CHRIST THE KING OF THE UNIVERSE (C)

"Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

Lk 23:35-43

JESUS

The sign says that Jesus is the King of the Jews. He is the King not only for the Jews but for everyone. His throne is the heart of people. And therefore, he can not be your King unless you open your heart to him.

There is a painting entitled, “Christ, the Light of the World.” There is a story behind this painting. When the painter finished the painting, his son examined it. After a while the son turned to the father and said, “You forgot something, Dad.” “What is it?” And the son re-plied, “You forgot to paint the door knob.” The father smiled and said, “No, son. I did not. You see the door symbolizes the human heart. Jesus can not open it and enter our hearts. We have to open it for him.” Jesus can not be King over us unless we willingly put our faith in him.

GOOD THIEF

What is it that made the Good Thief ask Jesus to allow him to enter his King-dom? In other words, what made him give his faith to Jesus? I think that the behavior of Jesus on the cross touched him and made him think. In other words, the good example of Jesus opened the eyes of the Good Thief and made him see Jesus as coming from God. Here we see the power of good example. That is why parents are reminded that it is not enough to talk to your children about "magandang asal". They also need to see you practising magandang asal. Also remember that when you brought your children to be baptized, you accepted the responsibility of raising them in the faith. That means you have to talk to your children about the Christian life and they also have to see you living the Christian life.

When Jesus promised heaven to Dimas, the Good Thief, what he was actually doing was saving him. When Jesus saves us, he opens the door of heaven to us. What can we learn from this? First, no one is so bad that he can not change. Second, anyone can be saved, no matter how bad he has been. God will always give us the opportunity to be repent and be saved at the last moment of our life. Why? Because God is good. The only thing asked of us is to acknowledge our sins and to ask Jesus to open the doors of heaven for us.

Two additional things. First, perhaps it is more accurate to call Dimas the Repentant Thief rather than the Good Thief. Second, the name of the unrepentant thief was Hestas. Both of them were thieves. The only difference was that Dimas repented. Peter and Judas were both disloyal to Jesus. The only difference was that Peter repented, while Judas despaired of ever being forgiven.

SOLDIERS

Soldiers offered wine to Jesus. We should see this as an act of kindness. No one is so bad that there is nothing good in him. Why were they there? Were they guarding Jesus and the two thieves? Of course not! Jesus and the thieves can not run away. They were probably protecting Jesus from the leaders of the people and their supporters. Parents protect their children from sickness. But also protect them from bad companions. I have seen how good boys become bad because they became involved with bad barkada. I suppose it’s the same with the girls.

You need to tell you children how to spot bad barkada. You need to warn them about the consequences of bad barkada. There is one advise that I read and would like to share it with you. Let your children know that their friends are welcome at home. That way you can get to know your children’s friends and spot those who might be BI (bad influence).

PEOPLE

These people are called “Uzi’s” (usisero). They are curious onlookers. When there is heavy traffic at the SLEX (South Luzon Expressway), there’s probably an accident or a car has stalled. Even if the car is already on the shoulder, there’s still heavy traffic. Why? Because cars slow down to look at what happened. I do not know if it will work here but in the Philippines try to stop and look up. In no time many people will also stop and look up. Usiseros are merely curious onlookers. They are not involved.

It is possible to be usiseros at Mass. We can be present but uninvolved. To be involved means to be physically and mentally present. We listen. We respond. We sing. We sit, stand and kneel. Nakiki-isa tayo.

RULERS

The rulers were sneering at Jesus. Mga alaskador sila. What do you do with people who behave like them? Once upon a time there were two monks. As they were walking, a man started to hurl insults at them. The older monk remained un-perturbed. But the young monk was red in the face. When they were already far away, the young monk asked the older monk why he remained unaffected. The older monk took a stone and gave it to the younger monk. The younger monk took it. The older monk then said to the younger monk, “You were red in the face be-cause you accepted the insults of that man. I was not affected because I refused to accept his insults.” Perhaps, our lives will be more peaceful if we stop accepting the bad things people say to us or about us.

