The Worst Prison! is a Closed Heart

Reflections on Acts 2:1-11 /  1 Cor. 12:3-7;12-13 / John 20:19-23

Holy Spirit Mass:  St. Paul University Manila

By Frank Savadera, SJ

Friends, I begin our sharing today with a quotation attributed to the late Pope John Paul II who was just recently canonized a saint.  According to JPII:  “The worst prison is a closed heart!”  Ang pinaka malala o pinaka malubhang piitan ay ang sarado at nakakandadong puso. 

I don’t know if anyone of you would know where the Manila City jail is located. Would anyone know?  I had a big surprise of my life when I first visited the Manila City jail a long time ago.   I realized that the jail is there right smack in the middle of the city.  And where?  If you get off at the Recto Station of the LRT just across the Isetann Department Store ... you will come across what you may think as a community of slum dwellers.  That area my friends, is the renowned, notorious and over-crowded Manila City jail.  How is it like to be in that jail???  I remember prisoners cooking their food with the aid of boat paddles ... yung SAGWAN ba ... and pouring soup and ULAM on plastic palangganas or timba that we normally use in comfort rooms.  I remember prisoners complaining of the lack of water supply that some of them had developed rashes, scabbies and others forms of skin disease.  I remember beds of prisoners stacked one on top of another ... ala high rise condominium ... with up to 3 or 4  “floors.”  Some presos even sleep hanging from the ceiling.  Friends, how is it like to live in the Manila City Jail? (I hope things have improved by now).  Nevertheless, I hope we don’t aspire to be there.

But then ... as we said and according to John Paul II:  The worst prison is a closed heart.  Ang pinaka malala ang pinaka malubhang piitan ay ang sarado at nakakandadong puso.   You don’t need to be in the Manila City Jail to experience being in prison.  Some of us may actually be living in a self-imposed jail ... right now.  Baka naman mas malaya pa yung mga taong nasa preso kaysa sa atin.  The worst prison is a closed heart.  

Why talk about jails and prisons?  A jail or a prison is the image I get as I imagine all the disciples locked up inside one room on at least two occasions, one during the time of the Lord’s Resurrection and the other, during Pentecost.  Mahilig magtago ang mga disipulo ni Jesus.  They were all locked up in a room cowering in fear ... for the Lord had left them and they were perhaps wondering how on earth are they to proceed with their lives knowing that many people outside may hate them or worst kill them as they did the Lord.   

Friends, we may not literally be in jail today but our HEARTS may be in prison.  And the worst prison is a closed heart.  A heart in prison sees everything as DARK.  A heart in prison succumbs to fear and paralysis.  A heart in prison thinks of the world as bleak and peoples and situations ashopeless and helpless.  A heart in prison could not think of any other need than his own.  I can be very protective of myself.  Everyone becomes an enemy.  Life is constantly a battle.  The center of the universe simply becomes the self.  Take for instance our propensities for HASHTAGs ... i.e., FOLLOW ME (F4F – follow for follow;  FF – follow Friday) i.e. look how beautiful and talented I am; HASHTAG OOTD (outfit of the day);   (Ako ang THE BEST ... BURN ... BOOM) or NAKAKA-AWA naman ako.  I have this so SEVERE A PROBLEM.  Helpless!    In such situations, we know that our hearts are in prison because no matter what it is that we do ... we cannot seem to be happy; I could not find meaning in the things that I do.  Friends: Are your hearts in prison?  The worst prison is a closed heart. 

I think it is in this context that we wish to start our year ... begging and pleading for the presence of the Spirit.  Mind you, even before we asked about its presence among us, the Spirit already DWELLS in us and among us.  Do you believe so? 

This is the assurance that we receive in our readings today.  There came a LOUD NOISE and a MIGHTY STORM ... a DRIVING WIND HEARD ACROSS THE ROOM and tongues of fire appeared, rested on their heads ... and  ALL were filled with the Holy Spirit.  Jesus in the Gospel tells us RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT.  Remember how the apostles were speaking in different tongues and yet still understanding each other.  What a GREAT GIFT of the Spirit isn’t it?  Despite our differences ... our varying perspectives in life ... each of us has the capacity to understand the other.  According to Scriptures: “Each hears the others speaking in their own tongue about the marvels God has accomplished.”  I think the best way to OPEN UP ONE’S HEART today  is to recognize how each of us is DIFFERENT but nevertheless called to SPEAK of the marvels God has done in our lives.  

