21st SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.

Mt 16:13-20

Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church...."

Our faith rests on the faith that has come down to us from the apostles. That faith is secure and certain (rock).

Apostolicity is one of the signs of the true Church. We trace our origin to Jesus and his apostles. It is worth noting that the books were accepted into the New Testament because of the apostolic authority behind those books.

I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

Peter has authority in the Church. This authority comes from above, not from below. That is, the origin is from God, not from the church members. He is not like a President of a country whose mandate comes from the citizens who elected him.

The keys are seen in the Vatican flag and in most sculptures and paintings portraying Peter .

Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

The people thought that the Messiah was a political Messiah who, like David and Solomon, will restore the glory of the Kingdom of Israel and drive out the time the Romans who were ruling over Palestine. But Jesus was not this kind of Messiah and so he did not want his mission to be confused with what the common people thought.

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is? But who do you say that I am?”

The conclusion of the story of the Woman at the Well in the gospel of John is worth recalling. "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."

We know many things about God and about Jesus. These were taught to us or we´ve read about them. But there comes a time when Jesus confronts us with this personal question: "Who do you say that I am?"

He doesn´t expect us to look for the answers from books we´ve read or sermon´s we´ve heard. But from our experience. "What can you say about me from experience?"

Spiritual writers say that sometimes God makes himself known to a person in a direct way, through a special spiritual experience. This is probably the way St. Paul got to know Jesus Christ.

More often than not we get to know God by means of life experiences. (A word of caution, though. Negative life experiences do have a way of negatively affecting our way of seeing God.) St. John Bosco as a child learned from his mother´s lips that God was good. But he also learned it in the midst of life´s adversities. There was a time that they had to go through a terrible famine. People died eating grass in the fields. But they survived that famine. Mama Margaret (his mother) would encourage the family to have faith in God (by then she was a widow).

Books are good. Homilies and conferences are good. But there´s nothing better than getting to know God through one´s life.

20th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

“O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.”

Mt 15:21-28

Since I am away from my homebase till mid-September, God´s Word on a Sunday Morning might not come out regularly.

At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

Tyre; usually Tyre and Sidon in the N.T. A seaport and commercial cernter on the east coast of the Mediterannean Sea (in general history known as a Phoenician city). In O.T. times it was a city-state with its own king. From Tyre, ships went all over the Mediterranean world to trade and to establish colonies. One of the chief products of Tyre was a dye known as Tyrian purple, made from shellfish.

Sidon. A city on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, about twenty-five miles north of Tyre, with which it is often named in both the O.T. and the N.T. Sidon was an old city before the time of the Israelites. LikeTyre, it was a commercial city and port for fleet of trading ships that went to all parts of the world of that time. It reached the height of its prosperity about the time of Solomon. Today the city is called. Saida.

Young People's Bible Dictionary
by Barbara Smith (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1965)

And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!

The Canaanite woman was a gentile or pagan. By addressing Jesus as Son of David, she was actually publicly recognizing Jesus as the messiah promised in the Old Testament.

My daughter is tormented by a demon.

In those days various illnesses were attributed to demonic activity.

But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her.

Jesus did not want to have anything to do with her because he “was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” This was the same rule that Jesus gave to the twelve when he sent them out to proclaim the good news: "Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

But, as we shall see, Jesus did finally grant her request because of her faith. It was also on account of his faith that Jesus granted the centurion´s request on behalf of his servant.

“Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.”

The woman wouldn´t take no for an answer. She was persistent. And her persistence is not only that she believed Jesus could heal but that he would heal her daughter. Her persistence reminds us of two parables of Jesus: the parable of the widow and the unjust judge and the parable of the persistent friend.

The parable of the widow and the unjust judge ends this way: "Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them?"

On the other hand, the parable of the persistent friend ends with this teaching of Jesus: "I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."

“It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.”

Jews despised gentiles and called them dogs and pigs.

She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”

The seeming insult of Jesus did not discourage the woman. On the contrary she used it to her advantage by responding the way she did.

Jesus responded by recognizing her great faith. What did she believe? I think this was what she believed in: "Yes, the people of Israel might be the chosen people. But God does not love only them. We, too, are loved by God. We, too, receive blessings from him."

19th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

But when Peter saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Mt 14:22-33

Sunday reflections will be irregular till sometime mid-September as I am away from my home base.

After doing so, he (Jesus) went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone.

We can pray anywhere because God is everywhere. We can pray anytime because God is always present to us. Yet there are some occasions when we need to find a time and a place where we can meet God in a more intense and intimate manner. For Jesus he had to be alone and it had to be either in the evening or early in morning. A college student I knew woke up earlier than everyone else in the house so that he could pray.

Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it.

Rowing the boat against the waves and the wind. This is the image that comes to my mind of someone who feels that everything seems to be against him. St. John Bosco felt called to the priesthood as a young boy. At the time it seemed an impossible dream. The odds were stacked against him. Not only was his stepbrother against his getting an education. He also belonged to a poor peasant family.

During the fourth watch of the night, he (Jesus) came toward them walking on the sea.... At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Panday was a metalsmith whose name was Flavio. One night, a meteor (bulalakaw) fell from the sky. He used the metal from the meteor to fashion a dagger and a churchbell. The dagger would magically grow to become a sword when he raised it up and pointed it to the sky. He used this to battle the Sombra Oscura, the minions of evil, who repeatedly beset the town, eventually slaying their leader, Lizardo, the "Son of the Devil".

Superheroes like Panday come to the rescue of those who are in danger. That´s why they are so popular and well-loved. And that´s why movies of superheroes are box-office hits. But they are fiction.

Jesus is not fiction. He is not a superhero. He is savior. He does not only save us from our sins. He also comes to our aid. It is well to keep in mind the reassuring words of Jesus, "Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid."

Bravery does not mean knowing no fear. It means not allowing oneself to be mastered by fear. It is the presence of Jesus that enables us to act in spite of the fear that we feel.

An OFW I got to know in Italy said that her first stint as an OFW was in Saudi Arabia. She said that when she left the Philippines for the first time she felt fear. But she placed herself in God´s hands.

When fear threatens to overpower us, let us remember the words of Jesus, "Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid."

But when he (Peter) saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

I have an acquaintance who is afraid of heights. He joined a hike to Mt. Batulao. At a certain portion of the hike, they had to make a steep climb. He admitted that he was afraid of heights. So he was told not to look down but to look up as he made the climb. He did as he was told and was rewarded with a marvelous view on top of the mountain.

Someone observed that Peter got frightened because instead of keeping his eyes fixed on Jesus he turned his gaze on the waves.

Sometimes the going gets tough. Sometimes people and events come that instills fear in us. Keep you eyes fixed on Jesus. Keep Jesus in mind. And when fear takes hold of us, let us cry out as Peter cried out, "Lord, save me!"