ADVENT

Next week we shall begin the new year of the church with the first Sunday of Advent. While this Sunday invites us to welcome Jesus as King of our Hearts, the Sundays of Advent will invite us to give to the Baby Jesus a place in our hearts. Remember that in the first Christmas, Jesus had to be born in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Let this Christmas be different. Let him find welcoming hearts.


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The Salesians of Don Bosco is a religious congregation of priests and brothers dedicated to the 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 - finvoc@yahoo.com - Bro. MON CALLO SDB.

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

Jesus said, "All that you see here--the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down."

Lk 21:5-19

BIBLICAL NOTES

Biblical scholars call this passage the eschatological discourse. Eschatology deals with the end time, that is, the return of Jesus. What will happen when Jesus returns?

1. The world will end. It does not mean the destruction of the world. Instead, it means that the universe will be transformed.
   
2. The resurrection of the dead. The souls of those who died will rejoin their bodies. But their bodies will be changed.
   
3. There will be the general judgment. Those who are worthy of heaven will go to heaven body and soul. Those who are worthy of hell will go to hell body and soul.
   
4. Time will end and eternity will begin. Eternity means no end. This means that those who are in heaven will always be in heaven. And those who are in hell will always be in hell.

But before Jesus returns, Jerusalem and its temple will be destroyed. And between the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and the return of Jesus, there is a period of time called the time of the gentiles. How long will it be? We do not know.

In connection with this, we must remember that in the beginning, Christians thought that the return of Jesus will take place during their lifetime. They, there-fore, did not expect the period of time called the time of the gentiles. Jesus, of course, has not yet returned. But Jerusalem and its temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Why are the gospels talking about eschatology or the end time? Because this is the them at the end of the liturgical year and at the beginning of the Advent.

LESSON

I take my inspiration from the closing words of Jesus: “By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” The key word is perseverance or endurance.

Let’s talk first about the opposite of perseverance and endurance.

Ningas Cugon. When you set fire to dried cugon grass, it will burn intensely. But only for a short time. The fire soon dies out. We make New Year’s resolu-tions. But we keep it only on January 1. By January 2, BSDU na tayo. Balik sa dating ugali (we return to our old ways).

I know someone who joined a renewal movement many years ago. He was so excited about Jesus. But that was only for a month. When he died, he left a legal wife and an illegal wife. By the way, he died of cirrhosis of the liver. He was drinking too much.

When we do not persevere or endure, we give up. Bibitaw tayo (we let go.) I remember reading the story of a ship wreck near Mindoro. Two survivors were keeping themselves afloat by holding on to a drum. After many hours at sea, one of them said, “Hindi ko na kaya (I can’t take it anymore).” And he let go. The other who kept on holding the drum was rescued later.

Why do some marriages fail? Because one or both spouses give up. They stop trying to save their marriage. I do not mean that all marriages can be saved. Nor do I suggest that it is good na magpaka-martir (to be a martyr). But it might be helpful to consider what couples in the US whose marriages survived a crisis have to say? They said that even in the worst circumstances, they never entertained the possibility of divorce.

Let’s now talk about perseverance and endurance.

Viktor Frankl wrote a book, “Man’s Search for Meaning”. In that book he re-lated his experience in an extermination camp in World War II. He witnessed how prisoners killed themselves by running towards the electrified fence of the camp. But he saw others who struggled to survive. He discovered that these were the ones who had a reason to live. One common reason was that after the war they had to bring back their family together. In order to persevere and endure, one must have a reason.

One man had been working in a hotel in Saudi Arabia for many years. He wrote to his wife, telling her that he was already tired and lonely there, but he had to keep on working until all their children (six of them) finished college.

A woman wanted to be the first woman to swim across the English Channel. The day for the attempt was foggy. Everything went well until the last kilometer. Her parents were encouraging her to go on. But she signalled to be taken on board the accompanying boat. When interviewed, she said that if only she could see the land ahead, she would have made it. She made a second attempt. This time she succeeded. The difference? There was no fog. She could see land ahead. In order to persevere and endure, we have to see that we are moving towards the goal. Merong nangyayari (our efforts are effective).

