the priests whom Jesus loves

Jesus, our great High Priest has great love for the priests of our Church.

And because Jesus loves them, He gives them a deep faith....

And because Jesus loves them, HE grants them of bright and firm hopes...

And because Jesus loves them, HE allows them to experience a burning love for their ministry which HE hopes to increase in their hearts in the course of their priestly life.

So, Jesus comforts them in their loneliness, He Strengthens them in their sorrows....

And in their frustrations, Jesus teaches them HIS point that it is through suffering that the soul is purified... so that as they continue to serve HIS people, they may be able to lead wandering and astrayed souls and help them find their much needed redemption.

Unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit

Today, being the last part of Lent, the Church proposes this Gospel to help and guide the whole of the Christendom to attain Palm Sunday so we can all be ready to live up to these mysteries so outstanding for our Christian life.

The Via crucis, or the Way of the Cross, becomes for us a “via lucis”, or the Way of Light, for dying is to be born again or, even better, we must die to this world so that we can live the Truth.

We will better understand the abovementioned statement by deeply pondering on today's Gospel (Jn 12:20-33) which says: "There were some Greeks who had come up to Jerusalem to worship during the feast. They approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, «Sir, we wish to see Jesus».

Philip went to Andrew and the two of them told Jesus. Then Jesus said, «The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.

Those who love their life destroy it, and those who despise their life in this world keep it for everlasting life. Whoever wants to serve me, let him follow me and wherever I am, there shall my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

»Now my soul is in distress. Shall I say: ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But, I have come to this hour to face all this. Father, glorify your Name!». Then a voice came from heaven, «I have glorified it and I will glorify it again».

People standing there heard something and said it was thunder; but others said, «An angel was speaking to him». Then Jesus declared, «This voice did not come for my sake but for yours; now sentence is being passed on this world; now the prince of this world is to be cast down. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all to myself».

With these words Jesus referred to the kind of death He was to die.

Take note that in the first part of this Gospel, Jesus tells the Apostles: «Unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit» (Jn 12:24).

In this respect, St. Augustine comments: «Jesus said He was “grain”, that was to be mortified, to multiply afterwards; He was to be mortified by the infidelity of the Jews and He was to multiply for the faith of all the people».

What is the implication of this Gospel passage in our lives today?

How have we been affected by the changing times of today's world in relation to our faith and Christian life?

In light of these inquiries, I can say that the the bread of the Eucharist, made out of grains of wheat, is multiplied and divided to nourish all Christians... to give us spiritual upliftment and nurture.

Dying in martyrdom always bear fruit; this is why «Those who love their life», paradoxically, «destroy it». How do we see ourselves in this passage? Have we been doing what is right and just in relation to our Christian faith?

Christ died to bear, with his blood, fruit; we have to imitate Him to resurrect with Him and bear fruit with Him.

Can we join those Christians who offer their lives silently for the welfare of their brothers?....

Through silence and self effacement we have to learn to become that grain that dies to get back to Life.

The Gospel of this Sunday ends with an exhortation to walk in the light of the Son lifted up from the earth: «And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all to myself» (Jn 12:32).

Let God's light shine always through us to help us dissipate all darkness that surrounds our lives.

It is God's moment now, let us not lose it!

We must not stop being a light to the world.

As the moon gets its light from the sun, we are to be seen reflecting God's light.

Do not fear, God gives His ultimate Gift to humankind

Today's Gospel says, (Lk 1:26-38): In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a young virgin who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. The angel came to her and said, «Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you». Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean. But the angel said, «Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a son and you shall call him Jesus. He will be great and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his ancestor; he will rule over the people of Jacob for­­ever and his reign shall have no end».

Then Mary said to the angel, «How can this be if I am a virgin?». And the angel said to her, «The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the holy child to be born shall be called Son of God. Even your relative Elizabeth is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child, and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible». Then Mary said, «I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said». And the angel left her.

Today, we are celebrating the feast of the Annunciation of our Lord. With the angel Gabriel's announcement and Mary's acceptance of the explicit divine will of incarnating in her womb, God assumes the human condition and nature.

—«in everything equal to us, except for sin»— to exalt and elevate us as his sons and have us, thus, as partakers of his divine nature. The mystery of faith is so great that Mary, with this announcement, remains appalled.

