THE DISTURBING PRESENCE

September 23, 2010
Thursday. 25th Week in Ordinary Time
LUKE 9:7-9

Disturbing presence:

Jesus’ presence is not always comforting, consoling, owe-inspiring and justifying. His presence in most occasions could be disturbing. Such was the experience of Herod, the Tetrarch. Herod was perplexed, confused and disturbed in His conscience when he heard of the story of Jesus. He was disturbed because his immoral ways of life and relationships were exposed and challenged by John the Baptist. John disturbed his conscience, yet Herod did not repent. He liked listening to John but had no courage to face the real face of his own being and to take steps to correct himself. His weakness was revealed when he had to behead John at the desire of his illegal wife Herodias. Now, in Jesus the voice of John came to haunt Herod. He believes that Jesus cannot be anyone but John returned to life. He was disturbed for panic and fear struck him. He is now faced with a double dilemma: This Jesus has shaken the comfort of his castle of immoral life. The return of John has put Herod powerless, for the ultimate weapon of punishment—death—has no effect on the Prophet. Since he can no longer silence John, He has to live in the constant echo of truth that comes straight to his heart from the prophet. He had two options: either repent, leave behind the sinful life and follow the path of reconciliation and love, or ignore the voice of the prophet, give a deaf ear to Him even as pretending to befriend him for the lurking fear of his being. He chose to be complacent, but only to be disturbed for his life forever.

Wishful Thinking:

It takes courage and decisiveness to be converted. A feeble heart and confused mind cannot embark on the path of conversion. Herod is a perfect example of the tragedy of wishful thinking. The call to conversion came to him through John and Jesus. He delighted in listening to them. He longed to see Jesus. Yet, he did not take any step to fulfill this longing of his heart. Imagine, what would have been the course of history, if Herod did listen to his conscience and embarked on the path of conversion, took a step towards the Lord to see Him and decided take the challenge Jesus gave Him! Had that happened, Herod would have been venerated as a great saint throughout the world today, a model to be emulated. But what has become of him is the opposite of the ideal. His heart’s longing for Jesus remained a wishful thinking.

Grace and Repentance:

It was Divine grace that came to Herod in the call of John for repentance. It was again that very same grace in its highest form that came to Him in the person of Jesus. The disturbance in his conscience was vicarious; an act of the Holy Spirit, impelling him to act on it so that he may receive the forgiving and merciful grace from the heart of Jesus. Had he dared taking one step towards God, God would have taken a thousand steps carrying him into His abode of peace and reconciliation.

How about me? How often do I feel the “disturbing presence” of the Lord? What direction do I take when the Lord gives me the grace of His disturbance in my heart? How do I respond to the impelling longing I have “to see Jesus”? Does the desire for constant conversion and transformation remain a “wishful thinking”, or do I take a daring step to encounter the true person I am with the person of Jesus?

HYPOCRITE!

August 25, 2010


Wednesday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time
Matthew 23:27-32

Hypocrisy: If there is one thing that Jesus cannot stand, it is hypocrisy. Jesus has the strongest words and direct approach in condemning hypocrisy. He doesn’t mind offending the sensibilities and pricking the conscience of people as he hits hard on the hypocritical practices, tendencies and attitudes of the society. The entire chapter 23 in the Gospel of Mathew presents to us Jesus’ deploring of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and scribes.

Hypocrisy is duplicity and deception. Even God finds himself helpless in healing a hypocrite. In this sense, hypocrisy is a sin more dangerous than other mortal sins. The hypocrite lives in a world of deception, he deceives himself and others. He is characterized by a split personality, a fake persona, and a deceptive look. His heart wallows in decay and death. His mind and conscience is enveloped in thick darkness of selfishness and self-righteousness. He is a den of the devil that appears in the garb of an innocent child. Even as his heart is rotting and fuming with evil, he has the most attractive smile and the life-style of a saint. He appears to be the standard bearer of holiness. Jesus uses the image of a whitewashed tomb to depict the hypocrite. A well decorated tomb is a beauty to behold. The expensive stones and carvings, the serene surrounding of green grass carpets… indeed, a tomb well kept and decorated is pleasing to the eyes. Yet, the externals of the tomb are just cover-ups of the rotting flesh, the decaying bones and the frightening darkness that lies within. Such is the case with the hypocrite: He is a walking tomb—a glittering, shining, adorable personality outside, and a decaying, rotting, dark personality within. He lives in the tomb of his own creation.