Don Bosco said that one important element in making a good confession is to make a specific resolution. For example, if there is nothing good I can say about a person, I will just keep quiet. What should I do so that I do not get tired of keeping this resolution every day? At the end of the day, I should look for at least one successful implementation of the resolution.

Can you bring 200 kilos of brick to a spot 50 meter away? Yes, you can. Carry only 10 kilos. And after 20 trips, you would have transferred all the bricks to that spot 50 meters away. The secret is in dividing the task into smaller, man-ageable chunks.

I am studying at present. I am taking up 10 subjects. In the beginning I felt overwhelmed. The school work was heavy. There was so much to do and the time was not enough. What did I do? If there was a homework to be passed on a certain date, I counted how many days I had. I then divided the homework among those days. The work for each day was lighter and therefore, easier to complete.

Let’s go back to the 200 kilos of brick. There’s another way to make the task easier to complete. Ask someone’s help. Instead of making 20 trips, the two of you can do just 10 trips. What is my point? It’s easier to persevere until the end when you know you are not alone. It is easier not to give up when you know that God is by your side.

That is why faith is so important.


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The Salesians of Don Bosco is a religious congregation of priests and brothers dedicated to the 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 - finvoc@yahoo.com - Bro. MON CALLO SDB.

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

Finally the woman also died.Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.

Lk 20:27-38

Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to Jesus.

The Pharisees believed in the Resurrection. The Sadducees do not. In Juda-ism itself there is division. There is no unity of belief. Among Christians there is also division. There is no unity of belief.

Among us Filipinos there is also division. It is not a problem of unity of belief. The problem is that there is no unity of vision and no unity of action. And until this is solved we shall continue to be poor and we shall continue to see Filipinos leaving the Philippines in order to find well-paying jobs abroad. Why is this a problem? I talked to a kababayan on the way to Testaccio some Sundays ago. She told me that she used to work in the Middle East. She was earning big. But she had to return to the Philippines because her children had become problematic. They stopped schooling and married early. In other words, the phenomenon of Filipinos going abroad to work has consequences for families.

Finally the woman also died. Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.

Why was this a problem for the Sadducees? Because they were thinking that the afterlife will be the same as life on earth. But Jesus in effect told them that things will be different in the next world. There will be no problem about who the husband will be because in the next life there is no such thing as marriage.

We can learn something from this. We can learn to look at things in a differ-ent way. This is called reframing. And it can make a world of a difference in our lives.

I have a relative who is a millionaire. They were nine siblings. Her father died during the Japanese occupation. To make ends meet, the mother sold fish in the market. For her to be able to study, she had to rely on her aunt who was a public school teacher. She could have looked at her situation as a closed door. In other words, she could have decided that since she came from a poor family, there was nothing she can do about it but remain poor. But she didn’t look at her situation as a closed door. She looked at it as a mountain to climb. In other words, she decided that she can rise above her poverty. And she did.

When St. John Bosco asked Rome to officially recognize his religious con-gregation (which we now call the Salesians of St. John Bosco), so many difficul-ties cropped up that he said that if he knew this would happen, he would not have attempted to have it recognized at all. But what kept him going? He didn’t look at his congregation as his work. It was God’s work and if it was God’s work, then God will find a way to have it approved.

The way we look at things can make a world of a difference. If things are not going well with your life, it might be time for you to do some reframing.

He is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.

Since we are in the month of November, let me talk about death as the last point.

Someone asked me if it was true that when someone dies he stays in this world for 40 days and only after that does he go to heaven. I told him that is not true. When one dies, he is judged and he goes right away to heaven or to hell or to purgatory. Maybe someone got that idea because after his resurrection, Jesus stayed 40 days more in order to prepare his disciples for their mission. Only after that did he ascend into heaven.

