15th Sunday Ordinary B - Prophet: Profession or Calling?

What is a prophet? Ephesians:1.13 – When you hear the word of truth, and believe in Him, you will be marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit.

An elderly woman had just returned to her home from an evening of religious service when she was startled by an intruder. As she caught the man in the act of robbing her home of its valuables, she yelled, "Stop - Acts 2:38!" (In the name of Jesus, turn away from your sin...) The burglar stopped dead in his tracks. The woman calmly called the police and explained what she had done.  As the officer cuffed the man to take him in, he asked the burglar, "Why did you just stand there? All the old lady did was yell a Bible passage to you and you listened."

"Bible passage?" replied the burglar, "I thought she said she had an AXE and two 38's!"

This burglar heard the words of the old lady and believed in her and now he is marked by the police.  That at least prevented any more disaster in his life.

In the first reading of today, when Amos prophesied in Bethel, Amaziah the high priest drove him away: Go back to Judah where you came from and prophesy there. But never again here at Bethel for this is the king’s sanctuary.” (Am 7.12) They did not listen to him there because he was not a professional prophet.

In those days, if you want to be a professional prophet you need to have credentials. This means you either have to be coming from a long line of prophets as your ancestors or you go to Prophet University and join the fraternity of prophets (association or guild). And then the professional prophet is now deployed. They go and foretell the future of the king, the soldier, the merchant, the farmer and after they get their commission. The more prophecies favorable and fulfilled, the better their track record, more popular they become (they get to be more in demand and sought after), the higher their talent fee. They just have to make sure that their prophecies please their clients for them to collect their fee. It’s just a job not a calling for them.

Instead Amos did not come from a line of prophets nor was he schooled in the art of prophecy. He had no credentials. He was a herdsman tending to his flock and his sycamore trees. This was until God called him to prophesy to Israel – the northern kingdom. The irony is he is coming from Judah – the southern kingdom governed by a different king. So why would he want to be a prophet? And yet Amos heard God’s word and believed in Him. That is why he is marked by the Spirit of God. That’s why for him to be a prophet is a calling not a job.

You see, Amos had to tell the northerners that Israel had become corrupt and unjust; the most elementary aspects of justice and equality were routinely trampled on. Unless the kingdom of the north mended its ways and returned to the ways of God, disaster would overtake them in the form of natural events and military defeats. But the Kingdom of Israel did not heed Amos’ words, and in 722 B.C. the Assyrians totally destroyed the Northern Kingdom, erasing it from history. With this I think you can prophecy what happened to Amos as well as the others.

Nowadays, our “prophets” are sometimes well-informed scientists and experts, and we cannot say that they are not sent by God to bring us to our senses (even if they are unaware of their mission). Pope Francis has joined his prophetic voice to the truth that comes to us through the work of scientists in his encyclical Laudato Si’. He warns humanity to mend its ways, for continued disregard for the environment and contempt for the created order can only end in tragedy for all. If the work of scientists or the words of the Pope are ridiculed or rejected out of hand through ignorance, fear or self-interest, then we will have no one to blame but ourselves. We can only hope that minds and hearts are open to his prophetic warning.

God’s warning also comes in the form of the apostle’s proclamation as prophets of the gospel of Jesus. They were to travel light – nothing for their journey except for their staff, their sandals, and the clothes on their backs just like the true prophets of old. Why? Because they have heard the word, believed in Jesus, and are now marked by the seal of the Spirit.

And this alone should be enough. We are all called to be prophets and to convey God’s truth in this world. But just like the professional prophets, the temptations for us are great to see this just as a profession and not as a calling. Temptations abound for us to prophecy on the side of the rich and powerful and to ignore the poor and abandoned because it is more convenient.

Three boys are in the school yard bragging about their uncles’ professions- “So, who’s your uncle?” The first boy says, 'My uncle scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a poem, they give him $50.' The second boy says, 'That's nothing. My uncle scribbles a few words on piece of paper, he calls it a song, they give him $100.' The third boy says, 'That’s peanuts. My uncle scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a sermon, and it takes eight people to collect all the money!'

Today let us remember, just like Amos, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, the apostles - to be God’s prophet is our calling. After the priest has baptised us with water, he then anoints us with holy oil as he says: “God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has freed you from sin. He now anoints you with the chrism of salvation. As Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet, and King, so may you live always as members of his body, sharing everlasting life.” We were called to be prophets through our baptism when we heard the word, believed in God and were marked by the Holy Spirit. Let us be faithful to that calling.

References:

Glenn, A. (2005). Prophecies for dummies. The Skeptic Report.

http://www.skepticreport.com/sr/?p=449

Lewis, S. (2015). Often man refuses to hear the truth. The Catholic Register.

http://www.catholicregister.org/faith/frscottlewis/item/20527-often-man-refuses-to-hear-the-truth

MIndel. N.(2015) The Prophet Amos. Chabad.org. Kehot Publication Society.

