Readings and Gospel for August 30, 2015 (Sunday)

First Reading
Dt 4:2.6-8

Now therefore, Israel, hear the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your ancestor, is giving you.  In your observance of the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I am commanding you, you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it.

Observe them carefully, for this is your wisdom and discernment in the slight of the peoples, who will hear of all these statutes and say, "This great nation is truly a wise and discerning people." For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him?  Or what great nation has statutes and ordinances that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?

Second Reading
Jas 1:17-18, 21-22.27

All good giving an every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.  He willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Be doers of the word and not hearer only, deluding yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his own face in a mirror.  He sees himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like.  But the one who peers into the perfect law* of freedom and perseveres, and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, such a one shall be blessed in what he does.  If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue*  but deceives his heart, his religion is vain.  Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Gospel
Mk 7:1-8.14-15.21-23

Now when the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they observed that some of this disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is unwashed hands.  For the Pharisees and in fact all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders.  And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves.  And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.

So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, "Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?"  He responded, "Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: "This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.'  You disregard God's commandment but cling to human condition."

He summoned the crowd again and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand.  Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile."  From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy arrogance, folly.  All these evils come from within and they defile.

The Word in other words

You think that I don't even mean/ A single word I say/ It's only words and words are all I have/ To take your heart away.

Even if one means them or not, spoken words are always potent.  They can break one's heart or mend it or win it over.

Philosophers are always fascinated with spoken words,  The intelligible sounds uttered by a human mouth are invisible, immaterial, and mysterious.  You cannot see them coming; you cannot touch and feel them, or taste them, or smell them.

You can only hear them.

Spoken words are intangible yet real, familiar yet strange.  When released by a spiteful mouth, words are like invisible poisoned arrows that sting and injure a soul.

But when uttered by a kind mouth, words are like a beautiful melody winging in the air to touch and lift one's heart.

The materialists--- i.e. those who believe that the ultimate reality is matter- will be hardy-pressed if they are asked whether spoken words exist or not, or whether they are real or unreal. For spoken sounds are not material stuff.  Yet, they move you, touch you, hurt you, excite you, console you, disappoint you, strengthen you, etc.

And once expressed, words are irretrievable.

What is most intriguing about spoken words is that they only mean something when uttered by humans.  If a parrot asks me, "Have you eaten?", the sounds do not bear weight and significance.  But if asked by my mother, they are intelligible and merit response.

But why?  Do the words uttered by parrot travel in time unaccompanied by thoughts, while human words carry meanings?

But what are thoughts and meanings but intangibles?

Actually, words are thoughts and thoughts are words, and they are one and the same.  They convey essence of one's personhood and character.

And it is in this context that we can perhaps understand what Jesus said in the Gospel: "Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within (words) are that defile."  From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts (words), unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.  All these evils (words) come from within and they defile."

It is great deal better to hold one's tongue than to utter unkindly words about others. Remember General Ulysses Grant?  He was said to be able to keep his mouth shut in seven languages!  What a feat!

And don't forget the old adage: "Even a fool is counted wise when he holdeth his peace."

          -Fr. Raymun J. Festin, SVD (CKMS, QC)

Gospel for August 29, 2015 (Saturday) Beheading of John the Baptist

Jn 14:1-6

Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.  John had said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."  Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.  Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody.  When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him.  She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee.  Herodias' own daughter came in and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests.  The king said to the girl, "I will grant you whatever you ask of me, even to half of my kingdom."  She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?"  She replied,  "The head of John the Baptist."  The girl hurried back to the king's presence and made her request, "I want you to give me a once on a platter the head of John the Baptist."  The king was deeply distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests he did not wish to break his word to her.  So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders to bring back his head.  He went off and beheaded him in the prison.  He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl.  The girl in turn gave it to her mother.  When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

The Word in other words

During my college days, I worked in a non-governmental organization which fought for the rights of poor farmers.  I wrote the press releases and joined others on street rallies.  We put up barricade-tents in front of contested farm lands.  We were harassed by private armies and well-known political families.  Guns were aimed at our faces.  I was then very idealistic and willing to put my life in danger.  When my father heard this, he was more concerned with his son's life.  He told me, "Fighting for justice is good.  But there are more victims than victors in our country, where life is disposable.  Who is going to fight for you when those criminals shoot you?  It will be your parents."

As the church celebrates today the beheading of John the Baptist as a feast, it is not about the morbid delight of getting oneself killed.  It is about the martyrdom of John who gave witness to the truth.  He was not silent before the evil surrounding him.  He went against the mainstream who's rather play safe.  The prophet John said the right thing, even if it was at the wrong time and place.

Being prophetic is dangerous to one's health.  That is why there is a saying: "Play it safe."  Nobody wants to rock the boat.  It is better to shut up, so that nobody will bother you.  This survival instinct can, however, be dangerous in a situation of injustice.  Ninoy Aquino bravely went home to the Philippines despite repeated warnings that his life was in danger.  He said, "The Filipino is worth dying for."  Many less-known political prisoners in our country have the same conviction.  Nelson Mandela, also an ex-political prisoner, said: "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it."  He triumphed like John the Baptist, who may have lost his head, but won his soul for standing for the truth.

Gospel for August 28, 2015 (Friday) Feast of St. Augustine

Mt 25:1-13

Jesus said to his disciples, "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Five of them were foolish and five were wise.

The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.  Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

At midnight, there was a cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom!  Come out to meet him!'  Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.  The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'  But the wise ones replied, 'No, for there may not be enough for us and you.  Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.'