Another image that we may wish to underscore in our Gospel today comes from the statement:  At the sight of the Lord, the apostles REJOICED.  I think FREEING OUR HEARTS means constantly wishing to FIND THE FACE of GOD in all there is that we do for the whole year.  Finding the face of God in the faces of people we see everyday. There will be PEACE!  The Spirit RENEWS ALWAYS THE FACE OF THE EARTH. 

The WORST PRISON IS A CLOSED HEART.  We are called to SEEK the Spirit’s assistance in FREEING US from our self-imposed prisons, FINDING THE FACE OF GOD in ALL that we see and FINDING PEACE and RENEWAL in the WORLD.

FREEING AND CUTTING US OFF FROM THINGS THAT DRAG US DOWN

(Arvisu entrance Day 2014)

Reflection on ACTS 16:1-10  / JohN 15:18-21

By Frank Savadera, SJ

Today is a FEAST of Mary.  The Salesians celebrate the feast of MARY HELP of CHRISTIANS.  Our Chinese brothers, as exhorted by Pope Benedict XVI five years ago, are asked to pray to OUR LADY OF SHESHAN (Shanghai) to renew their faith and fidelity to the Pope as the successor of Saint Peter. The Jesuits today celebrate the feast of the SANTA MARIA DELA STRADA or Our Lady of the Way.  Which image of the Blessed Mother do we venerate?  It’s the same mother that we come home to especially as we seek to be placed CLOSER to her Son. 

 

There is something interesting that I pick up from the account of the apostolic travels of Paul, Timothy and the other disciples.  They were able to travel through Derbe and Lystra and Phyrgia and Galatia and Mysia  ... BUT the Holy Spirit as well ... prevented them from preaching and reaching some provinces in Asia.  Reportedly, they tried going to Bythynia BUT the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 

There were places that they were able to visit ... and there were places which the Holy Spirit prevented them from entering.  And we ask:  What meaning do we pick up from this narrative that more or less can apply to us???     

For one ... we know that we are welcoming you our 20 brothers into this house.  Isn’t it true that it took us a while to decide to be here.  There were a lot of factors in life, our livelihood and relationships that we needed to consider.  The questions we asked ourselves before coming here were serious and real:  Why am I doing this to myself???  Why do I even need to consider making this decision to be here??? Huwag na lang kaya??  But the clock was ticking ... and days passing ... 7 days na lang ... 5 days na lang ... 3 days na lang ... and finally finally we are here.   Brothers ... as the Spirit wills ... He could have prevented you from being here ... BUT WE ARE HERE!   Be confident in knowing that the Spirit has led us here.  Our Lord ... in the Gospel says:  I HAVE CHOSEN YOU OUT OF THE WORLD.  We are tasked to discover more where and how the Spirit will lead us.  Because this is how He works.  We submit to and we follow where the Spirit leads us.  Let this be ... our being here .... be our first step in following the Spirit. 

My second point has something to do with Timothy.  Timothy ... he was a disciple, he was a son of a believer; the brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him ... BUT ...  twice it was mentioned also ... as if it was a cause of shame for him ... that his father was Greek.  According to our account ... he needed to be circumcised ... and mutilated.  (????)  We no longer think of this literally of course.   Instead, we talk about experiences of cutting ourselves off ...     a slow and progressive separation from my old world .... old ways of doing things. How do we SLOWLY SLOWLY find meaning in cutting myself off from old and gotten-used-to preoccupations???

