The Meaning

Acceptance

2006-04-17T07:05:00.000+08:00

I have to accept the fact that I have only one life to live by, never to be substituted.
I must sow this one and only life in the ground of humanity,
so that it can bear fruit to be picked up by the pilgrims of this earth.
How can the rising by RESURRECTION be possible
without the grounding by Incarnation?
Did not Christ say, “Unless a tree dies, it will not grow.”

I must accept the fact that I have no absolute control of my life;
For when I take a ride in a bus, in a car, in a boat, in an airplane, in a tricycle, my life is in hands of the driver.
If I trust my life at the hands of the drivers frail as they are,
I have but to trust God who is the absolute pilot of my life.

I believe that when I am in the deepest state of misfortune and suffering
I cannot invite others to join with me in my anguish;
I am alone to bear the weight of pain.
However, when I am in the sate of joy,
Many, I believe, are willing to share with me
the laughter and feastings.
This is a hard fact, a human lot to be accepted willingly.

I believe that my apostolate, however great I might think of it,
is really a very small contribution compared to the vast apostolate of the Church.
But, however tiny it is, however unnoticeable my share is,
it must be done; it is necessary for without the tiny grains of sand,
no beach can be formed to launch a thousand ships across the ocean.

I believe that in the evening of life, some spectra of my energy
have to fade away, never to be retrieved.
I must be humble enough to admit that I have to lose myself.
If I rise the next day, it is God’s hand that pushes me on
to face the challenges of living.

I should continue to conduct my life in accordance to my decision.
When I accept all what life entails, then death is no longer a stranger but a friend.
A friend, as usual, will accompany me to where I belong.

Prayer Power: Reminiscence of EDSA

2006-02-25T06:56:00.000+08:00

I’ll tie a yellow ribbon at my door to welcome you home Ninoy. You have arrived at my doorstep that August 21st, but bloody and dead.

We tie a yellow ribbon around out head and hearts to keep you alive in spirit; and you gave us the exiled democracy, golden and alive.

And so the yellow cuts across the land: yellow headband, yellow dress, yellow flowers, yellow day, yellow smile.

It all started when, on the 25th of February 1986 the King by the Pasig River was forced to desert his palace and given a sanctuary at Uncle Sam’s domain. The howl of a million crowd pierced the King’s ears. The deluge of tears woeing over the thousand victims killed during the reign of teeth flooded his heart. The King could not hold the stabbing thrust; he has to run for his life.

Come out prisoners of cause! “Come out Lazarus” from the tomb and let the sunshine stroke your pale face. Leap over the Pasig River. There’s none to be afraid of.

You, mouths glued by silence, shout on the mountaintop to recapture your fading voice. You, fettered feet, stretch out a mile-step over the yellow fields.

Today, February 26, 1986 is the golden page in our history for we begin the reign of the Corazon whose throne is the will of the people. Today, for the first time in twenty years of suppression of will, we unleash the “people power” by non-violence to crush tyranny. Today we have demonstrated that non-violence is no longer a myth, it is real; that Filipino Christian identity in Asia is not a myth either; it is alive.

That moment of February 24, 25, where the civilians, with courage alone forming a human barricade to prevent a bloody revolution was a show of civilian protection to the military. That was the moment of emphasis on the constitutional truth that the civilian prevails over the military. That was the moment that the civilian regained his political posture in the democratic Philippines.

Today, God reminds the power-hungry politicians that pride can drive them to shame. The life of Mr. Marcos serves as a warning. His pride runs at its peak. He prides over his being a hero without equal, parading twenty-seven medals of heroism on his shoulder, claiming to have a messianic covenant with his people, believing that nobody else but he alone is the brightest son of Juan de la Cruz to make this nation great again, pasting our landscape and homes with his images. So proud is he to feel invulnerable for there are the military hardware to shield him, there are the military dobber-watchdogs to secure his palace, there are the technocrats of international brand baked at Oxford, Harvard, Wharton to read the stars.

The law was at the tip of his fingers and in fact, he ws the law. So powerful was he to believe he was the law; so invincible he believed to be. But, in the slap of time, on the 25th of February he sunk on his knees before a “housewife only.”

It is a gravitational truth that the highest the pride is, the lowest and loudest is the fall. Almost all dictators fall into the same trap.

