THE IMAGE OF THE TEACHER

“MEEK AND HUMBLE OF HEART: MY IMAGE OF THE TEACHER”

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Reflecting and meditating on this Sunday’s gospel reading, I see in the face of my Lord, the face of a teacher.  As Pope Francis said...that indeed Jesus is more than a teacher, He is our friend.  No one indeed has seen the Father, but Jesus as the source of knowledge seeks to convey to us what the Will of God is.  Are we going to look somewhere else for the truth when the teacher of the truth is in our midst?

Unlike the Pharisees and the Jews who burdened their adherents with so many added laws and regulations, Jesus summed up the commandments into simple formula, to love God and to love one’s neighbour.  To say that we love God is easy but that love is manifested the way we love our neighbour.  How do we show love to our neighbour?  Jesus has illustrated this through the Parable of the Good Samaritan (the unpretentious and sincere love of others even to strangers and to those excluded by society risking one’s good standing and defying established values and assumptions), in the way Jesus conversed with the woman of Samaria (communicating and showing love for those despised by society), in the way Jesus forgave Mary of Magdala (unconditional forgiveness), in the way Jesus raised Lazarus from death to life (love for close friends), and many more examples.

Those who like the Pharisees seeks to be righteous by their own efforts are bound to be disappointed.  For it is futile to obtain righteousness by one’s effort.  But amidst this impossibility, Jesus offers Himself as the teacher who will teach us the way and to make learning easy.  Why is Jesus’ teaching easy compared to the Pharisees?  It is because the teachings of Jesus is the source of Love, unlike the Pharisees whose teachings are full of anathemas but they themselves do not lift a finger to obey and at the same time hinders others who are seeking the way to eternal life.

Jesus be our teacher, comfort our wounded and weary hearts and show us the way to the Father and we shall be saved.  Amen.

MY THOUGHTS ON PENTECOST

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS: “My thoughts about Pentecost”

1.      The Holy Ghost is the proof of Christ presence in the church and the enduring promise of his Second Coming.  His presence proves to us that we have the foretaste of what it is to be in the life of God.  One of the greatest proof of his enduring presence is Love.  We saw that during Pentecost the infant church were filled with love, they shared everything.  They sold the things that they have, laid it down at the apostles feet to be distributed to the poor and be shared.  They were steadfast in the celebration of the Eucharist daily, which they called the breaking of the Bread.  Life is a journey through time.  The church as a human organization also journeys through time. Through this journey it is possible that somehow we can become lukewarm.  If we read in the Book of Revelation Chapter 1we read about the messages of Christ to the seven churches of Asia.  Some were faithful while others were not.  As we journey in this faith let us pray and be vigilant and listen and obey to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  The infant church of the New Testament is a living proof and is model picture of what the church should be.  IT IS NOT THE CHURCH THAT WE WOULD WANT TO SEE, BUT IT SHOUD BE A CHURCH THAT WHAT CHRIST WOULD WANT TO SEE.  I am amused to see some dioceses or even parishes formulate their own vision, mission and objectives (VMGO), as if the church is a corporation.  The church may be ahuman organization but it is divine in origin so it is not the human members that should formulate the VMGO, but it should be the gospel and the will of God.  Are we following ourselves or are we following Christ?

2.      In a special way I saw ecumenism as the work of the Holy Ghost.  We should however distinguish between false and genuine ecumenism.  When two groups of people seek to overcome their differences with sincerity and try to honestly communicate with each other to reach a level of understanding that is what we call ecumenism.  The prayer of Jesus was “that that they maybe one just as we are one”.  If we are animated by the Trinitarian love, we shall be move to seek ways to come to unity with our brothers and sisters.  The bitter division at the great schism in the eleventh century and the protestant reformation has rend the body of Christ.  As Christians we should listen to the voice of the Holy Ghost to heal and to mend the bitter division.  As Christians we must support our Pope in fulfilling the Petrine ministry of fostering unity in the church, in confirming the faithful in their faith and to be a tower of strength.  True ecumenism is not syncretism but it is a genuine desire to understand each other and to honestly work to overcome divisions.

3.      Pentecost also offers us the hope and the faith that with the help of the Holy Ghost, we can cleanse ourselves and that the church would be cleansed of the sin that plagued some of her members.  To overcome the issues of child abuse and financial mismanagement.  Far from being negative these are opportunities for us to cleanse the church with the blood of the Lamb.  The Holy Ghost will always be there to help and to renew the face of the earth.

