Daily Reflections - December 28,2012

SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN

 

When we should be rejoicing over the birth of a baby, we are reminded of the killing of so many innocent children under the reign of Herod. The story is violent, unjust and fatal for the parents and children. See the extent of jealousy, revenge and hatred when it raises its ugly head — to the point of killing innocent ones. Of course this is not new for us in the modern world. Every day, we hear of violence suffered by the innocent. We can rejoice that the child in the manger is the One who comes to redeem all people, young and old. He is Savior, Prince of Peace, and Redeemer of mankind.

I heard it once said that Christmas is for children. There is an element of truth here. Children are the Lord’s precious gift. The child Jesus warms our hearts as any child does. Everything is new, fresh, exciting and adventurous for the newborn. It is no wonder that when we hear the story of today’s Gospel, we feel a sense of anger and vengeance rising within. Children should be respected and given full dignity. But there are those who strip the children of their dignity. Child labor, child prostitution, sex slaves and other forms of abuse we rather not talk about are rampant. Satan is having his field day with all that is happening in the modern world. We need to make a stand in the name of the Holy Innocents.

My heart goes out to those who have lost small children. What do you say to parents who come to you seeking a blessing for their stillborn child? How do you console a parent who arrives at the hospital to find out that the baby just died? How do you make it reasonable when a child only a few days or a month old is taken from their sight? These are real experiences we may have encountered. I have and I do not know how to respond. The commemoration fo the Holy Innocents gives an answer to this. While Rachel weeps for her children and refuse to be comforted, like the parent coming to grip with the child, the Holy Innocents speak loud and clear. Their lives have been short but they will be forever in the embrace of the Holy Child who loves them and has given His life for them. Fr. Brian Steele, MGL

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: Let us take some time to pray for the children, living or dead.

 

Jesus, You are the Innocent One who has taken away our suffering. Lighten the burden of those who suffer for the little children. Amen.

Daily Reflections - December 27,2012

HE SAW AND HE BELIEVED

 

The other disciple we hear about in today’s Gospel is none other than John, the beloved disciple who leaned at the chest of Jesus at the Last Supper. He was the one who endured the sight of Jesus until His dying breath. It was this beloved disciple to whom Jesus gave His mother.

Having heard of the empty tomb pronounced by the women, John hurriedly runs to see for himself the site where Jesus lay. Of course in his youthful energy he arrived first yet waits for Peter. No statement is made. Peter the first disciple sees the empty tomb with the linen clothing on the ground. While John, on the other hand, sees and believes. This is the essence of the faith of the beloved — he sees and he believes.

Within this octave, the Church brings us forward to the Resurrection, 30 years after the birth of Jesus. Jesus has lived, died and been raised from the dead. Just a few days ago we remember Him lying in a manger as a baby. Now He is nowhere to be seen three days after dying on the cross. Although rumors have it (from the women) that Jesus has indeed risen. John, the disciple in the Gospel we hear about today, was one of the special three. Peter, James and John often accompanied Jesus in the more special moments.

John was given amazing insight into the mystery of the person of Jesus because his heart was pure, untainted and willing to be with his beloved Master. Right up until the death of Jesus, John did not depart. It was because of this purity that the disciple whom Jesus loves sees and believes at the sight of the empty tomb.

We too must pray for purity of heart so that we can see and believe. We won’t see Jesus as John did, but with eyes of faith wide open, our hearts will believe that Jesus is the Word made Flesh among us. He is no longer in the tomb where they lay Him. The Jesus born in Bethlehem, who suffered and died, is truly risen and walks among us today.Fr. Brian Steele, MGL

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: Do I believe in Jesus?

 

Lord, You were born out of love for us; You died out of love for us; You rose from the dead out of love for us. Thank You, Jesus, for Your love. Amen.

Daily Reflections - December 26,2012

THE FATHER SPEAKS THROUGH YOU

 

The day after Christmas, we are rudely interrupted in our meditation on the child Jesus in the manger by the martyrdom of Stephen. He is the first martyr to witness to Jesus. It comes as a rude shock as we have been celebrating in joy and peace the great birth of Jesus, Son of God made man.