Gabriel tells her: «Do not fear, Mary» (Lk 1:30): the Most High has looked kindly upon you and has chosen you to be the Mother of the Savior of the world. The divine initiatives break the weak human reasoning.

«Do not fear, Mary!». Words we shall often read in the Gospels; the same Lord will repeat them to the Apostles when they closely feel the supernatural force and when they show their fear or fright before the extraordinary works of God.

We may ask ourselves for the reasons of this fear. Is it an unreasonable fear, an irrational fright? No! For those who see themselves small and “poor” before God, that clearly feel their weakness, their feebleness before the greatness of the Divine and experiment their nothingness before the magnificence of the Omnipotent, it is a logic fear.

Pope saint Leo wonders: «Who will not see his own feebleness in the same Christ?». Mary, the humble town maid, considers herself such a little thing... but in Christ she feels strong and her fear disappears!

Thus, we can clearly understand that God «chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong» (1Cor 1:27).

The Lord looks at Mary, sees the smallness of His servant and works the history's greatest marvel on her: the Encarnation of the eternal Verb as Head of a renewed Humanity.

Let us meditate and ponder over the fact that if Mary had not said yes, then the taking on of human form of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity would not be fulfilled.

Now, does mean that because Mary said yes we are saved? Does that mean that it is Mary who saves us? No. What does it mean?

It simply means that salvation is not only God’s gift to us, it is also our response to God’s invitation.

In the same sense that even if Mary dreamed, in all her sleeping and waking hours to be the mother of God, but if God had not willed it, she would not be the mother of God.

In the same way, if God wanted to take human form, and then the human form refused to cooperate, then God cannot take human form.

So, salvation is actually God’s initiative, God’s gift to us, and then our response to God’s initiative. If God does not offer, there will be no salvation. If man does not accept, there will be no salvation.

That is why in Theology we say, God’s gift to us is also our task. When God gives us something, He also challenges us to maximize that blessing.

The plan to make the second person of the Holy Trinity, a person, a human being like all of us, was offered to us.

Mary was free to say no or to say yes. Because she said yes, salvation became possible for us.

It is the same thing with all of us. Continually, we are being offered to become mothers of Jesus. Continually, we are being offered the opportunity to give birth to Jesus.

Each time we talk, each time we plan, each time we act, we are being offered to become instruments of the Lord being born into the world.

But that offer has to be accepted. We have to cooperate with the offer being given to us. Then the beautiful story of salvation begins.

We will thank God today for His offer of salvation. At the same time, we will acknowledge our failure, our fear, our shame to accept that offer.

Some of us are lazy.

Some of us are afraid.

Some of us are fearful about making a leap into the dark.

We will ask Mary today to ask the Father to bless us with the same generosity that she showed to God so that the salvation that happened when the angel Gabriel announced to her that she would be the mother of God, that same salvation can happen to us.

Annunciation happened more than thousands of years ago. But annunciation continues to happen to this very moment.

The Lord continues to offer.

I hope and pray that your answer will be as strong as the yes of Mary.

Bless us all!

mystagogy in Lent and Easter

Mystagogical Reflection
Brother Lawrence Pilarca, OSB
Fr. Godfrey Mullen, OSB, Professor
March 2, 2009

Pain from Wounds of Brokenness

When I was still teaching at San Beda, years ago, I dealt with many of my eight grade students who suffered pain and brokenness from their childhood experiences. Some of them were victims of physical and sexual abuse by their own family members when they were at a tender age.

Learning from their stories, I realized how important a role pain has in our lives to keep us well but only if we’ll learn how to reach out.

There are three stories of brokenness from wounds and healing from pain that I am going to tell you. The first story comes from the prophet Hosea. According to Hosea, Israel, the wife of God goes out to prostitute herself.

The faithful God goes out in search of His errant wife and offers a second honeymoon. Yahweh offers His adulterous wife a second honeymoon in the desert so that they can again discover their lost love. This offer cannot happen unless the wife accepts.

In the Gospel of Luke, we hear of the hemorrhaging woman who wants to be healed from her illness. She has been suffering from it for twelve years already and she believes that she can only be healed once she touches the Lord.