While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready wen into the wedding feast with him.  Then the door was locked.  Afterwards the other virgins came and said, 'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!'  But he said in reply. 'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.'  Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

The Word in other words

Being prepared is not only standing in attention to wait for the command, but also to make provision for any eventuality that one needs to respond to.  Christianity considers earthly life as a journey and a pilgrimage.  While belonging to this world, a Christian focuses also on the life to come, where the eternal banquet is being prepared.  The journey towards that promised reality means daily practice and constant stimulation, using current contexts and human conditions, so that when the time comes for the door to open, we could come in, ready and prepared to celebrate and to live.

It took many years of searching and questioning before St. Augustine found the answer to his heart's desires.  The realization and declaration,  "Late have I loved you...," referring to his "discovery" of God, came after many detours in the crooked path which the young, restless Augustine had taken in his journey towards God.  Unlike the foolish virgins in today's gospel, he did not sleep while waiting for the master to come.  He was wrestling with life's issues and concerns.  What brought him through those painful and chaotic life experiences was his great desire to find peace and rest in his heart.  He discovered faith and learned to surrender.  And so when the bridegroom finally arrived, St. Augustine was ready to welcome him into his life.

          - Fr. Anthony Salas, SVD ( USC, Cebu City)

St. Augustine's Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen.

Gospel for August 27, 2015 (Thursday) Feast of St. Monica

Mt 24:42-51

Jesus said to his disciples, "Therefore, stay awake!  For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.  Be sure of this:  if the master of the house had knowledge the hour of the night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into.  So to, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

"Who, then,  is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time?  Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.  Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.  But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is long delayed,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards, the servant's master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."

The Word in other words

So Deus sabe! (Only God knows!)  This is a popular Portuguese expression referring to the uncertain result of a future event or in reference to some mystery only an omniscient being would know.  Indeed, it is only the Lord who knows as to when He is coming.  That is why the gospel of today urges us strongly to stay awake, to be vigilant, to be prepared and to be ready always for we do not know when final coming of Jesus will happen.

But what do we do to remain awake and vigilant?  The call of the gospel for us to keep in constant watch should not be lax, complacent or boring; we need to have a faith that is truly alive and active.  We should not fall prey to routine which is our greatest enemy in spiritual warfare;  it dulls our sense and makes us complacent.  To have a faith that is active and alive means living it out through a life of righteousness, putting into practice the teachings of Christ, recognizing Him in our brothers and sisters, especially the underpreviliged, and serving Him through our needy brethren.

We are certain that the Lord will return.  But so Deus sabe when that will be.  But when He finally arrives, may He pronounce us "blesses" and fit to be partakers in His kingdom because He finds truly awake and prepared for His coming.

               - Fr. Jovito Osalvo, SVD (Lisbon, Portugal)


Today we also remember St. Monica...

PRAYER TO ST. MONICA

Dear St. Monica, 
troubled wife and mother, 
many sorrows pierced your heart during your lifetime. 
Yet, you never despaired or lost faith. 
With confidence, persistence, and profound faith, 
you prayed daily for the conversion 
of your beloved husband, Patricius,
and your beloved son, Augustine; 
your prayers were answered. 
Grant me that same fortitude, patience, 
and trust in the Lord. 
Intercede for me, dear St. Monica, 
that God may favorably hear my plea for 

(Mention your intention here.)

and grant me the grace to accept His Will in all things, 
through Jesus Christ, our Lord, 
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

Gospel for August 26, 2015 (Wednesday)

Mt 23:27-32

Jesus said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.  You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are of full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth.  Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but outside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.  You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous, and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets' blood'.  Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murmured the prophets; not fill up what your ancestors measured out!"

The Word in other words

Out of laziness I usually do not do regular full-blown room cleaning.  I am very proud of this but I usually just kind of hide the dust and all those unsavory tiny trashes under my bed, only to suffer later on when all that dirt burst out in full force.  Then, I will tel myself that it is good immediately to vacuum away all those tiny devils... this is House Work 101.

In the Gospel today Jesus lambasts the scribes and Pharisees for what He says is their hypocrisy.  They build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous maybe to hide the sins of their fathers and to cover up for their own inequities.  An evil that is tucked away would soon rear it ugly head when they would conspire to have Jesus killed.

We are supposedly very good Catholics.  We donate images of saints to the Church, volunteer to have the dress of the Madonna made, or pull the carts of holy images during fiestas.  The scribes and Pharisees whiten tombstones and burial monuments, yet Jesus castigates them, for they are dirty and rotten within.

The scribes and Pharisees could not hide behind stones.  Nor can we hide behind the skirt of the blessed mother.  If there is dirt within us, then we better vacuum it away, for "when sin reaches maturity if gives birth to death." (Jas 1.12-18).

The sacrament of reconciliation, the church's ready vacuum cleaner, is just around the corner.

             - Fr.  Dante Barril, SVD (Rome, Italy)

Gospel for August 25, 2015 (Tuesday) Feast of St. Joseph Calasanz

Mt 23:23-26

Jesus said: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.  You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity.  (But) these you should have done, without neglecting the others.  Blind guides. who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.  You cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean."

The Word in other words

I have been in the priestly ministry long enough, 27 years in all and I have accumulated many different kinds of experiences, bad and good, wholesome and undesirable.  I have seen how the church and all its members carry on the task of bringing the gospel message to the poor, the task we all vowed to do when we accepted baptism as Christians.  But it seems that in many instances this sense of commitment is hard to come by, beginning with me and all the way up to the church hierarchy.  Undeniably, save in the case of the few who are truthful to their calling to serve, the church and its members are, in fact, more at the receiving than at the giving end of service.  Many are living protected and comfortable lives, blessed with good food, driving their personal vehicles, wearing signature clothes and traveling more than even before. In urban settings, one cant;s fail to notice the right in the vicinity of majestic cathedrals are street families that eke out a living a selling devotional candles, acting as informal park attendants and begging.  The contrast between the rich and the poor is stark.