Eg.  What I say or do ... my judgments and decisions ... I will need to know ... will have an impact on members of the community; we have a LOCATOR BOARD ... and are asked to log in and out so we may know where you are;  we eat the same food ... you cannot hoard ... what we have we share;  we have a time for everything ... a time for sports and recreation, a time for eating, a time for prayer and silence ... we call this DE MORE ... which for some can be DEMORE-LIZING.  How do I find myself slowly slowly inserting myself into this rhythm of life? 

My first advice is:  BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF.  Slowly and very subtly ... we are cutting ourselves off from old ways of doing things.   Is this something that we can handle??? We do not need to mutilate ourselves physically ... just in the case of Timothy.  No need not cut our fingers off.  We venture into FREEING ourselves more ... cutting ourselves off from things that drag us down ... so we can move FREELY in doing the work of Jesus ... as Paul, Timothy and the other disciples did.  Isn’t this the message of the Gospel today ... a kind of separation from the usual, from the worldly and mundane.  

Lastly, as mentioned earlier ... today the Jesuits pay tribute to the image of our Lady as SANTA MARIA DE LA STRADA or Our Lady of the Way.   If there is one who knew exactly how it felt BEING LED BY THE SPIRIT and being CHOSEN for a specific work of God ... if there is one who knew how it is like to be CUT OFF from mundane things and be FREE to do the work of our Lord ... Mary ... Mary!  Isn’t it that we can always look up to Mary and allow her to accompany us on the way to Jesus.  Mary Help of All Christians,  Our Lady of Shenshan ... SANTA MARIA DELA STRADA ... pray and intercede for us.

  

DELIVERANCE FROM GRUMBLING

Reflections on EXodus 17:3-7  /  ROMans 5:1-2, 5-8 /  JohN 4:5-42

By Frank Savadera, SJ

There’s a prayer which priests and religious say always every morning.  This prayer includes an account of what we have just read in our first reading today:  Where ... at Meribah and Massah (which means "testing" and "quarelling"), you challenged me and provoked me ... and I swear in my anger ... you shall not enter into my rest.  We follow this up with:  Glory be to the Father ....

Who doesn’t grumble?  I do?  I grumble a lot about all sorts of things!  And we have a lot of phrases now ... to express how it is like to grumble!  NAKAKAINIS ... NAKAKAYAMOT ... NAKAKA ...  MALAS naman oi.  If we do not watch ourselves ... we can end up simply GRUMBLING and ruining our day ... our whole day for the many things that would ... expectedly disturb and trouble us.   

In their thirst for water ... the people of God while in the desert grumbled. They say: Moses, why did you ever make us leave Egypt?  Our lives were far far way better there than in here.  WHAT HAPPENS TO US WHEN WE GRUMBLE?

We grumble perhaps because we are MISSING God’s point ... His point and reason why He placed us where we are right now.   The Israelites were in the desert ... missing precisely the point why they were there in the first place. 

Sometimes I ask myself ... If I had not been a priest ... perhaps I had been a very shrewd and even perhaps ruthless businessman or an insensitive husband to my wife or an absentee father to my children.  But I am a priest ... and this is not an easy vocation ... and I can get caught up simply grumbling???  I can actually miss the point ... God’s point of putting me here and not anywhere else.   

The Israelites were precisely missing God’s point.  They grumble and forget that in the first place ... they were living as SLAVES.  They had been FREED ... they had been saved ... and they GRUMBLE? 

Friends, what prevents me from grumbling is the thought and prayer that if NOW is quite difficult to bear ... imagine how things could have been worst for me and for those I love ... if I am not here.  Our FIRST PRAYER:  DELIVER US LORD FROM OUR COMPULSIONS TO GRUMBLE about the LIFE YOU HAD GRACED US TO LIVE. 

Secondly, the Israelites grumbled because THEY THIRST.  Have you ever experienced thirsting ... as in literally THRISTING for water???  I did ... when I hiked alone in the mountains of Benguet last year.  I ran out of water.  It was like ... your tongue was already sticking out of your mouth ... and I had 5 hours more to go.  And I found myself by the roadside praying ... praying very hard ... that a horse or a motorbike may pass by ... here in this remote and forgotten place ...  that I may hitch and be spared from the next 5 hour walk.  It was getting dark and I was almost sure ... that I was close to passing out ... if help didn’t come.  Imagine ... in this remote and isolated place ... after my prayer ... a motorcycle passed by.  I hitched.  The most amazing thing was ... the one driving was the CHIEF of a village ... and his must be one of five motorbikes in his barangay ... and he passed by ... and I hitched.  WHAT A RELIEF INDEED.   

