Daghang Salamat – 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today is the 24^th death anniversary of Fr. Jose Bosch, SDB. He was Parish Priest of Lourdes in 1964-1966 and again in 1971-1983. When he succeeded Fr. John Peter Clifford as Parish Priest, he immediately set about building a bigger Church to accommodate the expanding parish. This massive structure which we have now took almost 20 years to build and was blest by his Eminence Cardinal Julio Rosales, DD on February 14, 1982. 

Born in Ciutadella, Menorca-Baleares Islands Spain on March 27, 1921, Fr. Jose attended St. Francis de Sales School for his elementary studies where he first encountered the Salesian Fr. Gustavo Mas. “Since that day until now I have been with Don Bosco,” he would recall. Ordained a priest on June 24, 1951 at the Sacred Heart Temple in Tibidabo, Barcelona, he applied for the missions and came to the Philippines on March 2, 1956. One of his qualities was his gratitude. He was always grateful to God for his life and many blessings especially for being a priest. His daily prayer was: “Jesus daily preserve and increase my love for my Salesian vocation.” He was grateful to people and his proverbial words were: Daghang Salamat!

Our Sunday Gospel is about gratitude. Ten lepers implored the mercy of Jesus. They actually did not ask for healing but for “pity” for whatever Jesus can give them; whatever he decides to offer. But Jesus decided to give them the best for them – healing! Yet only the Samaritan came back to thank Jesus. He came back glorifying God in a loud voice. He throws himself at Jesus’ feet showing his humility and credits him for being an instrument of his healing. How often do we loudly clamor for our request but muffled in our thanksgiving? Clearly, Jesus expects us to be grateful. As disciples of Jesus, we won’t be pleasing to Jesus without being thankful. Though we may have a small heart, it can always hold such a large amount of gratitude. It pays so little to say “Daghang Salamat” with great love and sincerity.

Prayer: Lord, make my heart overflow with love so that I may be grateful for what you have done for me. Amen. 

What Faith Can Do - 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In 1997, after my theological studies in Jerusalem, I joined the World Youth Day in Paris. The highlight of this experience was meeting Pope John Paul II on his Papal mobile at a distance after his final Mass at the Longchamp Racecourse where a million youth spent the night. The choice of Paris was not at all random. The Pope gave a very striking message right at the heart of the cradle nation of the Enlightenment and atheism: "We live in an era of great transformations, in which ideologies quickly set, which seem to have long resisted the wear and tear of time. Humanity often finds itself uncertain, confused and worried, but the word of God does not end; it travels through history and, in changing events, remains stable and luminous.”

At the end of this experience, I was at a crossroad. I joined the event alone with no contact and limited funds. I was supposed to join the Filipino Delegation from Cebu. But with such a crowd, it was almost impossible to locate them. As the crowd dispersed, I felt deep anxiety and great fear. With my resources depleted, the frightful question was: where will I go next? I turned to prayer. I asked Mama Mary to guide me; that the group will find me! Before I could end my prayer, somebody called my name in an ocean of strangers. I was found! Faith really works. 

In today’s gospel, the apostles implored Jesus to “to increase” their faith. But strangely, he did not enlarge or supersize their faith. He simply taught them that “a small faith” is enough to move mountains. There is a great temptation for us to make faith complex. Instead Jesus says make it simple. Because real faith, deeply rooted, never dies. It becomes a power within like a small light that can pierce the darkness. When we believe, miracles can happen. Faith is not just an idea or doctrine but a living relationship of trust and love. When we surrender ourselves to Jesus, he changes our lives. With him in our live, everything has a purpose. We can deal with anything that comes our way whether joy or sorrow. Faith always gives us a reason to smile. 

Prayer: Lord, grant me a faith big enough that will give me a reason to smile despite the storm. Amen. 

A Tear for Lazarus

A man saw a worried, old woman with a Mercedes stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire. He stopped; got out of his old Toyota to offer help but he did not look safe as his appearance was poor and shabby. When the job of changing the tire was done, she asked how much he owed him for getting dirty. He smiled and said: “If you really want to pay me back, the next time you see someone who needs help, give that person the needed assistance. And think of me. I’m Brian Anderson.”

That same evening, the lady stopped by a small café. The worried waitress who took her order was eight months pregnant. When the lady had finished her meal, she paid a hundred-dollar bill with a note: “you don’t owe me anything. Somebody helped me sincerely today I’m just passing on the favor. Keep the chain of love going.” She found an additional $1,000 under the napkin. Going home, the waitress kept thinking about the lady’s kindness and how much she and her husband needed it. She hurried to tell him the good news. But he was already asleep. Kissing him, she whispered: “Now everything will be alright, I love you, Brian Anderson.” 

Jesus, in today’s gospel, relate an insightful parable about Lazarus and the rich man. While this parable seems to be about money, it is really about values. It is possible to be wealthy yet enjoy God’s favor. The question is not whether we have money, but whether we love money; whether we share God’s concern for the poor and vulnerable; whether we are so preoccupied with personal concerns to even notice the Lazarus in our midst. 

The parable makes two points: First, it has something to do with the reversal of fortunes of this life and in the hereafter. One day, God will reward his faithful stewards. Second, is that, even the return of a messenger from the dead will not bring a change of heart among the hardened rich. What brought the rich man to the place of torment was his indifference. He could not cry at the suffering and pain of those around him. He could not help because love was not in his heart. 