In both accounts, Israel and the hemorrhaging woman were healed, only because they reached out. Both risked reaching out to the Lord. Both were bold enough to touch the Lord.

The third story is ours! Who among us can proudly say that we have not committed a sin? -No one. Who among us here can say that we have not prostituted ourselves in utter infidelity against GOD? -No one. If we want to be healed then, remember that the Lord is always here.

Maybe what is missing is our gallant act of reaching out. Can we still find people who look beyond suffering, people who look beyond pain? Can we identify ourselves with people who can look beyond pain and suffering and discover Jesus Christ?

In this time of Lent, let us reach out to GOD in silence and utter: “Lord, I want to be healed. Restore health to my soul. Lord, I want to be healed, heal me.”

My favorite character at Eastertime is Thomas. Prefixed to his name always almost is the word “doubting”. He doubted because he was hurting. The first time he met the Risen Lord was one week after Easter. At that meeting, two wounded men met.

The first wounded man was Jesus. He met the apostles and showed them His wounds. It sounded like Jesus showed them His wounds with an element of pride because thoses wounds were not wounds of defeat. They were wounds of love. They were wounds of victory and triumph. They were not aching wounds or stinking wounds but were wounds of glory and wounds of love ready to sacrifice without measure.

He showed them His hands and His side not to rebuke or to accuse rather to show them the depth of His tender love. The other wounded man was Thomas. He had no bleeding wounds on his flesh. His wounds were from within. His heart was wounded by disappointment. He felt deceived by the Master.

He felt defeated after having staked everything in Jesus. He thought Jesus was the Messiah. He thought Jesus was the King. He questioned why Jesus died like a criminal. He thought Jesus would save Israel. Why could He not even save Himself from His oppressors?

Thomas was disappointed. He felt duped and was almost fully convinced that he made the wrong decision in following this Carpenter from Galilee. He really had a deep and gaping wound within.

The wounds of our heart take longer to heal. The wounds of our heart are settled deep within for years and years. They take longer to heal because we hide them and pretend they do not exist. We smile from the outside but cry deep inside.

We talk, act and move along as if there were nothing wrong with us, as if there was nothing lacking inside of us. Some of us walk around feeling wounded and beaten for all these years without our closest friends and family even noticing or seeing them through the ‘masks’ we conveniently wear as we go through our sufferings for years.

Not for long enough because sooner or later, the wounds start to re-surface. The pains we so long have been hiding all these years start to bother us. They start to bother people around us, too.

At Eastertime, two wounded men met. The first One had glorious wounds. The second one had gaping, aching wounds inside of him.

The first One was ready to heal by the power of His wounds. The second one needed healing for his wounds but he had nobody to heal them. Then they met.

The first One healed the second. At the end of the meeting, both of them had glorious wounds, ready to heal more wounds. Thousands are wounded around us. Some carry anger against unfaithful spouses.

Some carry hatred and resentment against merciless fathers and brothers who had repeatedly abused them physically and sexually when they were young, innocent and helpless. Some carry secret anger and disgust because of problems and conflicts of decades ago within the family that were not faced squarely and resolved openly. There are so many of them, as many as the stars that we see in the clear evening sky.

And even if we try to mask our deep-seated anger and resentments, the human person in us has its way of seeking expression someday somehow. They begin to take different forms: sarcasm, irritability, physical distress, annoyance, insecurity and whatnot.

These pains we have been keeping inside our hearts all these years slowly take a different shape and come out in our everyday dealings with our family, friends, and community. We cannot hide them behind masks for long.

They need to be healed. So, we all want to touch the wounds of Jesus. We want to know for sure that someone loves us enough to be wounded and die for that love.

But, we cannot see Christ anymore. We can only see Him from people who claim to carry His name. Are these people like Christ?

Do they really live their lives as Christ did? Are they wounded enough in the name of love that they can heal those who are wounded?

Are the Christians of today wounded in such a way that allows them to heal those who are wounded?

Are the Christians truly risen from the death of indifference and selfishness, and antipathy that they can resurrect shattered hopes and bring back lost and broken lives?

He gave His only Son because HE so loved the world

Today's liturgy offers us an advanced fiery heat of true Pascal joy. The ornaments of the Celebrant are rose. It is "laetare" Sunday inviting us to a serene joy. «Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you that love her...», says the music sung at the beginning of the worship service in the Mass today.