Moses in our reading performed a great miracle.  He was asked by Yahweh to strike the ROCK and water flowed.  But what interests me ... in the account is this ... Yahweh asked Moses to stand amidst his people ... and as promised, Yahweh stood there IN FRONT OF HIM.    Wow!  Imagine the small miracles that happen in our lives ... each time whenever we are saved from a difficult situation ... we wish to remember that God is there always standing in front of us. 

And this is why we have every reason to HOPE.  Paul’s letter to the Romans tells us that   “through Christ, we have gained access by faith to the grace in which we stand ... and we boast in hope of the glory of God.  And HOPE does not disappoint .... because the love of God had been poured out into our hearts.  Isn’t it TRUE that there is such a thing as HOPE???  A difficult situation will always come to pass and this is what our Lord in the Gospel convinces us ... THERE IS AN ETERNAL WELL of  LIVING WATER from which we can DRINK and   whoever drinks from this well ... whoever drinks this water shall never be thirty again. 

Jesus of course speaks of Himself.  We who thirst ... we who encounter our usual troubles ... and instances when we grumble are asked to have more HOPE ... by clinging on always on Jesus ... his word ... that promise us ETERNAL LIFE.

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again;  but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst;  the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

“My food is to do the will of the one who sent me
and to finish his work.

“We no longer believe because of your word;
for we have heard for ourselves,
and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”

ANTIDOTE TO DEHUMANIZATION

Reflections on ISAIAH 58:7-10 /  1 COR 2:1-5 / MATTHEW 5:13-16

By Frank Savadera, SJ

Before entering the seminary, I was in the Human Resources profession, working for a time in three manufacturing companies.  A big concern for us then was the problem of DEHUMANIZATION.  Factory workers coming in, day in and day out ... 1st shift  ... 2nd shift ... 3rd shift ... doing the same thing, logging in and out at exact working periods, staying on the same equipment and at the same working station, seeing the same people ... coming  in again the next day ... and life goes on ... over and over and over.  If you had been in such a similar circumstance, isn’t this like MAN simply functioning as a MACHINE.  Social scientists call this kind of an experience as ALIENATION. We can be quite functional and efficient .... but because of the routinary-ness of things ... it is as if we had been ALIENATED from our own selves.  I had become simply a machine (I’ve heard someone saying: Naging tao-taohan na lang ako). I had lost my self-worth.  I had not become the person that I really am.  A machine is not human.  I had been DEHUMANIZED. 

And so ... as a then human resource professional, one of our tasks was to introduce programs that hopefully minimize at least to some degrees the levels of alienation and dehumanization from the routinary-ness of life in the work setting.  If not ... there is UNPEACE;  if not ... there is INFIGHTINGS; if not ... there’s a lot of discontent, etc.

Specially during this time in the liturgical calendar which we call as the ORDINARY TIME, we are asked to reflect on the routinary-ness, the ordinariness, the regularity of life that we live ... and to say in all honesty ... I seem to already be losing my REAL SELF to this cyclic way of living my life.  There must be something MORE, a greater meaning to the life that I am living.  I am also prone to being ALIENATED from my own self, not discovering what I can truly be ... and what I truly am. 

Our Gospel tells us:  You are the SALT of the earth and LIGHT of the WORLD.