Some 30 years after His birth we have these words put on the lips of Jesus in the Gospel. Jesus is now speaking to His disciples, reassuring them that if they remain close to Him, they remain close to the Father. The Spirit of the Father will be speaking through them. Throughout His life, Jesus spoke with the authority of the Father. The Spirit was upon Him, since His baptism in the Jordan. Jesus was confident in the Father who made His voice known through His actions and teachings. The Gospel seems violent after the celebration of the birth of Jesus. But we must realize that the birth of Jesus was always to be a shaking of the underworld with all its power and fury unleashed. The Kingdom of God was now at hand through the Incarnation. Satan is not happy!

The Acts of the Apostles describes to us how a wave of violence swept the early Church in the form of persecution. What we have on the lips of Jesus actually came into effect. People were dragged into prison, there was division among family and friends, people were led before the powers at hand to testify to their faith in the Lord. And yet Jesus promises that He will see them through. Stephen testifies to this presence of Jesus as he gazes into heaven. Stephen is confirmed in his faith — the Risen Jesus’ presence encourages him to stand firm and not be led into temptation.

Stephen was a man of the Spirit, a servant of the Church, and proud to be a follower of Christ. We are reminded that in life there is always joy and trials. We must experience the trials and sufferings so as to celebrate the joys and hopes. Stephen reminds us that there will be times when our faith is tested but we can remain firm in the Lord because He is with us. This is the meaning of Christmas – Emmanuel – God with us. Fr. Brian Steele, MGL

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Are you a witness to the faith? Do you experience the voice of the Father speaking through you? What is He saying to you now?

 

Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening. Into Your hands I commend my spirit. Amen.

Daily Reflections - December 25,2012

GLORY TO GOD ON HIGH

 

It’s the story we know so well – the birth of Jesus in a manger. It is fascinating that Jesus was born in a manger, since there was no room in the place where travelers lodged. He was not born in a palace or made a show of His birth. The birth of Jesus was first manifested to simple men – shepherds. Jesus, who one day will declare Himself as the Good Shepherd, is met by those shepherds who remain on the outskirts of country and society. There are no fanfare, lights and cameras. Only a few people witness this sight on this holy night. Mary, His mother, wraps Him in clothing. Joseph takes care to keep mother and babe warm and comfortable as possible; the shepherds come and rejoice in this gathering of peace and joy.

And yet this is a great day for the world and the entire mankind. There are the angels who joyously proclaim the peace of God to the world in and through the babe in the manger. He will save people from their sins. This is the meaning of the name given to the child – Jesus — He “saves.” Some have proclaimed Christmas day as a day of fire. It is the fire of God’s love — a fire that purifies and cleanses, destroys and shatters. Sin is no more, since the child born for us will be the One who takes away our sin. He is born to die for us.

It will be good to reflect upon the scene we are familiar with in our churches and shopping centers, homes and offices – the Nativity. Take time to reflect on the characters displayed in this scenery – shepherds, Mary, Joseph, Jesus and other characters. Ignatius in his spiritual exercises teaches us to ponder and treasure as Mary did the Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, the child born for us. Think of how our God comes to us in the humility and gentleness of a child. Let us hold the babe in our arms and feel the closeness of God to His people.Fr. Brian Steele, MGL

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: Let us remain with Mary and Joseph for a few moments and give thanks to the God of peace and mercy.

 

This day I give thanks to You, Father, for the gift of Your son, Jesus, to me. May my life be a gift to Him in exchange for His love to me. Amen.

Daily Reflections - December 21,2012

Two Holy Women Meet

 

Each pilgrim to the Holy Land experiences a different holy place as highlight of the pilgrimage. For me it is always a visit to Ain Karim, a small village in a valley west of Jerusalem. Climbing up the slope slowly and looking down into the lush green and quiet valley is soothing to the eyes and gives me peace and joy. And then we stand in front of a church. Murals above the entrance and inside show Mary on her way to Elizabeth and the meeting of the two expectant mothers. According to an old tradition, this is the place where Zechariah and Elizabeth lived and where Mary met her old cousin and sang the Magnificat, now to be read in the courtyard of the church in more than 40 languages. This place still preserves the peace and joy the two holy women felt when they met and, filled with the Holy Spirit, praised God.