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/112277/jewish/The-Prophet-Amos.htm

Gill, M. & J. Spoolstra. (2015). Jesus: Priest, Prophet, King. Link to Liturgy.

http://www.linktoliturgy.com/index.cfm?load=page&page=614

14th Sunday Ordinary B - The Homer Simpson Effect

An old man is wondering if his wife had a hearing problem. So one night, while his wife is sitting in her lounge chair, he goes behind her and says softly to her, “Honey, can you hear me?” He gets no response. He moves a little closer and says again, “Honey, can you hear me?” Still, he gets no response. Finally he moves right in front of her and said, “Honey, can you hear me?” This time she looks up with surprise in her eyes and replies, “For the third time, Henry, Yes, I can hear you!”

Who has the hearing problem now, the man or his wife? We are all too ready to blame the other person for a breakdown in communication when all the time we ourselves might be principally responsible for the situation.

In today’s gospel we read of a serious breakdown in communication between Jesus and his townspeople. It was so serious that Jesus was literally unable to perform any miracles there. “And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them.” (Mk 6:5)

A breakdown in communication is brought about when one party refuses to listen to the other. 

We hear of it happening in ancient times, the time of Ezekiel as in today’s first reading. God gave him an unpleasant task of telling them that because of their infidelity the temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed. “Thus says the Lord God: Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel… whether they listen or refuse to listen, they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.” (Ez. 2:3.5) God wants to communicate with his people through his prophet Ezekiel and his people continue to turn a deaf ear. This is still happening in our time.

This phenomenon is called the Homer Simpson Effect.  You see Homer Simpson is a guy who is not very good at listening. It shows in two ways. The first manifestation of the Homer Simpson effect - If we refuse to listen…we can’t hear! In one episode Homer Simpson meets Elon Musk (American-Canadian inventor of Tesla electric cars), then invites him to where he works – the nuclear plant. Homer tells him: “If anybody asks you something you don't understand, just say protons.” It’s like closing both ears with your hands and saying: “La la la.”   This is also called in communication as inactive listening – “In one ear and out the other.” You hear the words, but your mind is wandering and therefore no communication is taking place.  We do it many times when we do not like what is said to or of us. We do this when we are asked something beyond our comfort zones. When the word of God pierces our conscience, we close our ears, we shut down our brains, and we simply refuse to listen.

The second manifestation of the Homer Simpson effect – You hear only what you want to hear! - also known in communication as selective listening.   

In a Christmas episode of the Simpsons, Homer was supposed to be back at the house early from work in time for Christmas Eve. He however spends time drinking at Moe’s bar. Marge, his wife upon finding out, kicks him out of the house.  Homer wanders around town until ends up at a depressing party for mall workers where they drink without joy. Marge finally comes and rescues him from that party. And what is the lesson of this for Homer: “Thank you magical creatures of the mall! You have all taught me a Christmas message I'll never forget. The place to get drunk is at home.”

In the second reading, St Paul was sent to preach to the Corinthians. Paul did get many followers as he preached to them a God who resurrected from the dead to rescue us all from slavery. They all believed. 

But when Paul tells them of the need to be humble, of bearing their thorns in the flesh, of learning to boast of weakness and to trust only in God’s grace, many left him. They only want a God who is powerful and can make them only strong. In short, they selected only what they want to hear.

The Corinthians pretended to hear and agree to what Paul said when actually their intent was to not act on the message, but make the other person think they would – selective listening. This happens to us too whenever we pray. Sometimes we listen to God only for the solutions to our problems that we would like to hear. When we listen to the homily we listen only to the part that we like and shut our ears to those parts that would inconvenience us. We select what we want to hear.

We see this in real life. Wife says: “You know, I love you, yet you are a slob. Amazing how lazy you are! Don’t even think you can go out to the bar with your friends tonight. I need your help to clean and there is no way I can take care of everything myself.” (Husband hears only those in bold.)

This Homer Simpson effect is the reason why a prophet is not listened to or taken seriously in his own hometown. We see this in Ezekiel, Paul, and Jesus today. And yet the mark of a true prophet is one of active listening – to listen to the intent and the content. Ezekiel, Paul, Jesus were open to God’s word and they preached it as is. We are all called to be prophets too because of our baptism and we can start by really, attentively listening to Him.

References:

Goldie, K. (2013). Hear No Evil: The Science Behind Selective Hearing.

http://greatist.com/happiness/selective-hearing-real-better-communication

Jennerich, E. (2005). Infopeople Project [infopeople.org]

https://infopeople.org/sites/all/files/past/2005/customer/4Types_of_Listening.pdf

Paradis, J. 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B. Agustinian Friends.  http://www.augustinianfriends.org/homilies/hom_14b.pdf

Richards, L. (2009). 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B. The Reason for our Hope.

http://www.thereasonforourhope.org/pdfs_homily/20090705.pdf

13th Sunday Ordinary B - Tiramisu

Three men wanted to kill time – to make time stop. So they stood on top of a building and decided to throw their watches down the street. Watch breaks, time stops, watch dies. The first man threw his watch and it broke when it hit the bottom of the building. Time stops, watch dies. Then the second man did the same thing, and it also broke. 

