Are you fat?

21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

August 25-25, 2007

Reading 1Is 66:18-21

Responsorial PsalmPs 117:1, 2

Reading IIHeb 12:5-7, 11-13

GospelLk 13:22-30

Once there was a rich man who always had this question fixed in his mind: "Will I go to heaven or to hell?" This became so much of an obsession with him that he decided to approach his pastor. "Father, will you please ask God whether I am going to heaven or to hell?" "Well, my son, how can I possibly know? I do not have a direct line with heaven." "Come on, Father! Pray hard. Do not worry; I will compensate you well for all your efforts. I will pay off all the debts of the Church..." With that kind of an offer, the pastor could not refuse. "Come and see me in three days time," he reassured him. And sure enough, three days later, the rich man was knocking at the door of the preacher. "Well, Father, any news from God?" "Yes, my son! I have good news and bad news." "Give me the good news first." "The good news is that you are going to heaven!" "Great! Wonderful!" exclaimed the rich man in jubilation. "And what’s the bad news?" "Well, the bad news is that you are going to heaven today!”

Who can be saved?

In the Gospel someone asked Jesus “Who can be saved?” Jesus simply answered “strive hard because the heaven has a narrow gate." In simple words I supposed Jesus wants to say is that a person must be fit, must workout, and lose some weight so that she or he may enter the gate of heaven. We have to trim our waistline to enter the narrow gate. We are not talking here our physical sizes but to enter heaven we need to burn our “spiritual fats” --- our attachments to pleasure, worldliness, and selfishness. The second reading tells us more how can we trim our “spiritual waistlines” to enter the narrow gates, through discipline, suffering and sacrifices

Strive to enter by the narrow gate. Jesus uses the image of a narrow gate to describe the gate of heaven. It has been made small so that only the little ones will fit through it;

Remember Jesus says you cannot enter the Kingdom of God unless you become like little children. Little children will find it easy to enter the narrow gate not because there are little physically but because they don't have "spiritual fats".

Look little children have especially qualities that we adults don’t have: they simple, they are not image conscious. They cry, poo and pee in public they don’t care what people say. They are free to express openly what they feel, and feel deeply what they are. They don’t care whether they are male or female, rich or poor, Christian or Muslim.

Children are not afraid to get hurt for being known for who they are. That is why they are so loving and lovable to eyes of God. More importantly little children unlike us are without world attachments. Children are totally dependent on their mum and dad. The world is perfect around them as long as mum and dad are present.

There will be full of surprises in heaven. The VIP’s and big shots on earth will not necessarily be VIPs and Bigshots in Heaven. To enter heaven, what will matter is not your social status on earth, or your bank account, or your looks, or your academic degrees. What will matter then will be the kind of person we are: are we like children? Are we a selfish or a loving person?

Strive to enter by the narrow gate. We too believe that we cannot “earn” our way into heaven by good works, but we also believe that we must allow God to work in our lives through His grace, a grace that is reflected in our actions. The road of the life of this world is wide, many follow it because it is like a river of desires and pleasures, it drags them into spiritual danger and it is a definite way to perdition. The road to heaven is narrow and difficult to follow, not everyone can find it easily because it demands following my gospel. The gate to gate in not so popular because tt is very easy to stray from it because of the distractions of the world.

The good thing for being a Catholic as Bishop Christopher Prowse said yesterday at Confirmation Mass is that when we fail or when we sin, we are always welcome to start a new life, we can always start afresh with Jesus and through Jesus.

We want to start afresh new now. Let us begin to trim our spiritual waistline to enter by the narrow gates.

Jesus wants us all to be in heaven. Jesus came to save us all, and we are all important to him no matter what is our country, race, culture or religion. The means of salvation is all available in the Catholic Church. We have the sacraments as means for us start our new life and thus enter the narrow gate: Eucharist, Reconcilliation…

Let us strive hard to be more closer to Jesus, only Jesus and always Jesus. We will do our best for Jesus.