"Until the end of the Age"

My Personal Reflection for Ascension Day.

          In the pre-Vatican II Roman Liturgical Calendar, May 29 is supposed to be the Ascension Day counting forty days from the celebration of Easter.  But in the revised calendar Ascension Day is celebrated Sunday.  Whatever the reasons for such changes may not be as important for us now, but what is important is the eschatological significance of the Christ’s Ascension into heaven.  Allow me to share some of my personal reflections on this topic.

          The ascension of Christ into Heaven being the first fruit is of so much significance for us Christians.  Jesus of Nazareth the Christ was the new Adam prophesied in the Old Testament and by His testimony declared that He came to fulfil the Law and the prophets.  “Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world!” exclaimed John the Baptist.  On that morning of the resurrection, Mary Magdalene was about to touch Jesus.  But Jesus forbade her and told her “touch me not for I have not yet ascended unto my Father and your Father, but go tell my Brethren.”   Like the ancient Hebrews Christians believed in the resurrection of the body.  There is a tendency among the heretics of ancient times and even today to spiritualize the resurrection because of the incomprehensibility of the idea that a corrupted body can still be restored to life.  Here lays, the call of faith. Only the apostles and a few others witnessed the resurrection.  Why was this important event exclusively given to a few? Perhaps the most obvious reason is to make us inheritors of the Kingdom of God by faith.   St. Paul, in his theology gave a primary role to the resurrection of the body and even said that without this central tenet of the gospel, we are the most miserable of all men.  For why would we accept suffering and humiliation for the sake of the gospel if we are not going to be rewarded with what we seek for? –eternal life.  We carry the cross not for the sake of carrying it but as a means to obtain what we seek for. Sometimes there is a tendency to relegate this very important doctrine to oblivion.  As if after death men and women would simply become disembodied spirits.  But this is not the case.  St. Thomas Aquinas, that erudite Dominican borrowed the hylophomorphic theory of Aristotle to give us a glimpse as to why the resurrection of the body is necessary.  The being of man is like matter and form.  Every form has matter and every matter should take on form.  So is man.  Man cannot be a man without the body.  Hence, there is the necessity of the resurrection.  This is the reason why we pray for the dead because we believe in the resurrection of the body. 

          The ascension of our Lord into heaven defines the hope that we have.  Just as the angels said, that the way you see Jesus ascended and taken up into the clouds so will be the second coming.  Christian living is more contextualized when we see things in the light of Christian eschatology or in the light of the end times.  Our Lord said: “I am with you always, until the end of the age.”  These parting words define the way we should live.  How easy it is be waylaid by the trivialities of this world.  How easy it is to be waylaid by the concerns for social justice that we forget that this world has been judged and that Christ commands us to look forward to the coming Kingdom of which He will finally inaugurate at Hs second coming – a time when we shall sit at the banquet of the supper of the Lamb. Have we forgotten that whatever things we do for others, the charities, the fight for justice and the way we defend the poor are suppose to be the reflection of the values of the Kingdom of God implanted in us and which we are hoping for?  Today some people think that the end of everything is on this earth.  That if we could make this earth better then we have established God’s Kingdom.  This is the pitfall that held some Christians trapped in worldly ideology.  Imagining as if Christ came to establish an earthly Kingdom.

          If only we could see what is stored for us in the new heavens and the new earth.  But human as we are, we simply cannot comprehend these things until we reach the beatific vision.  God, however, in His goodness has not left us helpless.  But He gives us the faith to comprehend and to cling to this hope in the promise given by God through Christ.  For there is a hell to shun and a heaven to gain.  Heaven was gained for us by Christ and that should be our goal.  May the Ascension of Lord remind us of the need to trust in Him, for He is with us till the end of the ages.  This promise is not in vain but a living promise that we affirm each time we partake of the Eucharist – Christ’s pledge of salvation for us.  Of which we are eternally grateful.

          

Christ's Wounds and Our Woundedness

MY PERSONAL SUNDAY REFLECTION

Divine Mercy Sunday, the Sunday after Easter

Today as we read in the gospel, we saw how our Lord confirmed the doubts of the doubting Thomas and coincidentally we also celebrate today the Divine Mercy Sunday as revealed to Sister Faustina but was accepted by the Church.   Both the gospel and the Divine Mercy devotion points us to the wounds of Christ.  It may be a bit off tangent to speak about wounds at Easter, but that is the reality, our woundedness is a present reality, the wounds of Christ are with Him to give us a window and a door to the infinite grace of God, the Father.

