21st Sunday Ordinary C – The Entitlement Virus

What is common with these three situations?

·       Here is Junior, just graduated from college which mom and dad paid for. But he refuses to find a stable job. Bumming around, anyway nariyan naman ang parents house to live in. But he doesn’t even contribute to the home’s upkeep; di tumutulong maglinis or magluto or run errands. Dakilang palamuning di makuntento sa lutong chowking kasi dapat raw Saisaki pero wala man siyang pangtip.

·       Tide commercial: Ako si Mister Payong. Walang takot sa putik. Astig ako di mahuhuli. Kaya damit ay laging puti. Then mud (putik) splashes on his all-white outfit. And he cries like a baby. Puti ang suot ko, di dapat nila puputikan.

·       Then there’s Belle – a very outgoing and friendly sales manager. The company had done a good job in setting her up for success since she shows a lot of promise. But Belle and her team could not close the deals… they perform always below their quota. Belle complains: “But I’m a good and caring person naman.  Everyone in my team loves and respects me. Lahat naman kami nag-put ng effort ah. I deserve to be appreciated by the company for these things that I do.

These people have what we call the Entitlement virus.

Entitlement is the belief that I am special, and I am exempt from responsibility and I deserve special treatment, you have to roll out the red carpet. But excuse me, you are not special… there’ll always be someone ahead of you, someone better than you. No one gets to be No. 1 forever.

Entitlement is the person who thinks he is above all the rules.  Excuse me, you are not God. It is He who makes the rules…. Ex. Gravity (dagsin) – what goes up must come down. Alam ko gusto mong lumipad gaya ng mga superheroes o gaya ng mga airbender, pero di mangyayari noh! Kasi may gravity. You are not above the law of nature.

Entitlement is the person who feels mistreated and therefore all others have to make it up to her. In the movie Camp Sawi: Maganda ka naman, sexy, talented, malaki ang sweldo mo. So if you’re so wonderful, bakit hindi sya nagrereply? Hindi na siya nagpapakita.  Hindi na kayo!

Sabi ni Yassie: “You look horrible.” Sagot ni Bella: “Talaga pangit ba ako?” Yassie: “Medj! (a little)”  Bella: “Sino ba kasi ang broken hearted na maganda, sasaksakin ko.” Now that’s entitlement. Miserable ka, you want others to be miserable too, di bah!

Entitlement is a person who is actually capable of taking care of himself, but then he still expects others to do that for him, because we all owe him that.

We all have that sense of entitlement; this virus exists in us -some have it in small doses and others with a very extra large dose of it. So what is the cure for it?

In Luke (13:24) today, Jesus tells us the cure: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.” The narrow gate, the narrow way, the hard way – that is the only path to undo the negative effects of the entitlement virus.  Dr. John Townsend in his book:”The Entitlement Cure” explains that:  The narrow gate or the narrow way is the habit of doing what is best, rather than what is comfortable, to achieve a worthwhile outcome.  Hebrews (12:12) adds: “So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees… that what is lame in you may not be disjointed but healed.”

When you strive for something worthwhile, be it career or family, or a financial dream, you have two ways to go about this.  Entitlement directs you to give the minimum, find the shortcut, and think only of yourself. The narrow way directs you to the opposite, it focuses on doing what is best for you to reach the goal, even if it is difficult or uncomfortable, even if it takes longer, and spends more of your energy.

After all, the narrow way originates from God. He had to do six days of creation instead of completing it in one (which of course he could if he wanted). Then he sent down his own Son Jesus to become human like us.  Then Jesus suffers and dies just to prove his love to a world who didn’t like him and instead crucified him.  Now that was a more difficult way, but then it was the best way – the narrow way, the hard way.

Many times we complain to God: “How hard this life is! Bakit ba ako laging pinahihirapan ni Lord?”  Hebrews (12:5) reminds us of how God exhorts his children: “My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by Him. For whom the Lord loves, he disciplines. Kung sino pa yung mahal Niya, yun pa ang pinahihirapan  niya.  So endure your trials as discipline.”

O convinced na ba kayo, that for God, the narrow gate, the narrow and hard way is better? And it is the only way to cure the entitlement virus.

