FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT (B)

Watch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming.

Mk 13:33-37

THE SEASON OF ADVENT

The season of Advent is in preparation for Christmas. Because this prepara-tion period consists of a conversion of one’s self to God, the liturgical color is violet. However, unlike Lent the spirit of Advent is festive and joyful.

Advent is made up of four Sundays. The liturgical color of the third Sunday is pink in order to indicate the joy the one feels because Christmas is so near.

In terms of theme, Advent is divided into two parts. The first part is from the first Sunday of Advent until Dec. 15. The theme is the Parousia, that is, the second coming of Christ. The second part is from Dec. 16 until Dec. 24. This time the theme is Christmas. While the first part deals with the second coming of Christ as King, the second part is about the first coming of Christ as a baby in Bethlehem.

For us Filipinos, we take to heart this spiritual preparation for Christmas by celebrating a novena of Masses. Either we go to the dawn Mass or to the evening Mass. Our dawn Masses come by many names: simbang gabi, misa de gallo and misa de Aguinaldo.

EXPLANATION OF THE GOSPEL

It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work.

Jesus has ascended to heaven. He entrusts to his Church the work that the Fa-ther has given him to do: preaching the Good News (Gospel).

Watch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming.

The second coming of Jesus is called the Parousia. When will it happen? No one knows. The early Church thought that Christ would return soon. They ex-pressed their eagerness for his return through this petition: Maranatha! Come, Lord, come! If the cry of Easter is alleluia, the cry of Advent is maranatha!

Now this expectation of Christ’s early return resulted in some problems. Some Christians stopped working. After all, if Christ is coming soon, what’s the use of working. You won’t be able to bring the fruit of your labor out of this world. This prompted St. Paul to write a stern letter. He wrote: “In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat. We hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a disorderly way, by not keeping busy but minding the business of others. Such people we instruct and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and to eat their own food” (2Thess 3: 10-12).

MY PAST, MY PRESENT AND MY FUTURE

We are living in the “End Times”. This refers to the period between the first coming of Christ in Bethlehem and his return in glory at the Parousia. Christ has already come. Christ is still to return. Meanwhile what do I do with the present? Or better yet: “How do I live my present, mindful of my past and also with an eye to the future?” This should make for a much richer life.

We need to heed our past. We should learn from it. Otherwise, we are condemned to repeat our mistakes. In the past, I might have given over to others control over my life. What I do in my life depended on what others think or say instead of what I want to do. I might want to learn how to skate now. But I don’t because others may think I’m too old for that.

While the past is no more, it continues to affect our present. We need to heal our past. I might have felt I was treated unjustly sometime in my past. What can I do about it? I can talk about it with the person who is responsible for that injustice in the hope that I will get a better grasp of what really happened. And if an injustice was really done to me, I might ask and indeed, receive an apology.

Or I might want to look at that past event from an adult’s point of view and come to the realization that my interpretation of the past was wrong. My father might have been absent during important moments in my life because he was working abroad. I might feel hurt by that. But realizing now that he had no choice because he had to send me and my siblings to school, the hurt that I might have been nursing in my heart might turn now into gratitude for the sacrifice that he had to make. For it was not only I who missed him. He as a father also missed me and my siblings.

I also need to keep an eye on the future. What I do now affects my future. Or better yet, what should I do now so that I can create the future that I want? This is called proactive thinking. For instance, I want my children to graduate from this particular university. What should I do now so that this future that I want for my children will come true?

Another example. I am working abroad. I want to return to the Philippines 20 years from now. What should I be doing now so that I will be able to return to the Philippines in the year 2028?

This doesn’t mean that the future will turn out the way I want it. But it means that I take responsibility for my life, for my future. I just don’t allow things to happen.

And another thing. I have no control over the future. Many things can happen between my planning, my doing and the future. I need to entrust my future in the hands of God. In other words, my security is not in my planning but in the providence of God who takes great interest in my welfare.

CHRIST THE KING (A)

When the Son of Man comes in his glory,and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne.

Mt 25:31-46

EXPLANATION OF THE GOSPEL

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne.