The third man threw his watch down the building, but ran down to pick it up. When he reached the two, they find his watch still ticking, still alive, time has not stopped. 

The other two men were very confused, so they asked how that was possible. The third man told them, “Oh it wasn’t that difficult. My watch is 10 minutes slow.”

Death is when time stops. And yet God did not make death. God created us for life.  When they came to the house of Jairus, Jesus heard people weeping and wailing loudly. As Jesus enters, he tells them: Why do you weep? The child is not dead she is only sleeping.”

Sometimes we are too engrossed about dying that we forget about living.  Sometimes we feel too depressed by the things going on around us that we would rather wallow in our misery like zombies preferring to live in the dark than to risk going out in the sunshine. It is because that as we journey through life, we must realize that there will be ups and downs. 

When we are knocked down and we find ourselves broken, we need a pick-me-up, or as the Italians might say, a “tirami-su” which means: pick me up or lift me up. Remember, no matter what way you are knocked down, Jesus is there to pick you up. You just have to believe.

In the gospel of today we see two females who were lifted up by Jesus. The first was a little girl of twelve years of age. The other was a poor elderly woman who has been suffering for twelve years. The first was the daughter of a rich synagogue leader, Jairus. The second was a daughter of Jerusalem symbolizing the poor and abandoned women. To the first Jesus says: “Talitha koum, little girl, daughter of Jairus, do not worry, I will pick you up.”  (Mark 5:41) To the second, Jesus says: “Daughter, your faith has made you well, I lift you up now, go in peace.” (Mark 5:34) The first daughter rose from her death because of the faith of her father. The second daughter rose from her sickness because of her faith in touching Jesus through his garments. Neither expressed their wishes to Jesus directly, yet Jesus lifted both up because he knew both had faith. Somehow both daughters believed they could be healed.

Let us have faith in the healing power of Jesus and allow Jesus to take us by the hand when we need and help us up. Let us have faith in the power of Jesus to reverse bad situations. Occasionally we are inspired when we meet sick or dying people who suffer cruel pains but who lovingly reassures us that it will all be made good in heaven. One lady who lost both feet through diabetes said smilingly “Don’t worry, I’ll get a new set of feet when I reach heaven.”

It is not only sickness that can knock us down. We can be knocked down emotionally and psychologically. We can be knocked down by the hurts others inflict on us and by what they say or do to us. It is not always true to say that “Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me.” But the truth is, names, words, attitudes also hurt. On those occasions we also need a pick-me-up and on those occasions Jesus is also there to pick us up - Tiramisu!

Unfortunately, though many times Jesus picks us up from our infirmities, we still doubt his power and refuse to believe.

Once a man had to go shopping and, like many men, he dreaded the experience and was never very patient about it. So this particular time, when he got to the parking lot at the mall, it was jammed. He drove around for five minutes looking for a spot, getting more and more agitated.  Finally, in desperation, he looked up to heaven and said, “Lord, if you find me a parking place, I’ll go to church every Sunday for the rest of the year.” Miraculously, a car then pulled out right in front of him and a place opened up. The man looked quickly back up to the sky and said, “Never mind, Lord, I found one.”

Jesus invites us to a faith which transcends present suffering and future death. He invites us to the peace and joy of total faith in a future which is in his loving hands. No matter what we may suffer, even death, he invites us, not to fear, but to rejoice and trust in him.

Lane, T. (2013). “We have faith in the power of Jesus to heal us and pick us up.” Homily for the Thirteenth Sunday of Year B. http://www.frtommylane.com/homilies/year_b/13.htm

“… your faith has saved you; go in peace and be healed”

https://vimeo.com/channels/yearb/78215088

6th Sunday Easter: God's love through Mom

Love assures, yet love requires: “As the Father loves me, so I love you – you must love one another.” Love is an assurance, love has a requirement.

A few years ago there was this e-mail that went viral. It was written by a Korean guy about his mother:

My mom only had one eye. I hated her… She was such an embarrassment. She cooked for students and teachers to support the family. There was this one day during elementary school where my mom came to say hello to me. I was so embarrassed. How could she do this to me? I ignored her, threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school one of my classmates said, "EEEE, your mom only has one eye!"  I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my mom to just disappear. I confronted her that day and said, "If you’re only gonna make me a laughing stock, why don’t you just die?" My mom did not respond… I didn’t even stop to think for a second about what I had said, because I was full of anger. I was oblivious to her feelings. 

I wanted out of that house, and have nothing to do with her. So I studied real hard, got a chance to go study in the city, Seoul and never went back.  Then, I got married. I bought a house of my own. I had kids of my own. I was happy with my life, my kids and the comforts.

