“Palms”

Palm Sunday 2015

Today is commonly known as Palm Sunday. The celebration of the Paschal Mystery begins with commemorating the triumphal entrance of Jesus into the City of Jerusalem amidst songs and praises by the people who greeted Him shouting: “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

Why is it called “Palm Sunday”? What has a “palm” anything to do with Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection? The drama of the Lord’s Paschal Mystery involves a lot of symbolism. “Palm” is one of these symbols. Contemplate on this powerful imagery: from the “palms” of olive branches or palm trees that we hold on Palm Sunday through the “palms” of our sinful hands that symbolize our wicked deeds to the “palms” of Jesus nailed on the cross, -- in all these we experience God’s love for us!

The Palms of Praise. Today, we carry branches of olive or palm trees and we greet Jesus, in the image of the priest, as He enters the sanctuary. The “palms” recall the palm branches that the crowd scattered in front of Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem. But actually, the palms symbolize the attitude of praising God.

To praise and worship God is our first obligation because it is the reason for our being, the motive behind our existence. Why do we exist in this world? To know and love God. To praise and worship Him all the days of our lives. Our life is heaven is a life without end praising and worshipping God unceasingly. If we want to enter heaven, we have to practice it here on earth by offering continual praise and worship to God.

How do we praise and worship God? Through our good works! More than just bringing palms to the Church today, what pleases God are not the physical “palms” that you carry and wave, but your heart that is full of praise and gratitude to Him. So, let a clean and contrite heart, a repentant and grateful heart, be your “palm branches” today, as you stand before the Lord in the Holy Eucharist. Be grateful to God. Be sorry for your sins. In thanking God and in asking pardon, you praise and worship Him. That’s the “Palms of Praise” that is pleasing to God!

The Palms of our Sins. The Prophet Isaiah, in the First Reading, describes the painful experience of the Suffering Servant in these words: “I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting.” Our attention is focused now on the actions beat, pluck and buffet. What do they have in common? One thing: they are done using the palm of our hands! We beat someone using our palm; we pluck someone’s beard using our palm; we attack someone with buffets using our palm. Our “palm” symbolizes our offenses against God. How many times we have beaten God’s will by following our own will, or plucked the beard of His patience, or attacked with buffets His goodness through our sinful acts?

The people who carried the “Palms of Praise” during the triumphal entry of Jesus are the same people who “beat Him, plucked His beard and buffeted Him” using the “Palms of their Sinfulness” during the Passion! Beware of converting your pious devotion a source of self-righteousness that makes you judgmental of other people’s weakness! Just because you are doing God’s will should not be a reason for you to despise others in their defects! Beware of self-righteousness and vanity!

The Palms of Jesus Nailed on the Cross. In order to avoid self-righteousness and vanity, let us always be aware of the “Palm of our Sinfulness”. But let us look at our palms filled with sinful acts side by side with the “Palms of Jesus nailed on the cross!” When you look at yourself in your sinfulness, you might also cry out, like in the Responsorial Psalm, “My God, why have you abandoned me?”

Sometimes, when we see that our sins are repeated, we think that we are a hopeless case. We say to ourselves: “I won’t go to confession anymore, because I still commit the same favourite sin again and again”. But do not be afraid. Do not lose hope. God does not abandon us in our sinfulness. Instead, when He saw the “palms of our sins”, He placed on the side the bloody “palms of Jesus”, nailed on the cross. Jesus, who, as the Second Reading reminds us, “was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God; rather, He emptied Himself… by becoming obedient even to death on a cross”.

So, do not be ashamed or afraid to confront your “palms of sins” as you carry the “palms of praise” this Palm Sunday, because the “Palms of Jesus nailed on the cross” will wash away your sins through His blood. And you will indeed offer a worthy praise and worship to God, the Father, through Him, in your good works. In order to do that, follow the path of the P-A-L-M-S, that is:

P – Praise God in your charitable works.

A – Allow God to change you this Holy Week.

L – Lower your pride so that His grace can penetrate.

M – Make room for others in your heart.

S – Submit your will to God’s will.

Have a Blessed Palm Sunday to all!

Jesus purifies our hearts through His Cross

3^rd Sunday of Lent: Purification of the Temple

“Jesus did not need anyone to testify about human nature, for he knew what was in man.”

Jesus knows what is in the depth of our hearts. St. Augustine says God knows us better than we know ourselves because He is nearer to us than we to ourselves. He is our creator; that is why He knows us better than we know ourselves.

Jesus comes into our hearts today, especially during the Holy Communion, in the same way that, in the Gospel, He enters the Temple in Jerusalem. St. Paul reminds us that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. St. Thomas Aquinas also says that when we are in a state of grace, the Blessed Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – resides in our heart as in a temple.

