Promises are Not Enough

Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy magazine died last September 27 at 91 years old. He brought a lifestyle of promiscuity in the mainstream; glamorized sin; helped in the destruction of marriage and family; supported the culture of contraception and abortion. At his death, one fan wrote: “RIP Hef. The only death in history no one will say: he’s in a better place now.”

But what if at the point of his death, he regretted everything he did and asked sorry? I guess he will have chance. We can only hope. In the end it is a matter of choice.

In today’s Gospel (Mt 21:28-32), Jesus tells the parable of two sons. The first refused but later changed his mind and worked in the vineyard. The second promised to go but never went. The point of the gospel is: good intentions are not enough. That is why the saying goes: “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

We can learn three lessons from our Sunday Readings:

1.    Life is a matter of choice. To obey or disobey; to serve or not to serve – its up to you. Recently, we celebrated the feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. These are the cream of all God’s angels; the very best. But once upon a time, there was an angel brightest of them all – Lucifer. He was the perfect angel created by God. He had wisdom, beauty and extraordinary capacity. He radiated light and glory. Alas, he wanted more! He became jealous of God and he was consumed with pride. He chose to serve no more! He became a rebel angel along with his minions he had influenced. He had fallen from grace!

If we follow God’s logic: God rejects the proud and gives his grace to the humble. St. Paul in the 2^nd Reading invites us to “have the mind of Christ” (Phil 2:5) – he emptied himself and became obedient to God. Jesus made the choice to embrace his Father’s will.

2.    It is never too late to repent. The door for a change of heart is always open. Repentance is God’s grace. For those who are humble, salvation is always an open invitation. St. Augustine once said: “God who created you without your consent will not save you without your cooperation.”

We might be surprise to see him in heaven if he opened his heart to grace. However, I saw a cartoon illustrating Hef being welcome by the angel receptionist in heaven. But they guy retorted: “Heaven? Are you kidding. I just left heaven!”

In her vision, St. Faustina claimed that at the point of death every soul will be visited by the merciful Christ who will ask three times: “Do you love me?” Only souls who refused his love three times will depart into the darkness.

3.    We need to do God’s will every single day. Obedience and humility are virtues – good habits. They are not practiced just once because they are behaviors you repeatedly do. Hence habits are small decisions you make and small actions you perform daily. It becomes part of you. Ultimately it become you!

St. Therese practiced little virtues and little sacrifices as a Carmelite Nun. She described herself as a “little flower” because compared to great saints, she felt small. When annoyed by a sister’s carelessness, she practiced patience; when her personal things would be missing, she chose not to complain. She would be extra kind to a sister she disliked.  It was her way of self emptying in imitation of Christ.

All is Grace

A Nursing Home was celebrating its Thanksgiving Day. Before dinner, the Director invited the Senior Citizens to express their thanks as they gathered around the table. One by one they voiced out their thanks: one for good health, the other for the gift of family and still another for selfless care-givers.

One old little lady got the attention of everyone when she declared: “Lord, thank you for my two good teeth; one on the upper jaw and one on my lower jaw that match perfectly so I can still chew my food. Everything is grace from you even my last remaining teeth!”

The Gospel (Mt 20:1-16) reminds us that all is grace. Jesus’ parable points out God’s generosity. God is magnanimous – big hearted! For this reason, the prophet Isaiah in the First Reading (Is 55:6-9) proclaims that God’s ways is higher than our ways; His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

I would like stress three Reflections:

1.    God is immensely different. God has a greater vision. He sees the bigger picture. He has immense understanding. For this reason, he tells us: Seek first the Kingdom of God.

2.    God is extraordinarily generous. This parable reminds me of the prophet Jonah. God sent him to preach to the city of Nineveh. But he refused. He escapes from his calling because he felt God will be merciful to the Ninevites who are Israel’s fiercest enemy. True enough, when he preached to them, they repented to Jonah’s disappointment. But we cannot control the way God blesses others – even those we consider “not deserving.”

3.    We should be grateful to Him because all is God’s grace. Magnanimity is God’s character. Hence, the challenge is for us to pass on God’s goodness and generosity to others. God encouraged the Israelites to be generous by reminding them of their roots. Once upon a time they were slaves in Egypt and at the mercy of their captors. Since we have the capacity to share, be generous intentionally. Indeed generosity is also a privilege.

Forgiveness

Yitzak Rabin was Israel’s 5^th Prime Minister. On November 4, 1995 he was assassinated after attending a Peace Rally. Two bullets hit his chest. He was rushed to the hospital but died on the operating table due to loss of blood. Nurses found a blood-stained paper on his chest pocket containing the lyrics of the famous Israeli song of peace.

All his life, Rabin was a soldier and military leader. He was a brilliant planner and strategist. He hated and fought the Arabs all his life. Slowly, he became military Chief of Staff and Prime Minister. But on his 2^nd term as Prime Minister, he realized that hatred and fighting were vain. He got tired of fighting. Hatred only continued the cycle of violence and blood-shed. He saw that the only way to peace was forgiveness!