Hypocrisy is defined as claiming to have possessed virtues that one lacks.  And since it involves deception, it can be categorized as a form of lie.  Christ in the gospel for today is harsh and strong against the scribes, Pharisees and hypocrites for they were only liars by preaching virtues they did not have; they were also making the life of the people unbearable in the name of their religion and laws.

Many of us are guilty of the same Pharasaical attitude.  We can only beat our breasts and say, "Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa."  We have much cleansing to do with ourselves.  But isnt't that the God we have is the God of mercy and compassion, slow to judge and quick to forgive and understand? I believe it boils down to our sincerity to learn, to internalize the gospel message, to be open to self-formation, to have the humility to accept our own weaknesses and to trust n the healing power of the divine intervention.

       -  Fr. Eugene Docoy, SVD (USC, Cebu City)

Gospel for August 22, 2015 (Saturday) Queenship of Mary

Mt 23:1-12

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.  Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example.  For they preach but they do not practice.  They tie up heavy burdens (hard to carry) and lay them on people's shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them.  All their works are performed to be seen.  They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.  They love places of honor at banquets, seat of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation 'Rabbi'.  As for you, do not be called 'Rabbi'.  You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.  Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven.  Do not be called 'Master'; you have but one master, the Messiah.  The greatest among you must be your servant.  Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

The Word in other words

There was somebody who read in earnest the thoughts of a philosopher on the frustrated possibilities of the human person.  He soon believed that he could be, and indeed is, a superman.  To prove himself right, he jumped from the second floor.  That jump proved that his thinking was faulty, for he ended up with a world that was upside down... and a broken leg.

The thinking during Jesus' time, as it is now, is also faulty and things are turning upside down.  The sad part is that people start to accept what is erroneous as the norm.  They are therefore jumping, as it were, from the second floors to prove their selves correct.

Jesus tries to rescue us from a world that is upside down before we get ourselves in situation far worse than a broken leg.  Among his prescriptions:
"The greatest must be the servant."
"Whoever humbles oneself shall be exalted."


                     -Fr. Vic Rayco, SVD (St. Jude Catholic School, Manila)

Gospel for August 21, 2015 (Friday) Feast of St. Pius X

Mt 22:34-40

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them (a scholar of the law) tested him by asking,  "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"  He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and will all your mind.  This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it :  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

The Word in other words

When I was in India, I heard this story about Mahatma Gandhi.  He once boarded a train and, as the train started to move, one of his sandals fell on the track.  People looked at him as he took off the other sandal and threw it as closely as possible to the first one.  Someone asked him why he did it, and he answered, "Anyone who will find the first sandal can find the pair and so he can wear them."

In a way, it has some relation to our call to love.  We cannot love God without loving our neighbor, as St. John the Evangelist said, and vice versa, we cannot love our neighbor without loving God.  As in Gandhi's case, one cannot wear a sandal only on one foot and still look normal, so one needs the other sandal, too.

In our gospel today, 'love' is indeed the most important word, but notice how many times the word "ALL" has been used.  God will not agree to a half-hearted situation.  God wants us to love him with ALL we have and ALL we are, above all things and in all things.  ALL or nothing.  No one and nothing is excluded from his love.  If ever we love anybody or anything else, we should love ALL only in God and only next to God.

God's commandment is not a compulsion but a GRACE for us who believe in him.  We can love God only because he has made us for love and as an overflow of his love and life.  It is therefore God himself who actually draws us to his love.  When we know God, we will be surprised that we cannot but love him and find no greater joy than in doing so.  And when we truly love God, as in Gandhi's sandals, we also learn to love ALL that God loves, not only all our brothers and sisters, but also the environment that surround us.

              - Fr. Carlos Lariosa, SVD (Radio Veritas Asia, QC)

Our Filipiniana Themed Wedding - Ideas to consider

Choosing a wedding theme was not that easy for us.  We were torn between just having color motif and having a rustic feel.  Until my ex-fiance-now-husband suggested why not have a Filipiniana-themed wedding.

Save the Date

Formal Invitation

We were both ecstatic as we shared the news to our respective families.  The second challenge was to select the color motif that can go with the theme.  We had black and red, coral and bluegreen, and turquoise and red.  The last tandem was what we chose since it will just be in tangent with the Christmas colors that season.

In this article, you will see the various details that were worked on.

The Invitations

The invites were hand-crafted by my sister, Marisse. She has an arts and crafts business under the name of Rookiehands.  All the texts in the invites are in Filipino. We had to research in the internet the had them corrected by the Filipino speaking friends of ours.

The Sacramental Details

Bible and Candle

Thirteen foreign coins

Rings and match

The Reception

Slicing our cake

Wedding favor and table setting

Tokens for the Godparents, Sponsors, and Entourage, and Service Providers

Sa Wakas instead of the usual Just Married

To be continued....

Gospel for August 21, 2015 (Thursday) Feast of St. Bernard

Mt 22:1-14

Jesus again in reply spoke to them in parables, saying "The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.  He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come.  A second time he sent other servants, saying. "Tell those invited: "Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast."  Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business.  The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.  The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed the murderers, and burned their city.  Then he said to his servants, "The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come.  Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find."  The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests.  But then the king came in to meet the guest he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment.  He said to him, 'My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?'  But he was reduced to silence.  Then the king said to his attendants,  'Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'  Many are invited, but few are chosen.

The Word in other words

A wedding banquet is one of the most joyous feasts in Jewish life.  In fact, it could even last for a week just to lengthen the state of bliss.  It is not surprising therefore that Jesus made use of this feast as an illustration of the Kingdom of heaven.  What was surprising was the indifferent reception of those who were invited.  The gospel narrative underlines that "the feast is ready" making it a clear incongruence to the unready hearts of the invited guests.