Now if you do choose to undertake the narrow way or enter through the narrow gate, there are certain life principles that make this journey possible. These principles cannot be violated or ignored forever. You may disagree with them, deny their existence, insist that these principles are not fair, but that will not change their impact and power. They are larger than we are for they come from God.  The first principle will be in next week’s gospel.  See you then.

Reference:

Adapted, taken and quoted from:  Townsend, J. (2015). The Entitlement Cure.

http://www.boundariesbooks.com/the-entitlement-cure/

Camp Sawi. (2016). Camp Sawi Official Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMl9A5vCe-g

Tide (2016) ‘Wag matakot sa putik ngayong tag-ulan! Todong kaputian mula sa Tide! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DPBxmBLRYA

      

19th Sunday Ordinary C – Tiwala ay Paghihintay

Ang pananalig ay tiwala sa mga bagay na di natin nakikita… Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. Tiwala na mangyayari ang isang bagay na inaasahan natin. Na darating din ang mga bagay bagay na ating hinihintay. (Heb.11.1) And because you believe you wait... and wait. Dahil ikaw ay nananalig, ikaw ay maghihintay.

"Ang tunay na pagibig ay nakapaghihintay"- Did you know that this line is from Balagtas' famous work: Florante at Laura.

The story starts with Florante na nakagapos sa gubat ng Albania. Maghihingalo sa pagpapahirap sa kanya at almost losing hope because his father the King was killed by the enemy Adolfo. At binihag rin nito si Laura ang love ni Florante.The only thing that keeps Florante alive is that thought that somehow, sometime magkikita rin sila ni Laura, magtiwala lang siya at maghintay. Magkikita pa kaya sila ng kanyang minamahal?"Ang tunay na pagibig ay nakapaghihintay." 

Two ladies were discussing about their love life.

L1: Ang swerte mo naman. Your boyfriend is so handsome, so rich, so kind and so romantic. Ano nagpropose na ba sya?

L2: Yes he did.  Sabi nya:  My beloved, akyatin ko ang pinakamataas na bundok,  tatawirin ko ang pinakamakapal na gubat, lalanguyin ko ang pinakamalawak na dagat para lamang patunayan ang pagibig ko sa yo…..

L1: Anyare… 

L2: Ayun break na kami… hirap maghintay… ilang taon na siyang lumalangoy sa dagat di pa dumarating.. baka kinain na ng pating yon!

Sa totoo lang allergic tayong maghintay. Mas gugustuhin pa nating kumain sa turo-turo o fastfood gaya ng chowking, jollibee kaysa yung “wait to be seated” na pagkahaba ng pila.. o kaya ay magluto ng limang oras sa bahay.  Lalo na dito sa Pinas… pagkahabahaba ng pila… sa airport, sa jeep paguwian, sa pagkuha ng mga lisensiya… kaya nga nabwisit na si Duterte at ipnastreamline na yung mga proseso sa gubyerno… kasi nakakabwisit talaga magintay sa pila di lang oras kundi minsan araw pa ang waiting.

Tingnan mo sa supermarket sa checkout, hahanapin mo ang pinakamaiksi na pila…. Minsan sisingit pa… kasi ayaw natin magantay.

Pag ikaw ay may appointment o kaya ay may date… diba di ka mapakali pag siya ay late tapos laging sinisisi ang trapik. O kaya ang iyong hinihintay ay di ka sinipot…. Kainis di ba!

O kaya yung mga single ladies na naghihintay kay Mr Right… di ba nakakainis paglagi na lang tinatanong sa iyo: "Kelan ka ikakasal?"

That's the reality of life: we have to wait... at umasa na yung ating hinihintay ay darating rin sa takdang panahon.

The gospel of today asks:  Sino ang tapat na alipin? Sa Ingles, yung faith-ful puno ng pagtitiwala. And Jesus answers:“Mapalad ang alipin na aabutang nagbabantay at naghihintay sa pagdating ng kanilang panginoon.”  