Firstly, I think ... what this is telling us in a most practical way is this:  We will need to acknowledge our needs for SPICE and FLAVOR to the routinary, ordinary and regular lives that we live.  If I examine the way I proceed with my life, what have I devised to add SPICE and FLAVOR to my life?  Believe it or not ... we sometimes cling to many a STRANGE, UNUSUAL and more so ABSURD preoccupations simply to SPICE UP and ADD FLAVOR to our lives.  (Last night someone was relating to me the plot of this Oscar nominated film ... about a man falling in love with an OPERATING SYSTEM ... a computer generated persona).  What is trending now on FACEBOOK?  Throwback history time of your past 4 years with Facebook.  Before ... there was ANGRY BIRD ... now we have FLAPPY BIRD.   When I talk to young people nowadays, they know of a lot of CREATED characters that for me can be quite fascinating (i.e., MASHIMARO ... chocomaro).  

   

Believe it or not, I’ve met someone whom I termed as a building specialist.  This is strange ... but to SPICE UP and ADD FLAVOR to his life ... he counts the number of floors of most buildings under construction in the metropolis.  Wow!  What a specialized field ... and he can be quite amazing ... not only in remembering the new construction projects in the city but likewise the number of floors of each building being constructed.  There’s a need for us to SPICE UP and ADD FLAVOR to our lives.  But the question is:  HOW DO WE DO SO? What is the Christian Catholic way of doing so?  Let me propose a few suggestions:

YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH.  SALT means FLAVOR.  What flavor do we contribute to our being Christians?  There is a word that is very familiar to us: TRADITION …  (in Lat: TRADERE … in Gk: PARADIDONAI … which means to hand on / to hand over.  Ordinarily, when we talk about “tradition” we simply imply all the practices that we perform.  Examples:  First Friday Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus;  praying the Rosary; Visita Iglesia during Holy Week;  vigil … last Friday to the Twin Hearts of Jesus and Mary.  Why do we perform such practices?  Some would say … TRADITION na yan, Father! 

In Scriptures:  PARADIDONAI … the Father handed over His Son to us;  the Son handed over himself (it is finished … he handed over his Spirit);  the Father and Son handed on the Spirit.  PARADIDONAI!  There is a TRADITION of SELF-GIVING in the Church, in the faith system we subscribe to.  As the Father, Son and Spirit exemplified SELF-GIVING … this self-giving … the handing over of oneself is commanded of us as well.  This is our TRADITION … the TRADITION of self-giving. 

How much have we given to our Church?  I do not mean, of course, financial help only.  How much have you given of your time? Your moral support? Your involvement?  Or even … actively promoting vocations to the Church? Would you wish our TRADITION to continue?  That tradition is precisely the TRADITION of SELF-GIVING.  In Greek: PARADIDONAI.  This is the unique FLAVOR … contribution that we give … our capacity for SELF-GIVING.  Paradidonai ... SELF GIVING adds flavor and spice to our lives.

WE ARE IN THE BUSINESS OF SHARING GOD’S LIGHT AND MAKING THAT LIGHT TRULY PRESENT IN THE WORLD.  Jesus said to his DISCIPLES (not Apostles):  YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH!  YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.  He meant this EMPHATICALLY.  There is URGENCY to the word he is using ... (humeis) - emphatic meaning "you yourselves".  "You and you alone (no one else) are the light of the world."  NOW NA! 

Light is that which enables you to see or which make vision possible amidst the darkness (brown-out). Light goes with sight.  Light illuminates, exposes, guides, and directs.  Light gives life.   The nature of light is to shine. There is no such thing as light that does not communicate itself. There is no such thing as self contained light.  In our case, there is no such thing as an invisible believer!  Our light must SHINE FORTH.  Light may originate in a distant star and travel a span of light-years, but it does not get tired of shining and ceasing to shine. Its nature is to shine. Christ says He has made light of the world, and we are not self-contained.  It is the nature of the child of God who has been made light to communicate the light given to him.  LIGHT IS THE TRUTH THAT YOU SPEAK ... the INTEGRITY WITH WHICH WE LIVE OUR LIVES.  That will need to SHINE FORTH.  (We pray for our whistleblowers ... those who risk lives and limb to speak the truth and scatter forth light).

As we live our ordinary life ... we acknowledge our need for SPICE and FLAVOR to the lives that we live. 

PARADIDONAI ... to hand-over ... there is a tradition of self-giving in our Church ... a way to add meaning and flavor to our very existence.

