In a courtroom, the court calls on witnesses of a certain event to testify whether or not an alleged event actually took place. The testimonies must agree in substance for the testimonies to be valid. It is hard to fake a testimony. The vital details of the testimonies will end up not agreeing with each other rendering the testimonies to be a suspect. In today's Gospel, John the Baptist testified that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. What John was testifying was that we can be forgiven. I can be forgiven. There is no sin that that cannot be forgiven when we come before the Lord with a contrite heart. What makes the testimony of John the Baptist credible is people got the chance to verify it themselves. In all the earthly life of Jesus, He showed this. He manifested God’s mercy. The ultimate mercy that Jesus showed was when he offered himself as a sacrifice, the Lamb who was slaughtered so to speak, on the cross for the forgiveness of sins.
We are back to the Ordinary time as regards the Church’s calendar. There is nothing ordinary about our time, however. God formed us in our mother’s womb to be a person of mercy and forgiveness. We are to live as such. We are called to die to ourselves for others. There is nothing ordinary about that. As we transition to the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the liturgy where we experience Christ who offered himself as the sacrificial victim and reconciled the world to himself, allow God’s grace and peace to work in us that we may become credible witnesses to the mercy of God. I am forgiven. So should others be.
Christmas isn’t over yet. While malls and households are putting away their Christmas decorations, the Church continues to celebrate Christmas until tomorrow, January 9th, the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ. But today, our focus is on the Epiphany. In the Epiphany of the Lord, we celebrate the revelation of how far God would go for love. The star of Bethlehem was the visible sign that led the three Magi, who were pagans, to see with their very eyes how far God would go for love by becoming man to offer humanity immortality, that is, to save them from everlasting death, to bring everlasting peace to the universe, and deliverance to the poor and the needy. It was for this reason that the three pagan Magi had a moment of conversion. They prostrated before and worshipped the baby Jesus as their King because they did not think that God would go this far for love. But, if it were not for the Star of Bethlehem, the Magi would not have known this. Each one of us is the Star of Bethlehem. By virtue of our baptism, we are the visible sign, stewards of God’s grace, as St. Paul puts it (Eph 3:2), to make known to others how far God would go for love. It is through our love, mercy, and peace that people who do not believe in God will come to meet Christ and know that there is a loving and merciful God who brings profound peace. How far would you go for love and respond to God’s invitation to be the visible sign of His offer to humanity of immortality? Wherever you may be—at home, in the office, or anywhere—be that Star of Bethlehem today. Be that visible sign that will reveal the peace, love and mercy of God, the divine King.
Speaking of how far we would go for love, the Outreach Ministry of our Parish has partnered with American Red Cross that recently set up the Seven Trees Community Center Evacuation and Disaster Shelter. This shelter has been formed in response to the recent rains that left many people in desperate need of shelter, and warm and dry clothing. The shelter is located at 3590 Cas Drive, San Jose. Beginning Saturday, January 7th, our Church will be collecting items which are most needed now for men and women and a few children. The clothing drive will go on from January 7 to February 20. Boxes for collection will be placed at the vestibule of the church and in the chapel. Clothing can be second-hand, clean and in good condition. If you have the following to share with our brothers and sisters in need, please drop these at any of the designated drop boxes:
The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem to make known to Mary and Joseph the message that has been told them about this child. The Gospel of Luke tells us that Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. At the beginning of this new year, we can take the same disposition as Mary, the Mother of God, to be generous in our hearts, to open wide our “vessels” for the grace of God to pour into our hearts. We can, like Mary, be also attentive to the Holy Spirit, to reflect on the past year and discern how God has been moving into our lives and where He is leading us to. We can do this by looking back, giving thanks, embracing God’s grace in all these, as we become more mindful of the patterns of our lives in which the Holy Spirit is steering us to God’s invitations. Finally, we can imitate Mary’s humility to recognize that let God be God in our lives, to give up our control over our lives to trust and allow God to steer the wheel for us. May the Lord keep you, and bless you, and be gracious to you all throughout 2023.