There are two points that strike me. First, after Mary had been told by the angel Gabriel that she would be the mother of the Messiah, she could have asked from her mother Anne better food, better clothes and be served fitting her dignity. But no, she walked about 115 kilometers from Nazareth to Ain Karim to help her old cousin during the last months of her pregnancy. Mary practiced already what her Son would say later about Himself and urged His followers to do, “I did not come to be served but to serve.”

What about us? Do we not like rather to be served than to serve? And how do we treat those who serve us – our maids at home or the waiters and waitresses in restaurants?

A second point that strikes me is that, when these two women met, they did not talk about the weather, they did not gossip about other people – they praised God!

How often do we waste time and words when we meet people? How often our topic is the fault of others instead of what good the Lord has done for us?

May the example of Mary and Elizabeth inspire us to imitate them and so be better prepared for the feast of Christ’s birth!Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: Do you have difficulties to serve in humility, especially your poor and marginalized fellowmen?

 

Lord, thank You for this beautiful story and for making me aware of important points for my spiritual life. Help me to imitate Your dear Mother and serve, rather than be served.

 

Daily Reflections - December 20,2012

the School of Faith

 

Nazareth is the very place where the Creator became a creature, where the almighty God became a helpless child, where the God to whom everything belongs became dependent on human beings, to experience what all human beings experience: hunger and thirst, frustration, rejection and pain, betrayal and finally death.

God chose for this great act of salvation not a well-educated girl from the royal court or from a priestly or aristocratic family in Jerusalem. No, He chose a humble girl, barely 14 years old, a resident of the obscure Nazareth. God after all does not look at our social status. He does not check whether we have a luxury car. He does not investigate our bank books. All these may be important in modern society but they are irrelevant to God. He looks into the heart of a person. What does God see when He looks into my heart? Does He find the simplicity and humility of Mary, her strong faith and trust in God’s plans?

When we speak about Mary’s humility, let us not forget what real humility is. Real humility demands courage. And Mary had this courage — she asked questions.

Faith, therefore, is not saying a blind “yes” to everything. Faith is a searching for God’s will and a total entrusting of oneself to Him because we are convinced that our understanding is limited — that God knows better and that He loves us.

Mary still did not fully understand the answer of the angel. But then she answered, “I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word.” That’s humility at its best. That’s faith at its best.

Isn’t it that our prayer is not always “Thy will be done” but “Thy will be changed”? We should never forget that it is not our task to change God’s plans and message, but that God’s message comes to change us. Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: Are you ready to say “yes” to God’s plans for you even though you don’t understand them?

 

Lord, through Mary’s faith and trust You became one of us. Make me learn from Your beloved Mother to trust You at all times, especially when I do not understand Your will and plans.

Daily Reflections - December 19,2012

The Lesson of Zechariah in the Temple

 

St. Luke opens his Gospel with a scene that connects the new with the old. He brings us into the Temple of Jerusalem, the center of the Jewish religion. It is the time of the evening sacrifice, and there is an old priest who was chosen by lot to enter the Holy Place and offer incense in front of the curtain that covered the Holy of Holies. This is where the message of a new beginning came to Zechariah.

Luke, the “historian” among the evangelists, knows that new developments are only healthy when they are rooted in the past. That the Church moves often slowly, too slowly for many, is because whatever new that comes has to be born from the old.

Luke describes the annunciation to Zechariah when he is alone in the Holy Place of God’s house. It is in the silence of the heart that God speaks.

Recently somebody asked me, “Father, why did God speak so much in the stories of the Bible but why does He not speak now, to me, for instance?” I reflected for a while and answered, “You see, in biblical times the world was quieter. People communed with nature. There was no radio, no TV, no computer. There were no movies, no cars — there was just silence. People could hear God speaking to them. Go to a contemplative monastery and ask nuns and monks and they will tell you how they “hear” God speaking to them. Go every day for half an hour, or one hour to an adoration chapel, calm down and just listen. God will speak to you.”

In these days before Christmas, when everything is so noisy and so hectic, we miss the most important thing in this season: God speaking to us through the Scripture, speaking to us in the silence of our hearts — as He spoke to Zechariah in the silence of the Holy Place in the Temple of Jerusalem. Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Are you carried away by the commercialized Christmas season, by the parties and shopping? Do you look for quiet times to listen to God?

 

Lord, once more I thank You for Your fitting message for this hectic, commercialized season. Lord, remind me again and again that You want to speak to me in the quietness of my life.