Healing not possible: Perfection is his clarion call. He is perfect, and the whole world is imperfect for him. He is impatient with the imperfections of others even as he is happy with the deceptive self. He does not need reform. Grace of God has no place in him. God can work in us if only we admit our sinfulness and beg for His mercy. Hypocrisy is the highest form of sin, because, it is a sin upon sin. On the one hand, a hypocrite indulges in all forms of sin such as envy, hatred, lust, pride, deception, self-gratification, selfishness, corruption and so on, on the other hand he does not feel he is sinful, he covers up his evil, and puts on a garb of holiness before others and God. If you feel you are perfect, the light of Christ cannot penetrate your heart. The forgiving grace cannot come into your life. This is why Jesus cannot stand hypocrisy in any form.

So today, let me stand bare before God, allow him to search out my heart—my inner feelings, thoughts, fears, anxieties, corruption and self-righteous mentality. Let me open wide the door of my heart, mind and life and admit my sinfulness, weaknesses and imperfections. Let the grace of Christ melt away the duplicity and deception within me, let His light shine upon my being that I may be made whole and clean. Let my steps lead me to the sacrament of reconciliation today that I may be healed of my hypocrisy of words, attitudes and dealings.

BODY AND SOUL

August 15, 2010

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Luke 1: 39-56

Assumption is going home: “And Mary returned to her home”(Lk 1:56 b), this ending phrase of the Gospel passage we have for our reflection today conveys the meaning of the feast of Assumption we celebrate today. Yes, Mary went home. She went home to the Father. She went home as an integral person with her body and soul. It was the work of God for her as she was full of grace, as she was immaculate, the mother of God and of the Church.

Mary’s assumption is the culmination of her “blessed” life on earth and a sign of hope for all mankind. Mary being the prototype of the Church, where she is, we hope to follow. What she has achieved we, her children, hope to share.

Body and Soul: Thanks to the assumption of Mary, we are now sure of something of heaven. Heaven is the place not only of the souls, but also of the bodies. So the best way of praying for the dead is to pray for the person who has died, rather than the departed soul. In the creed we proclaim: “We believe in the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting”.

This feast reminds us of the integral persons that we are: Body and soul. It would be appropriate, then, to reflect today on the spirituality and theology of the human body.

The spirituality and theology of the body: God created us body and spirit. He formed our body from the elements of nature and infused life into it. It is God who animates the body. We glorify God in our bodies.

Priceless: I was once invited to bless the pathological laboratory of a medical college. I was surprised to find some fifty dead bodies laid on the table. I asked them how they managed to get so many of those. They said, most of those were brought for a price ranging from five thousand pesos to twenty thousand pesos. I was taken for surprise: a human body for five thousand pesos! So cheep!

But the fact is, the human body is invaluable. I came across this revelation from the medical field, again, from a researcher who took the effort to come up with the prize tag of an adult human body, taking each limb, and cell and tagging it at the market price. You know how much it is worth? It would be US $386,000 trillion. Yes, your body is worth much more than the entire wealth of the world put together. With all the advancement in the medical field, and with all the strides in the scientific progress, we have not been able to create even a cell of the human body. Micro biology, genetic engineering, and what not, yet we cannot duplicate the wisdom of our created. For, we are created for eternity.

What does it mean to us?
1. Love your body, respect it and cherish it. In your sight, your body may have imperfections, yet it is the hand work of God. Christ, the son of God has revealed to us that He is the head of the Church, and we are His body.

2. Dignity of the body: St Paul reminds us, “Don’t you know that you are the temple of the holy spirit” (1 Cor 3:16), and again, “Don't you know that your body is a temple that belongs to the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit, whom you received from God, lives in you.” (1 Cor 6:19). Abusing the human body is desecrating the temple of God.

3. Commoditization and commercialization of the body: Body sells. Commercial wisdom has proved time and again that human body has the power to bargain, and sell any product. Take a look at the commercials and the advertisements… take a look at the television shows. Human body is exhibited as an alluring commodity. Equally demeaning are the practices of ‘flesh trade’, selling the body for economic, political, social gains.

4. Violence against the body: Human body, in the modern society is vulnerable and susceptible to myriad forms of violence. Direct and visible violence such as murder, strangle, mutilation, rape, abortion and have become so common that they do not even get media attention in our age. There are other forms of violence against the body which are all the more neglected. Such subtle forms include excessive alcoholism, smoking, drug addiction and gluttony. The increase of epidemics and various kinds of illness have a direct connection with the abuse of human body.

5. Mary was assumed into heaven because she was full of grace. Let our body exhibit the grace of God. May Mary, our blessed mother help us to keep our body mind and soul pure, holy, and acceptable for God here on earth and the world to come.