4th Sunday of Lent (B) 22 March 2009

The gospel (Jn. 3:14-21) proclaims that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (v. 16).  The whole bible then can be summed up into just one word: Love.  St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (Eph. 2:4-10) confirms that God is love and rich in mercy.  We are dead in our sinfulness, but he gives us life again.  God’s grace has rescued us from the darkness of sin and brings us to a life of grace.  We are saved because God’s kindness is unconditional.  We are saved because God’s love through our Lord Jesus Christ is a love without measure.  St. Paul continues saying that we have nothing to boast for our salvation comes not from us but from God’s greatest gift to us in Christ.

God loves us; his care is without end.  But God’s love, we must not forget, is not without his anger.  In the second book of Chronicles (36:14-16, 19-23), God was flaming with anger.  His unfaithful people were abominating the nation and desecrating his temple.  His anger became so intense that there was no more remedy.  He then punished his people by delivering them to their enemies.  Those who escaped death became captives in Babylon.  Only after seventy years, to fulfill the words of Jeremiah, the chosen people of God were released from the hands of their enemies.  Through God’s inspiration, the King of Persia issued the release of God’s people.

God is love and his anger only shows that he truly cares for his people.  He is angry because he does not want his people to continue sinning.  He allows misfortunes to remind them of their wrongdoings.  Why do we tell others what is right?  Why do we keep on reminding others about what to do?  The simple answer is that we care.  If we don’t care, why waste our time telling others what to do?

In our own time, God’s love continues to manifest through his church.  The Catholic Church today does not fail to proclaim the good news.  It is the moral guide of our contemporary world.  And it will always be.  It will not stop telling the truth despite threats of persecution.   As quoted in the Zenit.org World Features: “The Christian religion is the most persecuted in the world today. In 2008 alone, of the close to 2.2 billion Christians, 230 million suffered discrimination, marginalization, permanent hostility and even persecution because of their faith” (BASEL, Switzerland, MARCH 25, 2009).  But take note that faithful Christians are always ready to die for truth.

The Catholic Church is unpopular nowadays.  In today’s world, the Church’s moral principles are under attacked by many sectors which are promulgating secularization.  We have seen this in Europe.  In the United States, President Obama’s hostility to the Catholic Church’s moral teaching is another example of this attack.  As reported in the Zenit.org, a group of Notre Dame Alumni protested the invitation of Pres. Obama to be this year’s graduation speaker and the plan for him to be awarded an honorary doctorate degree in law.  The protesters explain in a letter: ”President Obama’s statements and executive and legislative actions identify him as unremittingly hostile to the moral claims of the unborn and accordingly to a central teaching of the Catholic Church.”  And it continues saying, ”By virtue of his position, he is now the nation’s leading champion of virtually unrestricted abortion rights” (SOUTH BEND, Indiana, MARCH 25, 2009 [Zenit.org]).

Why does the Church continue to tell the world what is morally right?  Why does it doggedly oppose the idea of making religion a private matter?  Why does Pope Benedict XVI teach that condom is not the solution to AIDS in Africa, even if the first world countries like France, Germany, United States and even the UN are against his stand?  There is only one reason: the Catholic Church cares about humanity.  The church does not want the world to self-destruct.  Abortion, artificial contraception, gay marriages destroy the very fabric of humanity.  These secular ideas destroy the very core unit of our society - the family.

The Church as God’s voice on earth will never fail to proclaim the good news.  And it will always do it because of love - because of God’s great love for his people.   

2nd Sunday of Lent (B), 8 March 2009

Today’s gospel tells us about the transfiguration of the Lord (Mk. 9:2-10): ”His clothes became dazzlingly white, such no fuller on earth could bleach them.”  The transfiguration is a glimpse of the Lord’s resurrection.  Before Peter, James and John, he was transfigured.  Then a voice from heaven was heard: “This is my beloved Son.  Listen to him.”

What does this event signify?  In my reflection, I have here three things.

First, our Lord Jesus Christ assures his disciples that his approaching death is not the end.  But instead his passion and death on the cross is a way to his resurrection.  That he must suffer first before his crowning glory.  Our Lord is also telling us that there is no Good Friday without Easter Sunday.    The transfigured Lord is a sight of perfection, of a perfect life.  Of a Heavenly life!  That is why Peter, unconsciously or “stupidly”, says: “Rabbi, it is good that we are here!  Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” You cannot blame poor Peter.  The sight is overwhelming.