Then one day, my Mother came to visit me. She hadn’t seen me in years and she didn’t even meet her grandchildren. When she stood by the door, my children laughed at her, and I yelled at her for coming over uninvited. I screamed at her, "How dare you come to my house and scare my children! GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!"  And to this, my mother quietly answered, "Oh, I’m so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address," and she disappeared out of sight.

One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house. So I lied to my wife that I was going on a business trip. After the reunion, I went to the old shack just out of curiosity. My neighbors said that she had just passed away. I did not shed a single tear. They handed me a letter that she had wanted me to have.

“My dearest son,

I think of you all the time. I’m sorry that I came to your house and scared your children.

I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I may not be able to even get out of bed to see you. I’m sorry that I was a constant embarrassment to you when you were growing up.

You see……..when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mother, I couldn’t stand watching you having to grow up with one eye. So I gave you mine. I was so proud of my son who was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye.”

With all my love to you,

Your mother

Such is a mother’s love. Just as in Isaiah 49, we ask: Can a mother forget her baby? Or can she not feel love for the child within her womb?  We all know the answer. But then Isaiah continues: “But even if that were possible, I,  Yahweh, your God would not forget you!” (Is.49.15)

That is God’s love. That is unconditional love- a love that gives and asks nothing in return – a love that originates from God. For as the first reading teaches us: “Beloved let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” And we all know that a mom, a mother often embodies that kind of unconditional love. A mother would do anything for her child even to the point of sacrificing her own life. It’s like what we hear in the gospel of today: “There is no greater love than to give up one’s life for a beloved.” Love after all means assurance, acceptance, feeling safe with the one who loves you.

But together with acceptance comes requirements. This aspect of love is harder, especially today. We've been influenced by the idea that, maybe, we are simply programmed by evolution. And since morality seems to vary from culture to culture, it is difficult to talk about commandments anymore.

There's one commandment that young people recognize. This is going surprise some parents, young people even if they will not show it or seem to go against it, they will always recognize this requirement: Honor your father and mother. I've seen the toughest, most hardened guys, including men in prison, say that what most bothers them: they have failed their parents; they have disgraced them. It's something deep in all of us. We want our parents – our mother, our father, or a person who stands for them - to say, "Good job. Well done." We want to bring them honor. God has planted that requirement, that commandment in the depths of our being.

Toya Graham, the mother who was caught on video smacking her son after witnessing him throwing objects at officers, said she disciplined him in public because she wanted her son to learn a valuable lesson. "That's my only son and at the end of the day I don't want him to be a Freddie Gray."

No matter how tough looking her son could be with that hoodie and that rock in hand. Before mom, he could not but obey. He would never dare dishonor his mother. And as for Toya, no mother would want to lose her child and she would go to no end, would pay all cost just to keep the child safe even if this child would have to toe the line.

So moms represent both assurance and requirement. Of course, no one has a perfect mom. God gave me an amazing one, but she too had her defects. And at times mom could be irritating. But she did embody assurance and requirement. And most important she points to the one who says, "As the Father loves me, so I also love you." And: "Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.”(Jn.15.9)

References:

_______ (2011). “The eyes have it.”  http://www.snopes.com/glurge/oneeye.asp#glMf18CCBGMvWYFr.99

Chan, M. (2015). Baltimore mother who beat son for taking part in riots says “he will not be a Freddie Gray.” New York Daily News.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/baltimore-mother-smacks-scolds-son-rioting-article-1.2201723

Bloom, P. (2015). “Assurance and Requirement.” St Mary of the Valley.

http://stmaryvalleybloom.org/homilyfor-6easter-b.html

4th Sunday Easter: A Smell like the Sheep, a Smile like the Shepherd

An elderly woman went to a very kind and smiling doctor's office for a check-up. The kind and smiling doctor asked if she had any problems. The woman said that she had a terrible farting problem, but they were silent & didn't smell. In fact she had farted at least 10 times since she had been in the office, but as they were silent and did not smell the kind doctor wouldn't have known. The doctor listened to her story and smiled at her kindly. Then he gave her a prescription for some pills. He told her to take these for a week and then come back to see him.

One week later the elderly woman returned to the smiling doctor's office and complained "I don't know what you did but those pills you gave me have got my wind smelling awful, mind you they are still silent but boy do they stink!" The kind doctor again smiled and replied, "Good, now that your sinuses are cleared up we will work on improving your hearing!"

So the story smells, but it puts a smile in your face. Remember those two words – Smell. Smile. As Pope Francis would put it: Smell like the Sheep, Smile like the Shepherd.

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday. When we talk of the Good Shepherd we normally refer to Pastors and priests. But this is also refers to leaders, to parents, to teachers. In Chris Lowney’s Heroic Leadership, he says that most people do not see themselves as leaders, but in fact, anyone with influence over another person is a leader. And who isn’t influencing at least one other person? We are all leaders. We are all shepherds with sheep to look after. And what would distinguish us as shepherds would be our smell and our smile.