Perhaps as long as we are in this world or this mortal state of life, we can never truly phantom the mystery of sin. The wounds that we have are the product of our sinfulness.  The wounds we inflict on others is also the product of our sinfulness.  The wounds of Christ is also the product of sin, not of His for Christ can never sin, but a reflection of our sin whom He accepted on or behalf and to ransom us from the bondage of sin.

Let us not be doubting Thomases, but believe in the power of God and in the grace that is in Jesus Christ.  For as we touch His wounded side, and look into His wounds there we can find healing and solace.  Jesus, in a private revelation to Sis. Faustina said that those who are devoted to His passion are dear to His heart and that they will obtain great mercy in this life and on the Last Day.  On this Divine Mercy Sunday let us draw near to the heart of Christ through the Eucharist.  Let us consider the partaking of His Body and Blood a means of touching those wounds of Christ.  For as we touched those wounds we see Christ Himself, crucified and now glorified.  For eye have not seen nor ear heard of all the things that God has promised to those who love Him.  For we who seek immortality must seek to be good and to do good.  May the Blood and Water that gushed out from the side of Christ bring us to Eternal Life.  Amen. 

THE CORNERSTONE OF OUR FAITH

On one occasion I had the opportunity to talk to a group of young people about the resurrection.  I told them that as a Christian I believe in the physical and real resurrection.  I was surprise to see the disbelief in their faces.  Perhaps they still believe in heaven and the life after death, but they think that physical resurrection is impossibility.  But our Christian creed affirms the physical resurrection. That is why St. Paul in His apostolic labour said that the resurrection is a stumbling block among the Jews and was considered foolishness by the Greeks.  Even in Jesus’ time, Our Lord rebuked and corrected the errors of the Sadducees, the Jewish sect of which most of the Priestly class belong.  The Sadducees do not believe in the resurrection of the body.  But Jesus rebukes their unbelief and told them that God is addressed as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  In the light of the resurrection of the dead Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are not dead but they are alive in a futuristic sense. 

The resurrection of Our Lord also calls for faith.  The Scriptures tell us that Christ manifested Himself only to His disciples and to a few women who were witnesses of the resurrection.  What the others have seen was an empty tomb. The missing body of Jesus made commotions in Jerusalem in so much so that the leaders of the Jews were alarmed and instructed the soldiers who saw how the angels ministered to our Lord by rolling the stone, “... Say you, His disciples came by night, and stole him away when we were asleep.” (Matthew 28:13 Douay-Rheims).  I would opine that the reason why only the disciples and a few women have witnessed to the resurrection of our Lord was that to make us believe – to make us accept the Will of God in faith.  For by faith we are saved.  Jesus said, blessed are they who have not seen but have believed.  This was how our Lord rebuked St. Thomas for his unbelief... “Put in thy finger hither, and see my hands; and bring hither thy hand, and put it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing.” (John 20:27 Douay-Rheims)

The importance of the Resurrection of the Body as lived by Our Lord and as affirmed by our creed is that, this event demonstrates to us the completion of the redemptive act.  Of all the sting of sin, the last that must be defeated is death. Because death is the payment and the consequence of sin.  Sin has many side effects, it can cause sickness, it makes our lives miserable, it puts enmity between us and God, it leads us to do awful things, and ultimately it results in physical death.  “For the wages of sin is death.  But the grace of God is life everlasting, in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 Douay-Rheims).  Christ once and for all has demonstrated that death can be defeated.  And if Christ has defeated death, we too who believe will in the last day rise again.  This is our Christian hope, a blessed hope.  This hope is reinforced many times in our traditions.  This is the reason why we have cemeteries consecrated, this is also the reason why we do not believe in cremation of the dead because even in our burial practices we want to express that faith and hope in the resurrection of the body.  If our bodies die in such humiliation Christ will give us a glorious body. 

Our faith in the resurrection completes the theology of suffering.  We do penance and we endure all sorts of voluntary poverty, persecutions and all sorts of self-denying activity not for its own sake but because we believe that this will make us worthy for the resurrection of the dead.  St. Paul said: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” (1 Corinthians 15:19 Douay-Rheims.)  That is why the resurrection of the Body is a cornerstone of our faith.  Without it there is no rational justification for our Christian belief.  If the dead do not rise again on the last day then our religion is a miserable religion.  But this hope of the resurrection impels us to persevere to the end.  For death is our last enemy and Christ gives us hope of final victory which He has won.