Daily Reflections - December 18,2012

The silent, yet eloquent St. Joseph

 

During this season Matthew wants us to focus on Joseph. Not a single word of Joseph is recorded. He dreams, listens and acts. He passes through the Gospel like a shadow. He appears to have been a man without a message. He was so ordinary that little could be said of him to those who would come after. And yet, he was chosen by God for the most important task one can think of: to be the husband of the Virgin Mary and so protect her, and the foster father of Jesus, the Son of God, and bring Him up and teach Him to  be a mature person.

Matthew calls him a just man. Imagine: His fiancée Mary had been away to help her cousin Elizabeth. Returning after three months he discovers that she was pregnant, but not by him. Imagine the shame and hurt that he must have experienced. It must have been a heavy blow for him. And this time it was not a bad dream – it was real. His honesty would not allow him to marry an adulteress and pretend the child was his. Neither would he expose the woman he loved to shame and punishment but divorce her quietly. Obviously, he loved Mary and though the evidence pointed to the opposite, he still believed in the goodness of his fiancée. Without words St. Joseph makes us aware of two points.

Our world today has become very noisy. There is no silence anymore. It seems that many of us are afraid of silence because in silence we have to confront ourselves. And confronting ourselves we might discover something that we don’t like and would have to change. But to change ourselves is painful and so we avoid it and become more and more superficial. Here, St. Joseph impresses on us the importance of silence.

A second lesson that St. Joseph teaches us today is not to judge and condemn a person immediately but to see first what is good in a person. St. Joseph – a wise man! We would do well to accept his lessons so that in this noisy, stressful season we find some peace and prepare for the real Christmas. Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Do you avoid quiet times and silence? Do you easily judge a person without knowing all the details?

 

Lord, I thank You for presenting us today St. Joseph. Yes, Lord, it is in silence and quietness that I can encounter You. Make me love silence more.

Daily Reflections - December 17,2012

Where is the Good News in these strange Names?

 

Ancient genealogies were supposed to teach something about a person. What then is the message that Matthew tries to give us with this genealogy?

In a Jewish genealogy only the names of men appeared. But Matthew includes the names of women. Also, the names of “black sheep” in the family, of sinners were erased. Yet he includes the names of sinful women, of black sheep in the ancestry: Tamar who seduced her father-in-law; Rahab, the prostitute at Jericho; and the mother of Solomon, Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, with whom King David committed adultery.

And there is another woman: Ruth. She was not a sinner but a foreigner, and of all foreigners a Moabite, belonging to the archenemies of the Israelites.

Where then is the good news?

Matthew tells us through this strange genealogy who Jesus was:

First of all, He was a true Jew, a son of Abraham.

Second, He came to save not only the Jews but all human beings, represented by the Moabite Ruth.

He came not only for men but also to save women. And finally, He did not come for good people only but also for sinners, represented by the sinful women in the genealogy.

At the end, Matthew presents Mary from whom Jesus was born. He interrupts the flow of the genealogy when he ntroduces Joseph, the husband of Mary. He does not say, as in all other cases, that he was the father of Jesus but he changes the pattern and says that from Mary Jesus was born. That’s another lesson: Jesus is not the son of Joseph but, as it will become clear later, the son of Mary who conceived Him through the power of the Holy Spirit.

And so, the strange genealogy tells us a lot of good things about Jesus. It’s really good news. Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: Have you ever asked questions about the meaning of the genealogy in today’s Gospel?

 

Lord, even a list of strange names in the Gospel has a message and tells me Good News about You. Thank You for the insight and for learning again something important about You.

 

 

Daily Reflections - December 16,2012

THE WINNOWING FORK

 

I can still remember watching a man winnow the wheat as a kid. It was amazing to see him deftly toss the stalks of the wheat around and so facilitate the separation of the grain from the stalks. It is good for us to remember that a day of judgment will come to us all and, on that day, we will have to give an account of the lives we have led.

Purification is the image that comes to mind – the rubbish being separated from me such that I will be purified. This is the process through which we will all go through if we are going to make it into eternal life. Judgment and purification go hand in hand in terms of the end result they achieve. I am sure there are things in our lives which we are not proud of. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a means by which we enter into this process of purification by acknowledging our sins and turning away from

them, both now and forever.