But they have to come down from the mountain.  The work is not yet over.  The Son of Man must suffer first.  This means that for us to attain the resurrection, we must go through the process - to suffer and die with Christ.

Second, the Lord is showing us our true human condition, that is living and suffering.   Life is difficult.  It will always be painful.  One has to suffer.  A student must study hard in order to earn his/her degree.  An athlete must train rigorously in order to win.  There is no other way.  No shortcut to a glorious life.  One must live it the hard way.   As the maxim goes, “No pain, no gain.”  Our Lord clearly tells us that there is no Easter Sunday without Good Friday.

We may protest: if God is love, then why he allows us to suffer?  I believe there is no easy answer to this question.  But that is life.  One must accept it.  Suffering happens as a test.  Look at Abraham in today’s first reading.  God instructs him to offer his son Isaac, that is, to kill his own son as an offering.  Without complaining, Abraham follows the instruction.  But right there when Abraham is about to kill his son, God’s messenger appears and tells him not to do it.  God has been pleased by his faithfulness.  He obeys God even to the point of sacrificing his own son.  And in return, God promises Abraham prosperity.  To live is to suffer, but only in suffering that we attain our glory.  

Moreover, life is existentially painful because everytime we make a choice then we are already closing other possibilities.  Like for instance, in deciding to become a priest, one has to close the possibility of marriage.  One cannot have both.  Remember that the grass is always greener on the other side.  And one cannot always have the other side.  And that is painful.  But that is life. 

Third, the Lord is calling us to transform our lives.  The resurrection is still a life to come.  What we can have here on earth is a series of transformations.  We should transform our lives and society. 

With this, I suggest three interconnected ways:

1) Repentance.  This is what Lent is all about.  We have to confess our sins and resolve to amend our lives.  Our Lord demands a metanoia - a change of heart.  And yet repentance does not only involve the self.  In transforming society, I cannot do it alone.  You must also repent.  Others must also renew their lives.  And lastly, institutions (church, government) must also repent.  Transformation really involves all of us.  It is indeed a collective task.

2) Self-denial.  This is a dying to someone - a kind of a going out of our comfort zone.  We cannot just say bahala na kayo d’yan.  Our life is meant for service.  True happiness lies only in giving.  This is what saddened me.  Many of our government leaders who are supposed to be public servants are just thinking only of enriching themselves.  That is why our country is poor.  Corruption is rampant.  And this is greed at its worst.  Many politicians think only of themselves and the next election and not of others and the next generation.  But we cannot just blame them.  We too are a part of this corrupt situation.  That is why our Lord’s call to deny ourselves will always be relevant.  We must change and we must do it now.  We must die to ourselves for others to live.

3) Team work.  Fr. James Reuter, SJ, suggested this in one of his newspaper columns.  We are a talented people.  The problem we have is that we don’t have team work.  Look at the case of our national basketball team.  They find it very difficult to win in international tournaments.  One obvious reason is: they don’t have team work.  The sports commissions (or what do we call it) are constantly fighting each other.  Administration and opposition cannot work together for our country.  They just fight for power and money.  What a shame!  Where is our bayanihan spirit?  Though little bit frustrated but I am not without hope.  We can always change radically.  Transformation will always be possible.

In conclusion, the event of the Lord’s transfiguration, in my reflection, signifies three things: a suffering before resurrection; a realization of the human condition, that is, to live and to suffer; and the call for transformation that involves repentance, self-denial and team work.

And we can only do this if we listen to Christ.  God bless us all!          

Catherine’s Love

A line from Wuthering Heights.

“I cannot express it; but surely you and everybody have a notion that there is or should be an existence of yours beyond you. What were the use of my creation, if I were entirely contained here? My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff’s miseries, and I watched and felt each from the beginning: my great thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem a part of it. My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I’m well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He’s always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being. So don’t talk of our separation again: it is impracticable.”

Catherine’s love for Heathcliff is eternal.  A necessary love.  Her love for Linton is only temporary.  A contingent one.  Love can be both eternal and can be just like that: a “foliage in the woods” that changes through time.  

Love is a mystery.  I have been writing this piece for weeks now.  I should have posted this last Valentine’s day, but I could not just do it.  I could not just finish it.  All language simply escaped from me.  Again I cannot write.  Love…