As Christians, the Filipinos have proved to the world that they have the capacity to break the chain of slavery; not by bullets, but by rosary beads, by crucifix, by candles, by flowers, by holy water, by pan de sal, by pleading knees, by courage. All these things halted the pilots of the steel tanks. For inside that steel is a heart penetrable by love.

Love disarms as David to Goliath.
LOVE DISARMS DEATH AS JESUS DOES BY RESURRECTION.

February 25, 1986

Thank you, Lord

2006-01-07T09:31:00.000+08:00

Thank you Lord that each person is different;
in color and shape,
in talents and interest,
by its differences, you make ach one beautiful.

Thank you for the uniqueness of others:
Thank you that others know what I do not know,
Thank you that others pick up jobs which I do not like,
Thank you for what I can do which others cannot.
By uniqueness, you make each one a donor.

Thank you for my failures; without them I cannot appreciate success.
Thank you for the sufferings and inconveniences I meet in daily living;
Without them I cannot understand happiness.
Thank you for the realization of my sinfulness
for I see the need of your forgiveness and the need to forgive others.
Thank you that I cannot answer many questions by logic;
I must answer them by faith.

Thank you for the people around me;
for how can I fulfill your law of “love your neighbor”
if there’s no one to love.

Thank you Lord for joining us in humanity;
You showed us personally how to join with you in divinity.
Amen.

The Two Visitors at the Manger

2005-12-10T09:29:00.000+08:00

St. John says of Jesus, “He came into His own and His own received Him not.” Jesus came to His own people at Bethlehem to ask for a hotel accommodation; he got no suite but instead a stable.

At the stable, the Child-King was visited by two groups of men: the shepherds were the first to arrive at the stable, the kings next.

In terms of guide, the shepherds were guided by the singing angels; the kings by the star. The two guides differ in this: the angels were spiritual beings, while the star is a thing.

The two well-wishers brought their gifts: the shepherds offered lambs, while the kings gold, frankincense and myrrh. The two gifts differ in this: the lambs were lives, with life, while that of the kings were lifeless things.

Christ intentionally appeared first to the weak, to the shepherds, to generate being, to generate life, “and the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; it was as they had been told.” Lk. 2:20.

What they heard was a Gospel of liberating hope and what they saw as a liberator born in a manger. “Today in the town of David a saviour has been born to you: he is Christ the Lord. And here is a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” Lk. 2:12.

Only the men of humility and goodwill can read the signpost to salvation.

Self Denial: Allowing Christ to Walk With Us

2005-11-30T23:57:00.000+08:00

At Lenten time, the Christians are reminded to practice self-denial as taught and live by Jesus Christ.

Christ initiated the move to deny Himself: for a while, He negates His divinity by becoming man and, by doing so, He affirmed humanity. This is incarnation, His way of suffering, like a reversed exodus from the absolute state to the particular time in space. Christ’s self-denial is His desire to walk with man in his journey through life.

But man’s tendency is to walk alone, without Christ’s direction; he wants to be the sole master of his destiny.

Alone, without the company of Jesus, man tends to become a robot. The moview are now showing how the people are acting without their will. Man is inclined to adore the golden calf of technology; his eyes are glued to the screen of the video machine, his mouth is sandwiched in a tin car; his stomach is embattled by the instant ready-made stuff. Although wanting to be the master, he finds himself a slave of his own making.

Alone, in the absence of the Lord of life, man disrespects life; he is trying to raise a child in the laboratory, outside of wedlock; he wants to raise children of an anonymous personality, without a face, without identity, without a home.

Alone, without Christ who breaks bread, man becomes a voracious greedy monkey who wants to consume the resources of the earth without sharing with others, without replenishing. To his eyes, the environment (forest, sea, rivers, land, sky) is not a thing of beauty, but an enemy to be conquered, to be poisoned, to be plundered.

Alone, without the Lord of Order, man can invert the scale of values; what is luxury becomes a necessity.

Being alone is selfishness; it is suicidal act. Self-denial, allowing Christ to walk with us, is finding the right perspective of living.

Self-denial, when it is sincerely put into practice among the Filipinos, will greatly help recover our national posture. This virtue impels to uphold freedom and conscience and reject robotism. It rejects consumerism but challenges us to be creative and frugal. It demands of us to uproot imported mentality of prosperity which has turned us into beggars in our country. It challenges us to reject unnecessary, unsubstantial, junk stuff to pamper our appetite, and concentrate our effort to what is necessary.