Pope Francis reminded us in that Holy Chrism homily “A shepherd should smell like sheep.”  This is because good shepherds are close to their sheep.  Jesus in today’s gospel says: “I am the good Shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.” The intimacy of Jesus with the Father, he shares with us. And he knows us well because he is always close to us.

In the same way, the closer, more intimate you are with your sheep, the more comfortable they are with you and the more likely they will be to follow you when you call.  The closer, more intimate you are with your sheep the better you know their needs and can give them exactly what they require to flourish.  The closer, more intimate you are with your sheep the better you are able to protect them.  The closer, more intimate you are with your sheep, the more you get to smell like them.  

We the followers of Jesus should understand that shepherds should smell like sheep. Our shoes and sandals should be caked with their mud and their mess. Our skin ought to bear the scratches and the dryness of exposure to wind, sun, and rain.  We should be so frequently among them that we smell like them, that we smell like their real lives, sometimes fragrant but more often sweaty, musty, offensive, dirtied from battle with a world so unforgiving.

And if we do that job well of being with them, we cannot but feel tired at the end of the day. But then if we love the sheep, then we end the day with a smile on our face as we see our sheep safely resting.

Pope Francis comments: “There is a good and healthy tiredness. It is the exhaustion of the shepherd who wears the smell of the sheep… but also smiles the smile of a father rejoicing in his children or grandchildren.  We are the friends of the Good Shepherd: this is our joy. If Jesus is shepherding the flock in our midst, we cannot be shepherds who are glum, plaintive or, even worse, bored. The smell of the sheep and the smile of a father…. Weary, yes, but with the joy of those who hear the Lord saying to us: “Come, O blessed of the Father” (Mt 25:34).

And our response to this could only be: as in Psalm 80 – Lord let your face smile upon us and we shall be saved. Psalm 119 - Smile on me, your servant; teach me the right way to live. And our only wish for our sheep: Num 6 - May the Lord smile upon you and be gracious to you.

Do you know how we can make God smile? “God smiles when we trust Him completely.” God enjoys watching every detail of your life and when He sees us really devoted to our job of shepherding, God smiles – the smile of the Father, the smile of the Shepherd.

There was this social experiment in a Pandora jewelry commercial (click to see video). They lined up six women whose children are blindfolded and asked to “find their own Mom” using their “intuition.”  One child goes and starts smelling the women, stops at one and then starts to feel her face. And as the child touches the curves of her lips, and even without removing the blindfold, the child embraces the woman. And all the other children did similarly and all found their mom. The smell of the mom reflects the smell of her child that is why the child immediately found her and as soon as the child feels the smile of Mom he or she is then reassured - the child could not go wrong. Like the mother a type of the Good Shepherd, we too should have the smell of our sheep, and the smile of the Divine Shepherd.

So will we smell like sheep? I hope so, for I think, in the end, it will be by that smell – a good and fragrant smell like that of  Jesus adored by shepherds in an animal shed, Jesus the Good Shepherd who awaits us as the Lamb of God – and that Jesus our Good Shepherd will know us as his own and gather us to his side as we cherish that smile which he looks down upon us with love.

References:

Pope Francis. 28 March 2013.

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130328_messa-crismale.html

Pope Francis. 2 April 2015.

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2015/documents/papa-francesco_20150402_omelia-crisma.html

Lowny, C. (2005). Heroic Leadership: Best Practices from a 450-year-old Company that Changed the World. Loyola Press, Chicago.  http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/book_20080721_1.htm

Pandora. (2015). The unique connection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRoqk_z2Lgg

Blindfolded Children Pick Out Their Moms in Pandora’s Mother’s Day Ad

http://blogs.wsj.com/cmo/2015/04/23/pandora-mothers-day-adwatch/

This Elderly Woman. http://www.angelfire.com/ny4/Heartprints/H12.html   

2nd Sunday Easter - Divine Mercy

On the morning of January 14, 2009, Fred Berretta decided to clean out his briefcase, something he hadn't done in a long time. As he emptied it out, he came across the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy, a booklet he had stuffed there years ago. He recalls having prayed it a few times only. But by this time, he had completely forgotten it there among spreadsheets and reports and matters that seemed far more urgent than praying.

Only two weeks before, Fred had made a New Year's resolution to try to get better spiritually. Here in this hotel room was an opportunity to fulfill it. So he started to pray the chaplet, a prayer our Lord gave to St. Faustina Kowalska in the 1930s during a series of revelations that sparked the Divine Mercy movement. The time happened to be 3 o'clock, known as the Hour of Great Mercy, when Jesus died on the cross.

