Holy Family (C)

Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?
(Lk 2:41-52)

They went up according to festival custom.
The whole family--three of them--practiced their religion. It reminds me of Fr. Patrick Peyton's belief: "The family that prays together stays together."

When his parents saw him, they were astonished.
The natural reaction would be relief mixed with anger. But why were they astonished? What they saw was unexpected. A twelve-year old boy was in the Temple and in the midst of the big shots. And it seemed that he was at home with them even though he was only twelve.

Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?
With that question, Mary and Joseph knew that Jesus knew that he (Joseph) was not his father. And with that question, too, he was making a bold assertion--God was his Father.

His mother kept all these things in her heart.
What she and Joseph witnessed was part of the mystery surrounding Jesus. Mary took this event too as part of her reflection to understand Jesus and what was to become of him.

And Jesus advanced in wisdom.
Jesus was truly God. But he was truly human, too. He had to go through the process of intellectual growth.

With the finding of Jesus in the Temple, the infancy narrative ends. The next episode that the Gospel relates happened 18 years later with the beginning of the ministry of John the Baptist and Jesus.

STORY

Here is a cute story about what our families are called to be.

In the heart of a valley of fields, woods and meadows there lived a happy little family in a small two-storied house. There were three of them at the time: the mother and father, and a fair-haired six year old little boy. The father worked in a factory making water-taps, the mother cultivated the orchard behind the house and kept a stern eye on twelve fussy hens and a domineering rooster. The child was happy to be able to go to school, and proud that he could already write his name. He also new what "exuberant" meant.

Through the centre of the valley a bubbling stream wound its way.

The house was in a rather isolated spot and so on Sundays the small family would squeeze itself into a tiny car and go to Mass in the parish church. Afterwards they consumed ice cream or drank hot chocolate, according to the season.

In the evening the little house was always in a mild state of turmoil, because when it was the child's bedtime there was always something he wanted to do, like counting the stars or the glowworms, or how many little squares there were on the tablecloth.

Before going to sleep they all prayed together, and every night an angel of the Lord collected their prayers and took them to heaven.

One autumn it rained for days on end and the stream became swollen with dirty water Higher up, mud and tree-trunks combined to form a dam, which led in turn to the formation of a muddy lake. As darkness fell, the dam gave way under the pressure of the water, and the valley began to be flooded.

The father awoke mother and child. They clung to each other in terror because the water had already invaded the ground floor of the little house and was steadily rising and getting darker

"Up to the roof!", cried Father He took the boy, clinging silently about his neck with eyes full of fear, and climbed up into the attic and then on to the roof Mother followed them.

On the roof they felt as through they were shipwrecked on an island which was growing steadily smaller, because the water continued to rise relentlessly and soon reached the father's knees.

Father got his feet firmly fixed on the roof, embraced the mother and said: "Take the child in your arms and get up onto my shoulders"!

Mother and child climbed up onto the father's shoulders, as he said: "Put your feet on my shoulders and the boy's on your own. Don't be afraid. Whatever happens I will not leave you!"

The mother kissed the child and said: "Climb up onto my shoulders and don't be afraid. Whatever happens I will not leave you!"

The water went on rising. It covered the father, with his arms stretched out holding the mother, and then swallowed up the mother with her arms stretched out holding the child. But the father did not loosen his grip and neither did the mother, but the water went on rising. It reached the child's mouth, his eyes, his forehead.

The angel of the Lord, who had come to collect their evening prayers, saw only a mop of fair hair on the surface of the dark water

He swiftly grasped the mop of hair and pulled. Behind the hair came up the child, and attached to the child came up the mother, and holding on to the mother came up the father Neither had lost their grip.

The angel flew off and gently deposited the singular chain on a higher hill, where the water would never reach. Father, mother and child tumbled onto the grass and then hugged each other amid tears and laughter.

Instead of their prayers that evening, the angel took back to heaven their love. And all the choirs of heaven broke out into thunderous applause.

Christmas (C)

I am sorry but I had no time to translate this into English.