Let's go back to Florante as two hungry lions try to devour him. At that point the Persian Aladin arrives just in time to rescue him as he slays the predators. Aladin unties Florante and they share their stories. Aladin's father the Sultan in Persia wanted Aladin's girlfriend, Flerida to be his alone. Heartbroken Aladin was banished from their kingdom and waits in the forest hoping that he will meet his love once again. And the story ends when the two men discover two women talking and waiting in the same forest- Laura and Flerida. Paano nangyari yon? Aba eh basahin nyo yung libro. 

Psalm 147: "Ang Diyos ay nagagalak sa mga may takot sa kanya.  Kasiyahan niya’y labis sa mga nagtitiwala at nakapaghihintay sa matatag niyang pag-ibig."

Waiting is our destiny. We cannot bring about what we hope for, so we wait, we wait in darkness for a flame we cannot light. We wait in fear for a happy ending we cannot write. We wait for a "not yet" that feels like a "not ever." Waiting is the hardest work of hope. And believing is its motivation. - Lewis B. Smeads

May hiningi ka ba kay Lord sa panalangin? Kung natanggap mo na, mapgpasalamat. Kung hindi pa, maghintay.?

Awit/Salmo 27:14 “Magantay ka sa Panginoon! Manalig sa kanya at huwag manghinawa. Kay Yahweh tayo magtiwala.”

Maniwala kayo… "yang totoo."

12th Sunday Ordinary C - God Created Fathers

When the good Lord was creating fathers he started with a tall frame. And a female angel nearby said, “What kind of father is that? If you’re going to make children so close to the ground, why have you put fathers up so high? He won’t be able to shoot marbles without kneeling, tuck a child in bed without bending, or even kiss a child without a lot of stooping.” And God smiled and said, “Yes, but if I make him child-size, who would the child have to look up to?”

And when God made a father’s hands, they were large and sinewy. And the angel shook her head sadly and said, “Do you know what you’re doing? Large hands are clumsy. They can’t manage diaper pins, small buttons, rubber bands on pony tails or even remove splinters caused by baseball bats.” And God smiled and said, “I know, but they’re large enough to hold everything a small boy empties from his pockets at the end of a day…yet small enough to cup a child’s face in his hands.”

And then God molded long, slim legs and broad shoulders. And the angel nearly had a heart attack. “Boy, this is the end of the week, all right,” she clucked. “Do you realize you just made a father without a lap? How is he going to pull a child close to him without the kid falling between his legs?” And God smiled and said, “A mother needs a lap. A father needs strong shoulders to pull a toy truck with the child, balance a boy on a bicycle, and hold a sleepy head on the way home from the circus, the movies, or from the park.”

God was in the middle of creating two of the largest feet anyone had ever seen when the angel could contain herself no longer. “That’s not fair. Do you honestly think those large boats are going to dig out of bed early in the morning when the baby cries? Or walk through a small birthday party without crushing at least three of the children?” And God smiled and said, “They’ll work. You’ll see. They’ll support a small child who wants to ride a horse, or scare off mice at their house, or display shoes that will be a challenge to fill.”

God worked throughout the night, giving the father few words, but a firm authoritative voice; eyes that saw everything, but remained calm and tolerant. Finally, almost as an afterthought, he added tears. Then he turned to the angel and said, “Now, are you satisfied that he can love as much as a Mother?” The angel kept quiet. – (Erma Bombeck)

For our Father in heaven, the presence of a father is very important to His children most especially in moments when they need love and comfort. And our Father in heaven who is ever present to us reminds us of that today.

The second reading of today says it all: Through faith, you are all children of the one God, the one Father. And it is all because through baptism, we all now have been clothed in Christ. The Father now sees us all as his sons and daughters because of Jesus, his son.

In the gospel, we find Jesus asking: Who do you say I am? Only Peter got it right: You are the Christ of God…. Or “you are Jesus, son of the Father.”

 In the first Star Wars trilogy, one of the climax was when Darth Vader tries to convince Luke Skywalker to change to the dark side with him by revealing a secret: “I am your father.”  Luke could not accept that until at the very end Darth Vader, his father switched sides to save the life of his son Luke from the most powerful Darth Sidious and got himself killed in the process. Such is the love of a Father be he from the light side or the dark side.