The spirit of denial from those which do not enhance life is an imperative now than ever before. The spirit of acceptance what is pro-life is a mission. In the verdict of Jesus, “unless a tree dies, it will not grow.” In St. John’s confession, “I must decrease and he must increase.”

Missionary Presence

2005-08-13T12:20:00.000+08:00

The religious priests—priests and nuns are good at dramatic scenes:
“Now you see, now you don’t.”
“Now you arrive, now you depart.”
“Now you pack, now you unpack.”

Disappearing, packing and departing are descriptive of a religious. They have to, in imitation to their Master who claimed, “foxes have holes, the birds have their nests but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head on.”

He has to move on, trying to be present to all persons: to be among the least of the brethren, among the “Lazarus,” among the “Levis,” among the “Zacheus.” At times, he has to play the role of a “Samaritan,” of a “Joseph of Arimathea,” of a “Veronica,” or a “Mary.”

A religious is to be present everywhere to everyone for the simple reason that he wants to be the “leaven” to those blinded by the “golden calf,” to be “fishers of men,” to be the “salt” to those tasteless, blank-staring soul.

Wanting to be present to all spectrum of human activities and be of service to all regardless of color and culture, there is but one place of convergence—the ALTAR where the pilgrims have to refill their expended energy, “Come, all those who are burdened and I will give you rest.”

Many a role a priest may take along the way: he might be an organizer, a liberator, a pilot, a farmer, a carpenter, but none among these can be the hallmark of priesthood. Only when he ascend the Altar and presides the “breaking of the bread” and proclaim the summit news of Faith that the “Lord is risen,” that he is recognized as a priest. From this very Altar the priest receives the commission-mandate, “Do this to remember Me…you also was one another’s feet: blessed are you if you put it into practice.” (Jn 13:15-17).

This mission-order from the Altar, this ascending to the Altar preconditions his descending to the “vineyard,” to the world, to “wash the feet” of the pilgrim people.

So limited in space, so short in time is our historical presence.

Somehow, someday we have to ascent without descending, departing without arriving, without our luggage, without our schedule notebook for we are swift up by an apocalyptic calesa into the spaceless, timeless NOW.

Connectedness

2005-04-25T06:22:00.000+08:00

A fragmented life like ours, must, for its wholeness be connected to something greater than the fragment. Looking at man’s physical existence, man has to connect himself to the air by breathing. Breathing the air makes him whole physically; to refuse to breathe is to disintegrate. Although man uses air, he cannot consume it, neither can he posses it. Air is not terminal with man’s death; it outlasts man.

Man is more than physical entity; has moral, spiritual existence that must be connected to someone greater than man’s total life. He needs to connect himself to the Absolute Spirit—God.

Just as breathing is a necessary connection to the air for physical wholeness, so also praying is a necessary connection to God for spiritual wholeness. Breathing is not an option; neither is praying an option. Not to pray is to disconnect oneself from the power-line of God. “Without me you can do nothing.”

Praying is an obligation and a privilege; it can be done alone in private, anywhere and anytime. But praying alone is not enough; it should be done together with the community of believers, in a sacred place like the Church.

Air is anywhere, but in some places it is concentrated, in other, less. I believe that Christ’s presence is anywhere too by His power of creation and by His Lordship over the universe. I am sure that Christ’s presence is also concentrated in the very person who implements the righteousness of God. Christ’s presence is also concentrated in the community of believers when they assembly in his name to worship Him; he assures us that, “Where two or three are gathered in His name, I am in the midst of them.”

The strongest concentration of His presence is found in the Eucharist: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him.” (Jn 6:56). He who avails himself to his kind of presence is intimately connected to the divine wholeness.

Invisibility

2005-03-11T07:24:00.000+08:00

While I took an airplane trip to Manila, my attention was drawn to the propeller of that plane, I noticed that once it turned faster and faster, I became invisible. At the moment of invisibility, that airplane gained the strength and the power to burst the plane into the sky.

Still wanting to increase the strength and the speed of the vehicle, man totally case away the propeller and introduced a new version of an aircraft, a jet-propelled.

The more invisible a thing becomes the more power it asserts.

I remember in a Philosophy class, a philosopher asked this question, “How many angels can dance at the tip of a needle?” At first sight the question seems a joke and nonsense. But today that question is not a joke; it is valid, relevant question because in the discovery of the microchip used n the computer, a thousand volumes of books can be placed and stored in a tiny disc of a computer.