May di inaasahang liham na dumating sa pamilya ni Angelo Relon. Ito ay gating sa Amerika. Sino naman kaya ang kakilala nila sa Amerika? Dali-daling binuksan ng buong pamilya ang sulat. Mas lalong nabigla sila sa nilalaman nito. Gating ito kay Kristina Relon, isang kamag-anak daw nila. Ang kanyang pamilya ay pumunta daw sa Amerika bago pa sumiklab ang Ikalawang Pangmundong Digmaan. Doon na nagka-asawa ang kanyang lolo. Ngayon ibig niyang madalaw ang lupa ng kanyang mga ninuno. Darating siya sa susunod na buwan, at nagpapasundo siya sa airport.

Tuwang-tuwa ang buong pamilyang Relon. May kana pala silang kamag-anak sa Amerika. Ano kaya ang kanyang mukha? Siguro matangkad siya at dilaw ang kanyang buhok. Siguro matangos ang kanyang ilong at hugis Coca-cola ang kanyang katawan, tulad ng mga artista na nakikita sa mga sineng Ingles.

Paano kaya siya darating? Siguro siya ay may bag na malaki. Siguro siya ay nakabestidang maganda at nakasapatos pa ng mataas ang takong. Nag-iimagine na ang buong pamilya sa kanilang kamag-anak na Kana.

Ano kaya ang itatawag nila sa kanya? Tita? Auntie? Mommy? Isang buwan din nilang pinag-usapan ang mga tanong na ito.

Sa wakas dumating ang takdang araw. Maaga pa ay nasa airport na ang buong pamilya. Para makilala ay gumawa sila ng malaking karatula na may nakasulat na "Welcome Home, Kristina Relon!"

Marunong pa kaya siyang managalog? Baka maubusan sila ng Ingles. Hanggang sa airport ay mainit pa nilang pinagtatalunan ang mga tanong na ito.

Dumating na ang eroplano, lumabas ang mga pasahero. Humaba ang leeg ni Angelo at ng kanyang mga anak-humahanap ng matangkad, maputi, at may dilaw na buhok na may dalang malaking maleta. Isa-isang dumaan ang mga pasahero; wala silang nakita. May dumating na teenager, may dalang knapsack, pandak, naka-tsinelas, pango ang ilong. Kumaway sa kanila, binati sila, ngunit hindi nila pinansin, tumayo lang ito sa tabi nila.

Noong nakaraan na ang lahat ng pasahero, malungkot na tiniklop ng pamilyang Relon ang kanilang karatula.

Lumapit uli ang teenager at nagpakilala sa Tagalog na siya si Kristina Relon. Hindi siya pinansin, hindi siya ang Kristinang inaasahan nila. Pandak lang siya, itim ang kanyang buhok, nagta-Tagalog siya. Hindi maaari! Dapat iba siya! Kaya umalis sila na iniwan sa airport ang bisitang kamaganak na kanilang dapat salubungin. (Bishop Pabillo)

Ang karanasan ni Kristina Relon ay naging karanasan din ni JesuCristo. Ayon sa ebanghelyo ni San Juan: “Nasa sanlibutan ang Salita. Nilikha ang sanlibutan sa pamamagitan niya ngunit hindi siya nakilala ng sanlibutan. Naparito siya sa kanyang bayan ngunit hindi siya tinanggap.”

Sa Paskong ito nawa'y matagpuan ni Kristo ang puso natin na handang tumanggap sa kanya.

Fourth Sunday of Advent (C)

I came across this letter from Mary to Joseph. I don't remember anymore where I got it but let me share it with you. It will be Christmas tonight. It would be a pity if Christ would not be in our Christmas.

Mary had a terrible dream. She wrote to tell Joseph about it. This is her letter.

Dear Joseph,

I had a dream. I don't understand it, but I think it was about a birthday celebration for Jesus, our Son.

The people in my dream had been preparing for about six weeks. They had decorated the house and bought new clothes. They'd gone shopping many times and bought many elaborate gifts.

