?"

Well, we should likewise consider that if God has compassion towards sinners who repent, He must have more compassion and love towards those who strive to be faithful to Him always. Because our God loves each one of us in a special way.

In the Father's house there is no room for jealousy in God's mercy and love. God is faithful and loving Father to those who follow in His way.

Additional Notes: The Fourth Sunday of Lent is also known as Laetare Sunday. "Laetare" means "rejoicing" in Latin. Thus, Laetare Sunday (like Gaudete Sunday in Advent) is traditionally viewed as a day of celebration, on which the austerity of Lent is briefly lessened. The altar may be decorated with flowers, and rose-colored vestments are allowed instead of purple.

The point of Laetare Sunday (and Gaudete Sunday) is to provide us encouragement as we progress toward the end of the penitential season.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!

Cycle C - Year II:

28 February 2016: Third Sunday of Lent

(Liturgical color: Violet)

Gospel: Please read Luke 13:1-9

The Lord is kind and merciful!

When tragedy or natural calamity strikes, can we attribute that to God's punishment? Sometimes, when we are unable to comprehend misfortunes we relate them to divine intervention as punishment for our sins. Is this proper?

This Sunday's Gospel narrative tells of the misfortunes that befell the Galilean pilgrims and the victims of the fall of the tower of Siloam. People asked our Lord if this was God's punishment for their sins.

Our Lord categorically refuses to attribute their misfortunes to God, or to His sense of justice. Because God does only good; He offers us only life.

Our God is a very patient God who wants us back to His kingdom. So Jesus takes this opportunity to

explain God's mercy and sense of justice. He uses the parable of the fig tree that had not borne fruits for the past three years but was allowed to remain for another year so that it might produce a harvest.

The metaphor for the fig tree teaches us practical lessons about the time each of us is given in this life for conversion.

First lesson: The farmer wanted to cut down the fig tree because it had not borne fruits but only exhausted the soil. Those who only take and don't give something in return eventually collapse upon themselves and die. The same can be true for us when we do not bear fruit for the kingdom of God. Each of us is indebted to God for our lives, but each of us has the responsibility to leave this world better than when we found it when we depart for the next life. We must produce fruits of good deeds.

Second lesson: God is always giving us another chance to conversion and change of heart. Each day is a gift from God. We can make use of it to advance His kingdom, or we can use it only for our own selfish purposes. Our merciful God beckons us always to repentance because His generosity is immense.

Final lesson (but not last): While God's generosity is immense, it is not infinite. One day He will call us for an accounting of our lives. At a certain point, our chances to repent are exhausted and each of us will have to answer for the way we live our lives. It is not as if God shuts us out. Rather, we are responsible for our own downfall should we reject God's invitation to repent with contrite heart.

Now is the time to answer Lent's urgent call for a chance of heart. May each of us sense the urgency of conversion that the parable of the fig tree teaches us. And let us put to life its lessons and work hard to bear fruits for God's kingdom, each according to our own state of life and capacity. Let us always remember that while we live in God's mercy in this life, we will live under His justice in the next.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!

Cycle C - Year II:

21 February 2016: Second Sunday of Lent

(Liturgical color: Violet)

Gospel: Please read Luke 9:28b-36

To share in God's glory!

When things get really tough and challenging we find courage in these inspiring words, "At the end of the rainbow is a pot of gold!" It means that after everything you have gone through, rewards and victory awaits you.

That seems to be the message of this Sunday's liturgy.

On Ash Wednesday we started our Lenten journey on a somber tone as we reflect on our Lord Jesus Christ -- his suffering, and his sacrifice, his life, death, burial and resurrection. Because Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance, as we prepare for the glory of Easter.

But on the second Sunday of Lent we take a break from our sadness and meditate on the fourth Luminous Mystery of the Rosary, the Transfiguration of Jesus, which is one of the most dramatic scenes in all of Scripture.

Holy Mother Church places the transfiguration event before us while our journey of Lent is still young, perhaps to assure us of the final goal. the glorified Christ. Our Lord came into the world to win such glory -- for Himself and for all of us. By His incarnation He took our human nature. By His passion and death He purified it. By His resurrection and ascension He glorified it.

In St. Luke's version of this event, there is a detailed contained in the story, which is unique to his

account: Jesus was transfigured while he was praying. "Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray. While He was praying His face changed in appearance and His clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with Him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His exodus that He was going to accomplish in Jerusalem." (Lk 9:28-31)

The transfiguration of our Lord was a unique display of His divine character and a glimpse of the glory which Jesus had before He came down on earth in human form. In that holy mountain, the chosen apostles had the experience of "the already of the not yet", so that the "inner circle" of Jesus' disciples could gain a greater understanding of who Jesus is. These disciples who had only known Jesus in His human body now had a greater realization of the deity of Christ, even when perhaps they could not fully comprehend their experience at that time. Nonetheless, this experience gave them the assurance they needed when the passion and death of our Lord would transpire. It made such an impression of the disciples of the Lord that it is one of the only stories common to all three of the synoptic Gospels.