A huge volume like a library when reduced to invisibility by microchip can fit into a tiny disc of the computer.

The invisibility factor is the substratum of all forms of existence—in nature, in Philosophy, in the sciences and in religious life.

In nature, there are elements which are invisible to the naked eye, and being invisible, they are the source of power, speed and development. Some can be mentioned here: the air, the solar ray, the vitamins, the sound wave, the electric wave in the atmosphere, the magnetic force, the X-ray, the laser, the fertilizer, the atom, the microchip of the computer. All these are invisible, constant, renewable, ubiquitous.

Invisibility is a discipleship-demand of Christ: “If you want to follow me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. For it you choose to save your life you lose it; and if you lose your life for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel, you will save it.” (Mk. 8:34).

Self-denial, bearing the cross—all these will amount to losing our life and when done for his sake and for the sake of “Thy kingdom Come” we gain invisibility, the power to pass through the “narrow gate.”

Of the married Christians their vow of “until death do us part”, losing and saving. Of the priest, they vow of “you are a priest forever…according to Thy will be done” is losing and saving.

The plants too are not exempted; they have self-denial or build-in control system. If the corn were to grow without stopping, it the trees grow without limit, if one season the rice would choose to bear eggplant, what a calamity it would be, greater than that of the earthquakes.

When Christ compared us to a “salt of the earth” He means that we should humble, be mixed, get lost, be invisible for this is the only way to give taste, to give salvation. Again when He said we are the “yeast” he means the same: When He said that “when our right hand is doing good, don’t let the3 left hand know,” He means, be invisible for the “Father who knows in secret will reward you in secret.”

I the salt and the yeast were to insist on holding back their visibility, they would not do any good. If man were to insist on his visibility by self-serving style of salvation, by egoism, pride and greediness, he is worse than unused salt and yeast.

In fact man in insisting on his visibility; by egoism, pride and greed he grows towers, antenna, missiles, cities, “tower of Babel” on the mountains rather than a forest. On the meadows, he weeds the grasses and the flowers, and plants pistols, revolvers, armalites, land mines. And our rivers run dry, deadly silent. And the crocodiles have to come out to seek places in the offices. The monkey, without the vines cling to take refuge in the casinos, in the pleasure-relax-entertainment centers. And the little birds and the eagles have to leave the sky to give way to the flying machine: the fighter planes, the laser beams, the satellites, the cosmonaut, the astronaut. The beautiful galaxies of stars will become the setting of the deadly Star War.

The visibility of egoism, pride and greediness will result to procurement of a wider area of matter or increase of material possession. The wider the area of matter acquired, the wider will be the contact-surface for friction and resistance. The wider the friction-resistance, the wider target-area it becomes for vulnerability and corruptibility. No wonder, in a materialistic society the “state security” by building up weapons of death is a doctrine. Within this doctrine, the nation, through education/cultural system and the mass media is mobilized to guard as a security police of a corruptible materiality. It is in this line of thinking that a very fat budget is apportioned for the manufacturing of war machines.

Christ was once visible by incarnation, but His invisibility was completely opposit4e to that of man. He was humble, self-emptying to the point that He was misunderstood, betrayed, denied and nailed to the cross. Indeed his visibility was powerlessness.

But once Christ assumes His invisibility by resurrection and ascension. He asserts the Absolute Power to save mankind and assured us of his continued protection, the way he meant when he said, “Behold I am with yiou all days until the end of time.”

Christ must continue His invisibility—His power to maintain the flight of mankind toward eternity. One way, is the continued presence of the Invisible one—the Holy spirit. The other way is by SIGN—the Sacraments.

The Holy Spirit and the Signs are the essentials of the believing community—the Church. As Exupery puts in his book The Little Prince, “What is essential is invisible to the eye.”

Chemical Imprisonment

2005-03-02T07:39:00.000+08:00

The Bible is opened with the story of creation. The creator, at the end of each day’s work said, “It was good.” Really, nature is a world of beauty to be lived with.

But now, in the 20th century, the creation of God has been badly altered—it has become a world of poison. The technochemical achievement as we have now has no heart to care for nature; its effects have the destructive impact upon our society by the poisoning of the biosphere that is, the air, the land and water on which human life depends.