Prayer: Lord, teach me to cry compassionately with those who suffer and not be indifferent to their pain. Amen. 

Smart Steward

Philip Ng Chee Tat is the richest man in Singapore. With an estimated net worth of $8.7 billion, he currently serves as CEO of Far East Organization Centre Pte. Ltd, Singapore’s largest developer since 1991. With all his wealth and the lavish lifestyle it could enable him to have, he found his greatest comfort in Jesus. Though this developer amassed an astounding fortune over the years, focusing on material things is a sad way to live. He believes his life changed for the better when he understood that human beings more often than not search for the wrong things. “I have discovered all of us are broken, we all have a missing piece. For me, I discovered the missing piece was God in Jesus Christ.” 

Today’s gospel reading reminds us of the importance of good stewardship. Jesus narrates a parable about a steward who will be relieved of his duties for mismanaging his master’s resources. A steward is one who manages the resources of another with full authority and high level of trust. Though the steward was dishonest, the master commends his shrewdness. Jesus wants us to understand the principle of stewardship: everything we own is God’s gift. God owns everything, but we are to use the Master’s resources to advance the Master’s goal. We are to be generous with what we have and use it for the benefit of others.

Moreover, while God has graciously entrusted to us with the care, development and enjoyment of everything he owns, we are responsible to manage his holdings according to his intentions. There are resources, abilities and opportunities that God has entrusted to our care. One day each of us will be called to give an account of how we managed what the Master had given. We need to be careful not to make our work and wealth our master. Greed is the root of all the many forms of evil in the world such as theft, robbery, fraud or corruption. Instead, we need to focus on seeking God’s kingdom and his purpose so that, as his faithful steward, we can give him glory.

Prayer: Lord, give me the wisdom to understand that you own everything and I simply need to be a smart steward. 

God's Amazing Love

There was once a mother who gave birth to twin boys. As little kids, they were both cute and lively; they were her joy. But as they grew older, they turned to be monsters. They fought with each other and fought with other children. They lied, they stole and broke things deliberately. At home they are so lazy; at school they never study. They tormented all their teachers and they were mean and nasty. When things got alarming, the parents sought help from a counselor who suggested: send them to a boarding school to be reformed. But, no the mother said: “I would miss them so much if they weren’t at home.” When the counselor asked why? “Because I am their mother and I love them.” That’s the way it is with God and us.

In today’s gospel, Jesus teaches us a very powerful and comforting truth: that God is a loving and forgiving Father who wants to save us through His Only Son, Jesus. He is not a cruel and punishing God but like a Good Shepherd, He goes out in search for his lost sheep. He is also like a conscientious woman who painstakingly searches her lost coin recognizing its great value and worth. God delights in the joy of finding sinners back to the fold as much as finding things of great worth that have been lost. Indeed, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. Indeed, God loves the least, the last and the lost.

Moreover, Jesus incarnated this love concretely. The gospel begins by putting us in a context. We are shown that Jesus is in the midst of a celebration; he is partying with tax collectors and sinner. Definitely, the respectable Pharisees complain! In Jesus, we experience a God who is passionately in love with us. Because of such love, he does crazy, even unreasonable things. In order to reclaim our lost inheritance, he made a decision to humble himself and become one of us. God’s love is excessive and unconditional. God’s love is a grace we need to experience deeply. Such love gives us hope. This love, in fact, becomes our daily strength never to give up. 

Prayer: Lord, let me taste your amazing love so that I may be its living reflection to those who are missing it. 

Challenges of Discipleship

In 1952, Harland Sanders was a struggling businessman. At 65, he was living in a small house with an old car. But he decided things had to change. His friends raved about his chicken recipe; he thought this was his best shot to success. Leaving Kentucky, he travelled to the different States to sell his recipe. But he heard NO over 1,000 times. Even with all those rejections he did not give up. He believed his chicken recipe was something special. He finally got his first YES after 1009 attempts. With that one success, Sanders changed the way American eat chicken. Kentucky Fried Chicken, popularly known as KFC, was born! Despite the cost, he succeeded, because he never gave up.

In today’s gospel, Jesus admonishes his followers that discipleship is demanding. They need to discern well because it requires a great cost. The cost is as much as a business man planning to build a 50-storey condominium. He should ask himself honestly if he has enough budget to be able to finish what he has started. The cost is as much as a general preparing to fight a war. He needs to calculate if he has enough soldiers and ammunitions to win the battle. The cost of discipleship is expensive. Jesus even points out that no one can become his disciple without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sister; even his own life.

What did Jesus really mean by “hating?” From his Semitic expression, it means “to love less, to turn away from or detach oneself from.” In other words, Jesus was warning the crowd that following him means turning away from the people they love and detach themselves from the life they have known. When I entered the seminary to be a priest, I experienced a most painful sacrifice: leaving my family and my home. I had to learn to disengage myself from them in order to follow Jesus. St. Paul urged Christians “to live for God and to put our old self to death.” This makes Christian discipleship a challenging journey of faith. 

Prayer: Lord, make me courageous to accept the challenges of being your disciple as proof of my love for you.