Maranatha - 1st Sunday of Advent

Almost thirty years ago, in November 5, 1991 Typhoon Uring brought down heavy rain over Leyte including Ormoc City. Close to noon, people heard a loud booming sound which residents mistook for thunder. Many breathed a sigh of relief that the typhoon was almost over, when an epic flash flood took place. Water rose instantly as high as seven feet that brought great disaster to the whole city. Those who survived had to climbed on top of two-story roofs watching water rushed along the sides of houses with an unmistakably strong current. It was something sudden and unexpected. As quickly as it came, the flood was gone in three hours and left at least 6,000 casualties with debris and mud all over. 

In today’s gospel, Jesus warns us of the importance of preparation. As in the days of Noah, when people did not bother why he was building an ark while going on with their normal lives only to find out too late that the flood was coming. Jesus reminds us that there is something more important we need to prepare than the usual events of our lives. God will show up without any appointment or sudden death or the end of the world could come at any moment. Hence we must be constantly prepared anytime, anywhere. 

Jesus’ parable cautions us to “stay awake.” The Master is the image for Jesus who will come like a thief in the night. It can be so sudden and swift. Advent teaches us to acquire an attitude of being perpetually prepared. Advent, in fact, is a time for looking both backward and forward. We make a backward look as we prepare for the historical birth of Jesus. But we also make a forward look by preparing our hearts for his Second Coming. Like the early Christians our prayer this season is “Maranatha” – Come, Lord Jesus. We keep alive our hope and keep our gaze on the eternal realities of heaven. 

Prayer: Lord, teach me to stay awake so that I may always keep alive the hope of your Second Coming. Amen. 

Christ the King - 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In November 2010, the people of Swiebodzin, Poland welcomed a new resident: a giant statue of Jesus Christ known as “Christ the King.” At 33 meters tall or 108 ft (one meter for each year of Jesus’ earthly life), it is 3 meters taller than the Christ the Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Conceived by a retired priest, Fr. Slyvester Sawadski, it took five years to construct costing $1.5 million. According to the Guinness Book of World Record, it is the largest statue of Jesus in the world. It shows the majestic Jesus with a golden crown on his head welcoming everyone with outstretched arm. 

As we end the liturgical year, the Church would like us to imagine the “Parousia” or the end of time when Christ will return as King of the Universe. Our gospel reading (Lk 23:35-43) shows us a paradox. Jesus is crucified on the cross, bloody, beaten and about to die. Above his head is a cruel inscription “this is the king of the Jews” as bystanders’ jeer and laugh at him. But his nobility is shown by his self-composed endurance and rising above the pain. He is in control of the situation such that he promises the good thief “today, you will be with me in paradise.”

Pope Pius XI instituted this feast in 1925 as a response to the growing secularization, atheism and communism affecting the world. While the world was increasingly compelling Christians that they must compartmentalize their religion and give their highest allegiance to the government, the Pope strongly urged: “If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by his precious blood, are by a new right subjected to his dominion; it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire. He must reign in our minds, in our wills and in our hearts.”

Prayer: Lord, let me willingly surrender my heart, my mind and my will to you so that you may reign as king of my life. Amen. 

Looking Beyond - - 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Steve Jobs is one of the most well-known names today. He was not an engineer or a designer but he was the most influential innovator of our time. His greatness lies in his ability to maximize the use of technology to be user-friendly for anyone. Despite his iconic character as Apple co-founder, he succumbed to a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2003 which was discovered accidentally on a CT scan of his kidneys. He died almost exactly eight years after, at 56 years old.

In a speech he delivered at Stanford University in 2005, he revealed that since he was 17, he already thought about death to live right. “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectation, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.. Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent.”

Our Sunday Gospel today points to us about the reality of the end. Not only does it remind us that each person dies, but the very earth we live will someday vanish. Luke uses apocalyptic language common during the time of Jesus when speaking about God’s action in the world. The imagery is not literal but symbolic of the hard times the faithful might have to endure before the final victory of good over evil. Luke warms Jesus’ followers not to be distracted but to persevered in the end. Death can truly be a change agent to those who have faith in Jesus for we will have the optimistic hope that the best is yet to come.

