Cycle B - Year II:

4 March 2018: Third Sunday of Lent

(Liturgical Color: Violet)

Readings:

First Reading: Exodus 20:1-17

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:22-25

Gospel:Please Read John 2:13-25

Keep the Lord's house holy and sacred!

We are taught that as Christians we must be meek and humble of heart. But sometimes, it becomes also an excuse for doing nothing, or not getting involved, even in the midst of our chaotic world. The Irish political philosopher, Edmund Burke, once said: The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

In our Christian faith, is it really a "sin" to get angry?

In this Sunday's Gospel we read about our Lord Jesus getting angry Himself. In his zeal for God's house, Jesus cleanses the temple of defilement by proclaiming in strong words: "... stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" (Jn 2:16)

Let us see what happened. Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover, which is the customary time of pilgrimage for the Jews. When He was there He found the outer courtyard of the temple chaotic, with money changers doing business, animals are being sold for sacrifice. So Jesus used physical force to expel those doing trade in the temple courtyard.

Now note that we hear Jesus call the temple "my Father's house". He is saying something very important about Himself: He is the Messiah, the Son of God.

And Jesus is also saying something about the Temple of Jerusalem. The temple is the dwelling place of God. Thus, it is a sacred place, a house of prayer and worship dedicated to the glory of God. Thus, it should not be made chaotic, like "a house of trade" or a marketplace.

In our time, the same also applies to our local parish. A Church is a house of prayer and the house of the Lord. It is not a social hall or picnic grove where people meet, or even playground for children. The Church is properly the dwelling place of the Lord. It deserves our respect. For what good is the Church building if we do not make God's presence real in that area?

In sum, the Gospel reading reminds us of the different kinds of temples: the temple made of stones as the place we make our worship; the temple of Christ's Body, which is the Church; and our very own body as a temple of God. In every kind of these temples, we must keep a proper and fitting dwelling place of God, deserving of our due respect. So that in the temple of Christ cleansing the temple of "impurities" we must be ready to do the same whenever the need arises in our time. In that context, it is not "sinful" to get angry at times to defend or cleanse God's dwelling place of those who make it like "a house of trade" or a marketplace.

And the Season of Lent is a good time to "cleanse our hearts" of all that is not of God.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!

Cycle B - Year II:  

25 February 2018: Second Sunday of Lent 

(Liturgical Color: Violet)

Readings:

First Reading:        Genesis 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18

Second Reading:   Romans 8:31b-34

Gospel:Please Read  Mark 9:2-10

Our final goal, the glorified Christ!

Have you watched the movie "The Passion of Christ"? I did, and was overwhelmed with emotions. Because it was so realistic and brutal, like I was actually watching our Lord's suffering on the wayto Calvary.

What more for the first Apostles who have seen for themselves Jesus' passion? It must have been frightening and depressing for them. It is not hard to imagine their gloom and despair as they witnessed Christ's terrible suffering and death. The experience might have shaken their belief in the man called Jesus, whom they thought to be the Messiah.

How did our Lord prepare the disciples for His forthcoming passion and death?

We find the answer in this Sunday's Gospel. The evangelist Mark wrote about an amazing experience of the chosen disciples...."... Jesus took Peter, James and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white... Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus." (Mk 9:2-4)

Thus, 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 to earth in human form. In that holy mountain, the chosen disciples had experience "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.

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 we also asked, on our sad journey of the Lenten pilgrimage, how do we reflect on the joy of the transfiguration of our Lord?

It is for a reason that 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.

But then we must avoid Peter's impulsiveness and hastiness in wanting to "glory" in the Lord's transfiguration immediately. Because first we must accompany our Lord in His Lenten journey. 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 Jesus' cross. In other words, we must take upon ourselves our share of the Lord's suffering and death so that we also will share in His eternal glory.

This Lenten season let us pray earnestly and ask God to deepen our faith in His love and His loving plan for us, especially when they do not make sense to us. Let us seek the grace to embrace our crosses and allow them to increase our virtue and to be a channel of God's strength.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!

Cycle B - Year II:  

18 February 2018: First Sunday of Lent 

(Liturgical Color: Violet)

Readings:

First Reading:        Genesis 9:8-15

Second Reading:   1 Pt 3:18-22

Gospel:Please Read  Mark 1:12-15

Repentance is freedom!

This Sunday is the beginning of a new liturgical season called the Season of Lent. In brief, Lent is a time of preparation for Easter Sunday. The season began on Ash Wednesday, February 14 this year, with the imposition of blessed ashes on our forehead, and it will continue until the Mass of the Lord's Supper exclusive on Holy Thursday.