True enough, these "privileged" disciples never forgot what happened that day on the mountain. They bore witness to it to the other disciples and to countless millions more down through the centuries. They were witnesses of our Lord's transfiguration event and wrote of it later:

- St. John wrote of it in his gospel account: "We have seen His glory, the glory of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth." (Jn 1:14)

- St. Peter wrote of it as well: "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.' We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain." (2 Peter 1:16-18)

So now, how does this Transfiguration event should affect our lives today as followers of our Lord Jesus Christ?

First of all, we cannot follow Peter's impulsiveness and hastiness in wanting to "glory" in the Lord's transfiguration immediately. Rather, we must accompany our Lord in His Lenten journey. Because there is no shortcut to our heavenly goal, that is to say, we could not have the Gospel without sacrifice, holiness without prayer, virtue without effort, communion without confession, and Easter without Lent. We cannot escape taking our share in carrying the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because our Lord Jesus lived a full human life, experiencing both its joys and sorrows. Therefore, we must take upon ourselves our share of the Lord's suffering and death so that we also will share in His eternal glory.

In sum, God wants to share His glory with us. We get a glimpse of His glory in our Lord's transfiguration. As we continue with our Lenten journey, let us pray earnestly and ask God to deepen our faith in His love and His loving plans for all of us, especially when they do not make sense to us. Let us seek His grace to embrace our crosses and allow them to increase our virtue and to be a channel of God's strength, so that we can also share in Lord's Easter. Amen.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!

Cycle C - Year II:

14 February 2016: First Sunday of Lent

(Liturgical color: Violet)

Gospel: Please read Luke 4:1-13

Strengthen us against temptations....

This Sunday is unique because the universal Feast of Hearts coincides with First Sunday of Lent. Well, there is a common reality in these celebrations. We celebrate the beauty of human love on Valentine's Day, and we proclaim God's unconditional love during the Lenten Season. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son" to redeem us from our sins. (Jn 3:16)

We interrupt our liturgical journey in Ordinary Time to begin the Season of Lent. As we know, Lent is a time of preparation for the big event of Easter Sunday. Our preparation actually began on Ash Wednesday, February 10 this year, with the imposition of blessed ashes on our forehead, and will continue until the Mass of the Lord's Supper exclusive on Holy Thursday.

Notice that the liturgical color of the priest's vestments and the altar cloth change to violet (normally, the lighter shade of violet to distinguish it from the violet used during the Season of Advent).

St. Luke gives us the Gospel reading for the First Sunday of Lent on the temptation of Jesus.

Recall that during His baptism at the River Jordan, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit, as the Father has anointed and confirmed Him as the Messiah and Savior. Immediately after His baptism the Spirit led Him out into the wilderness of Judaea, a lonely place of solitude and silence. (Bible scholars describe Judean wilderness as a vast wasteland of sand, rocks, hills, and deep ravines that stretch for miles and miles. It is one of the most barren, bleak, and inhospitable places on the earth.)

Jesus was alone in the wilderness for forty days, with no contact with friends and family. He was there to prepare Himself for the mission entrusted to Him, spending forty days and nights in solitude and prayers to His Father in heaven.

Luke tells us that at the end of Jesus' forty days in the wilderness, the evil one tempted Him. The evil one saw an opportunity to strike while Jesus appeared more vulnerable in His physical and emotional weakened condition due to His prolonged fasting and inner struggle over His important call and mission. But Jesus rejected the empty promises of the evil one and chose the path of His Father -- a path that required self-renunciation, humility, and obedience to His Father's will.

What is the lesson that this Sunday's Gospel is teaching us, for our practical life?

As human like us, Jesus did not rely on His own human strength and will-power for overcoming temptations. He relied on the Holy Spirit for strength, wisdom, courage, and self-control.

Thus, our Lord Jesus has shown us that we cannot fight temptation just on our own, because the enemy is far more powerful over humans. We need help, we need the strength and guidance of the Holy Spirit to overcome temptations. So Jesus Himself gives us His Holy Spirit to help us in our weaknesses, and to be our guide and strength in time of testing. And the Lord Jesus gives grace to those who humbly acknowledge their dependence on Him to be able to reject the lies and deceits of the evil one.

Our professor in moral theology years back gave us one possible practical tip to ward off temptation: at the very first sign of temptation, better to run away immediately. Never rely on our "moral capacity" to resist temptation.

In the Eucharist at Mass, let us pray that the Lord Jesus gives us His Holy Spirit in our journey on earth to strengthen us against temptations and deliver us from all dangers and evil.

National Migrants' Day: The First Sunday of Lent is also National Migrants' Day. Let us include in our prayers the millions of overseas contract workers, especially our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), and their families that they remain faithful to our Lord and use their material blessings to be instrument of the Good News of God's kingdom here on earth.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!