Little did he know that this would be his preparation for his impending meeting with death. The following day Fred together with 155 people boarded a jet airliner at LaGuardia Airport bound for Charlotte, N.C., his home town. Ninety seconds after takeoff, the jet apparently hit a flock of geese, the engines exploded, and the plane started to lose power at 3,200 feet. The aircraft was now out of reach from any airfield. It lost thrust and altitude. Everything became eerily quiet. Fred fastened his seatbelt. His left hand clutched the armrest, his heartbeat raced, his face was flushed. "Prepare for impact," the pilot said over the PA system.

He thought about his family — his wife and four young children. He thought about God, about death, about trust, about an extraordinary promise made by Jesus that he read the previous day in that booklet.

What was the promise? Suddenly, it would come to him, the last passage he read before heading off to his meeting. Jesus said to St. Faustina, "This is the hour of great mercy. In this hour, I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion (Diary, 1320).

As the ground surged into view, Fred looked at his watch. It was 3:30, the Hour of Great Mercy! Fred prayed with every fiber of emotion and sincerity he could muster, 'God, please be merciful to us.'"

And the rest of is now history. This was the crash landing of Flight 1549 in the Hudson River on Jan. 15, 2009. No one was seriously injured. The news quickly dubbed it the "Miracle on the Hudson." There in the news that day were images of a US Airways Airbus floating gently down the frigid Hudson. The passengers stood on its wings, calmly awaiting rescue. In the history of aviation no jet liner had ever made an emergency landing on water without casualties.

In February 1931 Sister Faustina saw Jesus dressed in a white garment. He held one hand raised in blessing and the other hand touching his garment at the breast as in this picture. From that point in his garment two rays of light emanated, one red and the other pale. Jesus requested that we venerate this image - the Divine Mercy underneath are the words: “Jesus, I trust in You.”

Take a look at the Gospel reading today. When Jesus appears to his apostles, he says to them, “Peace be with you.” They were not at peace. They knew Jesus Christ, they believed in Him , but they were not at peace. They were afraid.

So why are we also afraid? The only reason we would be afraid, that we would not be at peace is because we don't trust Him. We don't fully believe. In our heads, we know; but in our hearts, we don't accept. We keep Jesus at an arm's distance so that our lives don't have to change. We don't want to let him in deep because we know that it will do something to us; something incredible, but we don't know what. So we don't let him get any closer. We are afraid to be vulnerable before God.

And yet the second reading today puts it: “Place your trust in me. I have conquered the world. It is I who come in water and blood. Be at peace. It is the Spirit who will testify” In the gospel, we are shown how the Holy Spirit is breathed upon the disciples and how they are given the authority to forgiver sins, our sins. When we really know that our sins are forgiven, we can be at peace. Many do not believe they cannot be forgiven. They don't believe that God really loves them because they do not believe that they can be loved.

So what does our Risen Lord of Divine Mercy do? He comes to us and He points to his heart. The rays of love flow from his heart depicting, in two different colors, the waters of baptism and the blood of Christ. These symbols represent The Eucharist and Baptism; the covenant and the celebration of the covenant that we entered into. It is the reality of the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and the reality of having your soul and mine cleansed of sin through Confession.

When we kneel before the priest in confession and hear those beautiful words of absolution, we walk out with the knowledge, the unshakable knowledge, that our sins have been washed away. They are no longer there. Jesus wants, more than anything, to forgive our sins.

The message Sr. Faustina Kowalska brought is the answer that God offers to the questions and expectations of human beings in our time, marked by terrible tragedies. Jesus said to Sr. Faustina: "Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy" (Diary, 300). 

Divine Mercy! This is the Easter gift that the Church receives from the risen Christ and offers to humanity today.

References:

Carroll, F. (2009). A book helped a passenger to pray: “God be merciful to us.” http://thedivinemercy.org/news/story.php?NID=3493

John Paul II. (2001). Pope´s Homily on Divine Mercy Sunday

"This Miracle Has Changed Humanity´s Destiny"

http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-s-homily-on-divine-mercy-sunday

Kearns, P. (2010). “Divine Mercy.” Deacon Pat’s Homilies.

http://deaconpathomily.blogspot.ca/2010/04/divine-mercy.html

Lane, T. (2013). Homily for the Second Sunday of Easter - Divine Mercy Sunday.

http://www.frtommylane.com/homilies/years_abc/divine_mercy_sunday.htm

Good Friday- Have Courage and Be Kind

The final words in a dying person’s life always command our respect. In the movie Cinderella, just before her mother died, she whispered to her daughter her dying wish, words of wisdom for Ella to live by: ““I want to tell you a secret that will see you through all the trials that life can offer: Have courage and be kind.”  These are the same words which Jesus while dying on the cross left each one of us:

Have Courage. On that cross, Jesus cries out: My God, my God why have you forsaken me? I thirst, It is finished, Father into your hands I commend my spirit.

These were not words of despair, these words were a prayer of trust in God amidst such insufferable pain and anguish – a prayer of a brave man.

Be Kind. To his most loved persons Mary and John: Woman, behold thy son. Son, behold thy mother.

To the repentant thief: You will be with me.

