Pentecost (C)

Receive the Holy Spirit.

Jn 20:19-23

On the evening of that first day of the week.
It was the evening of that day when Jesus rose from the dead, that is, Easter Sunday.

When the doors were locked…Jesus came and stood in their midst.
The resurrection gave Jesus had a glorified body. It no longer had the limitations of an earthly body. Thus, he can pass through walls.

“Peace be with you.”
The first gift of the risen Jesus to his apostles was peace. This peace is the salvation that he gained by his death and resurrection. Salvation means that our sins can be forgiven, we are brought back to God and heaven is now open to us again.

When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The resurrection of Jesus changed his appearance. That was why that morning when he appeared to Mary Magdalene, she did not recognize him and thought he was the gardener. By showing his wounds, he identified himself as Jesus.

As the Father has sent me, so I send you.
The word apostle comes from the Greek word which means to send. The remaining Eleven were called apostles because Jesus sends them out on a mission.

He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
In Hebrew the word for breath and spirit is the same. He breathes on them to show that he was sending them the Holy Spirit.

Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.
On Holy Thursday Jesus gave to his church the gift of the Priesthood and the Eucharist. On Easter Sunday he gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Two Pentecosts
It seems that there has been two instances of Pentecost. The first happened on the evening of Easter Sunday and the second, 50 days after the death and resurrection of Jesus. How do we explain this? The first Pentecost which occurred on the evening of Easter Sunday was in fulfilment of the promise of Jesus to send the Advocate to his disciples after he has ascended to his Father. The second Pentecost represented the official birth of the Church in the world. On that day the birth of the church was symbolized by the apostles going out of the upper room into the world outside in order to the preach that Jesus is Savior.

Christian Pentecost and Jewish Shavuot
The Christian Feast of Pentecost coincides with the Jewish feast of Shavuot. It is also called the Feast of Weeks. It takes place 50 days after the Passover which is why Christians call it Pentecost (fiftieth day). The feast of Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah (the Law) to Moses and to Israel on Mt. Sinai.

Dream (Vision) of St. John Bosco about Confession

Don (Fr.) Bosco saw over 100 thousand boys coming down the hill in total silence. Carrying pitchforks they hastened towards the valley. On the other side of the valley, the sky was dark. Wild animals with small heads and blood-shot eyes were running to attack the boys. But the boys stood firm and defended themselves with the pitchforks.

Some of the animals tried to bite the pitchforks. They broke their teeth and disappeared. Those boys, however, who carried pitchforks with only one prong, were wounded. Others had pitchforks with broken or worm-eaten handles. Some fought the beasts with their bare hands and were killed.

Moving among the dead, Don Bosco noticed that some of them have been strangled. Others seem starved to death.

Don Bosco asked someone what all these mean. The two prongs stand for confession and communion. Broken handles meant sacrilegious communion and confession. Worm-eaten handles stand for faulty confessions. Those who were strangled were those who committed some sins in their early years but never confessed them. Those who starved to death went to confession but never followed the advice of their confessor.

Conclusion

• Let us show our appreciation for the gift of the sacrament of confession by going to confession. To show that I appreciate the gift given to me last Christmas, I wear it. In the same way, I go to confession to show to God I appreciate this gift.

• It is not enough to go to confession, however. We must make sure that we make a good confession. How? First, be honest. Say everything that you remember. But if you forget, don’t worry. God will forgive them, too. And second, follow the advice of the confessor. When you are sick, you go to a doctor. If you want to get well, follow his advice. In the same way, follow the advice of your confessor if you want to become better.


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The Salesians of Don Bosco is a religious congregation of priests and brothers dedicated to he welfare of the young. If you feel called by God to give your life for the good of the young, you may want help in discovering if this is really God's will for you. Please get in touch with the Vocation Director (Don Bosco North Province, Philippines) - 0917-7930112 - Bro. MON CALLO SDB.

Ascension

You are witnesses of these things.

Lk 24: 46-53

A witness is someone who observes an event.

If you happen to go to St, John Bosco Parish in Makati, you will not fail to see a tarpaulin that contains an intriguing painting, Hapag ng Pag-asa. It's like a Last Supper scene, except that instead of the apostles you will see street children. In fact, there is a snatcher and a rugby boy. It is a painting of Joey Velasco. And the children who modelled for him really come from the poor sections of Metro Manila.

That painting has become famous. But more than the fame it has won, that painting is a witness to the return of the primacy of God in the life of Joey Velasco. In fact, he says that it's a symbol of his nearness to God. But he has not always been near God.

Joey Velasco used to be a seminarian. When he left the seminary, his dream was to make it big in the world. He did not exactly forget God. But he did put him at the edges of his life. Then one day in 2005 he was diagnosed with a tumor in one of his kidneys. It was life-threatening. He felt his days were numbered.

He started calling friends and relatives to tell them about his condition and his fears. He would end by asking for prayers. He purposely asked for prayers because it was in those dark moments of helplessness that he realized that there was no one to cling to but God alone. His life was not in the hands of the doctors but in the hands of God.

He underwent surgery and recovered. From then on he was a changed man.

His religious paintings, especially, Hapag ng Pag-asa, is a witness to how God once again reclaimed primacy of place in his life.

Like Joey Velasco, we may not really have turned away from God. We may not really have decided that God is not important. But it may happen that we are so taken up by day to day concerns that we no longer have time for God. It's as if God is a bench warmer. He is there but he is not involved. He is just at the sidelines.

This Sunday the Lord is calling our attention. He is asking us to allow him once again to take primacy of place in our life.

We may not have paintings to show. But let the way we live be a convincing witness that God has truly taken primacy of place in our lives.