Same is true with our first reading, while Jephthah desired victory at the battlefield, he had nonetheless an unready heart to fulfill the vow he made to God upon his victory.  I think, we all love heaven, we all love feasts.  That's why we can best relate the phrases like : masarap na buhay and biyaheng langit!  And yet the demands of heaven make it difficult for us to commit ourselves to righteousness and fidelity to the Kingdom.

Certainly these eschatological themes of judgment and eternal banquet favor those whose hearts profess readiness to "taste and see the goodness of God."  Our saint for today, Bernard of Clairvaux, is an excellent example who even in his own youth exemplified his readiness to enjoy the wedding feast (gospel) as a living sacrifice (first reading); a testament thus of taking the proper garment for a heavenly feast.

                - Fr. Antonio Gilberto S. Marqueses, SVD (Rome)

Gospel and Readings for August 16, 2015 (Sunday)

First Reading
Prv 9:1-6

Wisdom has built her house,/ she has set up her seven columns;
She has prepared her meat,/ mixed her wine, yes,/ she has spread her table.
She has sent pout her maidservants;/ she calls from the heights out over the city;
"Let whoever is naive turn in here;/ to any who lack sense I say,
Come, eat of my food,/ and drink of the wine I have mixed!
Forsake foolishness that you may live;/ advance in the way of understanding."

Second Reading
Eph 5:15-20

Watch carefully then how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil.  Therefore, do not continue in ignorance, but try to understand what is the will of the Lord. And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another [in] psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.

Gospel Reading
Jn 6:51-58

Jesus said to the Jews, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."  The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"  Jesus said to them, " Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.  For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks  my blood remains in me and I in him.  Just as the living Father sent me and I have life is the bread that came down from heaven.  Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever."

The Word in other words

On October 13, 1972, one of the most grueling survival stories of the 20th century unfolded.  A chartered flight carrying a Uruguayan rugby team to its match in Chile crashed in the high Andes due to bad weather.  Of the 45 passengers, 12 people were killed outright, while many others died later because of injuries and an avalanche that struck them.  After rescue efforts proved futile for eight days, the search operations were stopped and abandoned.  This left the survivors with only one option; to simply save themselves.  Not only did they have to endure the extremely cold weather but they also needed to solve the big problem of starvation.  After eating whatever they could find in the ruins of the aircraft ad after much soul searching, the survivors agreed to eat the flesh of their dead companions.  It was their way to remain alive and survive the most severe test of their life.  The decision to cannibalize the dead was ll the more agonizing, because the survivors would be acting their strong Roman Catholic faith. It was only after 72 days that the unforgettable ordeal of the 16 survivors ended.

It must have been very difficult for the people of Jesus' time to understand and accept his teaching concerning his flesh as the bread and his blood as the drink that he would give them.  They took his words literally, and therefore got scandalized.  In fact, many of his disciples stopped following him because they found his words too much to bear.  Peter, in behalf of the rest of the apostles, expressed his faith in Jesus in spite of not being able to really comprehend his teaching: " Lord to whom shall we go?  You have the words of everlasting life."  Even if Peter did not understand Jesus, he still trusted and believed in him.  Perhaps, he was thinking someday, the mystery of which Jesus spoke with authority would become clear and acceptable to their finite minds and hearts.  Instead of judging Jesus hastily like many of the disciples did, Peter and the other apostles gave him the benefit of the doubt.  They gave him a chance to prove his point.  They stayed with him until the end and thus allowed him to reveal to them the fullness of his mystery.  Do we have patience and trust in Jesus when we cannot grasp the meaning of the mystery we are going through in life?  Do we allow him to unveil before our eyes the depth and truth of his words?  Or do we walk away and look for another master who is easy to understand and control?

In the light of our Gospel reading today, may we appreciate even more the mystery that we celebrate in the Eucharist.  Jesus is truly present in our midst when we gather around his table.  He feeds us with his body and blood.  He offers to us the whole mystery of his very own life, mission, suffering, death and resurrection.  He desires to enter into communion with us so that we may experience the fullness of life, a life that no one or nothing in this world can take away from us.  Whenever we celebrate the Eucharist, do we really hunger for that life which is much more than the world can give?  Are we aware that without Jesus, our life is empty and meaningless?  Jesus says, "Without me, you can do nothing."  In our story, the survivors of the tragedy felt the urgency of eating the flesh of their companions.  It was for them the last resort, their only remaining hope, in order to remain alive.  In our life of faith, do we realize and feel the urgency and need to seek the body and blood of Christ in order to live a real and meaningful life?  Do we hunger eagerly for his living Word?  A prophet of the Old Testament said: "Lord, when I found your words, I devoured them."  Do we long and thirst profoundly to be in communion with Jesus?  Do we seek to have a deep, personal, loving relationship with him?  Do we seriously desire to allow his body and blood to transform our very own body and blood into a generous offering of love and service to our brothers and sisters, especially to those who are in need of our care and compassion?  Certainly, the more we hunger and thirst for Jesus in the Eucharist and in our life, the more will we savor the new and definitive life he gives to those who do not turn away but rather choose to remain with him.

Gospel for August 15, 2015 (Saturday) Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Lk 1:39-56

During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.  When Elizabeth heard Mary's greetings, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.  And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.  Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."

And Mary said:
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness;
behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.
The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him,
He has shown might with his arm,
dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.
He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones
but lifted up the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things;
the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped Israel his servant,
remembering his mercy,
according to his promise to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

The Word in other words

Last August 8, we celebrated the feast of St. Dominic, the father and founder of the Dominican order. The book entitled "Mysteries, Marvels and Miracles in the life of the Saints" lists him as one of the holy men in the Church blessed with extraordinary gifts, of which one is the ability to know future things and occurrences.  One day, St. Dominic told his companions that he would leave the world before the celebration of the Assumption of Mary. He did.  He died on August 6, 1221.