To all those who wronged him: Father, forgive them.

A dying person’s words are so sacred that there is a sense of urgency to fulfill that wish and tell others about it.

There is a short story by Franz Kafka - "An Imperial Message". It speaks of a king who, on his deathbed, calls to his side a subject and whispers a message- his dying wish for you- into his ear. So important is the message that king makes the subject repeat it, in turn, into his ear. Then, with a nod, he sends off this messenger, who sets out on his way to deliver the message to you.

“The messenger started off at once, a powerful, tireless man. Sticking one arm out and then another, he makes his way through the crowd. If he runs into resistance, he points to his breast where there is a sign of the sun. So he moves forward. But the crowd is so huge gathered all around the palace halls the distance seemingly infinite. If there were an open field, how he would fly along, and soon you would hear the marvelous pounding of his fist on your door. But instead of that, how futile are all his efforts. He is still forcing his way through the innermost palace. He will never win his way through. And if he did manage that he would have to fight his way down the steps. Then he would have to stride through the courtyards, and after that through the second palace encircling the first. And if he finally did burst through the outermost door—but that can never, never happen—for in front of him lies the royal capital city, the centre of the world. No one pushes his way through here, certainly not with a message from a dead man. But you, you sit at your window when evening falls and dream it to yourself.”

Remember this: From his deathbed, Christ confided to his Church his message: "I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!" (Jn. 16:33). Be brave, have courage.

There are still many men and women who stand by the window and dream, without knowing this message. And the only way it will reach them is if we the messengers bring it to them and let them experience it. And how do we do that? “Be kind to each other. Love one another just as I have loved you. By this everyone will know that you are my messenger, if you have love for one another.” (Jn.13:34) Be kind.

Today as the soldier pierces Jesus’ side and as he breathes forth his last, hear him whisper to you: “Have courage, be kind.”

Reference:

Cantalamessa, R. (2013). “Justified as a gift through faith in the blood of Christ.”

http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/father-cantalamessa-s-good-friday-homily--6

Kafka, F. (2009). “An Imperial Message.” https://records.viu.ca/~Johnstoi/kafka/imperialmessage.htm

5th Sunday Lent- Two seeds: One grows, the other fail to live.

“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” - really?

Two seeds are buried and both die. Later one lives, the other does not. Why? Because one is a good seed, the other is already rotten… corrupt…The first is a situation called sin. The other is a situation called corruption. There is a difference.

The first seed that dies is a situation of sin. We are all sinners. And just like that seed that is buried in darkness, we realize we need light in order to survive. So we ask for God’s help and mercy. We do not stay dead, we do not want to. So like the seed that searches for the light, we long for God to save us. When we acknowledge and admit: Yes Lord I am a sinner…we are actually plunging ourselves into the mercy of the Father, who loves us and waits for us every moment. And just like that seed which moves up the ground towards the light, we too look up to God’s light. And as the plant starts to live so do we in God’s grace.

The second seed, the rotten one, however is in a state of corruption. This is when God is no longer the treasure of our heart – when he does not matter anymore to us. A corrupt person feels very comfortable and happy with himself like that man who was planning to build new barns (Lk 12:16). "If you eat you'll die. If you don't eat you'll die. You will die just the same... so why not eat and die!"

If the situation becomes difficult, the corrupt one knows all the excuses to get himself out of it. “Stealing? That’s fine… as long as you don’t get caught.” Corrupt people have built up their self-esteem on that type of deceitful attitude.  And they go through life taking the shortcuts to their self-advantage, at the price of their own dignity and that of other people. Their expression is: “Oh I didn’t do it” with a matching face of a saint. Corrupt people berate and blame themselves unconsciously and then project their irritation with themselves to others. So instead of attacking themselves, they attack others.

In “The Way of Humility” Pope Francis makes this conclusion: It would be fair to say that sins could be forgiven, but corruption cannot be forgiven. Why? Because at the bottom of every corrupt attitude is a weariness with the transcendent. Instead of turning to God who never tires of forgiving, the corrupt person turns to himself as sufficient for his own salvation – in short he cannot be forgiven because he has tired of asking for forgiveness.

The first seed continues to grow because in dying it has seen its mission to live, the second seed, the rotten one, the corrupt one, has lost hope in the hereafter and sees death as the interruption of his life and his mission to enrich himself here.

Instead, Jesus saw death as a fulfilment of his life and mission. Many times in the gospel the people had planned to entrap him but Jesus always escaped from their hands because "his hour had not yet come" (John 7:30). But now: "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.... And what should I say: “Father, save me from this hour? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour" (John 12:23, 27). Jesus uses the parable of the grain of wheat to explain that when we shy away from death when the hour has come, we only forsake our life and mission (our mission remains just a single grain). But when we give up ourselves in death when the hour has come, we bring forth life (our mission will bear much fruit).