Our modern technology has succeeded in establishing a new lifestyle: dependency on chemical. All strata of modern living are saturated with chemical.

In the field of population control-program of the government, the demographers who think that the lack of food is due to multitude of mouths are promoting chemical and mechanical control of birth. The womb of the mother once the ancient seedbed of life becomes the new killing field. Some babies are strong enough to parry the chemical attack; they come out of the womb victorious but disfigured: one-eyed, one-eared, single foot, one-handed, disharmonized physically and psychologically. The new born baby is already a veteran long before he will be recruited to the military. Beware, Oh Philippine, you are coming up with a new breed of veterans, a monstrous generation to avenge the assault they have undergone by the anti-life peddlers.

In the field of food and health, we eat chemical from the rice we eat. The vegetables are sprayed with chemicals. The baby has all the choice of milk, canned, bottled, instant, fast-manufactured, preserved in chemical; from Swiss cow, from Dutch cow, from Australian cow, from New Zealand cow, from U.S. cow. But none from mother’s milk. It is understandable that the child loves more the cow than the mother, that his heart is cold like nose of the cow. As the baby is denied of his birth-right to his mother’s milk and the warm embrace of a mother’s breast, so also will he learn to reject the parents and humanity as well.

In the field of agriculture, the input components are all synthetic chemicals: fertilizer, pesticide, insecticide, herbicide, inducer for fruiting and ripening.

In the field of poultry and husbandry, we raise foreign pigs, foreign cows, foreign chickens, foreign goats and we feed them with foreign feeds and chemicals.

Is the chemical development a blessing to humanity? Is this the development we want? Is this a curse? Yes, it is a blessing and development to the very few owners of big business but a curse to the many. The benefits of this high-tech chemical achievement go to the very few but the destructive effects to the whole humanity and to the whole earth.

Shall we patronize this sophisticated chemical which suffocates life? I see this situation as a new kind of imprisonment. There is a need to make decision on how to get out of it. I wish to offer an alternative that is beneficial to all life: Let us lead a life that is simple, natural and yet refreshing. As the saying goes in theology, “grace is built in nature.” Let’s try the natural way. Let’s respect the way of nature and nature will care for us. Let’s remember, disgrace is built on the destruction of nature.

Death: A Blessing

2005-02-15T08:12:00.000+08:00

It there were only birth and no more death, the earth will be saturated with people without space to move around. Each one will be scampering for space above, each climbing on others’ backs to get a breathing space. And the great grand parents being weak will have to settle at the base of the human pyramid and will be the footstools of their great grand children. To be there at the bottom being trampled upon, flattened but can’t die, is indeed a horrifying punishment on earth.

I thank the Lord that I must die; He pities me not to be trampled like a doormat.

Some people abhor to think of death; they keep themselves busy to avoid the thought of death; they simply ignore this fact. When their love ones die, they curse everybody including God; they don’t want to bury the dead. They can not accept that a bemedaled man, a miss universe, a royal blood, a scientist, a tycoon can be eaten by the worms.

Struggling not to die is disobedient to our master Jesus Christ. Jesus died and so, we must. Jesus resurrected, and so we do. His death is the qualification of his resurrection. We have to die to resurrect with Him.

The Secret of Survival

2005-02-12T08:12:00.000+08:00

Why do the sheep survive in the harshness of the desert, grazing on
the same ground with the lions?
Why do the doves fly in the same sky with the eagles?
Why do the dolphins swim in the same ocean with the sharks?
Why do the ants crawl on the same ground with the elephants?

Defenseless as they are, the sheep, the doves, the dolphins,
the ants are never exiled from their abodes: not clipped by the eagles' claws,
not stabbed by the dagger-teeth of the lion, not slashed by the
razor teeth of the shark, not trampled down by elephant's feet.
No, never are they terminated by the violent.

It is written in the law of nature that the meek, the armed-less,
the lovable, will forever live, in fact will increase in number.
The strong, the brutal, the armed will still be there,
but they can never crush, can never strike the decisive blow.
Surprisingly, they are few, becoming a queer species,
and if not protected by law they might perish.

The law of morality runs in the same vein as the law of nature:
that the meek, the caring, the humble, the peace-loving, the just,
the witness of the Gospel values will still survive
in the midst of the violent, brutal forces.