LIGHT is the TRUTH that we SPEAK.  We need always the COURAGE to shine forth and reflect the truth and light that comes from Jesus himself.

ANO ANG SUSUNOD NA KABANATA?

Reflections on 2 SM 7:4-17  /  MarK 4:1-20

By Frank Savadera, SJ

The Book of Samuel stretches a long way from the time of Hannah, the mother of Samuel; to the anointing of Saul, David killing Goliath, Saul pursuing David because of his jealousy, David cutting off a part of Saul’s cloak (habang umiihi si Saul sa kweba); David being anointed king and he enters Jerusalem.  We even have a depiction of dancing and making offerings to the ark of the covenant.  And now ... sundan ang susunod na kabanata.  What’s next?  How will the next chapters of the book unfold?

In Chapter 7 of 2 Samuel David was lying and resting in his palace and telling himself:   `See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.'  He therefore set out to build a permanent dwelling place for the Ark of the covenant.  Yahweh’s response to David ... in today’s reading is quite amusing.   You know ... I’ve been going around in a tent.  Did I ever request for a house built for me?  You will not build me a house.  It is I who will build a house for you.  How will this story continue to unfold.  Ano ang susunod na kabanata? 

I think ... and specifically for us, we are asked the same question:  Ano ang susunod na kabanata?  What next?  How will the next chapters of the book unfold?  For us, I think it is important to note the Lord’s message to David:  It is not you who will build a house for me.  Instead, it is I who will build a house for you.  And what house is this ... you may ask?  It is not a physical house! 

For our purposes ... let’s call it a HERITAGE or a LEGACY.  This is going to be a heritage ... a house and a legacy that will stand forever.  I will make myself known as a father to your offspring.  I will correct them if they make a mistake.  MOST IMPORTANT:  I WILL NOT WITHDRAW FROM YOUR HOUSE THE FAVOR I WITHDREW from David.  Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.’”

As we ask ourselves:  Ano ang susunod na kabanata?  I think we can derive great consolation from a God ... who BUILDS his house IN US (we know that this house is not merely a building).  He also makes a promise of his CONTINUED FAVOR.  This makes the Psalms more meaningful:  For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.  How is the lord FORTIFYING that house which He Himself had started to build?

It amazes me to note a small detail in the Gospel.  I don’t even know why it was even mentioned.  It may seem like an insignificant thing.  Before Jesus recounts the story of the Sower of the seeds,  he sat on the boat by the sea and everyone gathered on land ... by the sea.   He taught them at length about the parables.  Lesson:  We receive teachings, we hear the Lord and learn from Jesus each time when we are between LAND and SEA.  What do we mean?  Simply:  I think God’s speaks strongly to us when we are between LAND and SEA ... when we are discerning to SAIL to new and undiscovered lands or simply staying put secure ON LAND.  God speaks when we are between LAND and SEA.

This makes the Gospel meaningful.  What do we make out of the word that we hear?    God’s word may simply be eaten up by the birds or wilted by the sun or choked by the rocks or thorns.  HAVE WE HEARD THE WORD OF GOD?  WHAT WILL THE WORD OF GOD BE FOR US?  Will we ever even get to hear it?  And ACCEPT it?  Those who hear and accept the word of God will bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” 

We pray for each other as we ask ourselves:  WHAT’S NEXT?  ANO ANG SUSUNOD NA KABANATA?  How will the next chapters unfold?  It is not us who is building a house for God ... He constantly builds his house and presence within our hearts.

God speaks to us most strongly when we are between LAND and SEA ... that is, when we are choosing between SAILING or simply staying put securely where we are.

Lastly, there’s a CHALLENGE ... to ACCEPT the WORD of God ... as it comes ... and we know if we accepted it so ... since we will forever be FRUITFUL.