The second coming of Christ is called the Parousia. At his second coming, he will come as King. This is in contrast to his first coming. Then he came as a baby of poor parents.

And all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

The second coming is presented as a judgment scene.

About the sheep and goats. One author says that in Palestine sheep and goats share the same pasture because grass was not abundant. But in the evening they had to be separated because goats needed protection from the elements. Moreover the goats were too unruly for comfort on the part of the sheep.

The left has always been associated with evil. In Latin left is translated as ‘sinister’. In English, the word sinister has a dark and evil connotation. In Pilipino, an unfaithful spouse is said to be ‘nangangaliwa’. Its root is ‘kaliwa’ which is translated in English as ‘left’.

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’

The church’s catechism enumerates seven corporal works of mercy. Six are enumerated here. The seventh which is to bury the dead comes from the book of Tobit.

Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.

Least brothers refer to fellow Christians who were still weak in the faith, per-haps they were new converts. But here least brothers probably refers to any fellow human being who is in need.
Here we find another criterion for judgment: “What did you do for you fellowmen who was in need?” In last Sunday’s gospel, the criterion presented for going to heaven or to hell was: “What did you do with your life?”

DOING SOMETHING FOR ONE OF THE LEAST BROTHERS OF JESUS

The Catholic Church in the Philippines has explicitly made a preferential op-tion for the poor. She does not reject the rich and those who have much in life. But she does make the poor her priority. And in fact, invites them (the rich and those who have much in life) to open their hearts to the poor. By making this preferen-tial Filipino Catholics are in line with today’s gospel.

Go to this blog to find out what a mountaineer in Cebu did for one of his least brothers.

http://pinoyapache.blogspot.com/2008/11/manwel-roble-boy-guide.html

Here’s another true-to-life story of a cyclist (again in Cebu) in the face of not one but three least brothers of Jesus (actually two brothers and a sister).

http://tahimikatboring.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/the-basureros/
http://www.istorya.net/forums/1040071-post1.html

33rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them.

Mt 25:14-30

EXPLANATION OF THE GOSPEL

This parable is connected with the Last Judgment (Mt 6:31ff). What is the reason behind this choice? We are approaching the end of the Liturgical Year. And with the end of the Liturgical Year also comes Advent. The theme at this time of the liturgical year is the Parousia, the second coming of Christ. The Last Judgment takes place at the Parousia.

A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one--to each according to his ability.

Talent here refers to a unit of money. Five talents would be about $6,600.00.

According to his ability. God is reasonable. He is considerate. He expects from us only what we are capable of. Even in terms of life’s challenges, God will not lead us where his grace can not keep us. In other words, God will not try us beyond our strength.

But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master's money.

Burying in the ground was a way of securing valuables. Remember the Parable of the Buried Treasure? Especially in times of war, people buried their money and then escaped to safety. When the danger was over, they would return and dig up their money. Unfortunately, someone else might find it ahead of the owner. Or it can also happen that the owner dies and so the money lay buried until someone else finds it.

For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

If you cooperate with the grace of God, you will progress in your spiritual life. In the field of business, the one with more money is able to grow his business because he has more capital. With the growth in business, more money comes in.

But if you don’t cooperate, then you will certainly regress. It’s like the palo sebo. If you don’t keep on climbing, the grease on the bamboo pole will certainly make you slide down. If you don’t progress, you’ll regress.

And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

In the bible this is how the evil doers react when they see the just rewarded. Wailing and grinding of teeth expresses anger and sadness.

MAKING SOMETHING OUT OF YOUR LIFE

We are expected to do something with our lives. Another way of putting it would be: “Your life is God’s gift to you. What you do with your life is your gift to God.” In the same vein St. Iraeneus wrote: “The glory of God is a man fully alive.”

At the Last Judgment we would be asked: “What have you done with your life?”

But to be able to make something worthwhile with our lives, we need to get out of our comfort zone. We need to take risks. We need to overcome our fears. Some of our fears are:
- I might fail. Fear of failure.
- It’s too difficult. Fear of paying the price, that is, fear of working hard and making sacrifices.