What will Jesus find in your heart? Will He find “the temple of the Blessed Trinity – the Father’s house – turned into a marketplace”? Will Jesus find “bad business” inside the temple of your heart? When we sin, we exchange God’s gift with things that don’t have value: sensual pleasures, selfish interests, pride. When we exchange the most valuable gem – God’s grace, friendship with God – with things that worth nothing – a passing pleasure, – that is bad business. There is disorder.

St. Josemaria said: “The world, the flesh and the devil are a band of adventurers who take advantage of the weakness of that savage you bear within you, and want you to hand over to them, in exchange for the glittering tinsel of a pleasure — which is worth nothing, — the pure gold and the pearls and the diamonds and rubies drenched in the life— blood of your God Redeemer, which are the price and the treasure of your eternity.” (The Way, 708).

Jesus enters into our hearts. And if He finds disorder there, He will “make a whip of cord” and knock over the tables of our pride, all the animal instincts craving for illicit pleasures and all the bestiality that we carry within. Jesus will purify the temple of our body from all impurities and will restore our hearts as the place of dwelling of the Blessed Trinity. But the question is: Will you allow Jesus to do that? Will you not act like the Jews in the Gospel asking Jesus: “What right have you to do this?” Indeed, on what authority would Jesus intervene in our lives? Jesus has all the rights to do that because He is our creator and redeemer.

Purification of our hearts also means “putting order into chaos”. In the First Reading, when God gave to the Israelites the Ten Commandments through Moses, God was trying to put order into chaos. Our human experience tells us that whenever we see disorder in our things, in our home, in our behavior, we immediately make rules, guidelines and policies. This is also true in our spiritual life: whenever we see disorder in our relationship with God and with our neighbors, let us put order by following God’s commandment of love. St. James in his letter said that one act of charity covers a multitude of sins (Cfr. James 5: 20). One act of love will put order into chaos. Are there lots of disorder and chaos in your life, in your relationships? Put order. Follow the commandment of love.

Lastly, purification of the heart passes through the way of the Cross. Jesus makes “whip of cords” and the Temple was cleansed of defilement. He does the same with us. He allows us to pass through pain and suffering in order to purify us. Sufferings can be a means of purification. “Things that hurt instruct”. We may ask: How can suffering purify our hearts?

St. Paul, in the Second Reading, tells us that the cross is foolishness to the Gentiles, a scandal to the Jews. But “the ‘foolishness’ of God is wiser than humans, and the ‘weakness’ of God is stronger than humans”. The Cross is God’s wisdom and strength – His instrument in purifying us. Suffering and pain “draws us apart from worldly cares and brings us closer to God”. This is God’s wisdom: the only way we can get closer to God is by taking us apart from ourselves, from worldly cares. Pain and suffering – the Cross does this! How do you accept the trials and discomfort of everyday life?

Jesus knows the depths of our hearts better. He knows our defects and impurities and He tries to purify them through the blood of His cross. But He makes us also pass through the way of the cross in order to cleanse us. He knows that we will grow more mature and more intimate with Him if we follow the Via Crucis.

Therefore, let us cooperate with God’s wisdom, with God’s way of purifying our hearts this Lenten season through the practices of sacrifices and self-denial. May the Blessed Virgin Mary accompany us and obtain for us more graces from Her Son. Amen.

Why do evil things happen to good people?

HOMILY

2^nd Sunday of Lent: Transfiguration

          When Pope Francis was asked by that crying little girl in UST (Philippines): “Why does God allow bad things to happen to children?” the Pope noted that the little girl made a question that is very difficult to answer. Indeed, whenever we are confronted with any form of evil in the society or in our personal experience, we ask the same or similar question: “Why do evil things happen to good people?”

          During his homily in Tacloban airport, after knowing the extent of the catastrophe that the people of Tacloban and Leyte experienced, the Pope said: “So many of you have lost everything. I don’t know what to say to you. But the Lord does know what to say to you. Some of you have lost part of your families. All I can do is keep silence and walk with you all with my silent heart. Many of you have asked the Lord – why lord? And to each of you, to your heart, Christ responds with his heart from the cross. I have no more words for you. Let us look to Christ. He is the lord. He understands us because he underwent all the trials that we, that you, have experienced.”

           It is not easy to understand this. Oftentimes, we are scandalized by evil. But the Pope is telling us that whenever we are confronted with evil, let us look to Christ. Whenever we experience pain, suffering and trials, let us let Christ speak to us. In our readings today, the 2^nd Sunday of Lent, commemorating the Transfiguration of the Lord, Christ does not want us to be scandalized by the existence of pain, suffering and all forms of evil. He assures us that through His cross He has already conquered evil. Thus, we must also conquer evil by doing good.