Let us conclude with this a short prayer of self-examination:
“I need you Jesus Christ. Grant me forgiveness for my sins. Make me a new person. I need your Holy Spirit to direct me, to strengthen me, so that I can walk in the narrow way and choose the narrow gate. I need you to change me from a self-centered, self-sufficient person into your wise servant.”

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*Our little models for today are Nicola, Joshua and Jordan :)

Peace breaker

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time C

August 19, 2007

Reading I: Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10

Responsorial Psalm: 40:2, 3, 4, 18

Reading II: Hebrews 12:1-4

Gospel: Luke 12:49-53

Jesus The Peace Maker?

“Do you think that I have come to establish peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.”

These words of Jesus must have shocked his disciples. Jesus' words are not only dramatic and hard to understand but there are also a seeming contradiction. Isn’t it Jesus is supposed to be a Messiah, ambassador of peace, harmony and unity? Elsewhere in the Gospel, Jesus is described to be the Prince of Peace, at his birth the angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest and earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” On Easter night Jesus greeted disciples with peace three times. When he commissioned his disciples he instructed them to greet every household they would visit with a greeting of peace.

How can these two positions be reconciled? How can we interpret the words of Jesus today? The answer is to be found in consequences, not intention. For instance in the first reading we heard that the prophet Jeremiah must be put to death because he is steadfast in his mission from God. Jeremiah is ridiculed, hated, thrown first into prison, then let down into a deep cistern by those who wouldn't listen to his message. They said it was "too demoralizing." King Zedekiah admires Jeremiah, but he is too weak to act on his advice. Jeremiah was left in a dark and muddy cistern solely because he had spoken God’s warning. He is battered and beaten as consequence of telling the truth!

Our Gospel reading concludes with examples of family unity which will be divided: From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three;a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father,a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother.

This is hard and does not sound very appealing, but sometimes this is the reality. In the act of accepting Jesus, many people found themselves at odds with others, even family members. To accept Christ seriously mayh cause division and rejection in one’s own family. It happened in early Church and it still happening today.

Christ desired peace, but a faith on fire often leads to division. Many parents feel so bad about their children who were reluctant going to church on Sunday. Some parents have told me that they now try to avoid the topic of religion, Sunday Masses, Christian moral values on their children in order to prevent discussion or disagreement. There are some children go to church just to please their parents or grandparents.

On the other hand, there are children who want to pursue a dedicated Christian life but their family offer no understanding or support. There can be very strong family reactions to one member’s embrace of the faith. I remember a friend priest of mine in the Philippines telling his vocation story. He said, when he entered the seminary his father stopped talking to him. Another friend of mine, a religious sister, said she entered religious life without telling her parents because she knew that would not let her. She literally jumped over their fence the night she sneaked out from her house to enter the convent.

We come to the realization that following Christ is not a laid-back pursuit. To follow our Lord with fire in our belly can and does produce division. Jesus declares that His teachings will bring division and conflict, even within his followers' own households. To follow Jesus can produce uncomfortable results and affect our morale. The best solution is given us in our second reading from Hebrews today: let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.

A true disciple loves God above all else and is willing to forsake all for Jesus Christ. Jesus insists that his disciples give him the loyalty which is only due to God, a loyalty which is higher than spouse or kin. It is possible that family and friends can become our enemies, if the thought of them keeps us from doing what we know God wants us to do.

When Jesus says he brings division to family, family could also be the world at large, our civil government and our local communities. It is the duty of the Church to transmit Christ message in our society. As the Church proclaims Christian moral values and principles she causes division.

A concrete example is in our parish take away-sheet this weekend. At the last page there is a letter from Archbishop Hart regarding the issue of a Private Members Bill, the decriminalizing abortion will be introduced into the Victoria Parliament this week. Archbishop Hart wrote: I appeal to all that we acknowledge and protect the human dignity of each person from the very beginning of life to its natural end. This means that we not only preserve the life of the unborn child, but also work tirelessly to care and support mothers and distressed by an unplanned pregnancy and anxious for their future and that of their unborn child…This legislation to decriminalize abortion will weaken eventually weaken the respect we have for life and the dignity of each person.

