Gospel for August 5, 2015 (Wednesday) Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major

Mt 15:21-28

Then Jesus went from that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out.  "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is tormented by a demon."  But he did not say a word in answer to her.  His disciples came and asked him, "Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us."

He said in reply, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

But the woman came and did him homage, saying, "Lord, help me."  He said in reply, "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs."  She said,  "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters." Then Jesus said to her in reply, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish."  And her daughter was healed from that hour.

The Word in other words

She did not believe in miracles.  As a pharmacist, my mother believed in doctor's prescriptions and drugstores.  Then, one day, my sister fell sick.  The doctor was puzzled.  What was certain was that my sister was suffering from a high fever accompanied by a series of vomiting, darkened skin and some dark patches all over the body.  Upon seeing my distressed mom and my poor sister, the nurse suggested that Mama could try praying at a much talked-about Divine Mercy shrine.  Then, the nurse prayed over my sister.  This loving gesture moved my mom so much that she then asked my dad to stay while she rushed to the shrine.

Never knowing what word to say, she eloquently and tearfully asked the Lord to heal my sister.  Then suddenly, a collective gasp was heard as the glass began to blur at its center.  Then the people broke into shouts and cries as the mister center glistened and a rivulet of water gushed forth!  The visionary saw this, got the cup and caught the water.  She handed it to mama, but my mom was already running to the door.  She had no more need for the cup or the water; she knew that the Lord had answered her.  That was all she asked.   True enough, my mother cried all the more when the nurse met her at the lobby and told her that my sister was already up!

This is one of the greatest family stories.  Yes, this might sound to good to be true, but it happened.  It speaks about human faith and the promptness of he Lord's help.  My mother was a skeptic.  She was never a part of those people one would find praying in a chapel; she was an "outsider" to faith systems and practices, but there must have been that insistent faith beneath the unbelief which so touched the Lord that he allowed mercy and love to flow out from his heart.

This story has been told and re-told many times over, but the message remains the same.  This changed my mom, too, so  that when she finally breathed her last the Divine Mercy's picture was in front of her.  She was gazing at it until death finally closed her eyes.

           -  Fr. Ferdinand Bajao, SVD (Rome, Italy)

Gospel for August 4, 2015 (Tuesday) Feast of St. John Vianney

Mt 15:1-2;10-14

Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem then came to Jesus and said, "Why do your disciples break away from the tradition of the elders?  They do not wash their hands when they eat food."

He called the people to him and said, "Listen, and understand.  What goes into the mouth does not make a man unclean; it is what comes out of them mouth that makes him unclean."

Then the disciples came to him and said, "Do you know that the Pharisees were shocked when they heard what you said?"  He replied, "Any plant my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up the roots.  Leave them alone.  They are blind men leading blind men; and if one blind man leads another both will fall into a pit."

The Word in other words

When we were kids, our parents used to tell us that we should wash our hands before eating.  I think it was a very practical advice that we should all follow or even make a habit of.  So what is Jesus talking about when his disciples do not wash their hands?

First, we have to  understand this washing of hands that the Pharisees and scribes are concerned about.  In the Jewish custom, there is a ritual of the washing of the hands before meal which, in Jerusalem, takes a longer form because water is readily available in the city.  Meanwhile, the disciples of Jesus, who come from the countryside where water is scarce, naturally prefer the shorter ritual.  So the Pharisees and scribes are complaining not really about the disciples' abandoning the ritual but about the latter's preference for the shorter form.  With this in mind, Jesus spoke out against the legalism of the Pharisees and scribes emphasizing that it is not what enters our body but rather what comes out of our mouth that makes us unclean.

Nowadays, we are being taught that we should make healthier choices of what we eat.  We are asked to buy "free range eggs" rather than "caged eggs".  We are also asked to eat "organic rice" rather than rice that grow with chemical fertilizers and pesticides.  We are also asked to drink "fair-trade" coffee, meaning coffee certified to have been picked by workers who have received proper wages.  In the same way, we should also be taught to make healthier choices of the words we say to our brothers and sisters.  Maybe we should cut down on our use of foul language.  Instead, we should utter nice words that offer praises to God.  If we do that, we may become healthier not only in our body but also in our mind and heart.

            - Fr. Elmer I. Ibarra, SVD (Sydney, Australia)

My apologies for the long absence.

Am  back online...

Gospel for July 27, 2015 (Monday)

Mt 13:31-35

Jesus proposed another parable to them, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field.  It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the biggest of plants.  It becomes a large bush, and the 'birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.'"  He spoke to them another parable.  "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened."

All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.  He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:  "I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world."

The Word in other words

Self transformation and religious conversion, being watchful and ready for the Lord's coming, demands a change of perspectives.  How does a perspective work?

