3rd Sunday of Easter (B) April 26, 2009

Christian life is a process.  It is a journey towards maturity - maturity of faith.  Today’s gospel (Lk. 24:35-48) presents to us interrelated steps towards a matured Christian life: believing, understanding, and being converted.

Appearing to his confused and troubled disciples, the risen Lord assures them that he is real - of flesh and bones.  He even asks for something to eat, as if to show further that he is truly alive.  The Lord wants his disciples to believe that he is alive.  Believing is the beginning of a Christian life.  That is why in the Apostles’ Creed we say, “I believe in God the Father Almighty…  I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son our Lord…  I believe in the Holy Spirit…”  Before the priest baptizes a child, he first has to ask the community for a profession of faith.  Indeed believing is a prerequisite for baptism. 

We say “I believe” because we don’t know.  In the Creed, it is not ”I know God…  I know Jesus Christ…  I know the Holy Spirit…” but ”I believe…”  Believing and knowing are two different things.  We believe because we don’t know.  We believe because something exceeds our grasp.  In seeing the Lord, the disciples were startled and terrified.  They thought Jesus was a ghost.  The resurrection was beyond their grasp.  But the Lord took away their unbelief. 

We must believe first that God exists, that Christ really resurrected from the dead.  Without belief, Christianity makes no sense to someone.  A word of warning: never argue about God with someone who, in the first place, does not believe in God.  It is just a waste of time.  For someone who believes in God, explanation is not necessary; but for someone who does not believe in God, no explanation is possible.  Never argue with an atheist.

Believing, as I have said above, is an important requirement of a Christian life.  But the next question follows.  Is it enough?  The sacrament of baptism makes us Christians.  But does it make us matured immediately?  After showing that he is truly alive, the Lord explains to his disciples everything that has been written about him in the Scriptures.  Then they begin to understand.  Their minds become open.  Hence the next step after believing is understanding.  One must believe in order to understand.  In theology we call this “faith seeking understanding.”

For our Christian life to become matured, we must study our faith.  We must read the Scriptures.  It is so painful that most of us Catholics do not read the Bible.  We are not like our Protestant brothers and sisters.  The Bible is so dear to them.  Many of us Catholics do not even have Bibles in the house.  And if we have we just put them in the shelf to become dusty.  And if we read the Bible we don’t easily put it’s message into practice.  A sort of warning here: reading the Bible is not easy.  We must be guided by the teaching authority of the Catholic Church - the Magisterium.  We must consult commentaries, like the St. Jerome Biblical Commentary.  We cannot interpret it subjectively.  Remember that Jesus explains the Scriptures to his disciples.  We must listen to the experts.  We must read it prayerfully for in the end it is the Holy Spirit who teaches us.

I think in our country, many of us do not understand our faith.  We do not even know the basic of our faith.  One obvious reason is that in the parishes, we don’t give due priority to educating and evangelizing the faithful.  There is less funding for that.  Our catechists are not well trained, not to mention the unjust salary they receive.  Educating and evangelizing our faithful should be our primary priority.  Too bad that many parishes just focus more time and energy on structures - on buildings and on creating beautiful rectories.  I am not saying that it is bad.  I am only saying that it should only be a secondary priority.   Priests do not achieve much if what they build are only convents and Church buildings but never the people of God.  If the faithful remain ignorant of their faith then the priests have failed.

The truth of our Christian faith needs explanations.  We must labor hard to doing this.  The more we explain the more the faith is understood.  The more the faithful understand the more they grow in Christian maturity.  I am afraid that in our country, though most of us are Catholics, our Christian faith is very shallow due to lack of understanding.  Without understanding, there is no conversion [ maybe there is but no depths].  And this is the third step towards Christian maturity - being converted.

The second reading (1 Jn 2:1-5a) mentions that a person who claims to know God but does not keep His commandments is a liar.  The Chinese saying is true: to know and not to do is not to know at all.  Understanding our faith brings us towards doing it.  And again, I am afraid that many of us in this country are liars.  Look at most of our leaders, they are liars.  We are proud that we are the only Catholic country in Asia, but to our shame, we are considered also as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.  What a shame!  A slap to our faces.  And who are we?  Christians.  Catholics at that.  If Gandhi is only alive then he will tell it straight to our faces: “I like Christ but I hate you Christians.”

But it is not yet too late.  We can always change.  God’s forgiveness is unconditional.  If only we repent.  If only we change our ways.  If only we become true witnesses of the Gospel.

(May 28) Talibon Concert for a Cause!

The Send a Soul to School (SSoS): A Thousand a Semester Movement will hold a concert for a cause come May 28, 2009 at Talibon Cultural Center in Talibon, Bohol.  The said concert will feature Gail Blanco, a Universal Recording Artist, with the Versatile Band.  Another possible showbiz personality will also grace the said event.  The movement has been organized in Bohol three years ago to primarily support deserving poor students to pursue college education or technical courses.  So far, SSoS Movement is sending six (6) scholars to college.  Proceeds of the concert will be for the continuing financial assistance of the said scholars. In this connection, I am honored to invite you once again to be a part of this event.  The concert is co-sponsored by the Local Government Unit of Talibon.  We will start promoting come first week of May. 