We know our moral stand against abortion will cause division. But as followers of Christ, it is our moral duty to recognise that all human rights ultimately depend on our love and support for the most vulnerable and defenseless in our community.

So, in this Mass let us pray that our love to Jesus may be strengthened, make him always our number one, and let the fire of God's love burn brightly in our hearts. Let us also pray for the Church, to all who endure hardship, and pain in the cause of discipleship.

Together with all the baptised, let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.

"Lord, may your love consume me and transform my life that I may truly desire nothing more than life with you. Make me strong in love and fidelity that nothing may hinder me from doing your will."

Let us prepare now

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time C
August 12, 2007
Wisdom 18:6-9; Psalm: 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22
Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 or 11:1-2, 8-12;
Luke 12:32-48 or 12:35-40

After the parable of the rich man last week, we heard today from the Gospel another parable of Jesus reminding us what really is our true wealth, treasure that never perish, that is eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

There is a big contrast between earthly treasure which will perish and heavenly treasure which is imperishable. We cannot bring our big houses, expensive car, jewelries, money and even our good looks in heaven. What we will carry with us when we die is not our bank account but the measure of our love for God and our love for neighbour.

The message of the Gospel today is clear; the master portrays our Lord returning to fetch us on the day of our death. Jesus is asking you and I today, “are you now prepared?” Jesus is not asking if you are prepared tomorrow or next week, he is explicitly asking us here and now, “are you prepared?” Have you and I stored enough treasure in heaven that will never perish? Are we still like the foolish rich man in the parable last week who placed his trust and security alone in his money and material wealth?

There is a story of a conversation between a young and ambitious lad and an older man who knew life. Said the young man.
“I will learn my trade (be professional)
“And then?” said the older man.
“I will set up in business.”
“And then?”
“I will make my fortune.”
“And then?”
“I suppose that I shall grow and retire and live on my money.”
“And then?”
“Well, I suppose that some day I will die.”
“And then?”

Last Friday night, our new regional bishop Bishop Christopher Prowse confirmed our students from Corpus Christi School. He delivered a powerful and challenging homily. He said, as our modern society grow richer people suffers a disease called “affluenza.” It’s a disease of the soul caused by being over-materialistic. The more we buy things, big houses, luxury cars, expensive clothes; all the more we acquire wealth and pleasures and forgetting about God’s presence, the more we become lonely and depressed. Wealth does not guarantee a life of love. That is why the richest man is not necessarily the happiest, even if his wealth can provide him much pleasure in life.

Our real wealth is the kingdom of God. For Jesus, this should be the primary concern of our life. When we speak of true riches, though, two things are to be remembered. First, it is God who gives us this wealth: it is free! It is not acquired through our own efforts, unlike material wealth, which largely depends on our own toil. Heaven is not acquired by our own achievement it is not our achievement. By contrast, in true wealth, it is God who acts. We can do nothing without Him. Second, all we seek is that God establish His kingship over us. Our role is not passive, but it is exercised in active passivity. We allow God to rule our lives and our society. Not what you and I want, but what the Lord wants this is what prevails in our daily life.

It’s not sinful to enjoy the wealth and material things that we earned and worked hard for. We have the right to do so. But when material wealth causes us to treat God as our last or our least priority, then we endanger our soul.

Jesus is inviting each of us to be vigilant and watchful not only in our priorities in life but also our attitude towards God and our neighbour. “Gird your loins and light your lamps, and be like servants who await their mater’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.”

In the Gospel, as Jesus admonishes his disciples 2000 years ago to be vigilant for the “master's return,” to be eager to learn and do the “master's will,” and to be “faithful” though the master's coming is delayed, and so he is asking us today, here and now, to be ready, well-equipped and prepared.

Vigilance does not mean simply waiting for something to happen. Waiting for Christ to return means working for the coming of the Kingdom of God. It means mastering the virtue of kindness and compassion; it means ending the hatreds that divide us; establishing peace among ourselves, within our families, in society, and among the nations of the world; being vigilant means building a social structures that respect the dignity of individual humans, including the unborn.