However small, however, humble the work we engage in to bring
about the values of the Gospel, we shall not be crushed.
A finger at the beads of the Rosary is far greater than the finger at the trigger of a gun.
A hand guiding a child's hand to make the sign of the cross
is far greater than the hand that touches the push-button of a missile.
The small, meek David had crushed the giant, armor-vested Goliath.

For the eternal learning was set before us the example of the
humblest act of the Nazarene at the cross, of the LAMB of God.
From the act a story is told again and again.
It is a story that the violent thrust of the spear
has not gone further than the skin of humanity;
it should not get beyond the sanctuary of the soul.
Christ is the greatest survivor of the thrust of violence.

If only I can unfold His story in my life, I hold the secret of survival.

To Go More than a Mile

2005-02-12T08:06:00.000+08:00

By being a Christian, one has pledged to carry on Christ’s love.

To love as Jesus does is to do extra, to go "more than a mile" (Mt. 5:41), to go beyond our ordinary human transactions. To love those whom you know as friends is not "extra." To give to those who have given you in return in not "more." To work because you are paid a salary is not "beyond." To give in order to be given in return is the form of honor, praise, promotion is not "extra."

All these--friendship, salary, honor, praise, promotion are ordinary human ground of transaction; everybody, even pagans related himself within this familiar ground.

Christ challenged us to go across the familiar ground and explore the unfamiliar, unknown:

To love those who are not lovable is "extra."
To give to those who cannot give in return is "more."
To serve those who cannot serve in return is "beyond."
To forgive even your enemy is "extra."

To explore the unfamiliar ground with Christ's love is going more than a mile. Only the extra-miler deserves the name "Christian."

Life

2005-02-12T07:55:00.000+08:00

In the early days of civilization, a king used to hire a jester or joker at his court to keep him happy and alive.

In the modern times, the late wealthy man, John Rochefeller used to employ a psychologist to cheer him up by motivating him to develop a happy attitude.

Both the kind and Rochefeller believed that the best method to keep them alive amidst the intricacies of their business was a motivation to develop a happy attitude. Alone, they could not do it by themselves; they need someone to motivate them--the joker and the psychologist. As they were employed they were always at the master's command to stir up the tide; they were there to deliver the commodities they were paid for; a package of smile and a kit of clinical mental health.

In the days past as well as in the present, it is an acknowledged fact that mental health or happy attitude--a thing of the spirit--is a basic necessity to maintain a sense of balance in the midst of a mad world.

People need someone to keep them happy and alive. We need someone more than a psychologist, more than a joker, more than a hired man. we need something more than mental health, more than nervous-tuning technique; we need more than a smile.

We need Jesus, we need the very life He meant when He said;
"I am the Life" (Jn 14:6),
More than mental health,
Christ gives moral health, the forgiveness of sins.
More than a nervous-tuning program,
He gives conscience formation.
More than an employed,
He incarnated Himself into the community of man.
More than happiness and smile,
He shows us how to achieve the fullness of life.

Not in anyone else but in Him alone, can a life in its fullness be found as he assures us, "I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full" (Jn 10:10). And as we walk on His way and live in His life, let's drop in at the house of Emmaus and partake the meal He prepares, in accord with his words, "for he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him," (Jn 6:57).

Hunting for the Best

2005-02-08T07:57:00.000+08:00

In the course of doing our assignment we want to do it well,
and the best of course. As you are the first deployed mission
team, you earnestly want to set the best of everything.

Later on you will come to realize that the best we have put
up is not at all the best because we discover another way
better than before.

Therefore, the right attitude is to believe that what we are
doing now is not really the best; the best is elusive,
it is forever to be hunted.

Hunting for the best is what makes life thrilling and
missionary. The thrill of hunting ends when the hunter
is trapped by death. Only at that moment can the hunter
grasp the best he had been chasing in his life-time.

To believe that our work is the best is to be closed to
other possibilities for the better, even to be proud that
no one can do it better than we do.

What is important is the reason which motivates us to be
doing and not the doing itself. What matters most is,
"Thy will be done," and not what we have done.
What is important is to "whom shall i go,"
and not where shall I go.

With this perspective in mind, the "rest will be added
unto you" and then you are on the path to the BEST.
Without this perspective, you will become the BEAST.

Keep on chasing the best to tame the "beast" in us!

Home

2005-02-08T07:48:00.000+08:00

The home of the bird is the sky.
The home of the fish is the water.
The home of the animal is the land.