GETTING INTO ORDINARY TIME

Reflections on 1 SaMuel 15:16-23 / MarK 2:18-22
By Frank Savadera, SJ

For those of us who had been going to masses the past days after the Epiphany – there is a STORY LINE that we are following in the readings.   We started with the story of HANNAH, the second wife of Elkinah.  Hannah was getting depressed because of her barrenness.  She would cry and Elkinah assures here:  ISN’T MY LOVE ENOUGH FOR YOU?  Yahweh promised her a son.  She bore a son and a great prophet SAMUEL which means “YAHWEH HEARS.  Yahweh asked Samuel to eventually anoint a King for the scattered tribes of Israel – SAUL the handsomest son of KISH.  Yahweh chose the best.  Saul was the BEST.  

ORDINARY TIME is marked by the RISE and FALL of Kingdoms; the appointments of PROPHETS;  the anointing of Kings;  Kings falling out of favor and eventually being deposed;  a new King rises;  a prophets comes.  ORDINARY TIME  asks us to reflect on the ROLLER COASTER RIDE we call LIFE ... our experience of BARRENNESS,  our experiences of TRIUMPHS/ VICTORIES and even FALLENNESS – our sinfulness/ weakness.  We are called to REVIEW the VERY ORDINARY LIVES that we live.  HOW HAS GOD BEEN PRESENT THERE? 

  

Every step of the way in ORDINARY LIFE, we are asked to DISCERN how God is calling me at this particular time of my life.  I would like to believe that we are in different stages in life right now.  It’s so easy to GET STUCK in what we were doing in the past.  We can say:  It was working before and so perhaps it will still work today.  Is this true?  We are asked to DISCERN God’s calling for me at this particular stage in my life today.  There was a time I’ve realized that I can just do everything by myself, accomplish things for myself, reap the harvest for myself.  NOW ... I continue to realize that I’m asked to build communities, gather people together, speak to more people about God ... so that God’s word can even be more spread.  Collaboration, in terms of work ... so that God’s work can be done more efficiently.  MENTORING.  INSPIRING others.   What was working for me before in terms of ministry, no longer works for me today.  I will exhaust myself if I insist on doing the old paradigms of life.    In your case, how are you discerning God’s call for you at this particular stage in your life.  

Ordinary time – CALLS US TO NEWNESS.  Everything ought to be NEW ... we are not to sew unshrunk cloth unto old cloak nor pour new wine into old wines skins.  It will cause us DISASTER.  We are called to DISCERN how God is calling us in this stage of our lives.  How are we called to welcome NEWNNESS, a sense of starting something NEW again.  MIXED feelings?  EXCITEMENT and ANXIETY?  Isn’t God’s LOVE and PRESENCE enough for you?  For us?  A SENSE of WHAT TRULY IS IMPORTANT at this stage in my life.

Lastly ... something about SACRIFICE.  We may mistake the readings today as speaking against sacrifices.  In our first reading, Saul and his men offered sacrifice and the sacrifice was REJECTED by Yahweh.  In the Gospel, the Pharisees were asking why Jesus apostles’ do not fast and make sacrifices?  SACRIFICES remain IMPORTANT.  We have our individual DEVOTIONS... Nazareno – people walking on their knees and bare feet;  Santo Nino – dancing in the streets and waving their hands. 

What is the context of our sacrifices?  Why do we sacrifice?  Why did Yahweh REJECT the sacrifice of Saul?  Or the piety of the PHARISEES in our Gospel?  A valuable note from Pope Francis:  Do we turn to God only to ask him for things, to thank him?” Or rather, do we “also turn to him to worship him?”

Worshipping God  means learning to be with him” and not simply “trying to dialogue with him.” It is “sensing that his presence is the most true, the most good, the most important thing of all.”  God’s presence TRANSFORMS.  Remain in God and allow God to remain in us ... to transform us to the creatures, the children he wants us to be.

WE ARE CALLED TO REFLECT ON THE ROLLER COASTER RIDE we call LIFE.  HOW IS IT TO ENTER INTO THE ORDINARINESS OF LIFE?  HOW HAS GOD ASSURED US OF HIS PRESENCE.

HAVE A SENSE OF WHAT IS TRULY IMPORTANT ESPECIALLY AT THIS STAGE IN MY LIFE.  HOW DO I DISCERN MY CALL AT THIS POINT IN MY LIFE?