Once again Jesus is knocking on the door of hearts now. Are you prepared? We don’t have to wait for the time of our death? Jesus wants to enter into deepest our heart now. He wants to be ready when he comes, he wants to us to be prepared. Let us renew our commitment to Jesus, let us pray to him like we never pray before.

Jesus wants us to be prepared because he loves us, as the Psalm says “(we).. are the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.”

Pananatili

Mahal kong,

Huwag mong naising lisanin kita; wala 'kong hangaring ika'y mag-isa. Sa'n man magtungo, ako'y sasabay, magkabalikat sa paglalakbay. Mananahan sa tahanang sisilong sa 'yo, yayakapin ang landasin at bayan mo. Poon mo ay aking ipagbubunyi at iibigin nang buong sarili. Sa'n man abutin ng paghahanap, ikaw at ako'y magkasamang ganap. Ipahintulot nawa ng Panginoon: ni kamataya'y maglalaho, anino ng kahapon. Dahil pag-ibig ang alay sa 'yo, mananatili ako. H'wag nang naising tayo'y mawalay, h'wag nang isiping magwawakas ang paglalakbay.+

Nagmamahal,



+titik ni Noel Miranda; inawit ng Bukas Palad

Another Day

11:34pm
Dear Jesus,

Here is the outline of my activities today:

9:15-10:30am Concelebrated at the Mass at MacKillop College together with hundreds of secondary students. The school celebrated today its foundation day. (May nagpicture sa akin na dalawang studyante, feeling sikat :)

10:30-11:00 am - Tea ("merienda") with school principal and fellow priests.

11:00 am -12:00pm - Outdor party with teachers, students along and Victoria Police Band; enjoyed cotton candy while watching students play games, rides, etc.

1:30-2:30 - Celebrated a funeral Mass for Dianne Lucas. She was a 50 year-old mother of two children; she suffered and died from a huntington's disease and cancer.

3:00- 3:15 pm - Burial at cemetery

3:30-4:30 pm - Hospital visitation. Santo Manna died at the hospital today. I blessed his remains and consoled his family. Administered sacraments of reconcilliation and anointing to some patients.

6:00-7:30 pm - Concelebrated at Confirmation Mass for Corpus Christi Parish School students.

7:45-9:30 pm - Concelebrated at Confirmation Mass (second batch)

10:30 - Late dinner with a bishop and parish priest.


I thank you Lord Jesus for this day. I am sincerely sorry for all my sins, please forgive me. Help me to pray like I never pray before. Help me to start anew life with you. Renew in me your Spirit. Look not on my sins, unworthiness, selfishness and the hardness of my heart, but make me an instrument of your loving grace and presence. Amen.

The Australian People's Saint

Mary Mackillop Prayer


Most loving God,
We thank you for the example
Blessed Mary MacKillop
who in her living in the Gospel
witnessed to the human dignity
of each person.

She faced life's challenges with faith and courage.

We pray through her intercession for our needs...

May her holiness soon be acknowledged
by the universal Church.

We make this prayer through Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Biography
Miracle

My sister Maricon at Mary MacKillop's grave

Pray for me.

Healing

Once again, only in the Philippines!

These inspiring videos from youtube.com show Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center's (CPDRC) revolutionary system in penology aimed at inner discipline through a choreographed physical exercise.

Whether we are living within the four walls of the prison or not we have to face that we all need rehabilitation, and it all begins from within.