In 1993, he negotiated with the famous Palestinian Liberation Organization Leader, Yasser Arafat. The year after, in 1994, they made the historic hand-shake. Both leaders began the process of peace. But not everybody was happy. Eventually it brought about his assassination.

The Gospel brings out the lesson on forgiveness. Peter asks Jesus: how many times will he forgive an erring brother, seven times? But Jesus demands: not seven times… but seventy times seven times. This means: many times. Always. Endless!

There are three reasons why forgiveness is important:

1.    Forgiveness is Powerful. By keeping anger, hatred and resentment in your heart, you enemy has power over you. You allow your enemy to control you. But forgiveness sets you free. Forgiveness is power because it can change your life; it can change the world. Jesus broke the cycle of hate and built a civilization of forgiveness and love.

2.    Forgiveness is Healthy. We know Tom Cruise as a very successful actor. He has the looks, money and fame. We think he’s got everything. Yet he also had a sad story to tell. He grew up in poverty with an abusive father dominating the family. Because his mother had three jobs and was too busy providing for her family, he was dyslexic (not able to read). Yet Tom did not let these limitations define his life. He moved on. It is told that when his dad was dying, he asked forgiveness for his past. But he had already forgiven him a long time ago. He chose the way to freedom; he chose the way to peace. Forgiveness allows us to move on without anger or contempt. A writer said: if you have revenge in your heart, you are actually digging two grave – for your enemy and for yourself!

3.    Forgiveness is Divine. We often hear it said: “to err is human; to forgive is divine. Forgiveness makes us noble. It makes us share God’s extraordinary quality – it makes us godly.

Jesus challenges us to become channels and instruments of his mercy and compassion by practicing unconditional forgiveness.

Social Conscience

I used to be naughty as I was growing up. I would tease my young siblings especially my sister to the point of making her angry; many times to the point of tears. She even ran after me with a table fork! I had the liberty to do this because my parents were away. At home, we only had our helper who was also a distant relative to manage the house. But I was beyond her control. At any hint of trouble, I was the culprit.

When dad arrived, my sister would immediately report all my trouble making at home. At first, my dad would call me and advise me to be more kind and respectful. But after several warnings and futile efforts to correct me, he was forced to execute disciplinary measures. I remember my dad spanking me several times. I resented him for that. On hindsight, I realize what my dad did was right. He had the duty to correct me. I believe, I am a better person today because of those “spankings.” Today I understand better that he did what he should do because he truly cared for me.

Our Sunday Gospel (Mt18:15-20) reminds us of our Christian commitment to take care of each other. In the family, it is the parents’ duty to teach and demonstrate to their children Christian values and virtues. These are reinforced in the school community by the teachers and educators. Robert Fulghum, author of the book “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” enumerates basic lessons he learned “not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School.”

Share everything. Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Say sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die; so we do.

Don’t hit people and saying I’m sorry are basic things in life. They are rudimentary values that bring nobility in the world. They put order in our society and they are the bedrock of a respectful community. When a child forgets all these things, the father or the mother usually repeats the lesson. The child is told. The “spanking” may be necessary as a deterrent. Today, the spanking may not be physical. The principle is to win over the child to learn the lesson of respect and give value the person. The teacher does the same in school.

But when the wrong doing happens in society, who does the correcting? Who teaches the lessons of fair play in order to moderate greed? Israel had a tradition of rightful living. God instituted it by giving them a set of rules as guidelines for their actions. It became a requirement of the covenant for God to make of them a wise people with a noble heritage. Through the years when the people of Israel would forget the demands of the covenant, the prophets were there to remind them.

Prophet Amos, for instance, was just a simple farmer. He lived at a time in Israel when business had never been better. Merchants piled up big profits and luxuries like stone houses, ivory-inlaid furniture, good food and fine wine were readily available. There was peace and prosperity. Yet beyond such surface was a dark side that slowly disintegrated Israelite society. There was oppression of the poor, dishonesty in business, bribery in court, privileges bought with money. Worst of all, God became a mere additive to a convenient lifestyle. God called Amos to leave his job and carry an unwelcomed message to his people.

The Church has a prophetic role today like that of Amos. It is her role to challenge each disciple to be a shepherd to each other. She reminds everyone that one must care for each other as brother or sister. Love requires a commitment to bring a strayed brother or sister on the right path. Hence, we all have the duty to correct each other out of love. It is difficult became the messenger of the message is also targeted.

          The Church has the duty to correct like a mother. She is to be the social conscience of society in order to remind and repeat the fundamental lessons we learned as children: Play fair. Don’t hit people. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Say sorry when you hit somebody. It is the way to go for a better society that promotes love, respect and forgiveness.

This article appears in Fr. Randy’s Column “Sharing the Word,” Faith Section of Cebu Daily News, September 10, 2017.