Today as we celebrate this feast of all feasts, perhaps some us are like Thomas, or the apostles, or perhaps we are like Mary Magdalene and the holy women who went to the sepulchre.  Christ invites us to have an encounter with Him.  Are we like Thomas who doubts?  Let us put our fingers on the hands of our Lord and see by faith the cost that it took Him to win back paradise for us.  Are we like the disciples full of fear...let us put our trust in the victorious Lord, are we like the women full of devotion and trust?  Let us persevere in that attitude of service, for the reward is at hand. 

Let this encounter with the Lord moved us to be the salt and light of the earth.  To be an Easter people means that we permeate with hope, love and forgiveness this temporal world corrupted by sin and decay.  In our service to others we will only be able to express our love for God.  May this Easter also help us gain a deeper appreciation of the Eucharist, the summit of our Christian life and the pledge of immortality.   Jesus said: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven.  If any man eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world.” (John 6:51 Douay-Rheims)

The Loneliness of Sin: My Good Friday Reflection

The  Image of the Crucified Christ used for Good Friday Liturgy
@ San Juan Bautista Church,
Tabaco City, Albay Philippines

            “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).  The Scripture said that our Lord before he died on the Cross cried out in a loud voice –“My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me?”  Has anyone ever imagined what it is to be wholly forsaken and to be totally lonely?  Has anyone felt what it is to be abandoned by the one you love?  Such is the lot of sinners.  God has nothing to do with sin and the person who sin will experience this desolation.  The Bible said that all men have sinned and was never able to measure up to the standards of God.  And the wages of sin is death (separation from God, desolation, abandonment), [ Romans 3:23 , 6;23].  Most of us sometime in our lives have experienced some form of loneliness or the feeling of rejection.  But for someone who have undergone such humiliation and suffering, the feeling of abandonment is terrible.  Christ on that Good Friday, became “sin” for us in order to offer himself for us a ransom.

            These words of our Lord signify the vicarious nature of his Sacrifice on the cross- “Because Christ also died once for our sins, the just for the unjust; that he might offer us to God, being put to death indeed in the flesh, but enlivened in the spirit.” [1 Peter 3;8 Douay-Rheims version].  We can never truly understand the mystery of sin, but it is a real experience for all of us.  I am often met with looks of scepticism whenever I tell my friends that original sin has made us all enemies of God.  The simple test is this –let us examine our thoughts, why do we love to do the things we know is contrary to God?  Why do we want to gossip and hate our enemies?  Why do we do those things that are contrary to goodness and sound reason?  Are we meant to be this way?  Original sin has clouded our sense of ourselves and it has clouded the image of God in us.  Darkly through a glass we see dimly this image, obliterated by shadows.  But the image of God though obliterated by these shadows (sin) is still alive.  And being separated from God because of these shadows (sin) we feel a sense of alienation and we feel a sense of enmity with ourselves, with our neighbours and with God our Father.  All have sinned and come short of the standard set for us by God.  But here Christ offered Himself to us as a ransom.  He made Himself as the bridge that restored our friendship with God so that we may regained the blessed status we lost in Paradise. 

But the work of salvation is a work in progress.  Conversion is a process, salvation is our goal.  Salvation is a promise that all converted received.  But it is a process.  This is best prefigured by the Sabbath, for in six days God work but on the seventh day He rested.  The history of salvation is also like the week and the Sabbath.  When Christ preached the gospel and accomplished the work of salvation, He accomplished it once and for all.  That is why the paschal mystery is the apex of the history of salvation.  The whole cosmos and history and time converged on this event.  That is why in the light of eternity (timeless existence), Christ is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end.  He is begins and finishes the race for us.  This whole process is best expressed by the sacramental life of the Church.  Baptism initiates us into the life of Christ and restores us to our blessed state, and cancels the punishment due to the sin of Adam and Eve.  But this is not a once and for all event, it is a process; we need to grow and mature and live perseveringly. 

As I grow in my faith, I began to see that my faith in Christ is best lived within the Church, for within the Church Christ accomplishes the work of salvation through the ministration of the sacraments.  Baptism initiates us to Christian life, confirmation strengthens us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit so that we can fight evil and sin.  Penance offers us the door to reconciliation whenever we fail and stumble.  Priesthood sets apart young men chosen called by God and the Church to minister to the people of God.  Marriage helps Christians to build strong families and find expression of the union of Christ (Groom) and His Church (Bride).  And finally the anointing of the sick prepares us for our final journey – death is the last of our enemies to be defeated, but Christ through His resurrection has defeated death for us.  As we prepare for our final journey the Church helps us to be at peace in the hope and faith that we shall rise again on the last day.

