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.