ALL SOULS

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

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“For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." We can identify two teachings here. The first is that God wants all of us to have eternal life. He wants all of his children to go to heaven. That’s why he sent Jesus. The second is about the Last Day. The Last Day is the end of time, the second coming of Christ, the end of the world. The end of the world is usually translated as “paggunaw sa mundo”. But this is a wrong translation because if you translate it back into English, it will be “destruction of the world”. But the end of the world is not about destruction but about transformation. This transformation is similar to the transformation that happened to the body of Jesus at the Resurrection. On the Last Day our bodies will be raised up, that is, transformed like the body of Jesus. Not only our bodies but everything that God created.

Today, November 2, is All Souls Day. Today we remember our beloved dead. We pray for them so that, if they are still in purgatory, they may soon enter heaven. Yesterday, November 1, was All Saints Day. We remember also the dead but the dead who are already in heaven. Because they are already in heaven, we do not pray for them. They no longer need our prayers. Instead, what we do is to honor them as Christians heroes in the same way that we honor our national heroes.

Behind the celebration of All Souls Day are several related teachings. There is an after-life. In the after-life, there is reward and punishment. There is heaven, hell and purgatory.

We should not think of purgatory as a prison sentence. When we pray for the souls in the purgatory, it is not to shorten that prison sentence. Purgatory comes from the Latin word that means “to purge”, that is to remove everything that is undesirable in a good Christian. Therefore, if we fail to on earth to remove unchristian qualities, we will have to remove them in the next life in purgatory. Purgatory should be seen as a sign of God’s love because God is giving us a second chance to make it to heaven. It is like a re-valida. If you fail in the finals, the teacher gives you a re-test so that you will not get a 5 in your subject.

In the Creed, we profess in our faith in the communion of Saints. Communion of Saints means that those who are still on earth can do something for those in purgatory. Thus, we pray for our beloved dead who might still be in purgatory. How do we know if they are in purgatory? We cannot know. That’s why we pray for their soul, just in case. Communion of Saints also means that those in heaven and in purgatory can do something for us who are still in this life. Thus, St. Anthony who is already in heaven can pray for our intention when we ask his help in finding lost things. Thus, we can also ask anyone of our family, relatives and friends who might be in purgatory or in heaven also to pray for us.

All Souls Day is on November 2. Why is it that in the Philippines we go to the cemeteries on November 1 which is All Saints Day? Is there some mistake? Actually in the evening of November 1 we are already celebrating the vigil of All Souls Day. It’s like Christmas. Christmas is on December 25, yet we can already celebrate the Mass of Christmas on the evening of December 24, the vigil of Christmas.

For us Filipinos, Undas is an expression of strong family ties. It is a family reunion in which the dead are also included! And just like any get-together there is eating and talking. It is a good thing that hard drinks are forbidden as they often lead to trouble in cemeteries. One thing that we should not forget is to pray for the dead. And this is what makes this family reunion different. You may want to pray the Rosary. You can also find other kinds of prayers for the dead in the internet.

For us who are still alive, Undas should also make us think of our own death. You should tell your family whether you want to be buried or cremated and where you want to be buried. You should also ask these hard questions: Am I ready to die? Am I ready to face the judgment seat of God? What have I done with my life? Are there things that I want to do before I die? Are there things that I need to set right? Do I still have unfinished business? And for parents. Make your last will so that your children will not fight over their inheritance.

All Souls Day then is a time to remember our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory. But it is also a time for us to remember that one day we too shall die. How are we to be prepared for it?

30TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Mt 22:34-40

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What is the greatest commandment? That question seems strange. But it becomes understandable when we realize that that there were at least 613 rules that were developed to implement the Law of Moses. It’s like today’s legal system. When the legislature makes a bill and the President signs it into law, there is the still need of making what is called IRR or implementing rules and regulations. Now some rabbis taught that all of them were of equal importance while others say that some were more important than the others. The question put to Jesus (what is the greatest commandment) was meant to ask Jesus to which side he belongs: to those who say all are of equal importance or to those who say some are more important than the others?

Jesus replied that the greatest commandment was the Law of love: to love God AND to love one’s neighbor. Both have to be obeyed. Moreover, he said that it is from this Law of love that all the other rules flow. In other words, all the other rules were just ways of practicing the Law of love in daily life.

PHARISEES. The Pharisees were the ones who posed this question to Jesus. The name “Pharisee” means “separated”. They were separated from others by their strict observance of the Law of God. It was a way of expressing their fidelity to God. They were held in high esteem by the people because they were hard working and yet found the time to study and meditate on God’s Law. But if there was one great defect of the Pharisees, it was not hypocrisy but their great reliance on what they do for God than on God himself. In other words, they were BSS (mga bilib sa sarili). Perhaps, we can imitate the work ethic of the Pharisees. We can call it “sipag at tiyaga”.

NEIGHBOR. In Old Testament times, neighbor was understood as the one who belongs to my family, or my clan, or my people. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus tells us to widen our understanding of neighbor. Anyone who needs my help, even if he were an enemy, is my neighbor. And as a Christian, it is my duty to be a neighbor to him. I have to help him.

We have heard the expression, “charity begins at home”. There is nothing wrong with that. But charity should not end at home. It must expand outside the home. For example, an alumnus treated to coffee at Starbucks in Sydney. At the counter, I was pleasantly surprised to read this sign: “We have already forwarded your donations for the victims of Haiyan.” Haiyan was the international name for typhoon, “Yolanda”. Australia is so far from the Philippines, yet these Australians behaved like our neighbors.

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. When Jesus said: “"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself”, what he meant was that loving one’s neighbor is as important as loving God.