            Personally, I consider the Crucifix is one of my favourite sacramental because it expresses the saving and redeeming work of Christ.  This is in fact the meaning of the Mass.  Every time we celebrate the Eucharist, we proclaim His death till He comes again.  That is why the crucifix is one of the most important paraphernalia in the celebration of the Mass.  It should be place at the center, the symbol and focal point, as in “ad orientem”, facing to the east.  For Christ is our sun, the rising and our hope.  It sad to note that in some of our churches the crucifix has been banished into the sideline and in some have all together disappeared.  Perhaps because of the mistaken notion that the crucifix causes fixation with suffering.  They said that Filipinos are so fixated with the images of suffering that is why they say we are not emancipated.  To me this is a wrong notion.  Perhaps this idea of removing the crucifixes at the center of our liturgical celebrations is a product of an academic thesis, but the crucifix is the potent symbol of our redemption.  It is the image that symbolizes the heart of our salvation.  Just as Moses raised up the image of a serpent on a tree that healed the Israelites, so Christ (His Corpus) crucified on a tree raised up on calvary, provides healing for all of us.  For Christ’s crucifixion is not a defeat, it is the symbol of victory.  For on that tree Christ on our behalf redeemed us, and with that once and for all sacrifice offered Himself to God as a propitiation for our sins.  It satisfied and pacified the Divine indignation against sin, for God is Holy and He is a consuming fire.  With Christ hanging on a Tree the divine indignation is pacified and once more we are made friends with God.

For how shall I thank the Lord for all the things He has done for me – I will take the chalice of salvation and praise the Lord.  For even if I walk in the shadow of death, I will trust in the Lord.

“How does it feel to be inside a tomb?”

MY PERSONAL SUNDAY REFLECTION, FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT, April 6, 2014

Gospel: John 11:1-45

“How does it feel to be inside a tomb?”

By Herbert B. Rosana

I wonder how it feels to be inside a tomb.  Perhaps, even when I am dead I would not experience what it is to be in a tomb.  But the tomb where spirits are in prison is the kind of burial that makes one either hope for deliverance or wrench in despair.

The message of this Sunday’s gospel reading revolves around the miracle that Jesus did when He raised Lazarus to life after being buried in the cave for four days.  Martha speaks about the hope of the resurrection of the body of which our Lord affirmed positively.  We know that we will see our brother Lazarus in the last day when all shall be resurrected to face judgement. But here our Lord, in order to affirm the message of the gospel said that Lazarus’ death was meant to demonstrate the power of the Son of God and the power of His message.  Thus even in a temporal way Christ has demonstrated His capability to deal with the mundane problems of life.  That is why Jesus demanded faith from Martha and Mary.  Because of these Christ demonstrated His power over death, sickness and whatever form of human affliction.  The resurrection of the dead is a fundamental belief of our faith and that we should affirm positively if we want to be saved.

Reflecting on the message of the gospel, and connecting this reflection on the opening statement I have made, how does it feel to be in a tomb? Only we could guess.  Perhaps it is awful, dark and miserable.  But as a natural consequence the dead will never know.  Sometimes there is also a spiritual form of death and many times we find ourselves in this kind of death and “entombment”.  How miserable it is to live in sin, especially the sin that separates us entirely from the life of God.  But even in this miserable state of life, we can always hope and call out to God.  Christ is the master who will call us out from the entombment of sin and misery.  We are the children of hope and even in deep misery we can always call upon Christ to save us.  Like St. Peter when he started to walk in the water, but the moment he began to doubt, he sank little by little, but there and then our Lord extended His hand to save and to confirm the faltering faith of Simon Peter.  We too often find ourselves sinking because of sin, but we can always hope and call upon our Lord to save.  His Name and hands are mighty to save.