What has St. Dominic to do with our celebration today?  Nothing.  The dogma on the Assumption of Mary was defined by Pope Pius XII only on November 1, 1950.  But I mentioned St. Dominic in order to show that even as early as during his time, that is the 13th century, this doctrine was already par of the faith confession of Christians, and one of the celebrations of the Church.  More than this, however, the Assumption was already within the faith consciousness of the early Church.  Records show that it was already believed in as early as the 6th century.  What Pius XII did in 1950 was simply to formally establish this as a truth for the universal Church.

There is a certain controversy about this dogma that needs to be resolved.  Did Mary die?  The answer is affirmative.  According to the theologians Ian Knoxx(1994), although the definition of the dogma given by Pius XII only states her "having completed the course of her earthly life" without any explicit mention of her "death", theologians commonly hold, or at least presume, that "since Jesus her son suffered death it would be most fitting that Mary should have had the same experience. "Mary died, but she had the privilege of having been taken into heaven both body and soul, a special favor not unthinkable for the mother of the Son of God.

The dogma means a lot to us.

1.  It is a sign and a pledge of our final glorification.  It is an affirmation of the human destiny; we can look forward to heaven.  What was granted to Mary will also be granted to us.

2.  It opens to us the possibility of being transformed even in the present.  Should we choose to live our lives now in the tune with God's will, we thereby already participate in the final reward promised by Jesus so that, even today, we are saved already.

3.  Mary was taken up body and soul; this means that the whole person and not merely the spiritual part of us will share in the glory of the resurrection.

4.  Finally, this dogma reminds us that death is not an end but a beginning, the beginning of a new and fuller existence, at home with the Creator. (Anthony Tambasco in Knox, 1994)

In the Assumption we celebrate Mary's life in the hands of the Father.  But we are celebrating that same life that is ours too as God's gift.  Let us therefore pray, not only today but every day, for the intercession of the Blessed Mother, that where she is now, we will all be.

             -  Fr. Dudz F. Lero, SVD (HNU, Tagbilaran City, Bohol)

Gospel for August 14, 2015 (Friday) Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe

Mt 19:3-12

Some Pharisees approached him, and tested him, saying, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?"  He said in reply, "Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?  So they are no longer two, but one flesh.  Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate."  They said to him, "Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss (her)?"  He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.  I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery."

(His) disciples said to him, "If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry."  He answered,  "Not all can accept (this) word, but only those to whom that is granted.  Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some because they were made so by others; some because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever can accept this ought to accept it."

The Word in other words

This is how my professor at the seminary explained the sacramental bond of marriage to us.  He said:  A man, his mother, and his girlfriend are in a boat on a lake.  They have an accident.  The boat sinks and they are all in the water.  Only the knows how to swim.  He can only save one person at a time.  Whom does he save first?  In this instance, the bond between mother and child is stronger than the bond between boyfriend and girlfriend.  So he is morally obligated to save his mother first.

Imagine now a man, his mother, and his wife.  The same thing happens.  However, this time the man is morally obligated to save his wife first because the bond between the husband and wife is stronger than the bond between the mother and child.

This is why the Church admonished people not to take the sacrament of marriage lightly.  Choose your partner wisely and prayerfully.  My sociology professor in college used to tell us this quotation:  When going to war, pray twice.  When getting married, pray a million times.  Married life is not an easy path to take.  It involves a lot of patience, understanding, and sacrifice.  But the underlying force in all of these must be love.  Without love, no marriage stands a chance of succeeding.  A marriage blessed by God through the sacrament of marriage is a union that not only relies on the determination of the couple to make it succeed but also has the special grace from above which definitely makes it stronger.

Let us pray for all married couples that they may continue to love each other that they may always seek the counsel of God and ask for His blessing as they strive to be faithful to the vows they shared on their wedding day.

          -  Fr. Jose Luis "Chito" Lorenzo, SVD (Japan)

Gospel for August 13, 2014 (Thursday) Feast of Sts. Pontian and Hippolytus

Mt 18:21-19:1

Peter approaching asked Jesus, " Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him?  As many as seven times?"  Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.  That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king, who decided to settle accounts with his servants.  When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.  Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt.  At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.'  Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.  When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him much smaller amount.  He seized him and started to choke him, demanding.  'Pay back what you owe.'  Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'  But he refused.  Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt.  Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair.  His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant!  I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.  Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?'  Then in anger hi master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.  So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart."

When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.

The Word in other words

The story is told about a senior citizen who asked his drinking buddies one on his right, and one on his left: "Did you spill beer on my pants?"  When both of them said no, he said: "Then it must have been an inside job!"

Forgiveness, so to say, has to be an "inside job".  Without the grace of God, it is difficult, almost impossible to really forgive and forget.  All we need is to make a small opening for the Holy Spirit to come in and bring us out of our misery and sadness.  Humility is that small opening.  Aware and grateful that we to have been forgiven so many times by our Heavenly Father, may we swallow our pride and forgive those who have wronged us.

The evil one will always make us focus on our hurt, and if we do just that, we will never come to true forgiveness.  The Lord tells us today to focus instead on the heart, His heart that is full of mercy, compassion, and forgiveness.

Are you still hurting, still going around in circles, and still not moving on?  Forgive, let go, let God, and the hurt is gone, the road ahead opens up, and you are moving on!

                 - Fr. Jerry Orbos, SVD (DWMC, Batangas City)

Gospel for August 12, 2015 (Wednesday) Feast of St. Frances Chantau

Mt 18:15-20

Jesus said to his disciples, "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.  If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.  If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that 'every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.'  If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church.  If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or tax collector.  Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed on heaven.  Again, (amen), I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.  For where there are two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

The Word in other words

The reality of conflict is an inevitable circumstance of human existence caught  between the intricacies of human diversity.  Nevertheless, Jesus provides a practical solution to glitches that may arise from this seemingly unavoidable fact of life.  In other words, He does not detach this challenge from a true disciple's journey towards holiness and Christian maturity.