We all have a Father in heaven who in order to save us will do everything in his power…. And so the Father sent his only begotten Son into this world to be like us and bring us back to Him. Such is the love of the Father.

So today be proud knowing the answer to the question: Who do people say I am?  Always remember, you are the child of your Father.

Let us be thankful for our fathers. May we never take them for granted. If you are fortunate enough to still have your father, take the time to thank him…today and every day. And if your father, like mine, is a memory that you treasure, then thank God who is Father of us all for

having given each of us a person whom we were honored one time or another to call father.

Yesterday, I saw this McDonald’s commercial of children singing to their Daddy. For me this expresses our thanks to God our Heavenly Father and to all the Fathers in our lives:

 “Tatanda at lilipas rin ako. Ngunit mayroong awiting para lamang sa ating ala-ala. Sana laging tayo’y magkasama.”

(I will grow old and fade away. But here’s a song for our memories.

How I wish we’d stay together forever.)

References:

Bombeck, E. When God Created Fathers.

http://www.scrapbook.com/poems/doc/25361.html

McDonald's Tribute to Parents, 2016

Original version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h3PyJGJMy4

Solemnity of SHJ: Why a "Sacred" Heart?

Have you ever asked yourself: Why do we have a "Sacred" Heart? and and how come we do not celebrate the feast of the Lord's other body parts, like sacred head, or sacred feet?

In the same way, why do we close our eyes – when we pray, when we kiss, when we cry, and when we dream? It's because the most beautiful things in life are not seen but felt by the heart. That is why the heart is so sacred.

This makes the heart of utmost importance.  Do you know that when all your organs stop to function, your heart will still continue pumping in the hope of trying to save you? That’s probably why we equate the heart with love as we equate the feast of the sacred heart of Jesus as the best reminder of how much God has loved us as a human person. An unconditional love, an undying love, and a sacrificing love. 

For children, many die because of a hole in the heart.

For young people, many die because of a broken heart.

As we reach middle age, many die because of heart attack.

At the end in our senior years, many die because of heart failure.

In our spiritual life, we die when our heart fails, when there is no more love to give.

As we are always reminded to take good care of our heart. So that it does not fail us. Let the Sacred heart of Jesus remind us to take care of the love He has shown us and to see others with that same love. The readings today invite us to be like good shepherds taking care of our sheep. In this year of mercy, the Sacred heart invites us to enter the chaos of another. As the shepherd’s heart is bound to that of his sheep, let that be our attitude towards others in our lives. To have our hearts beat together with theirs… because after all Jesus has offered his own heart to its last beat so that we all might be saved. And so today he asks us to take care of his legacy….. His kind and meek and humble heart.  Do not shoot and riddle the heart with holes of unkind words. Do not break another’s heart with treachery and infidelity.  Do not attack the heart with poison of bad habits which slowly kill it. Do not make the heart fail because of indifference to others and lack of love. In short be careful with the heart.

Jose Marie Chan immortalized a song whose lyrics kinds of reminds us of what Jesus would say to us today:

"If you love me, like you tell me
Please be careful with my heart
You can take it, just don't break it
Or my world will fall apart."
(and it ends with)
"I will be true to you, just a promise from you will do
From the very start, please be careful with my heart."

May 24 – Mary Help of Christians: the mother that's right for you

There is this true story about the Catholic Church in Japan. At the end of the sixteenth century, all foreign missionaries were expelled from Japan, where the seeds of faith had just been planted and were beginning to sprout.  Vicious persecutions followed and lead to the gruesome persecutions like the martyrdom of St Paul Miki and companions. Catholicism was banned and they thought was eradicated.

But two hundred sixty years later, missionaries returned.  In a remote corner in the northeastern part of the country, Jesuit missionaries landed and discovered a tiny village where hundreds of inhabitants gathered every Sunday to pray the Apostles creed, the Our Father, Hail Mary, the Glory Be, and then recite the ten commandments and the eight beatitudes.