Thinking of the various scandals that happened in our church, especially child abuse, abuse of power, clericalism and the ridicule of the world, these experiences are like entombment.  Even in this seeming failure, Christ works in order to purify our hearts and our Church.  The church will never be defeated.  That was the promise of Christ to Simon Peter, prince of the apostles.  But these events, has led us to be more open and to overcome the culture of silence and the culture of cover up.  Sometimes we cover up because we want to protect the reputation of the Church, but in so doing we do not address the problem but instead we make it worse.  But as in exorcism the first step is to name the “devil”.  So too in this process of purification we need to name our own evils so that we can address these evils and purify ourselves from these miseries.  From this “entombment”, we ask ourselves and we search ourselves, “how does it feel to be in the tomb?”  Like Martha and Mary let us affirm our faith in the Son of God so that just as He called Lazarus out of the tomb, we too can hear the call of Christ.  Yes, we are afraid, perhaps like Martha we would tell our Lord, “do not open the tomb, he has been buried for four days and there is the stench”.  Perhaps likewise we would say I do not want to acknowledge my sinfulness because it will hurt me.  My sin stinks.  But then, let us listen to the Son of God answer His call and we shall be delivered whole and entire.  For that is the way of salvation.  Amen. 

SPIRITUAL CHILDLIKENESS: ST. THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS & THE GUARDIAN ANGELS

October 2 and 3 are 3rd class feasts of the Guardian Angles and St. Therese of the Child Jesus respectively.  Both are important for me and I found that devotion to the guardian angels is worth it.  My guardian angel has protected me while driving my car and in my various travels.  The church believes that each one of us baptized members of the church were given our particular angels to guide us and protect us.  The Bible says that these are fiery creatures and ministers of God.  They bod the command of God and strong and powerful.

I owe also a lot to my dear patron saint, St. Therese.  Indeed a person well loved by the Lord because of her childlike faith and simplicity.  A virgin and doctor of the church.  Her profound understanding of the mysteries of the gospel has earned her the title of Doctor of the Church.  She teaches us the little way of Christ.

Yesterday afternoon we held a get together for twenty or so little children in the school.  We treated them with stories, candies and goods.  I notice this little boy, probably because he was too young to join the other children he went venturing the corridors of the school.  I took this snap shot and was inspired by the simple message of this picture.  To be child-like, to have that faith and assurance of a child.  To trust in the Lord is what propelled saints to become saints.  St.  Therese thank you so much for your friendship, my guardian angle I do not know your name but you are also my real friend and helper.  Thank you Lord for providing me with true friends!

The Madonna a Paradox of the Kingdom of God

There is nothing in religious iconography that really moves me so strongly than the image of the Madonna and Child.  These images portray the weak side of humanity - a woman, a mother and a child.  In our contemporary society we would say that these belong to the marginalized group or sometimes to sectors that needed protection.  But contemplating on the meaning of this icon, one would see an immense strength and blessing.  For in reality the icon of the Madonna and Child are images of peace, triumph and victory.  It portrays to us how humility and submission to the will of God can overcome the ugly faces of disobedience and pride that led to the fall of humanity.  Now we see how the Woman clothe with the sun and the Child, the Man-God has conquered everything and has now led a train of captives to heaven.

Pray for us O holy Mother of God that we may be made worthy of the promises of God.  Amen.

What does it mean to walk into the shadow of death?

I have posted this in my facebook account: 

What does it mean to walk in the shadow of death? When I seem hopeless and abandoned, & when that despondency descend on me, I plunged into that leap of faith, throw myself into the hands of God my Savior, knowing that He who is my maker will not abandon me. For the chastisement of God is medicine and His Mercy a healing balm.  

The psalmist in the Old Testament has poetically described the life of a believer as someone walking in the shadow of death.  What does it really mean to walk in the shadow of death without undergoing death itself.  We we were born into this world for a purpose no doubt.  For even Our Lord Jesus said that the smallest bird in the sky will never fall unless it has the permission of God our Father.  That even our hairs are numbered.  This reality may seem difficult to grasp because of our finiteness.  But to simply put it everything is under the control of God.  We make a lot of choices and God gave us freedom to choose.  To a large extent what ever happens to us is the product of our own making.  But to walk in the shadow of death means to be confronted by our limitations and finiteness.  Thus often we descend on despondency.  But this condescension to despondency is an invitation for us to pluge ourselves into that level of trust - the ultimate test of faith.  Faith is an act of grasping however we do not see what we are grasping us but it is an invisible assurance of what we hope for.  To some extend faith is a human act because we have to will it, but ultimately it is a gift that only God Almighty can give.  It is an act of Grace.  God will give it to those that asks for it in humility and submission to His Will.

Our Lady of Penafrancia: Revisited 2010

We Catholics are fortunate to have devotional practices. Sometimes our Protestant friends do not understand why we do what we do.  Among the devotion of which I love is to go on pilgrimages and make vows or "panata" as the Filipinos would say.  The popularity of this devotion illustrates the innate spirituality that we have as a people.  As a matter of private devotion a week ago from this day I went to visit the Basilica Nuestra Senora de Penafrancia, patroness of Bicolandia.  This Basilica houses the miraculous icons of Our Lady of Penafrancia and the Divino Rostro (Holy Face) so intimately venerated by the Bicolano people.  