Once Thomas Edison was approached by one of his assistants complaining, "We have learned nothing from our experiments; until now we have not been able to single out an element that would suit our bulb!"  Edison confidently replied, " Oh, not so, for we have learned that thousands of these elements do not fit to make a suitable light bulb."  And so they continued experimenting until they succeeded in finding the right element for their groundbreaking discovery.

In a similar manner Jesus reminds us never to give up on each other, and that there are thousands of good and right ways to settle our differences.  Our community also plays a part in bridging over these difference, regardless of the fact that no single person is totally the same as the other.  We should therefore not be a hindrance to one another's striving after the true kinship in the Kingdom of God.  After all, we are all children, thus brothers and sisters, bound by the greatest love of all, the one offered on the cross.

                       - Fr. Sedfrey Nebres, SVD (Holland)

Gospel for August 11, 2015 (Tuesday) Feast of Sta. Chiara di Assisi

Mt 18:1-5.10.12-14

At that time the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"  He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, "Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.

"See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.  What is your opinion?  If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray?  And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not astray.  In just the same way,  it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost."

The Word in other words

Who is the greatest in this world?  In the world of politics, undoubtedly President Barack Obama is one of them.  Ecclesiastically, Pope Francis is in the list.  In the world of boxing, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather are certainly included.  On the other hand, today's Gospel, the disciples of Jesus asked him, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"  The Lord presented the child to them as the image of greatest person in the kingdom of heaven.  He wants us to be childlike but not to be childish.  To be childish means to think of ourselves, and ourselves alone.  To be childlike means to be a real CHILD, that is:

...Called.  Children know that they are called by their name; and their parents have all the reasons why they are given and called by that name.  Thus, to be greatest in the kingdom of heaven is to always heed the call of God to be His faithful disciple.  God said," I have called you by your name, you are mine." (Is 43:1)

...Humble.  They know that they are limited and cannot do everything they wish/want.  Thus, to be great in the kingdom of heaven is to always have virtue of humility.  For the Lord Jesus said, "Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted." (Mt 23:12)

...Inquisitive.  They know that they are weak in intelligence.  Thus, to be great in the kingdom of heaven is to be eternal student of the greatest teacher who is Jesus.  For He said, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest." (Mt 11:29)

...Loving.  They know that they are a gift of love from God to their parents.  Thus, to be great in the kingdom of heaven is to always follow the commandment of the Lord, which is to love God and our neighbor as ourselves.  For "God is love." (1 Jn 4:8)

...Dependent.  They know that they are physically weak, and that they need the help of other people.  Thus, to be great in the kingdom of heaven is to always accept the reality that we need the Lord who is always here with us.  For He is indeed the Emmanuel, which means, "God is with us." (Mt 1:23)

                        -  Fr. Ferdinand Alfante, SVD (CT Manila)

Gospel for August 10, 2015 (Monday) Feast of St. Lawrence

Jn 12:24-26

Jesus said to his disciples, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.  "Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.  Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be.  The Father will honor whoever serves me."

The Word in other words

Growing up, we used to watch farmers planting rice in the field.  They first buried the seeds in separate rice beds; then when the seedlings sprouted, they planted them into the soggy rice fields.  It was no fun.  In fact, a song immortalized the hard work: "Planting rice is never fun; bent from morn til the set of sun;cannot stand, cannot sit; cannot rest for a little bit..."  But come harvest time, our parents would give us the hand-sickles and hat; and off we went to the harvest fields.  We saw that what was once only a sack full of seedlings buried into the soil had produced grains a hundred fold and more!

Jesus says: "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit" (John 12:24).  In this amazing paradox, Jesus teaches that only by death comes life!  The grains were hopelessly alone, ineffective and fruitless, until they were thrown into the earth and buried there as in a tomb- to die, but later to resurrect and bear fruits aplenty!

This has deep meaning in our Christian life today.  Tertullian, an early Church writer, had this maxim: "The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church."  It was by the death of martyrs that the nascent Church grew up rapidly to change the pagan Roman Empire.  As students in the seminary we read the "Roman Martyrology," a book that chronicled the lives of the first witnesses (=martyrs, in Greek), how they lived, who tortured and executed them.

John Allen, a former Vatican correspondent, writes: "We're living now in the greatest era of persecution in Christian history.  More Christians died for the faith in this century than in the previous nineteen centuries of Christian history combined."  He also relates about the martyrs in Pakistan, Iraq, Algeria, and North Korea, e.g. how pastors and elders were crushed to death by a bulldozer in front of their church.

Today, more than ever, we are called to give witness like "wheat that falls on the ground and dies."  Lord, if that time ever comes to me, be by my side!


                                      -  Fr. Dom Flores, SVD (Sydney, Australia)

Readings and Gospel for August 9, 2015 (Sunday)

First Reading
1 Kgs 19:4-8

And went a day's journey into the wilderness, until he came to a solitary broom tree and sat beneath it.  He prayed for death: "Enough, LORD! Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors."  He lay down and fell asleep under the solitary broom tree, but suddenly a messenger touched him and said, "Get up and eat!"  He looked and there at his head was a hearth cake and a jug of water.  After he ate and drank, he lay down again, but the angel of the Lord came back a second time, touched him, and said, "Get up and eat or the journey will be too much for you!"  He got up, ate, and drank; then strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.

Second Reading
Eph 4:30-5:2

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were sealed for the day of redemption.  All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice.  [And] be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.

So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.

