Cycle B - Year II:  

4 November 2018: Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time  

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading:        Deuteronomy 6:2-6

Second Reading:   Hebrews 7;23-28

Gospel:Please Read  Mark 12:28b-34

Love is the foundation of Christian living!

Why do so many people want to run for Congress? In our democratic system of governance, Congress is the branch of government principally tasked to pass laws of the land. But we have so many laws already. Do those aspiring to be legislatures really intend to pass more laws, or they just want to enjoy the perks and privileges of being senators or congressmen?

The Gospel narrative this Sunday has something to do about laws or commandments. Let us reflect on God's message for us this week.

One of the scribes engages our Lord Jesus Christ in a discussion and asks Him what is

the most important of God's commandments. Now bear in mind that as a scribe he knows the Law himself but perhaps this scribe wants Jesus to confirm his own understanding of the Law.

Notice that our Lord's answer was brief but very profound response! It is a summary of everything that Jesus teaches on God and His life.

So Jesus points out that in fact the whole Law can be condensed into just two commandments of love.

Now the first, and most important commandment, consists of unconditional love of God: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all y our strength!"

The second commandment is a consequence and the result of the first: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."  Now remember that the word "neighbor" here means whoever is in need.

The summary of the Law means that behind the commandments is a life of love that God demands from His people. That means, our love of God must show itself in the love for our neighbor. Because the latter springs from our love of God, and because man is created in the image of God.

So then, a person who genuinely loves God loves his fellows as well. Because they are brothers and sisters, children of the same Father, and redeemed by the same Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

All our external worship and piety becomes empty and meaningless if it does not express our internal loving attitude. And without such love, following the rest of God's commandments becomes burdensome. And so we may say that the practice of love is more important than novenas, promises, sermons and processions. Because our Christian life rests on the foundation of love of God and neighbor.

Now we know that in the Old Testament the criterion of love toward neighbor was: "Love your neighbor as yourself." But in the New Testament our Lord Jesus Christ extends the sense of love: "This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you!" ( Jn 15:12) Thus, the new criterion will be "love your neighbor as Jesus has loved us." And this is the sure path to being able to live together in a more just and fraternal way.

In sum, for us new generation of disciples, we should keep this Law of love in our mind, in our intelligence, in our heart, in our hands and feet, because one cannot reach God without giving oneself totally to one's neighbor! For love is the very foundation of our Christian life.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!

Cycle B - Year II:  

28 October 2018: Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time  

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading:        Jeremiah 31:7-9

Second Reading:   Hebrews 5:1-6

Gospel:Please Read  Mark 10:46-52

"Master, I want to see."

 The first joy as we wake up in the morning is to see the light of a new day. For the gift of light allows us to behold the beauty and greatness of God's creation.

But what would it be if one day everything around us were dark and gloomy, no electricity and no natural light? The answer seems obvious' it would be the end of the world for most of us, or all of us. And so we need to appreciate more the gift of sight, good health, and life's many blessings.

The Gospel reading for this Sunday is an eye opener for many of God's blessings that sometimes we take for granted because they seem ordinary and routine already.

The story goes that a blind and destitute man, by the name of Bartimaeus, sat by the

roadside of Jericho, begging for a living. He heard from the noisy crowd following Jesus that our Lord was passing by where he is. Bartimaeus was determined to get near Jesus, for he knew who Jesus was and had heard of His fame for healing. But being blind it took a lot of "guts" and persistence for Bartimaeus to get the attention of our Lord Jesus.

It paid off in the end, as Jesus took notice and said to Bartimaeus: "Go your way; your faith has saved you." Immediately, Bartimaeus received his sight and so he followed our Lord.

This incident reveals something important about how God interacts with us. In the case of Bartimaeus, for example, Jesus was ready to emphatize with his suffering and also to relieve it as well. Jesus commends Bartimaeus for recognizing who He is with the "eyes of faith" and so grants the blind man his physical sight. Faith in Jesus our Lord is the force that transforms his person.

In practical life, when we are sincere and persistent with our prayer requests, the Lord will grant them. For God always answers our prayers, not always in the way and timing we petition Him but in God's proper time and according to what is best for us. And prayer is the fuel which keeps living faith alive and keeps also our eyes open to see God's mysterious ways.

The other point in our reflection is the healing of Bartimeaus' blindness itself. So we ask ourselves, what is really worse, physical blindness, or moral and spiritual blindness? There is moral and spiritual blindness when sin clouds the mind in darkness and closes our heart to God's love and truth, for example, when we deliberately choose to disobey God's laws over material wealth and pleasure.

But the Good News is that our Lord Jesus Christ is real to heal us and free us from the darkness of sin and deception by the evil one through our sincere repentance. For only in the light of God's truth can we see sin for what it really is, a rejection of God and opposition to His will.

In sum, do we recognize our need for God's healing grace? Do we seek our Lord Jesus Christ, like Bartimaeus, with persistent faith and trust in His goodness and mercy?

It is also Prison Awareness Sunday. Let us support the Church's prison apostolate and include in our prayers all prisoners that they go back to the right path. 

In the Eucharist at Mass, let us pray: "Master, I want to see." May I always be aware of my need for Your healing grace. Help me to take advantage of the opportunities You give me and seek Your presence daily and listen attentively to Your healing word. Amen.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam! 