I have the habit of visiting this shrine every now and then and especially at time that I feel the urge to do so.  Our blessed Lady has done so much for me.  She has saved me from perils and dangers and has granted the many requests I have had.  Even the mundane concerns she pays attention to it.  By intuition I always feel if she wants me to pay her a visit.  Even when I am far away in moments of need I always invoke the name of Our Lady of Penafrancia and I always feel that she answers me and comforts me and covers me with her maternal cloak.

Basilica Minore of Our Lady of Penafrancia, Balatas, Naga City, Camarines Sur, Philippines

The Blessed Lady has loved the Bicolanos for givng herself as a gift to the Christianization of this people 400 years ago.  The Franciscans and the Augustinians have done so much to evangelize this region of volcanoes, fertile lands and friendly people.  It was among the Cimmarones (indigenous people of this land) that Our Lady first showed her favor and miracle.  Our Lady loves everyone and she has shown her special favor among the humble and the downtrodden.  Today as an expression of love the Bicolanos has made her icon identical with Bicol culture.  In so much so that no one can speak today of Bicol without associating it with the icon of Penafrancia.  One has to visit Naga City in September to witness the intense fervor of the Bicolanos during her week long festival.  They have to see the novenas and the fluvial processions and how with fervor the Bicolanos extol their love for the Virgin Mary and for her Son Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Sanctuary

As I visited the Shrine, last Sunday, I saw the newly refurbished altar piece and sanctuary of the Basilica.  The rector and his staff and indeed the entire Archdiocese are preparing for the redidication of the Altar and of the Church on September 13, 2010.  They are also preparing for the celebration of the 300 years of Devotion to Ina (as the bicolanos fondly call Mary).  I love the design of the altar piece.  On top is the niche that would contain the original image of our Lady of Penafrancia.  On the center is the Blessed Eucharist.  On the side portions one could see the images of Divino Rostro, St. Joseph.  I notice that the Crucifix was relocated at the back portion.  I wish they could have placed the crucifix at the center or in an area visible near the altar.   The altar table is located at the center with two huge candelabras.  

The Altar Piece

A closer look at the niche that would display the image of Our Lady with decorative flickering candles. And also the sanctuary. 

The Image of Our Lady of Penafrancia, adorned and bedecked with Jewels and Precious Stones

This is the less than two feet image of Our Lady of Penafrancia.  Bedecked temporarily at the side altar while the renovations are underway.  She look resplendent with her jewels and clothes.  Here the blessed Virgin tells us to look at her son.  She is there to point us to her Son. 

The Icon of the Holy Face

This is a replica of the image of Divino Rostro.  Venerated in the same Basilica along side the Virgin.  These icon reflects also the social realities of the Bicolano people.  In the suffering face of Christ they could identify with their sufferings as a people.  Bicol is one of the poorest region in the Philippines. With its people mired in deep poverty, they find identity and consolation in this image of Christ.  This also is a pledge of the salvation that they will obrain through the redemption worked out by Christ.  

The Dome

The inspiring dome shows the coat of arms of the suffragan dioceses of the Archdiocese of Caceres, the Catholic heartland of Bicol.  The Dioceses includes Legazpi, Sorsogon, Masbate, Catanduanes and Libmanan, with Caceres as the Archdiocese.  

 The Choir Loft

The huge stain glass window behind the choir loft.  The image of Penafrancia is depicted using indigenous art and symbolisms.

The Man of Sorrows

O Holy Face of Christ, Have Mercy on Us.

Official and Votive Prayer to the Miraculous Icon of the Holy Face, venerated by six million Bicolano people in the Philippines and displayed for veneration at the Basilica Minore of Our Lady of Penafrancia, Archdiocese of Caceres, Naga City, Camarines Sur, the Philippines.

" O Lord Jesus, in your bitter passion

You became a Man of Sorrows,

In your disfigured face,

I see in your infinite love.

I am consumed with the desire

to love you and make you loved by all men.

I venerate your sacred face

Because it is the human expression

Of the face of the Father

The tears in your eyes are like pearls

Which I desire to offer to God in

Expiation of my sins and the spiritual

salvation of sinners.

O Jesus your adorable face ravishes my heart.