Today's Gospel (Jn 3:14-21) says: Jesus said to Nicodemus: «As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. Yes, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world; instead, through him the world is to be saved. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned. He who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God.

This is how the Judgment is made: Light has come into the world and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For whoever does wrong hates the light and doesn't come to the light for fear that his deeds will be shown as evil. But whoever lives according to the truth comes into the light so that it can be clearly seen that his works have been done in God».

It is indeed very clear that God wants us to be happy and be contented. The most elementary psychology will tell us that a person who does not enjoy life ends up in sickness, both in body and spirit.

However, our joy must be well founded; it must be the expression of serenity given by a full meaningful life. Otherwise, it would degenerate into superficiality and silliness. How have you been doing in your life to attain such joy? How would you gain a full meaningful life amidst the turmoil around you brought by the changing times?

Our life of faith is going through difficult times. I am sure, with what is now going on around us, the economic recession, global warming, terrorism and war, our life of faith may be shakened if not shattered. But these are also thrilling times. To a certain extent, we may experience the Babylon exile sung by the psalm. We can also live an exile experience «mourning and weeping when we remembered Zion…» (Ps 137:1).

Our outside troubles and difficulties that bring us anxieties and most of all, our sins, may take us by the rivers of Babylon. However, there still is room for hope and God keeps telling us: "I love you and I will not forsake you."

We can always rejoice for God loves us so much that He «gave us his only Son» (Jn 3:16). Soon enough we shall join this only Son in his walk to death and resurrection.

We shall contemplate the love of He who loves us so much as to die for us, for you and me. And we shall fill our heart with love and "will look upon him whom they have pierced" ( Jn 19:37), and, inside us, there will grow such a great joy that nobody will be able to remove it from us.

The true joy that enlightens our life does not come from our own efforts. Let God loves us and let us love Him, and our joy will be greater next Easter and all our life, too.

And let us not forget to allow God to come closer to us so that we may be be regenerated by Him through a good confession before Easter.

Bless us all in this time of Lent....

"stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace"

Contemplating on today's Gospel, I would say, some unusual event has happened at the Temple. Jesus has driven the vendors and their stuffs out of the Temple court. It seemed that Jesus got angry as he has knocked over the tables of the money-changers and has ordered the people selling doves by saying: "take all this away and stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace."

Jesus' action made his disciples discover something and while seeing the oxen and the sheep stampeding across the esplanade, the discovered a new aspect of Jesus’ soul: the zeal for his Father's House, the zeal for God's Temple. Going over the Gospel of today, it says: (Jn 2:13-25): "As the Passover of the Jews was at hand, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the Temple court He found merchants selling oxen, sheep and doves, and money-changers seated at their tables.

Making a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the Temple court, together with the oxen and sheep. He knocked over the tables of the money-changers, scattering the coins, and ordered the people selling doves, «Take all this away and stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace!». His disciples recalled the words of Scripture: «Zeal for your House devours me as a fire».

The Jews then questioned Jesus, «Where are the miraculous signs which give you the right to do this?». And Jesus said, «Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up». The Jews then replied, «The building of this temple has already taken forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?».

Actually, Jesus was referring to the temple of his body. Only when He had risen from the dead did his disciples remember these words; then they believed both the Scripture and the words Jesus had spoken.

Jesus stayed in Jerusalem during the Passover Festival and many believed in his Name when they saw the miraculous signs He performed.

But Jesus did not trust himself to them, because he knew all of them. He had no need of evidence about anyone for he himself knew what there was in each one."

Well, I am suprised as the Temple of God was turned into a market place! They probably began with a few animals, a shepherd trying to sell some sheep, or an old woman who wanted to make a few coins by selling doves and then the whole place has been blown out into a big mall as trade and industry kept growing and growing.

As Christians, we are the temple of God. If we will not be in the lookout and guard our Temple, these little foxes, pride, sloth, gluttony, envy, avarice, forms of disguised selfishness and many other destructive 'merchants' in the temple of our life, will sneak in and damage everything.