It was peculiar though, because the presents weren't for our son. They wrapped them in beautiful paper and stacked them under a tree. Yes, a tree, Joseph, right inside their homes! They'd decorated the tree with sparkling ornaments and blinking lights. There was even a figure like an angel on top of the tree.

Everyone was laughing and happy. They gave gifts to each other, Joseph, but not to our son. I don't think they even knew him. They never mentioned his name.

I had the strangest of feeling that, if our Jesus had gone to this celebration, he would have been intruding. How sad for someone not to be wanted at his own birthday party! I'm glad it was only a dream, Joseph. How terrible if it had been real!

Love,

Mary

Third Sunday of Advent (C)

Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!

Phil 4:4-7

INTRODUCTION

There are people who say that if you want to be good, you have to ready to be unhappy. Why? Because there are a lot of things that you can not do. In fact, if you look at the Ten Commandments, almost all of them begin with the words “You shall not….” Only the third and the fourth commandments are not prohibitions.

This reminded me of a woman who was taking care of her sickly mother. The doctor had a long list of food that she can not eat. One day her mother got fed up because she could not eat lechon (roasted pig). It has a high cholesterol content. So she blurted out, “Never mind. Let me eat lechon. Even if I die, I will die happy.”

So some people say, “Don’t mind the prohibitions. Do it even if it is sinful. Even if you go to hell, you will go to hell happy.”

SIN AND HAPPINESS

It is true that if you want to be close to God, there are many things that you should not do. It is true that you have to give up certain things. But is it really true that these things give you happiness? I would say that these things do not give us happiness. What they give us is pleasure. But pleasure is felt in the body, while happiness is felt in the heart. And even then the pleasure they give us do not last.

There might be pleasure in drinking to excess. But the pleasure do not last. In fact, it is followed by a big headache, by a hangover.

There might be pleasure in smoking. But the pleasure do not last forever. Sometime in future, you get cancer or emphysema. It’s no fun getting sick. It’s no fun spending a lot of money for hospitalization and medicine.

DON BOSCO AND HAPPINESS

Don Bosco knew that young people may be led to believe that being good means being unhappy. That was why when he wrote a book for youth, he wrote the following: “But some of you may argue: if we begin to serve God now, we shall be-come sad and depressed. I answer that this is not true. He who serves the devil is miserable, even if he pretends to be happy. Courage then, my dear friends, employ your time virtuously, and I assure you that your heart will always be happy and contented. You will experience as a consequence how sweet and pleasing it is to serve the Lord.”

This was why in the Oratory of Don Bosco it was common to hear the following quotes: “Serve the Lord with joy” and “Here holiness consists in being cheerful.”

But is it really true that being good makes you happy? Is it really true that being near God makes your heart contented? Mickey was a new boy at the Oratory of Don Bosco. He was a good athlete and he found great happiness in the playground. But one day, he avoided the playground. A friend came and asked him what was the matter? At first, he kept quiet. But later he told his friend that he was sad because envied them. His friend was surprised. “You envy us. But it is we who envy you. You are so good at games.” And Mickey answered, “I envy you because I am happy only when I play. After the games, I am not happy anymore. But all of you are still happy even games are over.” So his friend told him to go to Don Bosco because Don Bosco was very good at solving their problems.

So Mickey went to Don Bosco and poured out his problem. Don Bosco listened and gave this advice. “I want you to spend the whole day today examining your life. Tonight come to my office and make a good confession. I promise you that you will come out of my office very happy.”

And that was what Mickey did. When he left the office of Don Bosco, his friend who was waiting outside asked him why he was crying. Mickey wiped his tears and answered, “Because I feel so happy.”

JOY AND HAPPINESS AT CHRISTMAS

How do we make our Christmas a joyful and happy event?

1. Go to confession. The second reading says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I say it again, ‘Rejoice.’” We can experience joy in the Lord if we remove sin which sepa-rates us from him. Mickey experienced great joy after a good confession. Go to con-fession and be happy.