“Love your neighbor as yourself” has an important implication. We can rephrase it this way: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” That means that loving oneself is alright. What is wrong is to love only oneself. Charity begins at home is alright. What is wrong is for charity to begin and end at home.

Another important point. Jesus did not say that our love for our neighbor and our love for ourselves should be equal. What he said was that we should love them in the same way that we love ourselves. You do good to yourself; you should also do good to others. You don’t want bad things to happen to yourself; you also do not wish bad things to happen to others.

Maybe I should add a small note. The Tagalog translation of “Love your neighbor as yourself” is “Ibigin mo ang iyong kapwa gaya ng pag-ibig mo sa iyong sarili.” Neighbor is not kapit-bahay but kapwa tao. Nevertheless, let us remember that when we said that charity begins at home but should not end there, the nearest people to receive our charity outside our home is--our kapit-bahay! Remember further the question posed by Jesus at the end of the parable of the Good Samaritan: “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” We can re-phrase it this way: “Which of these three behaved like a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” Applying this teaching of Jesus to what he said about loving your neighbor as yourself, it will come out like this: “Love your kapit-bahay as yourself by behaving like a good kapit-bahay to them.”

The Cross is the symbol of Christianity. The first reason is that Jesus redeemed us by dying on the cross. But maybe we add a second reason. The vertical bar represents love of God. The horizontal bar represents love of neighbor. The cross cannot be a cross if the vertical bar and horizontal bar are separated. They have to be together. The second reason why the cross is a symbol of Christianity is because Jesus gave us the law of love: love God AND love your neighbor. That is the way Christians love.

29TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.

Mt 22:14-21

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To understand the context of today’s gospel we need to look into the taxation system in Palestine in the time of Jesus. It is said that half of the family income went to taxes. Some of the taxes people paid were the following:

1.      Men and women, from 12 years old to 65 years old were taxed 20% of their income.

2.      Commercial transaction was 1%. It was 2% when slaves were bought and sold.

3.      There was a salt tax. Salt used by fishermen to salt fish was taxed.

4.      Professional tax. A shoemaker had to pay 1 denarius a month. 1 denarius was the average daily wage.

5.      There was a road tax. You had to pay a tax to move merchandise from one place to another.

6.      Anyone could be forced to render service to the State for 5 years without pay.

7.      Subsidy to the armed forces. People were obliged to offer hospitality to soldiers. They had to pay a certain amount for the support of the troops.

8.      There was also religious taxes.

a.      The shekalim was used for the maintenance of the Temple.

b.      The tithe (1/10) was for the support of the priests serving at the Temple.

c.       First fruits was a tax to pay for the worship at the Temple.

It is, therefore, easy to see why the question of the Pharisees and the Herodians was a trap. Jesus would lose the support of the people if he were to declare that it was the duty of the Jews to pay taxes to the Romans. Of course, he would get into trouble with the Romans if he were to declare openly that taxes should not be paid to the government. He would be considered a leader of a rebellion.

There is something strange also about the alliance between the Pharisees and the Herodians. The Pharisees were nationalists and anti-Roman. The Herodians were Roman collaborators. It is strange that they would join forces. Perhaps, it is a case of “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”, that is, they look at Jesus as a common enemy and therefore, their working together was something of a marriage of convenience. To the Pharisees, Jesus by his teachings was a threat to the Jewish religion. To the Herodians, Jesus was a potential leader against the Romans. Remember that in the multiplication of the bread, the people wanted to make him king.

What was the meaning of Jesus’ response: “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God”? They paid to Caesar what belonged to Caesar by using the coins that the Roman government issued. But they have not paid to God what belongs to God because of their hypocrisy. They have not practiced honesty and justice as demanded by the Law of God.

Giving to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God is called justice. Justice is a virtue, a good habit, which makes us give to everyone, God and man, what they have a right to. And because virtue is a habit, it means that someone, who possesses this virtue, constantly gives to everyone what they have a right to, constantly and not once in a while.

How is this virtue practiced in daily life?

Parents work to send their children to school. This is not only a matter of love but a matter of justice. Children take their studies seriously. This is not only a matter of gratitude, but a matter of justice.

Government officials do not overprice the purchase of medicine. This is not only a matter of honesty. It is a matter of justice.

Government contractors do not build substandard roads. This is not only a matter of honesty. It is a matter of justice.

When vendors in the market sell you 3 kilos of meat, you really receive 3 kilos of meat. It is not only a matter of honesty. It is a matter of justice.

Employees do not take home coupon bond from the office for the school reports of their children. It is not only a matter of honesty. It is a matter of justice.

Employers remit the SSS contribution of their employees together with their own. It is not only a matter of honesty and charity. It is a matter of justice.

We go to Mass on Sundays not only because it is the third commandment but because God has a right to our worship.

When we receive blessings from God, we should thank him not only because it is a matter of gratitude but because it is a matter of justice. God has a right to receive thanks from us.

Obedience to God’s commandments is justice. God has a right to receive obedience from his creatures. But as Christians, our obedience to God’s commandments goes one step further. Because God is also our Father in heaven, our obedience to his commandments is above all, an act of love. In other words, for us Christians the practice of justice is the basic step. Justice must always be followed. But it does not stop there; it must be made perfect by love.

We do not have the right to be forgiven by God after so many sins he has forgiven. But he forgives us all the same. Because he loves us.

A daughter, who had been a black sheep of the family, went one step further. She got pregnant while in college. She was already 5 years in college and she had been either shifting courses or transferring from one college to another. Her mother suffered in silence. Hindi siya sinumbatan. Was it because of justice on the part of her mother? Certainly not! It was because of a mother’s love.

Today’s teaching: christians practice justice that is perfected by love.

27TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey

Mt 21:33-43

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