Let's keep watch so that indifference does not invade our conscience: The worst and most dangerous thing we can imagine that may happen to us is being incapable of acknowledging guilt because this in particular makes us incapable of a spiritual growth. Let's make ourselves aware that our temple may remain unblemished and untarnished.

Perhaps what we can do to keep the temple in our hearts strongly standing still unmoved is To keep vigil and watch out every day and night. It may be better to ask ourselves with all honesty: "did I molest someone?, are my intentions straightforward?, am I willing to fulfill always and in everything God's will?, have I assumed some practices that may displease my Lord?" May we be not get too tired and sleepy to think and reflect...

And maybe, we can utter these at the end of the day....—"Jesus, You know me well, You know quite well what each man's mind is like, so make me realize my own faults, give me strength and a little bit of that zeal of Yours so that I can also drive out from the Temple all that might appear to separate me from You."

long weekend

During examination weeks, I usually sleep early and wake up early the next morning so i can get a clearer mind and a fresher, sharper memory at hand.

This morning, while my whole attention was buried deeply in my voluminous notes from my courses in History and Introduction to Liturgy, Medieval Philosophy, Ethics and NaturalLaw and Philosophy of Nature and Man, my mind suddenly went blank and it seemed like my faculties went on a kind of suspended animation and I felt the world stood still.

So thenI thought to give myself a little break and decided to log and write something on my blog, not a mystagogical reflection nor a seminary update, nor a theological paper or a heavy philosophy paper like what i used to.

I just want to write a fluid and mindrelaxing kind of update. Just a little tale in my mind, not a rant nor angst. I just need to.

This weekend is our long weekend. It started yesterday until tomorrow. The seminarians, both the diocesan seminarians and monastic seminarians, will all go back on MOnday for the weeklong Midterms exams.

Maybe this long weekend is devised to give us more time to review, study, write and finish writing our thesis essays required to submit next week.

Perhaps the long weekend serves as a respite for us as we are about to experience a weeklong mind boggling, nerve wracking staggered midterm tests.

Indeed, this weekend marks the folding of the first half and the unfolding of the last half of the Spring semester. This long weekend serves as a sign for us, seminarians, to look back into what we have accomplished and to look forward to the next set of academic challenges.

WE need to look into how we faired during the first half and how we will manage to hurdle the remaining half of the semester. The second hald of Spring semester, just as I thought, is going to be loaded with more challenging reading assignments, thesis papers, year-end self evaluation, projects and portfolios from the culmination of pastoral ministries, and the nerve wracking final examinations.

I must keep myself , then, focused.

I must stay away,then, from distractions.

I must stay clear of my goal and objective.

I must then be ready to adapt for the folding and unfolding.

I must stay in peace and calmly hurdle these forthcoming gigantic challlenges.

Have a blessed weekend to all...

whoever makes himself great shall be humbled

Today's Gospel (Mt 23:1-12) says: Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, «The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees sat on the seat of Moses.

So you shall do and observe all they say, but do not do as they do, for they do not do what they say. They tie up heavy burdens and load them on the shoulders of the people, but they do not even raise a finger to move them.

They do everything in order to be seen by people; so they wear very wide bands of the Law around their foreheads, and robes with large tassels. They enjoy the first place at feasts and reserved seats in the synagogues, and being greeted in the marketplace and being called "Master" by the people.

»But you, do not let yourselves

be called Master because you have only one Master, and all of you are brothers and sisters. Neither should you call anyone on earth Father, because you have only one Father, He who is in heaven.

Nor should you be called leader, because Christ is the only leader for you. Let the greatest among you be the servant of all. For whoever makes himself great shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be made great».

The authenticity of our life as Christ's apostles requires honesty, sincerity and humility in our intentions...

Strong words huh! They are. They are indeed very challenging words to us as we move along with our lives in the daily course of our days.

Today is the second day of the second week of Lent and it is good for us, monks, nuns, priests, pastors, deacons, lay ministers, seminarians and the laypeople to reflect together on what Lent invites us to do.

For me, Lent stands on three firm standpoints: - humility in prayer, sincerity in almsgiving, and honesty in fasting.

More than any other period of the year, we are asked to pray, to give alms and make fasting during this holy season.