I always find it mind boggling to think that we have a powerful God, a God through whom the entire universe was created; a God whom people in the Old Testament approached only with awe and trembling, who now came down to take our human flesh, , become one like us and meet us! Why does He have to do that? There is only one reason: He loves us that much! He wants to be with us, dwell in us so much so that He desires to undergo everything we experience as human beings excluding sin. He knew that if He did this, He would suffer and die on the cross. Yet, He still came down and be with us, all because He wanted us to be partakers of everything about His divine life. God did not have to have somebody to share that with Him, but He opted to let us join Him in His glory. That is how much God loves us. The only response we can give to God is to love Him in return. To love Him back, however, is not just something emotional, but active. We do this by doing the same thing that He did. This Christmas, we can go and meet someone who needs love. Perhaps, this is the homeless person that you see every morning on your way to work. Maybe, you know of somebody who is lonely who has been crying out for people to love him or her. Perhaps, this is the person you know whose Christmas may be different this year because that person is grieving for the loss of his or her loved one. It could be that this is the person who is just in front of you or beside you who feel often ignored and taken for granted. Christmas is not about being emotional over a cute baby. It is about reaching out to love the unloved. For us Christians, Christmas is not just that one time of the year. It is a whole lifetime. Have a grace-filled Christmas!
I once saw a beautiful statue of a sleeping St. Joseph. This statue has today’s gospel as its basis. Joseph is a man of justice. He wants to do what is right according to God’s law. As he sleeps, Joseph seeks for God’s guidance as to what to do with Mary’s mysterious pregnancy. In his sleep, an angel speaks to him and tells him not to be afraid for everything is part of God’s plan, Thus, he is to take Mary as his wife to fulfill God’s design. Joseph wakes up to do what the angel instructed. Joseph did not sleep his dilemma through to escape the problem he faces. Joseph listened, decided, and acted. When we are faced with a problem, we too are called to seek for God’s guidance, to listen, use our free will to decide, and act on the options that do not contradict God’s will, that all that God has perfectly designed for our life may be fulfilled. May we be inspired by the fact that Joseph is not known as the Sleeping Joseph, but Joseph the worker. He squarely faces the problem and takes action. This week is the last week to prepare for Christmas. Is there any dilemma that you are faced with at the moment that is robbing you of the peace and joy of Christmas? Seek for God’s guidance, listen to His counsel, decide and act on it.
In today’s Gospel John the Baptist starts to doubt whether Jesus is the one whom he had preached about who would come and crush evil in the world. Imprisoned, John wonders if he has bet on the wrong card. Jesus sends the disciples of John to him to tell him what they hear and see: “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.” Don’t we at times also doubt whether we have bet on the wrong card on Jesus as we are still stuck in our own sufferings? Finding the Messiah is difficult in a world where injustice, corruption, discrimination, greed, hatred, and violence prevail. Jesus says, “Go and tell what you see and hear.” He hints that it is through His actions and words that the promise of the Messiah is felt. Maybe there lies the problem. It may be that as followers of Christ, our words and actions prevent the Messiah from ever being seen and heard. Perhaps there continues to be injustice because collectively we don’t do anything about it. Maybe corruption lingers because conjointly we tolerate it. Perhaps discrimination, greed, hatred and violence endure because we do not speak against them. It could be that the poor remain poor because we do not share our resources with them. The Messiah is seen and heard through our actions, just as the promise of joy is seen and heard in Jesus’ actions. Jesus is indeed the one. With a few more days till Christmas, we can make the presence of Christ real with our hands, and mouth. We can still be people through whom the promise of joy of the Messiah is felt.
Last Saturday we lit up the Christmas Tree. I am indebted to Zenaida Bailon who graciously accepted to sponsor the Christmas tree. I thank all those who helped me put up the Christmas tree, decorated it, and installed the lights. I am grateful to our students at St. Joseph of Cupertino School who creatively use their talents to paint their own star as added ornaments for the Christmas tree. I acknowledge all those who participated in singing joyful Christmas carols leading to the lighting of the Christmas Tree. Our Christmas Tree is a symbol of hope as many people pitched in to help make the lighting of the Tree possible. This is what it looks like when a community of Christ’s disciples work together to bring light to the world.
December 16 is the beginning of Simbang Gabi. It is a nine-day novena Mass in preparation for Christmas. Simbang Gabi, a Filipino tradition, is supposedly celebrated early in the morning or in the evening. In our Parish, however, we celebrate it in the morning coinciding with the daily Mass. I invite you all to join us in these Novena masses for nine days and reflect on how each of us can bring the joy that the Messiah promises to people.