The liturgical color of the priest's vestment and the altar cloth changes to violet (that is, lighter shade of violet to distinguish it from the violet used during the Season of Advent).

The Gospel reading for the first Sunday of Lent is the shorter version of Jesus' forty days of fasting in the desert written by the evangelist Mark. There, Jesus was "tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him." (Mk 1:13)

The second part of the Gospel narrative is the start of Jesus' public ministry. After John the Baptist has been arrested, Jesus began His own testimony in Galilee, His home district.

Our Lord takes up John's message of repentance and calls disciples to believe in the Gospel: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." (Mk 1:15). The word "gospel" literally means "good news" that Jesus has come to deliver.

What do we understand by "repentance"?  Let us reflect on the word.

Repentance is always preceded by an acknowledgment of sinfulness. This is possible only by the virtue of humility to recognize that we are in need of God's mercy.

Repentance forces us to look at ourselves for who we really are and who we choose to become in the light of God's own perfection. We are sinful and imperfect creatures. The admission of guilt is always a challenge and never easy to do, but when we do so, the experience is liberating. After all, doesn't God already know our sins? We never fool our omniscient God, that is for sure.

The good news is that repentance frees us to receive God's graces to change our life's direction. Because when we are less full of ourselves and instead more filled with God's light and truth, then we begin to experience the freedom and glory of living as God's children. This is what our Lord Jesus Christ desires for each of us.

So let us pray that the spirit of repentance, through the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession, free us to love God more, especially during this Lenten pilgrimage.

This Sunday is also National Migrants' Day. Let us include in our prayers the millions of migrants       and overseas contract workers, especially our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), and their families to 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!

Cycle B - Year II:  

11 February 2018: Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time 

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading:        Leviticus 13:1-2

Second Reading:   1 Corinthians 10:31--11:1

Gospel:Please Read  Mark 1:40-45

Lord Jesus, heal and cleanse us....

 I encountered once in the internet a picture of Pope Francis comforting and hugging a severely deformed man. It was a touching and moving picture captured on camera and circulated in the internet. That picture speaks a thousand words of the Pope's humanity and caring attitude towards the sick and suffering people, the flock entrusted to his care as the Vicar of Christ on earth.

That inspiring picture connects to an incident in our Lord's ministry narrated by the evangelist Mark in this Sunday's Gospel.

The Gospel narrative presents the moving story of Jesus healing the leper who "kneeling down begged him and said: 'If you wish, you can make me clean.' " (Mk 1:40)

Now in Jesus' time lepers were outcasts of society. Consider a leper in our Lord's time, how leprosy gradually eats away at the body, how it has no cure, and how it makes a man unclean for Temple worship. So the Jewish law forbade anyone from touching or even approaching a leper.   

Yet moved with pity Jesus did the unexpected. He stretched out His hand, touched the leper, and granted the man his request to be cured. Thus, Jesus demonstrates the personal love, compassion, and tenderness of God in His physical touch of the sick man avoided by society. Our Lord met the man's misery with compassion and tender kindness. By physically touching the "untouchable" leper, Jesus communicated the love and mercy of God very powerfully in a sign that spoke more eloquently than words.

The healing of the leper shows that Jesus indeed is the One to come. Because it is written that when the Messiah comes, the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. As with all His miracles, our Lord's healing of the leper displays His divine authority. The physical healing manifests Jesus' power over the natural world.

Let us reflect on the Gospel incident in our practical life today.

There is an intriguing parallel between leprosy and sin. Because both render us unfit for worship. We can see leprosy as an apt image of sin because sin destroys the soul like leprosy destroys the body.

With this in mind, do we seek the Lord with expectant faith, like the leper in the Gospel story? Remember that no one who sought Jesus out was refused His help. Even the "untouchables" and the outcasts of Jewish society found help in our Lord.

In sum, our Lord Jesus is always ready to show us His mercy and to free us from whatever makes us unclean.

But then, how do we approach the "untouchables" and outcasts in our present society, especially those we find difficult to love? Do we also offer them mercy and help, like Jesus did to the leper? Or do we avoid them totally?

In our time, Jesus needs our words and actions, our hands and our hearts, to continue to reach out to the lonely, to alleviate the pain, to bridge the gap that separates people. Let us then follow the Lord's examples of mercy and compassion with the leper in this Sunday's Gospel, and the rest of our brethren who need our love and care.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!