Sin is a nasty character that never gives up. The devil is quite aware that there are many who have strong beliefs in this area. It is important that we do not give up in the face of a challenge and, by preparing ourselves well, endure it. This is the way a disciple of Jesus thinks – always in terms of victory over sin and never towards a compromise.

The image of winnowing is used at the start of the Gospel to remind us that the work of the Gospel is to purify our lives beginning with our thoughts, words and deeds. We should hold nothing back from the God who loves us and we should seek to pray for one another daily. The ever-present danger in the modern world is to fail to recognize the work of Satan as he seeks to tempt us every once in a while.Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: Do you surrender yourself to the winnowing fire of God’s love that cleanses and purifies?

 

Holy Spirit, come and purify my heart and mind so that eveything they direct my body to do will be holy.

 

Daily Reflections - December 12,2012

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

 

Our Lady of Guadalupe is sometimes referred to as the Blessed Mother of the Americas. The story of a poor man receiving this vision of Our Lady and the accompanying miracle is one that has inspired many of the faithful in the Americas. The simplicity of Juan Diego’s faith is truly inspiring. His faith and trust in God is worthy of imitation.

All of the apparitions of the Blessed Mother are designed to foster faith in Jesus. Today’s apparition paved the way for many of the native people of the Americas to become Christians. It is important for us to remember that it is by the fruits of an apparition that we will know its authenticity. This is assuming, of course, that there is nothing  theologically wrong with the message (if any) of the apparition.

Why does God choose Mary to appear to the people more often than any other saint? I do not know the answer to this question but perhaps we  can consider the following. Mary is the closest human person to Jesus – she knows Him best and would have understood His character and desires better than most, if not all people. Mary always points us to her Son. She is not interested in any self-aggrandizement. Any hint of this would throw the apparition’s authenticity into doubt and cause the Church to distance itself from the apparition.

Jesus acknowledges the special place of Mary in our lives when He entrusts her to the Beloved Disciple in John 19. It is crucial that we realize that this entrustment is paralleled with another whereby we are entrusted to Mary’s care through the image of the Beloved Disciple being allowed to call Mary his mother. The simplicity of this image is its power. We cannot dismiss it from the Scriptures and so we have to seek and understand it as best as we can in order to remain faithful to it. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: Do you heed the messages given by Our Lady during her miraculous apparitions?

 

Jesus, You are the only way to the Father. Help me to surrender my life into Your hands so that I can focus my life on Your will and how it is that You ask me to live my life.

Daily Reflections - December 11,2012

THE MERCY OF GOD

 

God’s mercy is something we need to reflect upon often as it is an integral aspect of His forgiveness and love for us all. This well-known image of Jesus leaving the 99 sheep and going after the one that is lost is a perfect invitation to reflect upon the mercy of God.

Sheep are really quite pitiful animals. They have a flock mentality that is very strong. The image of a sheep on its own, apart from its flock, is already enough to induce in me a sense of pity. But pity is not mercy. The implication in the image of the lost sheep is that it is lost because it has chosen to depart from the flock for one reason or another. This idea leads me to lose my pity for the lost sheep — after all, it is its own fault that it finds itself in such a situation. Why should I have pity on the sheep when it has chosen to be apart from the flock?

Yet God steps into the image and seeks out the lost sheep until He finds it. This is what mercy is all about – not leaving the vulnerable and lonely on their own but seeking them out even if it is their fault that they find themselves in a bad situation. Mercy does not seek to apportion blame to anyone but simply recognizes the human need for some sort of assistance and then providing that help. Mercy takes the first step towards the person in need; it does not wait for the other to make the first step towards it.

We should all seek to cultivate mercy in our lives. It is to the merciful that mercy will be shown according to the Beatitudes. We all need mercy due to our sins. Let us be the first to express mercy to others and not just wait for it to come to us. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: Are you a merciful person or do you have a lot to learn in this area?

 

Lord Jesus, help me to grow in the exercise of mercy towards those who have sinned against me. Help me to forgive them; help me to love them more and more each day.

Daily Reflections - December 10,2012

THE POWER OF THE LORD

 

Luke tells us that “the power of the Lord” was with Jesus and that this is what gave Him the power to heal people and perform other miracles. It might be helpful to us to reflect upon this power and ask how we can tap into it in our own lives and ministries because it is obviously a key aspect of the success of the ministry of Jesus.