2. Make family and friends happy. Alan Robles observed that for Filipinos, hap-piness isn't material—it's social. We're happiest in the midst of family and friends. But that happiness will be multiplied when we make them happy. Give a helping hand around the house. Help in putting up Christmas decorations. Help in preparing the Noche Buena. Help in wrapping Christmas gifts. Prepare alternative gifts. Make family and friends happy and you will be happy twice over.

3. Make people outside the circle of your family and friends happy, too. Charity begins at home but should not end at home. You may want to give Christmas pack-ages to the beggars. Or you may want to pack assorted candies and give them to the children of the neighborhood. Or it might be as simple as giving food to a neighbor. Make other people happy and you, too, will be happy.

CONCLUSION

Your happiness this Christmas depends on the size of your heart. If your heart is so small that it can only accommodate yourself, then you won’t really be happy. Make it big, big enough to accommodate God, family and friends and others as well. Imagine how happy you’ll be.

Second Sunday of Advent (C)

Prepare the way of the Lord.

Lk 3:1-6

Prepare the way of the Lord. Level the valleys and hills so that the land be-comes a plain. Remove the twists and turns (zigzag) so that all roads are straight.
What do these mean? Ituwid ang pamumuhay. Isaayos ang buhay. Iwasto ang maling ugali. We are being asked to set our lives aright. In other words, we are being invited to a conversion.

CHOICE

How do we do this? Sin is basically making wrong choices. We have before us two choices: good and bad. We sin when we choose what is bad. Conversion then means making the right choices, making the correct decisions.

Let us illustrate this. I want Bunso to be removed from the Philippine Idol. I am a writer for the entertainment section of a newspaper. I write a column accusing the family and relatives of Bunso of buying votes so that Bunso will remain a contender. I sinned by writing a lie about another Bunso. My sin is the result of making a wrong choice. I had two choices. To write a lie and to not write a lie. I chose to write a lie. I made the wrong choice. I committed sin.

My conversion then will mean making the right choice from now onwards. As a writer for the entertainment industry, I will now choose the truth instead of choosing a lie.

VALUE SYSTEM

In order to consistently make the right choice, however, we must examine our value system and make the necessary changes. Our value system refers to the sum total of what we believe to be important.

The following are examples of elements that might be found in our value sys-tem: Right is might. It is better to cheat than to repeat. Wealth is more important than honor. Parents should bequeath to their children a good name and a good education. We must earn our keep by the sweat of our brow. You have no right to smoke until you earn the money for it. Ang pagkain ay biyaya mula sa Diyos. You must be willing to sacrifice yourself for your family. My spouse is an equal partner.

If you believe that wealth is more important than honor, would you be surprised at the wrong choices you will make in life?

Now you will understand why conversion must include changes in our value system.

A caution. We must be aware that the values that we SAY we hold might in fact be different from the values that we ACTUALLY LIVE BY. Therefore, when we examine our values, we must not base ourselves on what we say we value but on our behavior. Action speaks louder than words.

To illustrate again. I might say that I value God in my life. But let us examine our behavior. How often do I pray? The answer to that question is a more reliable indicator of whether I value God or not.

SOCIAL CONTEXT

The CBCP has proclaimed 2006 as the “Year of Social Concerns”. The CBCP is asking Filipino Catholics to a conversion in one element of our value system. For us Filipinos, charity begins at home and ends at home. The CBCP is asking us to transform this element into “charity begins at home and flows into the community”. In other words, we are asked not only to work for the good of our families but also for the good of the community at large, that is, for the common good.

Poverty is a real problem in our country. We can not pretend to be able to eradicate poverty in the Philippines. But we can do something about it.

1. If you are in business, work to expand that business. By expanding that business you will be able to provide employment. Employment will lift some families out of poverty. If you are not in business but have the talent for business, take the steps to open a business. Again you will provide employment.

2. If you work for a corporation, CSR is now a buzz word. CSR is corporate social responsibility. Volunteer to give your time to the CSR program of your company.