Where is the home of man?

Man can fly across the sky up to the moon.
Man can swim deep into the ocean-bottom.
Man can run fast like a bullet on the land.
He is boundless: crisscrossing the sky, the ocean and land.

But he is not a fish, not a bird, not an animal.
His home is neither the sky, the water nor the land.

His Home IS GOD--the home of the boundless spirit of man.

MARY: The Authentic Narrator

2005-02-08T07:38:00.000+08:00

Mary was there at the Annunciation listening to the angelic
proclamation of her motherhood, "and you shall bear a
son and his name is Jesus."

She was in the manger in Bethlehem hugging her Niño
with her pinkish smile.

She was there at Egypt as a refugee to escape from the
death-threat to her Son; and she went back to Nazareth
to found a home of love and of work.

She was there at the Synagogue searching for her Son;
she was awed to see Jesus, who at twelve,
standing in the midst of the lawyers of the day teaching,
explaining the spirit of the laws and traditions.
She was the more perplexed when her Son declared
His responsibility, "Do you not know that
I am my Father's business?"

She was there at the first miracle at Cana where
she made an intervention to Jesus "they have no wine."
Even though "His hour has not yet come," nonetheless
Jesus could not withhold the plea of His mother.

She was there in all stages of the Passion:
she never fainted at the sight of pain her Son endured.
Conver unconscious as she heard the last breath
of life when He gasped, "It is finished."
Never abandoned the dead Son but held on
at the foot of the cross.

Modern Slave

2005-02-08T07:31:00.000+08:00

A man is a slave:
when he is just a narrator of other stories,
when he is just an onlooker of events passing by,
when he is just a user of ready-made products,
when he is just a consumer of instant-junk food,
when his thoughts are xerox-copies of advertisements,
when he is afraid to make an extra step beyond the
traditional boundary, when he practices the old
Mosaic law of retaliation, when he is just contented
with the Manna of the technogical assembly lines.

Man is free, and he can set himself free:
only when he should create his own stories,
only when he is the actor of events,
only when he should be a producer,
only when he should extract something novel from the common,
only when he dates to tread the unfamiliar ground by faith,
only when he lives up to the New Covenant value of forgiveness,
only when he should eat the Bread of Life to sustain him in
pilgrimage towards the New Earth where no smoke gets into his eyes.

The Land: To be Shared

2005-02-08T07:22:00.000+08:00

The deepest descent upon this earth is
Christ's "dwelling among us" in
human flesh and in time.

Christ, the Holy One has graced this earth
with His presence: He slept on earth, walked
over it, strolled the beaches, rode over the
waves of the sea. Up on a hill He bled
and was buried beneath the tomb.

This earth is penetrated by His presence:
"take off your sandals!" With bare feet
trace the bloody footprints of the divine
visitation. Touch with tenderness this purple
ground and feel the warmth of care.
It is good to be here, to live
To breathe the consecrated air.

This ground is like the altar
upon which was slain the "Lamb of God";
upon which the "bread of heaven"
is grown and served.

Indeed, this ground is holy, to be hallowed,
to be shared; meant for everyone.

Every one being born must have a place
at this holy ground;
Every one living must have a share of the food.

Just as any man is born in time
so shall he occupy in space.
This is a divine heritage.

The one who invades the entire sacred ground,
the few who grab all the sacred bread
will incur a desecration; "depart from me...
you have turned this temple into a den of thieves."

The one who shares a space,
the one who breaks bread with others
will receive a consecration: when God announces,
"Good and faithful servants...come,
enter into the kingdom I have
prepared for you."

Your Philippines And My Philippines

2005-02-07T23:41:00.000+08:00

Your Philippines is stripped naked
by the logger's teeth;
raped by the treasure diggers,
leaving her a prostitute by the
blistering embrace of a foreign hand.

My Philippines is gifted
with its mountain peaks,
surging reverently to the heaven,
beaded by trees, blanketed by forest;
veiled by the clouds.
Upon its shade, rests a home,
a sweet home for its local dwellers.

Your Philippine land
is turned into haciendas
by few multi-nationals.
Its plants are mono-cultured,
its products turned into agri-business,
its choicest fruits are served
on the foreign plate.

My Philippine land is to be shared;
made into mini-farms by the Filipinos;
its plants multi-cultured,
its products, the means of livelihood,
its choicest fruits serve the native mouth.