          Very gently, Jesus introduces His disciples, represented in the Gospel today by Peter, James and John, to the reality of the cross. He brought them to a high mountain (Mt. Tabor according to tradition), and He was transfigured in front of them. He gives them in advance a vision of His glory, His future resurrection, in order to strengthen them in the face of the coming trials, so that they would not be scandalized by the cross, His passion and death.

          Oftentimes, Jesus also lets you experience His glory, through what I call “Taboric experiences” – experiences of your own “Transfiguration” – in order to keep you from the scandal of the crosses that will surely come your way. This is a proof of Jesus’ concern and love for you. He loves you so much that He doesn’t want to lose you. He dreads the thought of you losing faith in Him because of pain and suffering. He is afraid that you would desert Him once you encounter your crosses. So, He advances His consolation. He wants you to carry your cross and follow Him. But He assures you also that beyond the cross, there is resurrection and glory. He assures you that, if you remain faithful, through your cross you will also conquer evil.

          Your cross can be big or small, light or heavy. But rest assured: no cross of yours is bigger than the Cross of Jesus. In His cross, you are included. As the song goes, “He carries the weight of the world upon His shoulder”. If He did that, I know He also carries you and your crosses.

          Sometimes, the Lord allows you to carry a portion of His cross, just to see if you are really His true disciple. He did that with Abraham in the First Reading. He asked Abraham to sacrifice His own son, Isaac. This was to test Abraham’s faith and trust in God’s promise. This was Abraham’s heavy cross. Isn’t it true that when we are asked to sacrifice the things or relationships that we find so precious, it is as if a portion of us also dies? This is precisely what Calvary means: to sacrifice that which is most important to us.

 Tradition says Mt. Moria was the Calvary in Jesus’ time. Hence, the sacrifice that God asked Abraham to make in Mt. Moria (and later, did not push through) was exactly the sacrifice that God the Father did when He sacrificed His Son on the cross at Mt. Calvary. If God sacrificed His Son for you, what can you sacrifice for God? Are you willing to sacrifice your time, talent and treasure for God’s project? Are you willing to sacrifice and offer your freedom to God? Are you willing to forego with your favorite food, or favorite pastime, your internet or DOTA this Lenten season, for God?

To the question: Why do evil things happen to good people? God did not give a rational explanation. Instead, He sacrificed His only Son, Jesus Christ. He allowed evil thing to happen to His perfect Son so that whenever you ask God, “Why the suffering and evil, Lord?” He will tell you: “Look at my Son.” God’s answer to the question is not theoretical but practical. He did not explain the existence of evil; He conquered it through the cross.

Are you still going to complain when you encounter pain, trials, problems, sickness or any form of evil? Will you still insist with the question: why the evil in the world? That should be God’s question to us, instead. We should be the ones looking for a rational explanation. God created the world good, but why the evil? Clearly, evil comes when man abuses his freedom. Evil takes place when man disobeys God’s will and follows instead his own will.

So, whenever you are confronted with evil in the world, don’t ask God why. Instead, strive to conquer it. But ask yourself: Am I an accomplice of evil? Have I contributed to the evil in the world because of my sins? If you think you do, then come back to God. Trust in His mercy and compassion. St. Paul assured us that God will forgive us. In the Second Reading he said: “If God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not give us all things with Him?” How can God not forgive us if He Himself sacrificed His own Son so that we may receive forgiveness of our sins?

Through His Transfiguration, the Lord keeps His apostles from the scandal of the cross. Let us also ask the Lord now to keep us from the scandal of our own crosses by giving us the hope of our own Transfiguration. Through the sacrifice of His own Son, God showed us how much He loves us and how His love conquers any form of evil that threatens us. Let us also ask Him to conquer evil by showing love and by doing good this Lenten season.

May the Blessed Virgin Mary intercede for us. Amen.

More Human, More Divine

Homily

December 17, 2014

Ang Unang Pagbasa kabahin sa gitawag nato nga “Panalangin ni Jacob” (The Blessings of Jacob). Gipatawag ni Jacob ang iyang mga anak ug giingnan: “Pagtigum kamo, ug patalinghugi ninyo, mga anak ni Jacob; Ug magpatalinghug kamo sa inyong amahan nga si Israel” (Gen. 49:2). Atong ma-obserbahan nga ang panalangin nga gihatag ni Jacob sa iyang mga anak, ilabi na kang Judah, nga karon atong nadungog, nagdala usab ug usa ka panagna (prophecy).