And set me on fire with your love,

so that my only desire will be to contemplate your Face in heaven!"

Amen.

June as the Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

In this turbulent times where our faith is buffeted by the strong waves of moral forces trying to undermine our faith, let us offer ourselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  Full of love, burning with zeal for the salvation of men and women.  Let the Sacred Heart of Jesus be our refuge and strength.

Why seek the Living among the dead?

Christ is Risen!

Just as the angels proclaim the message of Christ's birth by means of an angel to the shepherds, angels too proclaim the resurrection of Christ.  The angel asked the women, "Why seek the living among the dead?'.  Christ is Risen.  Indeed why did Christ revealed himself first to Mary Magdalen and not to the Blessed Mother?  Perhaps it is because Christ died for sinners and rose again for their redemption.  So Magdalen being the symbol of the sins of Humankind, Christ appeared to show himself as the redemption.  From the darkness of our world we see the great light.  

Tonight I felt blessed as I attended the Paschal Vigil.  There at the renewal of the Baptismal vows, the priest requested us to light our candles while we recite our vows.  There right then with the long golden candle I recited my vows.  With my candle lighted symbolizing Christ,  I renewed my vows as if in a wedding and I could feel the grace of God filling my heart with peace and assurance. 

"The Lord will Always be Crucified until the End of the World"

The Image of the Crucified Christ from the Cathedral of St. Peter & St. Paul, Diocese of Sorsogon

The agony of Christ will last till the end of the world;
we must not slumber during this agony.
-- Pascal.

Pit Senor

Basilica del Santo Nino in Cebu City, One of the Oldest Church in the Philippine Islands

"The wolf shall dwell with the lamb: and the leopard shall lie down with the kid: the calf and the lion, and the sheep shall abide together, and a little child shall lead them." Isaiah 11:6 (Douay-Rheims)  

After the celebration in Quiapo last January 9, the people of the Visayas will be celebrating tomorrow the Sinulog Festival in honor of the Child Jesus.  The Image of the Child Jesus, venerated in the Visayas as the Santo Nino de Cebu is very much Spanish in origin.  Though Spanish in origin, it has captured so well the innate religious sentiments of the Filipino people.  Historically the Santo Nino is also linked to the evangelization of these islands.  I myself is also a devotee of the Santo Nino.  I do not know and I cannot explain the charm and the peace that this form of devotion evokes in me and in my fellow Filipinos.  In my office desk and in my bookshelves I have the image of the Child Jesus prominently displayed for everyone to see.  There are many explanations given by some modern theologians so called about this attachment of the Filipinos.  But I would prefer to stick to the simple explanation that our national character of religiosity tends favorably to a closer devotion to the Lord.  This is our national destiny.  Christ seen as a Child, demonstrates to us his paradox once again.  It demonstrates to us that faith in God Almighty is demonstrated not by human power but by his power.  In our weakness the power of God is more manifest because faith can move mountains as our Lord said.  But on the other hand there is also a lesson to the ordinary devotee and Catholics, that our religious fervor is a good sign and a valuable trait.  But these are not ends in themselves but as a means to an end.  If our religious fervor nourishes us in the same way a baby is nourished by milk, so let this devotion be our milk to help us grow in maturity.  For indeed our maturity is made more manifest when we are increasing in our love for the Eucharist, that is to say the Holy Mass.  For they that hear the word of God shall live and they that eat of his body and blood shall have everlasting life.

Black Nazarene

The Original Image of the Black Nazarene

January 9, 2010 will see again the fervour of Filipino Catholics as they honor the feast of the Nazarene.  This is a devotion that honors an icon that depicts Christ carrying the cross to calvary.  I pray and I hope that this feast will not only make manifest the extraordinary devotion of the Filipinos but also be a way to teach us the ways of Christ and His gospel.  To hear the gospel and obey it is indeed the greatest form of devotion we can show our Lord.  There will be excessive expressions but let this be a means to uplift our faith and to make it mature.  True devotion to Christ is eloquently expressed by living a penitent life that seeks reformation of life and a desire to follow in the teachings of the gospel.

Hymn to the Nazarene by Lucio San Pedro

"Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno (Our Father Jesus Nazarene)
Dinarangal ka namin (We honor you)
Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno (Our Father Jesus Nazarene)
Nilul'walhati ka namin (We glorify you)
Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno (Our Father Jesus Nazarene)
Dinarangal ka namin (We honor you)
Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno (Our Father Jesus Nazarene)
Nilul'walhati ka namin (We glorify you)"