Prayer: Lord, teach me that the world and life itself will someday end. Give me the faith and optimism to look beyond what my eyes can’t see. Amen.

Happy Ending – 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

In 1981, a devastating flood in China caused an ancient pagoda to collapse at Famen Temple near Xian, Taiwan. Looking through the rubble few years later, archaeologists discovered what they believed to be one of Buddha’s fingers. The relic was sealed in a miniature stone casket and placed there 1,000 years earlier during the Tang Dynasty. So sacred is the finger to Buddhists in Taiwan and elsewhere, that tens of thousands of people have turned out to pay homage to it. This precious relic is even closely guarded by four monks who are martial arts experts. 

If someone claimed to find a finger that belonged to Christ, no Christian would believe him. The Christian faith is founded on the fact that Christ died and rose from the dead. There is no finger to find since he is alive! Instead Christianity’s greatest relic is the empty tomb in Jerusalem or the Shroud used to cover Jesus’s body now found in Turin, Italy. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus is in Jerusalem answering the Sadducees trap question. As the Jewish governing class, they rejected the idea of the resurrection because the Torah was silent about it. 

Jesus expertly points out the Sadducees’ ignorance about the existence and nature of life after death with God. He refutes their misconception that eternal life is in this world. First, he provides a biblical proof of the reality of the resurrection with God’s conversation with Moses at the burning bush. Thus he uses their sacred text of the Torah to show that there is, indeed, a resurrection. Secondly, Jesus authoritatively explains that things will be different when we die. Normal human relationships like marriage will also be transformed. As children of God, we shall all be like angels. For now, what we shall be is something we await with excitement and hope. I am convinced that those who persevere in faith, it will be a happy ending.

Prayer: Lord, give me a tenacious faith in your resurrection so that I may persevere in awaiting for it with hopeful excitement. Amen.

Turning Point - 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Madonna Louise Ciccone is an American singer, songwriter, actress and businesswoman. She is referred to as the Queen of Pop since the 1980s. International authors label her as the greatest woman in music, the most influential and iconic female artist of all time. As a global icon, she has sold 300 million records worldwide and is the best-selling female recording artist. Moreover, this “Material Girl” is one of the most influential individuals in the fashion industry even in the age of social media by constantly re-inventing herself. 

But an interview with Oprah Winfrey in January 2004 also revealed a sober side of her. She claimed “I’m so not the Material Girl now. There were many years when I thought fame, fortune and public approval would bring me happiness. But one day you wake up and realize they don’t.” Motherhood was what ultimately inspired her to seek out the more meaningful things in life when she gave birth to her daughter Lourdes in 1996.

In today’s Sunday Gospel, we are presented with an inspiring and instantaneous conversion story of Zacchaeus, the Chief Tax Collector of Jericho. Described as very wealthy, yet his wealth and status did not satisfy him. He felt something more was missing. Public opinion was against him; he was a hated man in the city because of his job. He felt he had no control of his life because he was unhappy with how things were going. One day, Jesus showed up in Jericho. Having climbed a sycamore tree, Jesus called him down because he wanted to dine with him. This really hit him hard. He had such a great need of Jesus in his life. That lunch date changed him.

Zacchaeus understood that he was constantly chasing and prioritizing the lesser things: work, wealth, fame and fortune. Now, he resolved to make things right. He opted to take responsibility and demonstrated willingness to do whatever it takes to reconcile his relationships. He decided to put Jesus at the center of his life to experience healing and reconciliation. It was the turning point he needed to have a more meaningful and fulfilling life. Thanks to Jesus, Zacchaeus re-invented himself.

 Prayer: Lord, when I chase for the lesser things in life, remind me to keep on the right track so that I can live a more meaningful life. Amen.