Lent is a season of prayer. We do not mean that Lent is a season for more prayer, but it is actually a season for a better prayer. Lent is not an invitation to multiply Hail Mary’s nor Novenas.

You can do multiply them but that will not be in the spirit of lent. The spirit of Lent means better prayer, which means humility in prayer.

The question is not the quantity of our prayer but the quality of our prayer with the compunction of heart that is to be offered to God during this season of Lent.

A prayer that does not take root in our hearts with utmost humility will lead us nowhere. It will just massage our ego and convince us that we are so good. Thus, if prayer is done devoid of humbleness of heart, then there is no love in our heart and so it amounts to nothing. When was the last time you really experienced an intensed prayer with all your humbleness of heart to God?

The second point of Lent is sincere almsgiving. Almsgiving is not just simply giving something to the poor.

It is not simply taking a coin in your pocket and dropping it into a blind beggar’s outstretched palm or into the tin can of a street child.

Sincere almsgiving means thinking of other people. It means sharing time and effort with other people. It means giving selflessly by listening with not only with our ear but with our heart to someone who is in dire need of somebody who has the capacity of willingness to listen and give advice. When was the last time you gave your listening ear to someone who is in dire need of it?

Sincere almsgiving means accepting the apology of someone who has deliberately hurt you. Alms is a general term. It is not simply something that is given out of charity but it is doing selflessly for a neighbor.

The third is honesty in fasting. Fasting is not simply missing food. It is not simply dieting. The season of lent is a time for us to fast with integrity, that is, with honesty.

It is for us to impose on ourselves that discipline. It is craving for something but exercising restraint in giving in to it with all honesty.

It is an honest-to-oneself kind of conquering over our inner desire and passion for something that we want to do or to acquire in our act of giving ourselves to our God.

Thus, Lent brings to us three fruits...

Humble prayer encourages us to deepen our relationship with God.

Sincere almsgiving improves our relationship with each other.

Honesty in fasting and sacrifice enhances our self discipline.

Lent gives us an improved relationship with God, an improved relationship with other people, and a better awareness and control of oneself.

Let us ask God to keep the spirit in us to do these acts in this time of Lent.

Bless us all….

giving up what one loves most...

Today's Gospel on the 2nd week of Lent says: (Lk 6:36-38) - "Jesus said to his disciples, «Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Don't be a judge of others and you will not be judged; do not condemn and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven; give and it will be given to you, and you will receive in your sack good measure, pressed down, full and running over. For the measure you give will be the measure you receive back»."

The Gospel of today can be interpreted and expressed by saying, “You must treat others the way others treat you.”

In our own words and interpretation, this must mean that, “You must give to other people what you want the most for yourself,” because God will take care of the rest.

Another way of saying this is that, it is when you are able to give up what you enjoy and aspire for the most; and when you can give up your very dreams so that others can become better persons; and when you can sacrifice for others so that they may be able to continue to live a descent life, then you are giving them your real love; and when there is love that is real, then God is always there.

In our Eucharistic celebration, we offer simple bread. We offer simple wine. And yet, in the poverty of our offering, GOD responds. He gives us back, no longer bread, no longer wine, but His very body, His very blood.

God is always like that- He cannot be outdone in generosity. God always appreciates ANY sacrifice we make. The Lord says, “Treat others the way you would have them treat you.”

I guess, the best expression of these powerful words is:

give to other people what you enjoy the most.

Give to other people what you like the most.

Give to other people what you love the most.

It is not true that if you do not take care of yourself, no one else will. Rather the Lord says, “When you have forgotten yourself, when you have given up what you want most, what you cherish most, what you love most, then I will enter into your life. I will take care of you.”

This message reminds me so very clearly of my journey seven years ago when my only hope and hindsight in my life was to join a monastery and become a monk someday.

The step I undertook was not to be understated as it was the only motivation for me to leave the kind of life that I lived happily for may years out in the world.

My decision to serve God by becoming a member of a religious community was realized. I was blessed.

The path which I chosed was a kind of path which to others may seemed so grim and uncertain. But I trusted God. I left my teaching profession which I loved so much for a monastic life.

What made me give up my most-cherished life as teacher in the classroom? This: "When you have forgotten yourself, when you have given up what you want most, what you cherish most, what you love most, then I will enter into your life. I will take care of you" - GOD.”