At the time of Columbus, people thought that the earth was flat. If you took a boat and sailed far enough, your boat would fall off the earth. Columbus did not remain his comfort zone. He did not allow the fears of his contemporaries to pre-vent him from exploring the unknown. And because he left his comfort zone, he discovered the New World.

Many Filipinos leave their country and venture into strange lands in order to give their children a better future. To do that they had to abandon their comfort zone and face the unknown. Our word for that is ‘makipagsapalaran’, which mean taking your chances.

One of the reasons why we are unable to leave our comfort zone is because we are paralyzed by fear of failure. "I might fail because I might not be good enough to face the challenges I will meet out there." But precisely by leaving our comfort zone and taking our chances, we are forced to look at our inner resources in order to meet the challenges out there.

They say if you want to go into business, you must be strong. I know of a teacher who loved teaching. But with her children growing up, she realized she needed more money if she were to be able to send her children to top schools. The only practical option for her was to leave teaching. But teaching was what all she knew. But one day she finally decided to hand in her resignation papers. Then she ventured into business. It was only then that she realized that she had talent for business. And she did well. And she was able to send all her four children to the top universities.

Unless we leave our comfort zone, we will not be able to discover our strengths and yes, even our weaknesses. Unless we leave our comfort zone, we will not be able to achieve something better, something greater.

Our life is God’s gift to us. What we do with our lives is our gift to God. Let’s give great gifts to God.

DEDICATION OF THE BASILICA OF ST. JOHN LATERAN

Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.

Jn 2:13-22

EXPLANATION OF THE GOSPEL

Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

According to the gospel of John, this was the first of the three Passovers of Jesus in Jerusalem. This is consistent with tradition which states that the ministry of Jesus spanned three years.

He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated there.

These animals were bought by the pilgrims and offered as sacrifice in the temple.

The presence of money changers is not surprising. First of all, the Passover attracted Jewish pilgrims from the diaspora, that is, Jews living outside the Holy Land. Secondly, the money that they brought (even those living in the Holy Land) had the image of the emperor. The Jewish religion forbade the use of images. For this reason these coins can not be used in the Temple. The money changers were there to change these coins with the “Temple” coins.

Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.

Jesus is the only begotten Son of the Father.

His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, “Zeal for your house….” Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this.

Recall and remember is not just about memory. In John’s gospel, it has a special meaning. It is the process of becoming aware that in a particular event Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures.

In the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, the cleansing of the Temple occurred at the end of Jesus’ ministry and was the immediate cause of his death. In John’s gospel, it took place at the beginning of his ministry. And it was in the context of Jesus talking about true worshipers. Also, it was the raising of Lazarus from the dead that was the immediate cause of his death in John’s gospel.

“Zeal for your house….” is a quote from Psalm 69. This psalm is called a Messianic psalm. In other words, John by using this psalm is saying that Jesus is the promised Messiah.

“What sign can you show us for doing this?”

John never uses the word ‘miracle’. Instead, he uses the word ‘sign’. In other words, the Jews were asking Jesus to work a miracle in order to show that he had the authority to act the way he did (cleansing of the Temple).

But he was speaking about the temple of his Body.

This illustrates a technique of John’s gospel. Jesus’ words would be misunderstood and this gives the gospel an opportunity to develop and explain further its message.

Other examples where this literary device is used are the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus (being born from above and not being born again) and that between Jesus and the Samaritan woman (Jesus giving the Holy Spirit and not flowing water).

And they came to believe the Scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.

This statement seems to put the word Scriptures and the word of Jesus on the same level. This is, of course, correct because Jesus is the Word of God. He is God.

THE BASILICA

From Wikipedia

The Basilica of St John Lateran — in Italian, the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano — is the CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ROME AND THE OFFICIAL ECCLESIASTICAL SEAT OF THE BISHOP OF ROME, WHO IS THE POPE. Officially named Archibasilica Sanctissimi Salvatoris ("Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour"), it is the oldest and ranks first (being the cathedral of Rome) among the four major basilicas of Rome, and holds the title of ecumenical mother church (mother church of the whole inhabited world) among Roman Catholics. The current archpriest of St. John Lateran is Camillo Cardinal Ruini, Cardinal Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome.