Watch this first. Then watch this next

It's Show time: Radio Gaga Sister Act Jumbo Hotdog

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Bigla ko tuloy namiss ang flag ceremony at field day namin sa elementary school :(

Praying to Pray

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 28-29, 2007

Gen 18:20-32; Col 2:12-14; Lk 11;1-13

Prayer
What is a prayer? "Prayer is the life of the new heart. It ought to animate us at every moment" (CCC 2697) Prayer is a conversation with God. All religions in the world express there acts of worship, faith and belief through prayer. There are different kinds of prayer – vocal prayer and mental prayer. Vocal prayer is when we utter words aloud (eg rosary, novena, etc) and mental prayer is when we talk to God in the silence of our hearts. (note: in the Catholic tradition, expressions of prayer are through vocal prayer, meditation and contemplation)

Sometimes we do not see the importance of prayer. Oftentimes we do not know how to pray or what we have to pray for. Like Jesus’ disciples in today’s Gospel we need instructions how to pray, what to pray for and why we need to pray.

In response to the request of his disciples, Jesus repeated the commonly spoken of as the Lord’s Prayer, “from which it appears that above all we are to pray that God may be glorified, and that for this purpose we may be worthy of His kingdom, living in conformity with His will.” We ask for nothing unless it be in accordance with God’s divine will. Inasmuch as we pray for spiritual guidance we also ask God for temporal things – food, health, strength, shelter, etc., so that we may continue to serve God and our neighbours. Finally, there are the evils which we should pray to escape, the penalty of our sins, the dangers of temptation, and every manner of physical or spiritual affliction, so far as these might impede us in God's service.


Persistence in prayer
We have to be persistet in praying. The First Reading shows what persistence means. We heard Abraham bargaining with God. Jesus recommends the same shrewdness in the Gospel. He gives the famous parable of knocking on the door of a friend at a late hour to borrow some bread. The friend refuses because he and his family are all in bed. Jesus says, “If he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.”

Why do we have to be persistent? Why we need to pray over and over again? Why bargain?Because of love. When we love someone, we want to spend time with her/him; we never wish to lost contact with the person we love. Love requires us to be always in presence of the object of our love be it physical, emotional or spiritual presence.

Blessed Mother Teresa gave a tip when our prayer life runs dry, she said, “The only remedy for the lack of prayer is to pray again.”

Does God listen to our prayer?
The answer is yes. Yes, God always answers our prayers. Jesus himself says, “ask and you will receive.” However, though we trust the words of Jesus why it seems many of our prayers remain unanswered. When we do not receive what we are praying for. We must not stop praying. For prayer enlightens our mind, increases our trust in God and even changes our attitude into goodness. Most of all prayer deepens the degree of our intimacy with God.

God always answers our prayers. His answer is either yes or no, but always God answers our prayer in the way that is best for us. When Jesus says “ask and you will receive” he does not specify precisely what we ask for. He just says, “ask and you will receive.” Sometimes we receive what we ask for, sometime we do not.

Sometimes we are unaware that what we praying for may not be good for us, or might harm somebody else, or might prevent us from growing as a person. In that case God’s answers us or gives us something, something better than what we asked for.


The Serenity Prayer (Reinhold Niebuhr)

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

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Hi to Jordan Samantha, my niece and model for this entry. :)
CCC- Catechism of the Catholic Church

Destined for Christ

We go on pilgrimage for the Truth, but the Truth is not a set of loftly ideas. Truth is a person.

We go on pilgrimage seeking an encounter with the one who IS the Truth. Only this encounter can give real meaning, a new horizon and a decisive direction to our lives.

Of course there are times on our pilgrimage when we will feel lost, when we feel that the goal has slipped out of sight behind some mountain or lost in some forest.

At such times we remember the story of the two disciples on Easter Day who were walking home to Emmaus (Luke 24:15-35). They had lost sight of the goal and were in despair.

But at their darkest moment, when they felf most lost, Jesus joined them on their journey. They did not know who it was at first - only later did they look back and realise that it was the very one who had called himself "THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE" (John 14:6).

Jesus himself has walked the full human pilgrimage from birth to death, and by his resurrection has broken beyond the horizons of this world into eternity. Now he walks with us as our companion on the journey.

You are destined for a face to face encounter with Christ!

+Archbishop Denis J Hart

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Special thanks to Ms Ruthie Vergabera of Southern Christian College of the Philippines, Midsayap, North Cotabato, Philippines.