May God bless us and be gracious to us in this time of Lent!

the transfiguration: "...listen to my Son"

Today's Gospel (Mk 9:2-10): Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high moun­tain. There his appearance was changed before their eyes. Even his clothes shone, becoming as white as no bleach of this world could make them. Elijah and Moses appeared to them; the two were talking with Jesus.

Then Peter spoke and said to Jesus, «Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah». For he did not know what to say; they were overcome with awe. But a cloud formed, covering them in a sha­dow, and from the cloud came this word, «This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him». And suddenly, as they looked around, they no longer saw anyone except Jesus with them.

As they came down the mountain, He ordered them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man be risen from the dead. So they kept this to themselves, although they discussed with one another what ‘to rise from the dead’ could mean.

Today we are contemplating the act when the three apostles Peter, James and John appear enraptured over the beauty of our Redeemer.

As for us, a message has been revealed: «But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who had abolished death, and had brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

It is what the three favorite Apostles are looking at, totally amazed, in this episode announcing the second Sunday of Lent: The Transfiguration.

It is good that in our Lenten exercise we receive that brilliant sun and shining light in Jesus' face and clothes. It is a marvelous icon of a redeemed mankind, which no longer appears in the ugliness of sin, but in all the beauty divinity turns our flesh into.

Peter's well-being is the expression of what we feel when we let the divine grace fill us. It is very clear in the Gospel reading today that our loving Father says: "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him".

The Holy Spirit also transfigures the Apostles' senses, and thanks to this they can witness the divine glory of the Man Jesus. Transfigured eyes to see what shines most; transfigured ears to hear the truest and most sublime voice: that of the Father who rejoices in his Son.

Altogether, too impressive for us but only if we let Our Lord touch us with his Grace so that our senses will be able to see and and to hear that which is being asked of us by God: to listen to His Son....Listen to the teachings of Jesus. Listen to Jesus words through the voice of His disciples, through His advocates and through His preachers.

We all have experiences with children. Many of you are parents. I was once a “parent” too, and my “children” were those inside the classroom waiting for me to teach them the lesson for the day.

Oftentimes, children do not listen when we tell them things. For instance, they may not listen when we tell them to brush their teeth before going to bed, or when we tell them to put things in order after using them, or when we tell them to look left and right before crossing the street.

Then one day, we suddenly see them washing the dishes, or diligently arranging their toys in their proper places after playing with them.

Then we say, “what a miracle! Why are you so well-behaved now?” Then they say, “My teacher told me to do this.”

All of us have experienced this. My experience with my nephews and nieces taught me that they would not listen to their uncle but they could listen to their teacher in school.

We tell them what to do and they do not listen but when the teacher tells them what to do, they listen.

As teacher for two decades, I had countless experiences with parents coming over the school just to see me and air their complaints against their sons who would prefer to do what I told them to do at home and refuse to listen to what they tell them to do.

Children hear their parents, and they hear their teachers. But they only follow their teachers, and not their parents. Well, I guess and I think children are entitled to that.

People just choose to listen to what they want to listen to. When they do not want to listen, they play deaf and dumb.We all know people like this, don’t we?

They suddenly grow deaf when we remind them of their debts. They suddenly grow deaf when they are criticized.

They say, “I am not sure I understand what you are saying.”But when they hear something nice about themselves, or there is a word that there will be a salary increase at the office, they hear it so clearly, even though they are a mile away.

Now, as we reflect on today's Gospel, it will be good to ask ourselves: Who are those we listen to? Who are those we do not listen to?

Some people will say, “Why are you listening to that person? He’s a womanizer.”

Others will say to themselves, “Why should I listen to that person, she is pro-contraception, or she is pro-abortion”. Or, “Why should I listen to him, he doesn’t even have a wife himself?”

Some of us have our prejudices. Some of us have our biases. Some of us, no matter how old we become, remain childish. We continue to select only those things we want to listen to.

Don’t you think in doing this, we also lose? I should say, “Everybody is on the same boat.” All of us do not know everything. But we can listen because we have a lot to learn from people for whom we think we cannot learn from.

Who are the people in our lives for whom we do not listen to but who can lift us from our unending worries?