Power is something that can be very dangerous – power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Jesus has the power to perform miracles and yet no one ever accuses Him of being corrupt and is able to sustain the charge. Jesus places His power at the service of the Gospel. Herein lies possibly the only safety net available to people who exercise power – ensure that the exercise of your power is for the benefit of others and not yourself. Selflessness is the only safeguard against abuse.

Jesus’ life is full of examples of how He sees Himself as the servant of all rather than the one to be served. It would have been very easy for Him to develop a sense of self-importance that would have meant the death of the Gospel, but He did not. Jesus’ generosity as expressed in His willingness to die on the cross, the most selfless act the world has and ever will witness, comes precisely out of His infinite love for us all. Jesus is willing to forsake any thought of self-preservation in order to put our salvation before His own comfort.

We live in a world that does not really understand such an attitude of heart. It is up to us as disciples of Jesus to open our lives to the grace of the Holy Spirit so that we too can become witnesses to the same truth of Jesus’ life. In fact, the development of selflessness in our lives is essential to our being true disciples of Jesus.Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: What are your attitudes to power? How do you exercise power in your life?

 

Holy Spirit, help me to see the gifts and the power that I exercise in my life as gifts from God. May I use them faithfully for the building of His Kingdom on earth.

 

Daily Reflections - December 9,2012

PREPARE THE WAY FOR THE LORD

 

When I read this text it always sends a bit of a shiver down my spine as I realize that the role of preparing the way for the Lord is mine as well as John the Baptist’s. Each one of us is called to do our bit in preparing the way for the Lord to come a second time. John the Baptist has done it for the first arrival of Jesus and now it is our turn to prepare for the time when He will come to judge the world.

The funny thing is that the work of John the Baptist as he describes it is pretty much the same as what we are called to do. John was literally preparing for the arrival of the Incarnate Son of God; we are called to prepare the way for the Gospel to be proclaimed to the hearts of all men and women. The gift of salvation came in the person of Jesus and it continues to be born into the world in the form of the Gospel through the lives of the disciples of Jesus — you and me.

Sometimes it is good to look at the words of the Scriptures literally. Perhaps they will speak to us of specific situations in our lives. Let each of us reflect upon the ideas of “making straight paths; making rough ways smooth and crooked ones straight.” How do these ideas impact us and apply to our lives? This is the question that really has to be answered for our own salvation to be complete. Our participation in the work of Jesus – in the work of the Gospel – is an essential component of our faith. Each of us has to take the time to reflect upon our lives and examine how we are called to participate in the Church’s vocation of bringing the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

John’s is a voice crying in the wilderness. There will be plenty of times when this is what it will feel like to us – no one listening and a seeming waste of time. However, that is not our problem. It is up to God to make our voices of truth heard by others. It is His grace that will prepare peoples’ hearts for the Gospel. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: Are you doing all that you can to help proclaim the Good News of salvation to the world?

 

Holy Spirit, increase my zeal for the Gospel so that I will more faithfully live and proclaim its truth to everyone I meet.

 

Daily Reflections - December 7,2012

The Power of Insight

 

I will never forget the first time I flew in an airplane. It was a trip to Cebu and the plane I took was a small one. I was nervous because of the inclement weather. The sky was dark and the clouds were thick. As the plane took off, it began to rain hard. To calm my anxiety, I took out my rosary and started praying. Then I noticed the flight attendant who was seated facing me. She looked very calm. She even smiled at me when our eyes met. I said to myself, “Is there something she knows that I do not know?” All I could see was darkness and heavy rain and there she was, all smiles and a picture of perfect peace and serenity.

The plane began to pick up altitude. Up ahead I saw a thick mass of dark cloud. I started fingering my rosary a little faster. And then it happened. After passing through a thick black cloud, my eyes were greeted by bright rays of sunshine. I couldn’t believe it – behind the cloudy skies was a welcome burst of daylight! While all I could see were the clouds and the darkness, the flight attendant could see the sunshine behind it all.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus restores the sight of two blind men. There seems to be nothing ordinary with those men, except when they began speaking. When they called out, they addressed Jesus as “Son of David” and “Lord.” These are “messianic” titles every Jew anticipates of the coming Messiah. The religious leaders of Jesus’ time saw Him, but they did not see Him as the “Son of David” or “Messiah,” or maybe they refused to. The blind men, on the contrary, did. This goes to show that while they did not have sight, they had insight into who Jesus is.