Francis of Assisi literally lived Jesus' commandment of love.  True to the Gospel, he was compassionate even to the Saracens, infidels and thieves: "Come, brother robbers, we are all brothers and we have some good wine." (L.Boff, Saint Francis, 1982).  His love extended to creatures.  He would serve honey and wine to the wild bees during winter.  He would remove worms from his path so as not to hurt them,  For he believed that living things reflected their Creator's love and were thus a source of wonder and deserving of reverence.  Such a perspective influences human conduct.

Gandhi was known for his belief in ahimsa, a policy of nonviolence towards all living things.  He would not extinguish the life of mosquitoes, scorpions or snakes.  When a poisonous snake appeared in his ashram, he would pick it up and set it free in a field.  Likewise, Albert Schweitzer, a Nobel Prize winner, espoused "reverence of life," believing in its sacredness in all forms,  For him, man must be humane to all living things.  When his wife trapped some rats, he would set then free.  He himself would not catch fish, shoot birds, harm an animal or step n a flower.

These three persons shared the same perspective on nonviolence whereby they would not kill insects (Wallechinsky D. et al, The Book of Lists, 1977).  Their attitude no matter how unusual indicates that perspective in powerful.  It is intimately linked with human transformation.  Let us then embrace Jesus' perspective, his words.  In that way, we would be responding appropriately to the gospel's challenge.  Francis of Assisi was enjoying an affluent life but he radically embraced a lady, Lady Poverty, after his long illness. Leo Tolstoy's writings on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount led Gandhi to love Jesus himself and his words.  He was not a christian convert but his critics describes him as a "secret Christian".  Do we have that intense desire to love Jesus' transforming words like Gandhi?  Was there a time when I decided to become an authentic Christian? Tolstoy used to grapple with this question: "Was I merely play acting as a Christian?"  Let us be one with him in this concern.  Albert Schweitzer's decision to engage a mission in Africa and establish a hospital there was  motivated by Jesus:  Seek first the Kingdom of God.  Let us strive to feel the dynamism of the Spirit as we hear, listen and read the words of Jesus.

            -  Fr. Martin I. Mandin, SVD (SAJP, Cainta, Rizal)

Readings and Gospel for July 26, 2015 (Sunday) Fil-Mission Sunday

First Reading 
2 Kgs 4:42-44

A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing the man of God twenty barley loaves from the first fruits, and fresh grain in the ear.  Elisha said, "Give it to the people to eat."  But his servant objected, "How can I set this before a hundred?"  Elisha again said,  "Give it to the people to eat, for thus says the Lord:  You will eat and have some left over."  He set it before them, and when they had eaten, they had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.

Second Reading 
Eph 4:1-6

I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace; one body and one Spirit, as  you were also called to the one  hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all an in all.

Gospel 
Jn 6:1-15

Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (of Tiberias).  A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.  Jesus went up on the mountain and there he sat down with his disciples.  The Jewish feast of Passover was near.  When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?"  He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do.  Philip answered him, "Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little bit."  One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?"  Jesus said, "Have the people recline."  Now there was a great deal of grass in that place.  So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.  Then Jesus took the loaves of fish as they wanted.  When they had their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted."  So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat.  When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world."  Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountains alone.

The Word in other words

The story of the Multiplication of Bread (Jn 6:1-14) has a special touch.  John brings in a boy with five loaves and two fish.  He fascinates me.  Among the multitude who followed Jesus the reader's attention is caught by this nameless boy with his merchandise, whom Andrew mentioned to Jesus (v9).  Surely he was there to do business.  Young though he might be, he would have been the breadwinner of his family; and his poverty made possible the Multiplication of the Bread.

Years ago, while yet working in Brazil, I came across a family of 7 children.  The eldest then was 13 years old; and their age gap averaged to a year and a half.  They all lived in a single parents' home with their mother.  At first, I thought they were all adopted; but in time I discovered that all were children of the same mother, but each one from a different father.  I struck a friendship with them, so that one evening after Mass, Marlene, the mother, briefly told me that when she first got married, her thoughts were that marriage meant forever.  But it was not even after a year that her first husband found another woman and left her.  She needed a companion to raise Roberto, her first born.  She found her second partner who left with her second child.  The story was repeated until the 7th child was born.  She was God-fearing, no doubt; regrettably, she took time to make an informed judgment.  No doubt she loved her children, for whom she worked her heart out as a laundry woman.  But it time she had to get her children take a share in the earning of their bread.

I was to travel by bus to the capital city one evening, and was about to embark for the twelve-hour journey when suddenly three of the children greeted me.  Each carried a couple of bags of fruits to sell.  We chatted for a while but I soon called their attention to the time of the night and advised them to go home.  In reply, Roberto, the eldest, said: "We have to sell all the fruits before we can go home."  Sadness became real in my heart and it left its indelible memory.  It was then 9:00 p.m. and it was winter.