Who are the people in our communities for whom we have incorrigible prejudices but who humbly serve us in the midst of our difficulties?

Who are the people in our society for whom we think we have nothing to learn from but who are faithful in their service in the light of Jesus' teachings?

As we spend the second week of Lent and as we continue our Lenten observance, let's contemplate on the words of today's Gospel and may God showers us with the grace of a listening heart to be able to hear His Words from the voices of these people among us. Blessings to us all!

temptation

Today, the Church celebrates the liturgy of the first Sunday of Lent. The Gospel presents Jesus readying for his public life. He goes into the wilderness where He spends forty days in prayer and penance. There, He is tempted by the devil.

The Gospel says, (Mk 1:12-15): The Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness and He remained there for forty days, and was tempted by Satan. He was with the wild beasts, and the angels looked after him. After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There He proclaimed the Good News from God. «The time has become», He said «and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News».
We must also get ready for Easter. Satan is our great enemy. There are many persons that do not believe in him, and claim that he is a product of our fantasy, or he is just an abstract conception of evil, diluted in the people and the world. No!

The Holy Scriptures mention him quite often as a spiritual and tangible being. He is a fallen angel. Jesus defines him by saying: «There is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies» (Jn 8:44). St. Peter compares him with a roaring lion: «Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for (someone) to devour» (1Pe 5:8). And Paul VI teaches: «The Devil is the number one enemy, the preeminent tempter. So we know that this dark disturbing being exists and that he is still at work with his treacherous cunning».

How? By lying, by deceiving. Where there are lies or deceit, there is a devilish action. «The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist» (Baudelaire). And, how does he lie? He presents us with evil actions as if they were good ones; he induces us to do evil; and, in the third place, he suggests plenty of excuses to justify our sins. After swindling us, he fills us up with anxiety and sadness. Have you not felt any such experience, ever before?

In life, we are faced with temptations. When I speak of temptation, I do not speak only of temptation of the flesh. Temptation can also come in the form of choosing the easy way out.Temptations can also come in the form of telling a lie because you are afraid to be punished or to be humiliated.

Temptations can also come in the form of leaning towards the more convenient or the more expedient ways, instead of the moral and proper thing to do.We can speak of people who abuse their authority for their own convenience. We can speak of people who abuse the goodness and meekness of their fellowmen.

That is the first temptation of Jesus-- the temptation to make life comfortable at the expense of others, the temptation to abuse oneself to make life easier and more convenient.The second is the temptation for power--worldly power, secular power. This is very clear for the Lord who says: “I do not need worldly power because I do not live in this world.”

In our life, arguments run like these: there is no sex in heaven so we might as well enjoy everything here on earth; we cannot bring our money to heaven, so it might as well be spent here in whatever manner we desire; let us enjoy all the praises here on earth, there might not be any in heaven. These are the temptations of popularity, money and sex.The third temptation is to ask people to serve you rather than you serving other people; asking the Lord to serve you because you have been very good; asking the Lord to spare you from sickness because you attend Mass regularly; asking the Lord to make your family and children good and successful because you pray everyday.

We are here not because we want to be rewarded. We are here because we want to repay the Lord. When everything has been said and done, we can only say that we are just but useless servants of God. We do not do good because we want to be rewarded. We do good because God has been good to us.

The third question is: How did the Lord face temptation?Jesus, when tempted, did not argue. He did not use His reasoning. He used the Scriptures against the devil.The way to overcome temptation is not to use psychology, logic, philosophy or even theology. The way to overcome temptation is by attuning yourself always to the Word of God--by prayer.You must pray when you are tempted.

It is very difficult to face temptations. I speak from experience. It is easier to fall into temptations. One geek may say: “the way to get rid of temptations is to do them.” By this he meant that the way to get rid of temptations is to do the sin. Thus he banish temptation by giving in to it.

It is enjoyable to give in to temptation, and it can be very easy. But the Lord never promised us an easy life, only a meaningful life.

Our attitude in front of temptation? Before: to watch, to pray and to avoid the occasions. While: direct or indirect resistance.

Afterwards: if you have won, thank God for that. A defeated temptation is progress in sanctity. And, if you have failed, ask for forgiveness and try to learn from experience in future. Which attitude have you shown so far?