Gospel Reading

The Jews murmured about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven," and they said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother?  Then how can he say, ' I have come down from heaven'?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Stop murmuring among yourselves.

"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day.  It is written in the prophets:  'They shall be taught by God.'  Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.  Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God;  he has seen the Father.  Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.   Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes from heaven so that one may eat it and not die.

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."

The Word in other words

"Di ko na kaya" or "Ayoko na."  These words express the emotional and spiritual condition of many people today, revealing their exhaustion and burnt out by stress, disappointment and opposition, within the family, at work and even in the parish.  We are tempted "to throw the towel", "Suko na ako!" Can we get out of this?  Can we recover the meaning of life, our peace of mind ,our determination to act?

Elijah (in our first reading) is a typical case of "burn-out".  As a prophet he presented God and the demands of social justice to the people.  But he was rejected and even persecuted.  Tired of preaching and tired of life, he no longer saw any meaning in serving God.  "This is enough," he said, "Lord, take my life."  His faith and fidelity were in deep crisis.  Was Elijah able to recover? How?

Twice an angel woke him up from his sleep of despair and invited him to eat and drink.  The food came from God!  God gave Elijah new courage.  When the angel told him, "There is a long road ahead of you," the intent was to infuse meaning into his life, as if to say "May bukas pa sa iyong buhay," Elijah thus regained his faith and trust in the Lord.

The Gospel tells us that the food from God, which gives us new life, is Jesus himself.  "The person who believes in me has everlasting life.  Whoever eats of this bread, shall live."  As I adhere to Jesus in humble faith, I once again acquire the will to live.  I get a boost in life and gain the patience necessary for faithfully doing my task.

In the midst of doubt, stress and tiredness, it seems hard to regain faith and fidelity.  But today's Gospel assures us that God the Father himself is instructing us and drawing us closer to Jesus.  In our anguish we might say,  "Lord I believe, help my unbelief!"  Thus, we overcome life's stresses.  We recover our personal adherence to Christ.  We regain the courage and patience we need in order generously to serve others.  Jesus is the living bread for my life, but also "for the life of the world!"

Mother Teresa, who provides us with a program for recovery, says: "The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace."  From silence to faith to service.  No basketball game is won without "time-out".  No burn-out is healed without moments of silence leading to prayer and faith.  And if we pick up the love that leads to service, we arrive at peace: Peace of heart and mind, and the determination to act for peace in the family, church, and nation.

Gospel for August 8, 2015 (Satuday) Feast of St. Dominic

Mt 17:14-20

When [Jesus and his disciples] came to the crowd a man approached, knelt before him and said, "Lord, have pity on my son who is an epileptic and is in  a wretched state.  He has often fallen into the fire and at other times into the water. I bought him to your disciples but they could not heal him."

Jesus replied, "You, faithless and evil people!  How long must I be with you?  How long must I put up with you?  Bring him here to me."  And Jesus commanded the evil spirit to leave the boy, and the boy was immediately healed.

The disciples then gathered around Jesus and asked him privately.  "Why couldn't we drive the spirit?"  Jesus said to them, "Because you have little faith.  I say to your:  if only you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could tell that mountain to move from here to here, and the mountain would obey.  Nothing would be impossible to you."

The Word in other words

Thelma is her name, a woman in her forties, married, with two children: a girl and a boy.  The boy is a school dropout and a drug user.  The girl, the older one, is a third-year student at a local college in Talamban, Cebu City, getting good grades in her studies.  However, attending college has always been am uphill climb for the girl, financially.  Thelma is employed as a helper in a home for the aged run by the Camillian nuns in Talamban.  And her husband?  Unemployed.  Once, when Thelma turned to him to find a way to support the family, his curt reply was, "Tell Joy to quit school."

But for Thelma, Joy, their daughter was the only hope for them ever to come out of their misery.  And so, against all odds, she decided to let Joy continue her schooling She approached individuals and agencies for help.  She was about to go to a lending agency when a nurse frequenting a home for the aged suggested that she get counsel from a certain priest in the neighborhood whose counsel the nurse also sought at one time.  And so, eventually Thelma found herself face to face with the counselor priest.

Thelma (having told her problem in all its details): Father, I don't know what to do anymore. At night, I stay up awake, trying to figure out what I should do.  I reached the point when I told myself, "Bahala na, I will go to the lending institution.'  You see, Father, my daughter cannot take the semi-final examination this week if she cannot come up with the needed amount for her tuition fee.  These past days, I was not feeling well and so could not report for work, and so a deduction was made on my salary at the latest payday.  After providing for our barest needs as a family, what is left of my salary is not even enough to pay for my daughter's tuition fee.

Counselor:  I see that your burden is truly heavy; tat you feel depressed is understandable.  But you don't have to be carrying your load all by your lonely self.  This is what I miss in the way you respond to your problem:  You don't go to God for help!  Yes, we have a God who is bigger than any of our problems.  He is our Father in heaven who loves us so much that He would not want us to get crushed under our loads.  All we need to do is call on Him.  Nothing is impossible to Him.  Believe in Him, trust in Him.  Go also to Mary our Mother.  At the wedding feast at Cana in Galilee, when the wine had run out, she turned to her Son and said, "They have no win." And Jesus worked his very first recorded miracle:  changing water into wine.  It would be so easy for Mama Mary to tell Jesus, "Thelma has no money for her daughter's tuition fee."

Thelma was all ears to the counselor, weeping.  Then wiping away her tears, she admitted that she had not called on God or the Blessed Mother, "But, hopefully, from now on it's going to be different," she said.