There is this story about a pastor who disguises himself as a beggar in his church to see how his parishioners will treat him. He sits among them. But no one recognizes him nor bothers to say hello to him. Then a call is made from the altar that each member should invite someone they didn’t know in the church to spend Christmas with them. Guess what? No one reaches out to the beggar or invites him. A few minutes after, the pastor walks up to the sanctuary and addresses his congregation as their pastor. Not a single pair of eyes are left dry in the church. That’s the world we live in. We relate only to those we feel are in the same social class with us. In today’s Gospel, Jesus hints that we are not automatically saved by being a member of His church. What saves us is how much we bear fruit as His disciples. This second Sunday calls us to make the way for the Lord in our hearts. How can each one of us do this? Jesus needs people to stand up for what is right even if society presents itself as contrary to the ideals set up by Christ. He needs teachers who not only teach students the rudiment of their subjects but also the underlying divine principles of their subjects. He needs politicians who look at their governing as a venue for their sanctification and their constituents. He needs us to notice the poor in our midst and have the courage to acknowledge his or her presence. As we prepare to receive the Eucharist, let us reflect on how we can translate the words of John the Baptist into action in our own field or circle of influence: “Prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight his paths.”
Let’s prepare the way of the Lord in our hearts by attending an Advent Retreat on Sunday, December 4th, at 6:30 pm in the Church. The retreat will be led by Fr. Chris Bennett, pastor of St. Christopher Parish.
Our Lord invites us to repent as we make straight our paths for Him. Come and celebrate with our community the Sacrament of Penance on Tuesday, December 6th, beginning at 7:00 pm in the Church.
At times when I ask somebody how he or she is doing, the answer that I get is: “Same old, same old!” Life can be a monotonous cycle. You wake up in the morning, and you do the usual routine. Even our secular seasons go on a cycle: Winter, Spring, Summer and then Fall. And often we find ourselves doing the same routine. When we watch the news, it’s same old, same old. The world is into the same cycle of war, fear, civic unrest, and violence. Same old, same old, as they say. The truth, however, is that ever since God entered the history of humanity, He has broken that cycle. Since then, time is moving steadily toward fulfillment. The whole of creation is not swirling in a cycle. Rather, it is moving steadily towards the vision of God that all will return to its original state before sin was introduced into our history. This is so because when God created the universe and us, He oriented it toward fulfillment in Himself. Whether the world likes it or not, Christ will come again and there is no stopping that He will return. We just don’t know when. In the meantime, the Lord tells us to stay awake and prepare the way for His return. Rather than view life as a monotonous cycle, therefore, we can stay awake and appreciate the present moment for all that is worth in the light of the coming of Jesus Christ. We can challenge ourselves every day to think of what we can do in the here and now to bring situations much closer to how God envisions them. The fulfillment towards all creation is oriented and not abstract, because we make that fulfillment happen by collaborating with God’s grace. We build the kingdom of God here on earth by doing our part, constantly walking in the ways of the Lord. This is God’s strategic plan, and He wants us to be involved in it. By putting on Christ, so to speak, we break the cycle of anger, hatred, fear and violence within each of our circle of influence and not be part of that cycle. Advent is not about letting God come to us. He is already with us and in us. He is Emmanuel. All we have to do is feel God’s presence working in the world and in our lives as He steadily brings these towards fulfillment through us.
In a world where secularism is growing at a faster rate it is not surprising to see the obvious: God no longer has a place in the private lives of people, most especially people in the political world. The one person who is king in people’s lives has become the self. Whatever is convenient to the self, is the law. It is no wonder that laws of the lands are changing to favor one’s choice over the will of God. The Solemnity of Christ the King that we celebrate this Sunday is meant for us to realize that unless we recognize that Jesus is the one and only King, evils in this world will continue to prevail. Gun violence will persist, conflicts among nations will continue, the killing of innocent lives will extend without limits, abuse of the environment for one’s interest will carry on, and so on and so forth. All these for the convenience of the king, the self. The Kingship of Christ is way different from the kingship here on earth. It is not elaborate, flamboyant, or authoritarian who dictates on people’s mind what and how things ought to be and is definitely not one who seeks for the convenience of the self. Rather it is that of mercy and love. That is why we see the kingship of Christ reigning from the cross. “Jesus remember me in your kingdom” begs the thief who was with the crucified Christ to whom Jesus replies, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” What we see in the kingship of Christ is that of magnanimity, the quality of being forgiving, especially to anyone who is less powerful. Even when Jesus was tortured mercilessly on the cross, Jesus, the King, begs His Father to “forgive them for they do not know what they do.” Christ the King always has our best interest—our salvation. This is the kind of King Christ is. It was his wound that we recognize his authority to reign because of the force of his redeeming love for us. What does the kingship of Christ mean to you? What effect does it have in your life? This Thanksgiving, may we experience not only awe in acknowledging him as our King, but deep gratitude that moves us to offer our obedience, our allegiance, and our total surrender to Him, yes, even if it will not be for the convenience of the self.