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The Salesians of Don Bosco is a religious congregation of priests and brothers dedicated to he welfare of the young. If you feel called by God to give your life for the good of the young, you may want help in discovering if this is God's will for you. Please get in touch with the Vocation Director (Don Bosco North Province, Philippines) - 0917 7930112 - Bro. MON CALLO SDB.

6th Sunday of Easter (C)

Whoever loves me, will keep my word.

Jn 14: 23-29

Whoever loves me, will keep my word.

In the 1970s Mao Tse-tung launched the Cultural Revolution. Millions of young people called the Red Guardsmarhed across China waving the Red Book which contained the thoughts of Chairman Mao. They adored Mao.

We have yet to see millions of Christians carrying the Bible, the Word of God and reading and praying it with devotion.

For those with internet access, you may want a guide to praying with the Word of God. There is Sacred Space and Pray As You Go. Pray as you go is downloaded as an MP3 file.

We will come to him and make our dwelling with him.

St Paul also says that the Holy Spirit dwells in us for we are the temples of the Holy Spirit.

Greeks believed that the gods live in Olympus and have nothing to do with men. Only once in a while do they go down to interfere with the lives of men. And their interference often result in disaster such as the Trojan War.

Christianity teaches us that God is not up there. He is everywhere. He is with us. God is concerned about us. He watches over us, but not from a distance. He is like a parent who lives with his children and thus is able to watch over us.

I will send you another Advocate.

The first is Jesus; the second, the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is advocate in the sense of intercessor in heaven. Thus, Jesus is said to plead for us at the right hand of the Father.

The Holy Spirit is advocate in the sense that he is teacher, a witness to Jesus, and a prosecutor of the world. Now that Jesus has returned to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, the Holy Spirit is with us as the representative of Jesus.

My peace I give to you.

When Jews meet each other they say Shalom, which is translated as peace. But shalom does not only mean "May peace be with you." It means "May you receive the blessings of God".

Now Jesus gives us his peace. What is this peace that Jesus gives us? Salvation. By his suffering, death and resurrection, Jesus has reconciled us to God. We are now at peace with God. We are now forgiven. Heaven's door is now open to receive us.

I am going away and I will come back to you.

Jesus will suffer, die, rise from the dead and ascend to heaven. But he will come again at the end of time. Christians called this the Parousia.

Every Advent season we are reminded of the second coming of Jesus. If our cry at Easter is "Alleluia", our cry at Advent is "Maranatha".

The Father is greater than I.

We believe in one God and in three divine persons. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are equal. We call this article of Faith, the Blessed Trinity.

How come Jesus says that the Father is greater than he? The Father is greater than he in the sense that the Father was the one who sent him.


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The Salesians of Don Bosco is a religious congregation of priests and brothers dedicated to he welfare of the young. If you feel called by God to give your life for the good of the young, you may want help in discovering if this is God's will for you. Please get in touch with the Vocation Director - 0917 7930112 - Bro. MON CALLO SDB.

Fifth Sunday of Easter (C)

No greater love a man has than to lay down his life for his friend.
Jn 13:31-33A, 34-35

Context

Jesus just finished washing the feet of his disciples. He wanted to show them that his love for them is a love of service.

Judas rejected the love of Jesus. He went ahead with his plan to betray Jesus.

Discourse

In John’s gospel, the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus is referred to as his glorification. With the departure of Judas, the glorification/passion of Jesus began.

Jesus calls his disciples “my children”. In the Old Testament a patriarch leaves his last testament or message before dying. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are recognized as the patriarchs of Israel. Here Jesus does the same. He leaves them his last testament which was: “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” And how did Jesus love us: “No greater love a man has than to lay down his life for his friends.”

Story

Steve and Mark were brothers. Steve was 12; Mark 10. But Steve had polio. Like any ordinary brothers, they also had their quarrels. But they never went to sleep at night without settling their quarrel they had during the day. They were very close to one another. In spite of this, there were times that Steve felt envious of Mark, especially since Mark had two good legs.
One night Steve had a dream. He found himself in a forest. It was dark. He heard the call of the wild animals. He was very frightened. But a long way ahead, he saw a light. As he drew nearer, he saw that it was coming from a cave.

He went inside the cave. He saw a fire crackling there. He approached the fire toe warm himself. Then suddenly out of the shadows there emerged a man with a long white beard and wearing a long robe. He introduced himself as the guardian of the forest. He told Steve that he was granting him one wish. He did not have to think long. He wished for a pair of good legs. “Very well then.” The old man threw his cloak around Steve.

When the old man removed his cloak, Steve found himself in bed. His brother Mark was sleeping soundly at the other bed. The man lifted the blanket of Mark, thereby exposing his legs. “What are you doing?”

The Old Man explained that he was going to give him Mark’s legs and mark would get his legs. At that moment, Steve saw himself running. Jumping, climbing and doing all sorts of things that he could never do before. And he was so happy at the thought of that. But then he also saw Mark with shrunken legs, sitting at a distance watching him enjoy himself. His joy turned to sadness. No! He could never allow that to happen.

Steve looked at the Old Man. “Thanks. I’d like to have a good pair of legs. But not if Mark is going to suffer for it. No. Thank you. I’d rather remain like this.”

Stever woke up the next morning. The sun was high. He looked at his little brother, Mark. He remembered the dream. From that day onwards, he never felt envious of Mark and loved him more than ever.

Conclusion

Perhaps we may never be called to give up our lives for those we love. But cer-tainly, there will be times when we will be called to make a sacrifice for them. When that time comes, our love will be tested. And then we shall know if our love is real or not.