An inscription on the façade, Christo Salvatore, dedicates the Lateran as Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour, for the cathedrals of all patriarchs are dedicated to Christ himself. As the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, containing the papal throne (Cathedra Romana), it ranks above all other churches in the Roman Catholic Church, even above St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

THE FEAST

From Mobile Gabriel

Every parish celebrates the anniversary of the ceremony in which its parish church was consecrated to God and dedicated to the worship of God. Today we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome.

Even though people around the globe associate the pope with the more famous Basilica of St. Peter, his cathedral church as Bishop of Rome is the Basilica of St. John.

This celebration started out as a purely local event but eventually November 9th came to be a celebration of the unity of the church expressed in the pope's ministry.

The church is not buildings; it is people united by the Spirit of God. Paul tells us this in the second reading. Both the Gospel and the first reading attempt to enlarge our vision of the church. Today it is appropriate to reconsider what the church really is and where God is calling each of us to fit into it. Am I listening to this call? Am I striving to avoid hearing it?

ALL SOULS DAY

For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.

Jn 6:37-40

Do you believe in ghosts? Have you seen one?

When I was still in the seminary, our Rector recounted this unusual incident. He said it happened in the morning. While he was in his room, preparing to teach, he saw his friend sitting quietly on his bed. And this friend of his was already dead. He said nothing. He soon quietly disappeared. Later our Rector said that he celebrated Mass for the repose of the soul of his friend.

God is merciful. He wants all men to be saved. But we also know that we are sinners. We know we are weak. And therefore, purgatory is a real possibility for us. For this reason we pray for the dead. And today Holy Mother Church invites all of us to pray not just for our beloved dead but for all the dead. Some of them might have been forgotten so that no one prays for them. At least today these forgotten souls will be remembered.

If we are able to help those who are in purgatory, it is because of the communion of saints. Every Sunday we profess our belief in the communion of saints when we recite the creed. What is the communion of saints all about? In simple terms it means that there is a next life and we do not lose our connection with those who have gone to that next life so much so that our prayers can help them leave purgatory and enter heaven.

Once I was asked to bless a house. When I asked why, they said that their mother who had just died was ‘nagpaparamdam’. And so I said to them: “Do you know what are asking me to do? You are asking me to drive your mother away. Why do you want to drive your mother away? Do you hate her?” They replied, “No.” So I said: “Next time she makes her presence felt, talk to her.”

Why are we scared of the dead? Because we watch horror movies and so we think that the dead are as scary as they are presented in those movies. But in fact, those who have seen their beloved dead say that they are not scary at all. And if you did not know they are already dead, you would think they are still alive. A classmate of mine said that when his father died, his father showed himself to a friend who still did not know that he had died. This friend greeted him warmly. It was only later in the day that he was informed that his friend had died.

If the dead show themselves or make their presence felt, it is because God allowed them to do so. It is also because of the communion of saints. We do not lose our connection with those who have died. That is why they can show themselves to us or make their presence felt.

When you lose something, to whom do we pray? St. Anthony. When someone is having a difficult pregnancy or if there is difficulty in conceving a baby, to whom do we pray? St. Dominic Savio. If we are in a hopeless situation, to whom do we pray? St. Jude.

This is another illustration of the communion of saints. It means those who are in heaven can help us. When we pray to the Saints, we are actually asking them to pray for us.

If we can pray to the Saints, we can also pray to our beloved dead. If our beloved dead are already in heaven, then they are saints (with small letter “s”). The only difference between them (saints with small “s”) and the Saints like St. Anthony (Saints with capital “S”) is that the latter were canonized or publicly recognized by the church. But once you are in heaven, being a saint with a small “s” and being a Saint with a big “S” does not really matter. Saint Anthony will not go to our beloved dead and say: “I’m superior to you because I have a big “S” while you only have a small “s”.”

On this commemoration of All Saints, let us pray FOR our beloved dead in case they need our prayers. Let us also pray TO our beloved dead in case they are already in heaven.