Another asked me whether I believe in ghosts. I replied, “If you mean dead people who come in order to scare you, my answer is a big no. But if you mean dead relatives who show themselves for some reason, especially if it is to ask for you prayers, my answer is yes.” I never saw a dead relative. But my brother when he was little saw our aunt (who we just buried) waving good-bye. She was at the roof of the house and it was in broad daylight. My Rector in college saw his dead friend sitting on his bed. It was morning. The friend didn’t say anything. But my rector offered a mass for his soul. It is good to pray for our dead relatives because they may still need our prayers. And believe it or not, we can also ask them to pray for us.

For us Christians, death is not the end of the story. Death is just passing on to another kind of life. And one day on the Resurrection of the dead our bodies will again be united with our souls and will be transformed like the bodies of Jesus and Mary. And that is why Christians had a different name for their burial places. Pagans called their burial places “necropolis” or city of the dead. Christians called their burial places “cemetery” or place of rest. Why? Because for us death is just like falling asleep. One day the dead will all wake up and rise to new life—on the last day, the resurrection of the dead.


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The Salesians of Don Bosco is a religious congregation of priests and brothers dedicated to the 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 - finvoc@yahoo.com - Bro. MON CALLO SDB.

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

Zacchaeus, come down quickly,for today I must stay at your house.

Lk 19:1-10

Jesus

Good Shepherd. He has concern for the lost. He seeks them out. That’s why he stopped at where Zacchaeus was and asked to be welcomed into his home. At the end of the gospel, Jesus declared: "Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost." Did Jesus come for you? If you do not feel the need to be redeemed, then Jesus did not come for you.

Jesus called Zacchaeus by name. Jesus knew Zacchaeus. If he didn’t know Zacchaeus, he would have said, “Hey you! Come down.” God knows us individually. He keeps us in mind. That is the meaning of the bible quotation, “I have written your name on the palm of my hands.”

Zacchaeus

He was the head tax collector. People hated him for good reason. First, as head tax collector, he had tax collectors under him. They were collecting more than what the Romans demanded. Why? He gave to the Romans what they wanted and the difference was his to keep. Second, he was an agent of the Romans. He was a collaborator of the enemy.

But we can learn many good things from him.

Did Zacchaeus expect Jesus to stop, look up and ask to be invited to his house? Probably not. But he welcomed Jesus all the same and gladly! The call of Jesus to conversion may come to us when we least expect. How ready are we to respond with “yes” to that call?

He wanted to see Jesus. But he was short and the crowds prevented him from coming near Jesus nor even catching a glimpse of Jesus. What did he do? He climbed a tree. Zacchaeus was resourceful. Life will not always be easy. We need to be resourceful (maparaan). We also need to develop a winner’s attitude. That is, we look at difficulties not as doors that are locked and can not be opened but as hills that can be climbed. This is called a “can do” attitude. This is called a winner’s attitude.

Zacchaeus might be short in physical stature. But he certainly was of high social stature in Jericho. To climb a tree is unbecoming of his social stature. What will people say? He didn’t care. Sometimes we fail to do what he should do because of what people will say. Sometimes also we do what we should not do because of what people will say. This is called human respect. And for young people, this is called peer pressure. Like Zacchaeus, we need to develop that ability of not being pressured by what people will say. How? When we are able to develop a strong sense of self-esteem, it will be much easier to resist human respect and peer pressure.

Zaccheus promised to give half his wealth to the poor and if he had cheated anyone he would pay back that person four times. This is called restitution. It is not enough to be sorry for our sins. We need to make restitution. We have to return what we have stolen. We need to set the record straight if we have ruined the reputation of someone. If you have hurt somebody’s feelings, why don’t you do something to make that person happy?

We love happy endings. Do you remember the ending of Lord of the Rings? Do you remember how fairy tales ended? “And they lived happily ever after.” The story of Zacchaeus had also a happy ending. He not only had Jesus in his home. He also had a conversion. How will our life end? Will it also have a happy ending?

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The Salesians of Don Bosco is a religious congregation of priests and brothers dedicated to the 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 - finvoc@yahoo.com - Bro. MON CALLO SDB.