Panalangin nga nahimong panagna, kining tanan hingpit nga natuman diha kang Kristo. Tulo ka mga panalangin-nga-panagna (blessing-prophecy) nga natuman diha kang Kristo:

a)      “Pagadayegon ka sa imong mga igsoong lalake: Ang imong kamot anha sa liog sa imong mga kaaway; Ang mga anak sa imong amahan managyukbo kanimo” (Gen. 49: 8). Natuman kini sa panahon ni David, kaliwat ni Judah nga maoy naghari sa Israel sulod sa 40 ka tuig. Gibuntog ni David ang tanang mga kaaway sa Israel ug giyukboan siya sa mga hari sa yuta sa Canaan. Apan si Hesus ang kahingpitan sa katumanan niining maong panagna. Gibuntog Niya ang kaaway sa tanan (the ultimate enemy): ang sala. “At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bend in the heavens and on earth, and under the earth” (Phil. 2: 10).

b)     “Si Juda itoy sa leon… nga nagtikotkot siya, ug milukso siya ingon sa leon, Ug mao kini ingon sa leon nga baye. Kinsa ang magapukaw niini?” (Gen. 49: 9). Ang leon mao ang hari sa mga mabangis nga mga mananap. He is the terror of the forest when he roars – the Lion King. Kung makatangag siya ug biktima, walang mangahas mokalaban kaniya. By this it is foretold that the tribe of Judah should become very formidable, and should not only obtain great victories but should peaceably enjoy what was got by those victories. Judah is compared not to a lion rampant, always raging but to a lion couching, enjoying the satisfaction of his success. Usa ka Leon nga nagtamasa (enjoying) sa iyang kadaugan. Kining tanan natuman diha kang Hesus. Sa basahon sa Gipadayag (5:5), si Hesus gitawag nga “Leon sa Banay ni Judah”.

c)  “Ang cetro sa gahum dili pagakuhaon kang Juda, Hangtud nga moabut si Shilo; Ug maiya ang pagka-masinulondon sa mga katawhan” (Gen. 49: 10). Tinood man, wala gayod makuha gikan sa banay ni Judah ang pagkapangulo sa Israel hangtod nga natawo si Hesus, kaliwat ni David, kaliwat ni Judah.

Sa atong Ebanghelyo, gisubay ni San Mateo ang kaliwat ni Hesus. Importante kaayo alang sa mga Judio ang pagsubay sa ilang kagikan. For the Jews, knowing or tracing their genealogies is very important because these are proofs of their belongingness to the chosen people of God, Israel. Buot ni Mateo ipakita nga si Hesus mao ang katumanan sa mga blessings-prophecy ni Jacob.

Unsa man ang mga pagtulun-an nga atong makutlo gikan niining maong kagikan (genealogy) ni Hesus? Adunay tulo:

1)      God is faithful to His promise. Ang tawo mamahimo pang dili motuman sa iyang saad; apan ang Diyos makanunayon. Pipila na ka henerasyon ang milabay, apan gituman gihapon Niya ang iyang panaad pinaagi kang Jacob. Kita kaha: faithful ba kaha kita sa atong mga panaad sa Ginoo?

2)      God can write straight with crooked lines. Most of the time, we put obstacle to God’s grace with our infidelities and sinfulness. But God even uses our failures, sins and weaknesses as instruments to show us His mercy. Nakita nato kini sa family tree ni Kristo. The Gospel makes no effort to “sanitize” his origins, or the members of his immediate family. There are FOUR women with defects mentioned: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba.

·        The story of Tamar is a story of incest. Tamar was the daughter-in-law of Judah with whom she slept because Judah’s sons could not give her children.

·        Rahab’s is a story of a prostitute, not even a Jew, who protected the spies of Israel as they were preparing to demolish her city, Jericho. As a result of her sacrifice, she and her family were protected.

·        Ruth’s story is that of fidelity of a woman who did not belong to God’s people.

·        Bathsheba’s story is that of infidelity.

Despite these defects, God still realizes His plan. If God accepts all our defects and still continues to do good to us, to bless us and to do good to others through us, how can we not tolerate the defects of others and continue to do good despite the fact that we see their defects?

3)      Jesus fully entered our human condition, with all its virtues and vices. Si Hesus tinood nga Diyos ug tinood nga tawo. When He fully accepted and embraced the human nature, the Son of God really did become one of us except sin. And, if Jesus was totally incarnated in the world so that he could communicate the message of God’s love to the world, then we, too, must be totally incarnated. As St. Josemaria said: “In order to become more divine, we have to become more human”. If we think that, in order to be true to Jesus, we have to separate ourselves from a material and sinful world, we are not true to our calling. We cannot be the “salt” of the earth, unless we are fully inserted into it. But we can do that only when we also fully identify with the values and concerns of the Kingdom of God. Otherwise we are salt without taste.

Let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to help us remain faithful to God despite our “crooked lines”. As we venerate the Sacred Humanity of Jesus, may we learn to become more human, so as to become more divine. Amen.