On my first plane ride, sight sowed fear in my heart as I saw nothing but darkness and clouds. Insight born out of experience gave peace and serenity to that flight attendant. Sight robbed me of the opportunity to enjoy my first plane ride. Insight gave the flight attendant a ready smile and sunny disposition. Fr. Joel Jason

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: Give a thorn to an insightful man and he will see roses. Give him sand and he will find sea. How about you?

 

Lord Jesus, grant me the grace of insight more than sight, that I may see the world in a different light. Amen.

 

Daily Reflections - December 6,2012

Be the Present!

 

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

The rush towards Christmas has begun. The streets have become crowded, traffic is at a standstill, malls have extended their shopping hours and everyone seems bitten by the Christmas commercial bug. People are beginning to be anxious about what gifts to give to whom. Budgets are stretched to the limit. It can be very stressful.

One Facebook status caught my attention one lazy afternoon. It went: There are 4 Stages of Life: 1) You believe in Santa Claus; 2) You don’t believe in Santa Claus; 3) You are Santa Claus; and 4) You look like Santa Claus.

I don’t really promote Santa as an Advent personality but I would like to use this as my starting point for reflection. You may be in number 1 or number 2 but I believe all of us must be number 3. We are to be, in a certain sense, Santa Clauses to one another. I don’t mean the Western commercialized image of Santa. In our anxiety to find what presents to give to whom, why not be the present yourself?

Look at the antiphon of this day’s Responsorial Psalm: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” A Christian comes in the name of the Lord. Consciously or unconsciously, a Christian is to bring the Lord to everyone he encounters.

The psalmist is reminding us, “Don’t worry about having no budget to buy gifts for the people. You are to be the gift. Give yourself.” That is more than enough.

As Christmas draws near, please do not get too stressed out about what presents to buy and what wrappers to use. Come in the name of the Lord. Just intensify your presence with your loved ones. Be the present yourself! Fr. Joel Jason

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: How do you prepare yourself spiritually for the coming Messiah? Will the Messiah find a manger in your interiority?

 

Jesus, make me a vessel of Your love and peace. May I also be Emmanuel to persons I meet. Amen

Daily Reflections - December 5,2012

Parasite or Pelican

 

It was the morning after Christmas and two boys were conversing about the gifts they received on Christmas day. The first one proudly announced, “As Christmas gift, my big brother gave me a bicycle.” Amazed, the second  boy wondered aloud, “Wow, how I wish…” “That you got a bicycle too?” the first one interrupted. “No,” he continued, “how I wish I could give a bicycle to my brother, too.”

A pelican is a species of a bird that is known to be a self-sacrificing animal. Mythic stories abound that with their long pointed bills, they would wound their breasts and feed their young with their own blood until they die of blood loss. (How different it is today when it is the young who lose their blood for the sake of the mothers in the name of “choice.” I believe the pro-choice philosophy can learn a lot from the pelican).

This is the reason why the early Christians associated the pelican with the symbol of Christ Himself (a big capital P with a cross at the base), whose self-emptying sacrifice won for humanity the fullness of life.

In today’s Gospel Jesus teaches the multitude, then feeds them by the miraculous multiplication of the loaves. This prefigures the ultimate self-giving that Jesus will make of Himself – “this is my body…this is my blood” for the salvation of humanity. Jesus is the divine pelican who feeds the young with His very self, which is what we commemorate at every Eucharistic celebration. Ironically, the people of Jesus’ time acted more like parasites, following Jesus wherever He went, not because of His teaching but because of a free meal, prompting Jesus to confront them saying, “I tell you truly, you are looking for Me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the bread and had your fill” (John 6:25).

As we draw nearer to the Christmas mystery, what part of you becomes more operative – the parasite or the pelican? May we all summon the pelican in us and allow it to soar and bring us all up to the heavenly heights. Fr. Joel Jason

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: If you were to complete the sentence, “Wow, how I wish…” what would it be? That “I received a bicycle” or “that I can give a bicycle”?

 

Lord Jesus, as I receive You in the Eucharist, give me a share in Your mission, “This is my body, given for you.” Amen.