Let me show this in a story: In the 1970’s in El Salvador, power and wealth were in the hands of a few, while the great majority of the people were poor and marginalised. Any widespread protest or unrest was suppressed by the army and by the death squads of the rich and powerful. At that time Oscar Romero was bishop of a small country diocese- timid, hesitant of change, and conservative. So when he was appointed Archbishop, the rich and powerful felt he was under their control. Romero’s conversion occurred just three weeks after his appointment. In a small country town in his archdiocese a young Jesuit priest he knew (Fr. Rutilio Grande), together with an old man and a boy were assassinated. On hearing of their killing, Romero went immediately to the village and celebrated mass there with the Jesuit provincial. That night, with the many peasants who had come in from the surrounding countryside, he kept vigil. That night he read the Gospel message anew through the eyes of the poor and oppressed. He said to the Provincial, “When I looked at my friend priest lying there dead, I thought, ‘If they killed him for doing what he did, then I, too, have to walk that same path’.”

On his return to the capital, he summoned his priests and advisers and determined to boycott all state occasions until an official investigation of the killing was carried out. It never happened, and so he never attended a single state occasion, not even the swearing in of the new president. He also closed the Catholic schools for three days, inviting teachers and pupils to reflect on what had happened. Finally, he decided to suspend all masses in the capital the following Sunday, except the one in the cathedral as a sign of protest and to which he invited the priest and people of the city to attend. Over 150 priests concelebrated that Mass. Over the next three years, Romero, visibly growing in strength and confidence, became the defender of the oppressed, the voice of the voiceless. Then the Archbishop appealed to the ordinary soldiers of the army to disobey orders of higher ups to kill their fellow citizens: “Brothers, you come from your own people. You are killing your own brother peasants. God says: Thou shalt not kill. No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God.”

Two weeks later, in an interview a journalist asked him: “Are you afraid of death?” He answered: “I have often been threatened with death. As a Christian, I do not believe in death without resurrection. If they kill me, I will rise again in the people. As their pastor, I am obliged to give my life for those I love, my countrymen, even for those who are going to assassinate me. May my death, if accepted by God, be for the freedom of my people and a witness for hope in the future. If they come and kill me, I forgive and bless those who do it. A bishop may die, but the Church of God, which is the people, will never perish.”  

On the 24th of March 1980, as he was celebrating evening mass, right after he finished the sermon and just as he had taken the bread to begin the liturgy of the Eucharist, a hired marksman fired a fatal shot through the doors of the church; Romero fell dead behind the altar. What a way to die!

Two months from now, on May 23^rd, Archbishop Oscar Romero will be declared blessed in his native land, El Salvador.  And this brings me back to the first statement: When a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, will it really bear much fruit? "Real"-ly!

References:

Bergoglio, J.M. (2014). The Way of Humility. Claretian Publication, Quezon City.

Campbell-Johnston, M. (2011). “Romero: the voice of those who had no voice.” http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20110323_1.htm

Romerotrust.org.uk http://www.romerotrust.org.uk/documents/anniversary%20homilies/michaelcj.pdf

Munachi, E. (2012). Sunday Homilies for Year B. “Unless a Grain of Wheat Dies.”  http://www.munachi.com/b/lentb5.htm

Sleeping Saint Joseph - March 19

This morning at the Mass of the Solemnity of St Joseph, I told the people about how glad my salesian brothers were, when I gave them each a statue of Sleeping Saint Joseph a few days ago. To my surprise not one in the congregation has ever heard or seen this one. So I took out mine and after the Mass we reverenced and pondered its beauty. 

I told them that it was Pope Francis who popularized this devotion last year and during his address to families in the Philippines last January 16. There the Pope mentioned: “I like St. Joseph, he is a strong man of silence. In my desk, I have an image of St. Joseph sleeping. Sleeping, he looks after the church. And when I have a problem, I put a letter under his statue. So that he can dream about it.”

I told them too that when I gave one to my "feminist (lambing lang!)" dean at UPOU, she said she'll put it beside Mary Help of Christians where Mary will jokingly say: "Look at this lazy guy... always sleeping... and he's letting me take care of this baby Jesus all by myself!" 

But you know, it was in St Joseph's slumber that he found the answers to his most difficult life dilemmas. He was betrothed to Mary who was pregnant, and not with his child. That night God gave him the solution to the problem through the angel who said: "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit (Mt:1.20)." And later after the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem after the Magi had left and they were warned of a plot against the child, Joseph once more got his answer in a dream: "Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him."

In our life, many times we spend sleepless nights worrying too much in search for answers to our problems. Sleeping St. Joseph could be a reminder for us that resting in prayer we could better hear God's voice. And as we leave our problems tucked under our pillows when we sleep, we are actually trusting the Almighty to get us through those seemingly impossible tasks of life.


References:

Inquirer.net. (January, 2015). http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/665334/pope-francis-proves-that-sleeping-solves-problems

Vatican Insider. (April, 2014). http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/francesco-francis-francisco-33839/