I vividly recall this event as I write these lines.  Like the boy in the multiplication of bread, there are still  today myriads of children lost in the multitude finding a way to earn a living, and many become breadwinners at an early age.  On the other hand, the disciple Andrew (Jn 6:8) in the gospel story, found that the boy with the five loaves and two fish and brought not only his merchandise but also the boy himself to the Lord.  That boy was among the principal witnesses to the miracle of the Multiplication of the Bread.  His presence, as well as his bread and fish, were essential for the miracle to happen.  Yet, we should not forget that there was a disciple who brought him and his merchandise to the Lord.  Both characters together with the Lord produced the miracle.

When out of our poverty we are willing to give the best we have, and when someone recognizes what it can bring about, God can make a miracle that can transform scarcity into abundance.

              -  Fr. Bernard Espiritu, SVD (New Zealand)

Gospel for July 25, 2015 (Saturday)

Mt 20:20-28

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached him with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something.  He said to her, "What do you wish?" She answered him, "Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom."  Jesus said in reply, "You do not know what you are asking.  Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?"  They said to him, "We can."  He replied, "My cup you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, (this) is not mine to give but is for those whom it has been prepared by my Father."  When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the two brothers.  But Jesus summoned them and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt.  But it shall not be so among you.  Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."

The Word in other words

There is a story about the lovable, good old Pope John XXIII.  On his way home to the Vatican, he made a surprise visit to the nuns of the Holy Spirit congregation.

The whole community led by their superior came out to meet their VIP guest.  "And who are you?"  the amiable pope asked the portly sister, leading the community members.  Visibly nervous, she blurted out, "Your Holiness, I am the Mother Superior of the Holy Spirit!"  The pope said, "I didn't know the Holy Spirit has a Mother Superior.  Lucky for you, Sister; I am just the Servant of the Servants of God."

In today's gospel, Jesus teaches about leadership and servanthood.  The apostles were discussing about who was the greatest among them.

Jesus, sensing their ambitions and "jockeying" for position, called them together and gave them a lecture on greatness.  He had to repeat a fundamental theme of his teaching.  The idea of authority common at that time, to which the apostles clung, was that of absolute power- "lording it over others."

"It cannot be that way with you,"Jesus stressed.  "Anyone among you who aspires to greatness must serve and whoever wants to rank first... must serve the needs of all."  The disciple must be like the Master "who came not to be served, but to serve."  Thus, authority as servanthood applies to authority figures like parents, teachers, employers, superiors.

Ask yourself; Do you aspire for titles and high positions for the wrong motives like enjoying the honors, perks, and privileges, as well as the adulations, if not flatteries, of people?  As superiors or employers, do you use your authority to stifle dissent or put down talented constituents out of jealousy?

In God's plan, authority is servanthood.  And to serve is to reign.


                     -  Fr. Bel San Luis, SVD (CKMS, QC)

Gospel for July 24, 2015 (Friday)

Mt 13:18-32

Jesus said to his disciples, "Hear then the parable of the sower.  The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart.

The seed sown on rocky ground is the who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.  But has no root and lasts only for a time.  When some tribulations or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away.

The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit.

But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold."

The Word in other words

Jesus proclaimed His teaching to people in agricultural villages.  They were then acquainted with the different kinds of soil on which farmers would strew the seed.  Hence, when He told them about the different kinds of people who would receive His word, he readily used the parable of the sower.

A person who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it is like a road where the seed can not grow; animals easily steal and run away with it.  The second type of soil is the rocky ground where the seed cannot take roots initially with joy but, like "fair and weather friends," one the tempest of tribulation, persecution or suffering comes they immediately fall away.

The third type of soil is full of thorns.  Just as the thorns choke the plants, so the thorns of worldly anxiety and alluring riches chose those who accept the word spinelessly.  They may have understood the word but they do not have that faith in God and trust in His loving care enough to overcome temptations and resist worldly enticements.

The fourth kind of soil is the rich soil where the seed will grow, take root, and bear much fruit.  This is the image of a person who receives  the Lord's teaching, understands and reflects on it, interiorizes it and makes it a part of his life.

To which image of a soil do we fit it?  Are we like a footpath where the seed can not take roots?  Or like the rocky ground where the word is received without conviction?  Or like the ground with thorns which chokes our faith with worldly cares and endless anxiety? Or are we like the rich soil which grasps His word with our whole being equipped with a faith firmly grounded on reason?  Our trust in His unconditional love and fatherly care is the anchor that keeps us steady and at peace in the midst o the trials and tribulations of this life.

            -  Fr. Ernesto Lagura, SVD (USC, Cebu City)