SACRIFICE -  remaining in God and allowing God to remain in us ... and STRUGGLING with that.  Isn’t that the sacrifice that is asked from us, a kind that TRANSFORMS US to better persons and better children of God.

CHRISTMAS 2013
When PERFECT merges with the Imperfect!
by Frank Savadera, SJ

There’s a website now being promoted on FACEBOOK that talks about the most popular quotes for the entire year.   Some of the quotes I really find interesting:  Who wouldn’t forget the quip of a drunken tv host and actress ... who after coming out of the ladies’ room (in a posh place which I haven’t visited) was just so provoked in blurting out:   I CAN BUY YOU ... YOUR FRIENDS and this CLUB!  Or Philippine senators using their privileged positions to hurl words against each other ...  accusing one another as:  WALA ka NG ASIM!   You may wish to come up with your own list.

Words ... words ... truly define us.  And the word that defines us and this generation ... this year ...   according to the Meriam-Webster dictionary is ...  the WORD    SELFIE!  That word speaks so much about us already!  We view our Facebook accounts, our profile pictures and recognize SELFIE SELFIE SELFIE!  Sometimes, I just check my TIMELINE and tell myself ... O my ... SELFIE is all about me.   

Words truly define us ... isn’t this true?  And this is the reason why we are different from animals and other species in the planet because we can speak.  We can formulate words and statements that express what we feel, what we mean, what we hope for.  Our words therefore can either be HURTFUL to others ... causing people great emotional agony, pain and even anger  ... or words can also be very inspiring, especially when you're able to put them together into lines that are truly meant, sincere and consoling. UN Secretary General Banki Moon while visiting typhoon devastated areas in Leyte dropped real and consoling words:  THE WORLD IS BEHIND YOU!  

To complicate things a bit however, we say that there is a paradox to how we express human words.  No matter how much you wish to be consoling, our words can also be taken differently.  For instance, there is an article about how to answer or parry statements made during Christmas parties and reunions.  Example:  “Father, pumayat ka ba?”   “O bakit hindi ka pa nag-aasawa?” People like to greet each other ... and exchange pleasantries.  But no matter how much our intent is to greet or console or even explain our situations in life, our imperfect and limited words will always fail us.  And so what do we mean when we say I LOVE YOU!  I UNDERSTAND YOU!  MERRY CHRISTMAS!  We know that these words are well meant ... but these words are words that struggle hard to be perfect!   And worst, we are sometimes even LOST for words to explain the things happening around us.  Isn’t this part of being human.  We enter therefore into what we may call the LIMITS and AMBIVALENCE OF HUMAN WORDS.  What we mean and what we say are often confused.  And this reflects very much how it is to be HUMAN ... IMPERFECT and CONFUSED.   There is ambivalence to how it is to be TRULY HUMAN.  A scholastic theologian explains this AMBIVALENCE  as he describes man as a composite of a MATERIAL BODY, a SPIRIT and a SOUL.  We are not purely material.  We are not also purely SPIRIT.  Halo halo tayo ... and so these components of the human person pull us to different directions ... they all struggle deep within us.        

I think this is the context as to how we are asked to celebrate Christmas each year and every day.  Amidst the ambivalence of the human situation, the limits and ambivalence of human words ... GOD’S OWN WORD HAD BECOME FLESH ... AND DWELT AMONG US.   The PERFECT WORD had opted to FUSE ITSELF with the IMPERFECT and the AMBIVALENT which is us.  I think this is what we mean when we say how that PERFECT LIGHT comes and battles its way against the elements of darkness and ambivalence.  Our analogies will always fail us.  Can you imagine mixing and stirring powdered coffee into a glass of water.   That glass of water is never the same again. THERE IS A GOD WHOSE PERFECTION MERGES WITH OUR LIMITED AND AMBIGUOUS and AMBIVALENT HUMAN EXISTENCE.  And we are never the same again. That presence had dwelt among us ... and is forever with us.    Christmas tells us therefore that there is hope beyond our imperfections and that hope is amongst us ... and we celebrate.