Shocked by what they witnessed, they asked where this custom came from. The Japanese villagers replied that sometime in the distant past, men whom they called “fathers” had taught those words to the people and as they anticipated their martyrdom instructed the people to memorize the formulas and gather every Sunday to recite them together in the hope that in the future other “fathers” would return to teach them more about Jesus. Ecstatic, the priests announced: “We are those fathers.”  But the villagers were suspicious, so their leader said: “Those fathers told us that when men claiming to be “fathers” come, we must ask them four questions to be sure they are from the true Church.”

The priests agreed though nervously.

(1)“When you enter your Churches, what do you do?” The Jesuits replied by demonstrating a genuflection, which met excited gasps from the crowd.

(2)”Where does the earthly leader of your Church live?” “In Rome” came the answer and the crowd were whispering to each other now.

(3) “ Do you fathers have wives?” “No” answered the priests and the crowd were now beaming with smiles?

(4) “Does your Lord have a mother and what does she do?” And humbly the priests replied: “Yes and her name is Mary and she helps all Christians.” With that the village broke into a tumult, hoisted the missionaries on their shoulders and led them into their little church which had not seen a priest for the past 260 years.

Mary indeed is the Helper.

In Antioch, the followers of Jesus were called Christians for the first time, and of course they had mother Mary to help them. She is Mary, the Help of Christians although that title was not formalized. Later on the early Church Fathers will refer to her as Boeteia, the Helper- this was recorded by St. John Chrysostom in 345. 

Devotion to Mary under this title became popular in Europe during the pontificate of Pope Pius V and the wars against the Islamic Ottoman Empire. She was invoked under this name by Christian armies who were summoned by Pius V to defend Europe from an impending invasion by the Empire in 1571. The Pope asked his soldiers to invoke Mary under this title as they prepared for the famous Battle of Lepanto in which the Muslim Turks were miraculously defeated by a much smaller Christian force.

A feast day for Our Lady Help of All Christians was not instituted until the pontificate of Pius VII who prayed for Mary’s intercession under this title while in prison for three years during the reign of Napoleon. He was set free in 1814 and his triumphant journey back to Rome was a cause of great celebration throughout Christendom. Along the way, the pontiff visited many shrines of Our Lady where he crowned her images in thanksgiving. He entered Rome on May 24, 1814. A year later, he instituted the same day as the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians to commemorate the anniversary of his return to Rome.

Devotion to Mary under this title quickly spread throughout the Christian world, most notably with St. Don Bosco who dedicated the mother church of the Salesian congregation to her in 1868. St. John Bosco always prayed: “Most Holy Virgin Mary, Help of Christians...  if earthly mothers cease not to remember their children, how can you, the most loving of all mothers forget me? Grant then to me, I implore you, your perpetual help in all my needs, in all my sorrow, and in all my temptations. Amen.”

Mary was the helper of God. She helped God accomplish His plan to save the world. It does not mean that Mary is stronger than God. It does not mean that God is feeble and helpless. But could you imagine Almighty God, He sought and politely begged for the “yes” of His creature to pursue His greatest plan- his greatest miracle…the word becomes flesh. And this makes Mary his ultimate helper.

"Once there was a little dinosaur called a Maiasaur. (A Maiasaur is named after the goddess Maia which literally means: “Good Mother. They have flat beaks like the duck which they use to harvest plants to eat and take to their young ones.)   

One day she told his mother, "I wish I were special like the other dinosaurs. If I were huge and fierce like a T.Rex (tyrannosaur), I could chomp and bite with my ferocious teeth!" But if you were a T. Rex," said his mother, "how would you hug me with your tiny little arms?" 

"I wish I were a Brontosaurus," said the little dinosaur, "so big and with my long neck I could see high above the treetops."

"But if you were a Brontosaurus," said his mother, "how could you hear me in the treetops when I told you I love you?"

"What makes you so special, little Maiasaur?" said his mother. "Is it your ferocious teeth or long neck or flat toothless beak? 
What makes you special, is that out of all the different dinosaurs in the big, wide world, you have the mother who is just right for you. And who will always protect you and will always love you."

We in our parish have Mary Help of Christians who is just right for us… who will always protect us, and will always love us.  “Have devotion to her and you will see what miracles are.”