Helping the poor is an expression of our Christian identity.  “Charity,” as Pope Benedict XVI puts it, is “a responsibility of the Church” (Deus Caritas Est, n. 20).  Hence, SSoS movement is a response to the Pope’s invitation to organize charity (ibid.).  Our Lord Jesus Christ constantly reminds us: Whatever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do it to me (Mt. 25:40).

- Fr. Dong Estafia, SSoS Founder

P.S.  Special thanks to Sen. Manny Villar.

Graduation

Graduation is a fulfilled dream. What has previously been imagined now becomes real: the prize of one’s labor, the glory after the pain. Indeed, no day sweeter than this.

And yet graduation only lasts for a moment.  One is again overwhelmed by its temporality, its being only a makeshift.  It is no conclusion but a premise to a new life, a promise of a new beginning.  Life is difficult, as Scott Peck puts it.  Graduation is no glory yet.  It is just a new page to a long chapter called life.  And there you are, as I can see it, starting all over again; for after all, life is just a series of beginnings.

But in this beginning a new hope glimmers.  My dear graduates, after this very moment your life will never be the same again.  Graduation brings you a sense of hope.  And I know today you are full of hope, aren’t you?  With that, never forget to be grateful to your mentors and to your Alma Mater.

But we have to reflect a little further.  For we ask: what is hope?  What are we hoping for?  Our Holy Father Benedict XVI has written a very beautiful encyclical letter entitled Spe Salvi (On Christian Hope).  And in that letter he begins quoting St. Paul as saying, “Spe Salvi facti sumus” - in hope we were saved (Rom 8:24; Spe Salvi, n. 1).  With our limited time I cannot just discuss to you the content of the said encyclical.  You can read yourself, you are bright people.  You can buy a copy or just download it from the Internet. 

But what is this hope?  What does it consists of?  Let me just quote to you few lines from Pope Benedict’s conclusion to his reflections.  I feel it very relevant to you.  He says thus: “Day by day, man experiences many greater or lesser hopes, different in kind according to the different periods of his life.  Sometimes one of these hopes may appear to be totally satisfying without any need for other hopes.  Young people can have the hope of a great and fully satisfying love; the hope of a certain position in their profession, or of some success that will prove decisive for the rest of their lives.  When these hopes are fulfilled, however, it becomes clear that they were not, in reality, the whole.  It becomes evident that man has need of a hope that goes further.  It becomes clear that only something infinite will suffice for him, something that will always be more than he can ever attain” (Spe Salvi, n. 30).  And there is only one teacher who can teach us about this, and he is Jesus Christ.  He alone brings fullness of life.  He shows us a way beyond our earthly life.  He tells us who we are and what we must do in order to be truly human.  A true human being.  I recall here the words of Rick Warren, the author of the bestseller, The Purpose Driven Life, saying that we are “human beings” and not “human doings.”

How is it to be human?  The answer is devoid of complications.  To be human is to know God and to love him.   The First Letter of John goes, “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (4:16).  To know God is to know that he is love.  And this is what matters most in life that we are loved by God.  The Book of Deuteronomy puts its, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might” (6:4-5).  And this is our calling to love God with everything we have.  Our life is one of adoration and worship.  And this love brings us to faithfulness.  Like for instance in loving your boyfriend or girlfriend, you become faithful to him or her.  Is not faithfulness to God our main goal of living?  Remember that “no servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.  Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:9-13).

The philosopher Socartes reminds his disciples to seek virtue first before money.  You may not be materially successful.  But I tell it doesn’t matter.  What is important is your character.

The commandment to love God is followed by the commandment to love our neighbor.   The Book of Leviticus expresses it. “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (19:18; cf. Mk 12:29-31).  If one day you will be materially blessed, and I am praying for that, don’t forget others.  Don’t forget to share your blessing, especially to the least of our brothers and sisters.  Remember that we are only stewards to the world’s goods.  The more blessed we are, the more responsible we become for others.

But just in case the hope for a materially fulfilling life does not come, don’t worry: we have God who loves us so much.  He is our true and lasting treasure.  And he alone suffices. 

In hope we were saved.  It is the hope that in this life, even if we are struggling and in pain, even if misfortunes come our way, we can still find meaning and purpose.  It is the hope that saves us from the illusion that material prosperity brings us happiness.  For it is proven time and again that material things cannot truly make us happy.  That is why do not rely too much on purely earthly promises for they will just disappoint you.  But keep on moving.  Keep on dreaming.  Never stop learning.  Be the best as you can be.  The future is too bright for you.  God bless you all!