Cycle B - Year II:  

21 October 2018: Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading:        Isaiah 53:10-11

Second Reading:   Hebrews 4:14-16

Gospel:  Please Read  Mark 10:35-45

The challenge of true leadership!

What is our concept of leadership?  Is leadership something obsessed with power, perks and privileges? Or is leadership really service to others, with humility and caring attitude?

Well, the Gospel this Sunday is a timely message on what true leadership is all about. For the word of God provides us daily tips on Christian living.

Now the Gospel narrates the third announcement of the Passion, and like in the previous ones, it shows us the incoherence of the disciples. They not only do not understand, but the disciples continue with their own personal ambitions. And so they persist discussing about the important places of honor in God's kingdom.

Thus, in today's incident, for example, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, have the audacity to ask our Lord Jesus if they could be on Jesus' right and the other on His left when the Lord comes into glory. Obviously, the two apostles are talking about the positions of power and privileges. And they want to even be higher than Peter!

At this point in our reflection, we cannot help to notice that in spite of the time that they were together, the disciples failed miserably most of the time during Jesus' public ministry at really comprehending His full identity and the Gospel way of life that our Lord proclaimed. This Gospel incident with James and John is a classic example of their failure to understand the teaching of Jesus.

For Jesus insists on leadership that is focused on service to others, and on the gift of one's own life, like our Lord Jesus did.

Thus, our Lord uses the proud, selfish question of the brothers James and John to teach the apostles about how God defines true greatness and leadership.

So Jesus said to them: "You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you.  Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servants; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slaves of all." (Mk 10:42-44)

So let us have them again: "to be great is to be servant, to be a leader is to be the slave of all!"  And so what do we make of this teaching?

First of all, we know that in His teaching and preaching ministry, our Lord Jesus Christ is constantly turning upside-down various norms in our culture or traditional way of living that flow from our broken and damaged human nature, because of our greed and selfishness.

For example, the message of the Gospel this Sunday is that Christian leaders must take a different approach from what is conventional. Because Jesus is teaching us that to be true leaders must view leadership as an opportunity to serve, to sacrifice and to do what is truly best for those under their authority. At the conclusion of the Gospel reading, Jesus states very clearly that He Himself came not to be served but to serve, and to offer His life for the salvation of all. Thus, there is no better proof of greatness, leadership, or love than to lay down one's life for the sale of one's friends.

In other words, greatness and leadership through service to others, especially the poor, neglected and helpless in our society is our guide in choosing our leaders, especially in public governance. For it is the epitome of good governance.

And so, the liturgical theme of "leadership through service" also blends well with our celebration of World Mission Sunday. We proclaim God's kingdom by sharing our faith and doing service to others.  

Let us then pray for our missionaries in the world: priests and religious and lay people who share the faith throughout the world, at the risk of their own lives sometimes or most of the time. May the Lord protect them from every harm and let them enjoy their rewards of apostleship here on earth and in the life to come. And let us pray that we, too, become missionaries ourselves by witnessing and practicing our faith in our every day life situations, wherever we may be. Amen.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!

Cycle B - Year II:  

14 October 2018: Twenty-eight Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading:        Wisdom 7:7-11

Second Reading:   Hebrews 4:12-13

Gospel:   Please Read  Mark 10:17-30

What will you give up... for Jesus?

Here is a story of a rich young man who wanted to have complete control of his future. One day he asked a popular preacher: "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

The Teacher told the young man to know all of God's commandments.

The rich young man replied, "All of God's commandments I have observed from my youth."

"You are lacking in one thing," the Teacher said. "Go, sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

This, in gist, is the conversation between our Lord Jesus Christ and a rich young man in this Sunday's Gospel narrative. Sadly the story ends with the young man walking away from Jesus, for he had many possessions.

Our Lord Jesus uses this encounter with the young man to teach some important lessons to His followers about the kingdom of God, and how we can enter it.

The truth is that it is only with God's grace that we can actually enter His kingdom.  Because on our own merit we can not be in God's kingdom.

And in today's Gospel incident, it is even harder for those blessed with wealth to be able to enter God's kingdom. But why is this so?  Well, pride may be one reason. For wealth can make one feel falsely independent, meaning to say, without need of God's grace. Wealth can lead one to selfishness and possessiveness,  

Also, wealth can be distracting. Because we tend to spend our energies chasing money and the pleasures it provides, rather than investing our lives into heavenly treasure.

So this Sunday our Lord Jesus Christ warns us about the danger of richness. Of course, Jesus was not against wealth per se, nor was He against the wealthy. He had many friends who were well-to-do, including some notorious tax collectors. In fact, one even became an apostle.

In sum, the central message of this Sunday's Gospel is that life is more than food, the body needs more than clothing, and that happiness does not depend on earthly possessions. Jesus invites us instead to store up "treasurers in heaven" where our hearts will have real rest and true peace. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the greatest treasure we can have. So giving up everything else to be with our Lord Jesus Christ is, in fact, the greatest joy.

This Sunday is also Indigenous Peoples' Sunday and Extreme Poverty Day. Celebrating this special theme does not mean the Church "glorifies" poverty. It simply means that we must remember in our prayers our own tribal and poor Filipinos, and contribute or do something about their aspirations for improvement of their material and cultural conditions.

Let us take heed in the words of Pope Francis, "You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. That is how prayer works".... with good deeds.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!