3. If you are a government official, you know that a big chunk of government money do not go to social services but to corruption. Imagine how the economy will grow if all the money go for what they were intended.

Social situations will not change by themselves. They will only change if we do something about them.

Once upon a time a man kept on complaining to God about the evil in the world. He said: “If you are God you must know about the bad things happening all over the world. Why aren’t you doing anything about it?” Finally God answered him, “But I’ve done something about the evil in the world.” The man retorted, “And what would that be?” And God, looking at him intently, replied: “I have created you.”

The problem is we expect everybody else, including God, to do something about the world, and yet we ourselves do nothing about it.

First Sunday of Advent (C)

And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Lk 21:25-28, 34-36

Advent is a time of preparation for two events. And that is why Advent is di-vided into two parts. The first part of Advent begins with the first Sunday of Advent and ends on December 16. In this first part, we prepare ourselves for the second coming of Christ at the end of time.
The second part of Advent begins on December 17 and ends on December 24. In the second part, we prepare ourselves for the celebration of Christmas which commemorates the first coming of Christ.

Advent is rich in themes. Here are some of them:
1. God keeps his promises. He promised a Messiah and he fulfilled that promise with the birth of Jesus. He promised to come again at the end of time. He will surely keep that promise, too.
2. The birth of Jesus reveals how much God loves us. The Father could have sent an angel to save us. He didn’t. He could also have raised an-other great human being to redeem us. He didn’t do that either. Instead he sent someone special, his only Son. He sent someone special because we are special to him.
3. The book of Genesis said that God has appointed us stewards of creation. Therefore, we have to take seriously our life here on earth. But we are not just meant to live on earth. A great destiny awaits us—heaven. One day Jesus will come again and bring us to live with him forever in heaven.
4. With the second coming of Christ, a great transformation will take place.

Jesus speaks about signs in the skies. Something will happen to the sun, to the moon, to the stars and to the planets. What does he want to say? These heavenly bodies will disappear because the old creation will have to give way to the new creation.

Jesus also speaks about disorder and disturbance. What does he want to say? Suppose you want to do a general clean up of the house. What will you do? You will move things here and there as you clean. As you are cleaning the house is in disorder. But afterwards the house is clean and in order. With the second coming of Christ, Jesus will bring a new order.

In other words, with the second coming of Christ everything will be perfected.

What are the implications of the coming of the new creation and a new order?

First, we need to be patient about our life here on earth. Our world is imperfect. Things can and will go wrong. Sin and evil will be there. Suffering will be part of our existence. But the time will come when sin, death and suffering will disappear and we shall always be happy and contented. But that will happen when Jesus comes again at the end of time. Meanwhile, we have to learn to live in this kind of world.

Second, it is true that we live in an imperfect world. But sometimes it is we who make our situation worse. Let’s talk about money. I have two examples.

First example. The wife goes to Hong Kong to work as a DH. She leaves behind husband and children. This is not a desirable situation. But this is an imperfect world. She sends money every month. After five years she gets sick and has to return home. What does she find back home? They still live in a rented house. And there are no savings. Why? The husband did not bother to find work. And with the monthly remittance of the wife assured, all they did was to spend the money. We live in an imperfect world, but we make our situation worse.

Second example. A farmer in Palawan. His income for the year is P40,000. At the end of the year, there is no money. Where did all the P40,000 go? If this farmer did not engage in gambling, in smoking, and in drinking, there would have been savings.

At the end of time, Christ will make all things new. The old creation will give way to the new creation. The old order, the old way of doing things will give way to a new order. But we don’t have to wait for the end of the world. We can and should do something about it now. How? By personal conversion and transformation.

And Advent with Lent are the two seasons of the year when we are invited to intensify that personal conversion and transformation. May I therefore suggest that as part of the Advent preparation we make a good confession and work on one point of personal conversion and transformation.

May God assist us in preparing ourselves spiritually for the coming solemnity of Christmas.