Your Philippine mountain, in the years ahead
will desert their position,
to invade the rivers, mangrove and seas,
rendering the fishing nets useless,
leaving man's mouth gaping-empty.

My Philippines must be cared for.
get rid of nature's rapers
whether illegal or legal.
Get them to put on their pants,
chase them out of this sacred land,
less they plunge mankind into the empty kettle.

My dream will come true:
only when I take pride of what is my own
and not of others;
only when I can think with my own mind
without the intervening grasp of foreigners.

For the value of man, as in any race
lies not in the gathering of possessions made by others
but by producing something through his creative mind.
Crude might be his creations but these will move
toward excellence, with his dignity exalted.

Immanuel

2005-02-07T23:36:00.000+08:00

Immanuel: "God with us".
His taking residence with us is His bestowal of power.

Power to be more, power to become:
To those who are "Wrapped in swaddling clothes"
He makes them the "sign" pointing to where salvation has to be acted upon.

To those who live in the manger, in the shanties, at the street corners, He promised a home in His Kingdom.
To the shepherds, the marginals, He brought good news, "fear not, peace, a Saviour is born."
Henceforth, the world would not stand still, for the power is there to stir up men's heart to hope, to resurrect.

For this reason, rejoice, the Lord has arrived!
Rejoice, for His arrival empowered us to be with Him in His heavenly Bethlehem.

Are You Worried? (Lk 12:22-34)

2005-02-07T23:26:00.000+08:00

Some are worried having no eye-glasses; but others have no eyes.
Some are worried having no handbag; but others don't have arms.
Some are worried having no new pair of shoes; but others have no feet.

Some are worrying getting fat; they get anxious, dying to get trimmed; but others simply don't have food; they get hungry thinning to die.

Some are worried having lost their comb, having no shampoo; but others have no hair at all; his bald head is exposed to weather harassment.

Some are worried not to own a new ring; but others have no fingers; in fact they make rings as business; they also make one for the nose; htye have only holes (in the leprosarium).

some are worried that their cheek, once pinkish with youthfulness are now accumulating furrows of shadows; but others have no cheek, only bones.

Why do some people--maybe many--invest their time, effort, money, even their life to worrying about their skin, about the covering, about the wrappings, about the tag, about the color, about the paint, about the hairdo, about how they smell--about the non-essentials that do no touch the core of self?

I admire those who do not have the essentials--without eyes, without limbs, without arms, without feet and ye they do not worry to death but instead they dare to cross the border of nothingness and enter into as a new world of creativity. What spirit transpires them into that new world? they have the spirit of faith that transcends reason; they have the love that overcomes hatred; they have the hope that penetrates the dark.

They are the brave.
They are inspirers of the hopeless.
They have no medal; they have no ranks of major and general, but anyhow, they are the undeclared heroes.

Transcendence

2005-02-07T23:22:00.000+08:00

Things do not exist for themselves:

The soil does not fertilize for itself,
The sea does not abound fish for itself,
The air does not breathe for itself,
The plant does not bear fruit for itself,
The house does knot take residence for itself.

It is absurd that they exist for themselves; they exist for someone greater than themselves.
They exist for man, to be used by man.

If man were to exist for himself, he must be absurd and much more absurd that the things of nature.

Man must necessarily exist for Someone greater than hi9mself:
He must exist for God.

A Prayer To The Lord of Pastors

2005-02-07T13:17:00.000+08:00

As i begin my pastoral ministry, I beg you to bestow on me the wisdom of Solomon to know the difference between right and wrong.

make my heart impartial as the Samaritan's to lift those beaten by the harsh world. Let me have the hand of Joseph of Arimathea to reach out those who are pinned down by their cross.

When afflicted by betrayal, remind me with your penetrating eyes that drove Peter to repentance. In times of doubt, give me the faith of St. Thomas. When my commitment falters, let me have the loyalty of St. John.

When I am down at my deepest pain, let me cling at the foot of Thy cross as your Mother Mary did. When I will be tired, give me the missionary urgency of St. Paul.

When I am crowded with work, let me have the enthusiasm of Zacheus to see you stop by a sycamore tree.

Please visit me in time of loneliness as You did to Martha and Mary.

Give me the privilege to see Thy glory as seen in Mr. Thabor that I may rejoice exceedingly as the Angels did. Amen