What a world of difference faith makes when it comes alive in the person who has it!  Just compare Thelma's way of going about her problems with the father's way of handling his in our gospel today.  Thelma worried about her problems in the extreme, spending sleepless nights over them.  On the other hand,  the father in our gospel  had recourse to the disciples of Jesus believing that they could heal his son who was a lunatic.  And when they could not, he did not give up but approached Jesus, the best healer of all, and, kneeling down before him, pleaded with him to heal his boy.  Seeing his faith, Jesus healed the boy right there and then.  In that sense, the father's faith was such that he was able to move his "mountain"- by the power of Jesus, the Son of God.

                  -  Fr. Dong Alpuerto, SVD (USC, Talamban Cebu City)

Gospel for August 7, 2015 (Friday) Feast of St. Cajetan, Patron of the Unemployed

Mt 16:24-28

Then Jesus said to his disciples,  "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?  Or what can one give in exchange for his life?  For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct.  Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

The Word in other words

"Sure ka?" (Are you sure?)  This is, today, a common question or expression to determine how convinced and committed one is in pursuing what one wants to do.  Am I sure, really sure, that I wish to respond to Jesus' invitation to follow him?  I may say that becoming a religious I have given my life for Jesus.  How sure am I for this?  Or I might say that I really want to give up everything for Jesus.  What makes me so sure of this?

Following Jesus or becoming a Christian may be legally mine by virtue of my baptism, but it is something automatic.  I want to claim the grace of work for it.  In a similar way, becoming a real Christian- a follower of Jesus- does not happen just like that.  I have to make it happen.

What do I need to do?  First, I need to believe it.  I need to believe that only Jesus suffices and nothing else.  I need to believe it is possible to deny and to lose myself and that I can carry my cross.  Second, I need to appropriate to myself the reality that, by my baptism, I ought to follow Jesus and that I ought to give my life for him and make hi the only treasure or possession I wish to have.  Third, I must start working for what I believe.  I must start denying and losing myself.  I must begin carrying my cross.  I must not exchange my life with anything except the life that Jesus has offered me.  If you are sure of that, do it!

                 - Fr. Patricio R. delos Reyes, Jr., SVD (LVD Tacloban)



In honor of St. Cajetan, I would like to share this daily prayer with you.

St. Cajetan, Pray for us.

Daily Prayer

O glorious St. Cajetan, you studied to be a lawyer, but when you felt that the Lord was calling you to his service, you abandoned everything and became a priest. You excelled in virtues, shunning all material rewards for your labor, helping the many unemployed people of your time. You provided loans without interest and you attracted a lot of benefactors who donated to your resources so that you could go on with your activities. Look on us with mercy. We wish to find employment that could help us and our families live with dignity. Listen to our petitions, dear saint; you, who could easily give up the food on your table for the needy, bring our petitions to Jesus (here make your request). Amen.

Gospel for August 6, 2015 (Thursday)

Mk 9:2-10

After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.  And he was transfigured before them and his clothes became dazzling white. such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.  Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus.  Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, "Rabbi, it is good that we are here!  Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."  He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.

Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; then from the cloud came a voice, "This is my beloved Son.  Listen to him."  Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them.  As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant.

The Word in other words

Working in school for the last 14 years, I found that one of the most challenging decisions to make every year is where to hold major retreats and recollections. This is true not only for our faculty but also for our students, especially the graduating 4th year students whose parents can usually afford out of town activities for their children,  And what should be the gauge of a good place for such activity?  For us administrators, foremost is that it should be in a far and isolated place.  We discourage retreats in our city because there is always the temptation to go home which is anyway just a stone's throw away.  Moreover, making "valid reasons" for "hard to refuse" permissions is as easy for our employees or students as buying puto (rice cake) in a nearby store.  Looking back to the planning stage of every retreat or recollection, a great number would insist that it be held locally for various reasons like it saves money, makes it easy for the "SC" (Senior Citizen) members of the community, facilitates the feeding of their babies, and many more,  Of course, some reasons are valid, but others are obviously not convincing enough compared to the annual spiritual activity,

But experience also shows that common to all these retreats or recollections is the fact that at the end of the activity, one normally hears comments like, "Can we extend?" or "Bitin", or "Sana dito na lang tayo" (I hope we can stay here forever).  In short, if possible, the participants would want to postpone even for a little while.

As my parishioners would say, when I was still a parish priest, "Kada bagting, kaon" (Each time the bell rings, we eat).  But I think it is not only the eating which makes a retreat something to miss, since that part is something they can always do at home anyway, maybe even more often.  It is not only the physical comfort or the experience of being away from daily concerns that makes a difference, but more so the experience of being in a state of an unfamiliar "peace".  When we invite speakers, we see to it that we get the best ones, Our Campus Ministry Office would always prepare beautiful liturgical and other para-liturgical exercises and we see to it that they are well-prepared for a meaningful reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation,  And of course, what more can one ask after a foretaste of heaven?

What about the "going-home-part"?  Many have actually turned into "Peters".   Remember when Peter told Jesus, "Rabbi, it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"?  They also wanted to stay on Mt. Tabor!  Home for some means worrying again for the next meal, or being back to a nagging wife or a suspicious husband, or dealing with a troublesome neighbor, or returning to a pile of papers for evaluation and signature, or doing lesson plans.  In short, home could mean going back to the harsh realities of life.

No, they just have to go back.  They just have to bring back with them that newfound peace- the peace that is the result of the realization that this Jesus Christ taught to them by their catechist, by their parents and teachers, by the books they read, by the movies and videos they watch- this Jesus Christ is God.  In fact, He is the Son of God. He was introduced to them and they have seen and experienced the truth of that during the retreat, confirmed just as it was confirmed to Peter, James, and John who heard a voice from heaven saying "This is my Son, the Beloved.  Listen to Him."

No.  Don't stay.  Rather, go back and face the realities of home- this time as a better and stronger person, because you know that somewhere up there, a reward is waiting.

                            -Fr. Bar Fabella, SVD (DWC, Calapan City)