Gospel Reflection

November 25, 2012

Sunday – Year of Faith

The Solemnity of Christ the King

Anticipated Sunday Mass

by Rev. Fr. Jim Ferry (San Carlos Pastoral Formation Complex EDSA, Guadalupe, Makati)

Mass at Sto. Nino de Paz Chapel, Greenbelt, Makati

Reading 1 Dn 7:13-14

As the visions during the night continued, I saw one like a Son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven; when he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 93:1, 1-2, 5

R. (1a) The LORD is king; he is robed in majesty.
The LORD is king, in splendor robed;
robed is the LORD and girt about with strength.
R. The LORD is king; he is robed in majesty.
And he has made the world firm,
not to be moved.
Your throne stands firm from of old;
from everlasting you are, O LORD.
R. The LORD is king; he is robed in majesty.
Your decrees are worthy of trust indeed;
holiness befits your house,
O LORD, for length of days.
R. The LORD is king; he is robed in majesty.

Reading 2 Rv 1:5-8

Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, who has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming amid the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. All the peoples of the earth will lament him. Yes. Amen."I am the Alpha and the Omega, " says the Lord God, "the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty."

Gospel Jn 18:33b-37

Pilate said to Jesus, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?" Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here." So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

HOMILY

In the Liturgy of the Word that has just been proclaimed, we see in the Book of Daniel a prophecy, that there will be the Son of Man who will be presented to the Ancient One - the Father. And He will be given dominion over all the earth. This is the prophecy concerning Jesus.

And then in our Second Reading, in Revelations, we see Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father, and will receive the acclamation of all, as a consequence of His Kingship, over all the kings and the queens and the leaders and presidents that we know of in this world.

As a consequence of Christ proclaiming the truth, He lived out the very reason for His coming among us. He is a King indeed, but He came under one who wants to rule by power, who wants to rule by fear, who wants to rule by way of people coming and adoring before him, not because of love, but because of the desire to share in his power, to share in his earthly wealth. This is not the king who proclaims the truth. This is not the king who explains the proclamation of truth by the way he lives a life of love, a life of forgiveness, a life of service, a life that calls each and everyone of us today. 

Let us keep Christ at the center of our Catholic lives. Don't take this gift for granted. That wonderful gift of faith. That wonderful gift of being able to live out that faith in love, and in courage, and in service. Let us not be afraid even if darkness comes upon us because of the evil that we experience in this world. There may be tremendous times when our faith is tested. But keeping Christ at the center of our life of truth and love, with Christ as Victor, we will share in that victory.

May I give you an example from my own life. When I was 19 years of age, I celebrated my first feast of the Christ the King here in the Philippines, in Zamboanga. The invasion has just been finished, and we were there for about six months. Finally, the war ends on August the 15th. And during November, on the last Sunday of the Liturgical year, I saw the faith of our Filipino brothers and sisters. Your ancestors in the faith. 

In 1945, our people had just ended four years of war. Many, especially the children, were hungry because of the scarcity of food, and the people were mourning their deaths, because they would rather fight for freedom in their country rather than give it up to the invaders. The churches in Zamboanga have long been destroyed due to the war. But on the feast of Christ the King, the Filipinos came into our chapel, into our naval base, and what did they bring? Yes, their children, yes their old. But so many of them brought images of the Sto. Nino, images of the Sacred Heart, images of Christ the King. And yes, images of the Blessed Mother. They have held on to these images during those terrible, dark years of war. And now they have an opportunity to celebrate in freedom. And they came. They wore clothes that were a result of war, but their hearts were the hearts of those who kept faith in Jesus. They remained faithful, they remained full of hope. And during that time, they practiced the charity of Jesus, caring for one another, praying for one another, and sharing whatever they have with one another. And when the opportunity came to express that, they came together in procession on the feast of Christ the King, in a small chapel, in a quiet, isolated place, not like the grandeur of Makati, not like what we have today.

After many years later, I celebrate the same feast of Christ the King. And year after year, after so many years after my ordination, and returning to the Philippines, this feast always reminds me to ask myself a question. Self, is your faith as strong as the people of Zamboanga in 1945? Is Christ truly the center of my life as a Christian, and my life as a priest? 

You are invited to ask yourself the same questions in this mass. Is Christ the center of your hearts? And as lay people, and as married people as many of you are, is Christ the ruler of your families? Do we all live the truth? Do we all pray to strengthen our faith? Have we the courage to remain one with Jesus even as you and I struggle against sin? Even as you and I find it hard to forgive? And maybe even to confess our sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation?

Christ is a King of love. A King of truth. A King who calls us to walk in His footsteps. Just as our brothers and sisters in those many, many years ago, walked in the footsteps of Christ, bloodied by war and starvation, and sacrifice, we, too, are called to walk in the footsteps of Christ, the footsteps of sacrifice, footsteps of penance, footsteps of acts of charity, the footsteps that will enable us to live truthful lives, truthful to what God asks of us, and true in our relationships with one another, in marvelous, marvelous numbers.

I hope you, too, can reflect in your own heart, to go back in your own lives, to those moments when it was very, very difficult to stay one with Jesus, the times perhaps when it was almost impossible to speak the truth, because we were afraid of the cost that proclaiming the truth will demand of us. Allow your memories to stir up within you those wonderful moments, when, through the example of other people, your own faith was strengthened, and when your own faith encouraged you to proclaim in your own heart and in your own families, and in your own places of work, that Jesus Christ is King. 

May Jesus reign over each one of us, as our sovereign king and servant leader, as the One who came to sanctify us, as the One who came to teach us, as the One who guides all of us.



You may also want to see:  A Holy Life - The Solemnity of Christ the King

A Holy Life

The Solemnity of Christ the King

The Feast of Christ the King was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 as an antidote to secularism, a way of life which leaves God out of man's thinking and living and organizes his life as if God did not exist. The feast is intended to proclaim in a striking and effective manner Christ's royalty over individuals, families, society, governments, and nations.

Today's Mass establishes the titles for Christ's royalty over men: 1) Christ is God, the Creator of the universe and hence wields a supreme power over all things; "All things were created by Him"; 2) Christ is our Redeemer, He purchased us by His precious Blood, and made us His property and possession; 3) Christ is Head of the Church, "holding in all things the primacy"; 4) God bestowed upon Christ the nations of the world as His special possession and dominion.

Today's Mass also describes the qualities of Christ's kingdom. This kingdom is: 1) supreme, extending not only to all people but also to their princes and kings; 2) universal, extending to all nations and to all places; 3) eternal, for "The Lord shall sit a King forever"; 4) spiritual, Christ's "kingdom is not of this world". — Rt. Rev. Msgr. Rudolph G. Bandas

According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, this feast is celebrated on the last Sunday of October.

Christ the King as Represented in the Liturgy

The liturgy is an album in which every epoch of Church history immortalizes itself. Therein, accordingly, can be found the various pictures of Christ beloved during succeeding centuries. In its pages we see pictures of Jesus suffering and in agony; we see pictures of His Sacred Heart; yet these pictures are not proper to the nature of the liturgy as such; they resemble baroque altars in a gothic church. Classic liturgy knows but one Christ: the King, radiant, majestic, and divine.

With an ever-growing desire, all Advent awaits the "coming King"; in the chants of the breviary we find repeated again and again the two expressions "King" and "is coming." On Christmas the Church would greet, not the Child of Bethlehem, but the Rex Pacificus — "the King of peace gloriously reigning." Within a fortnight, there follows a feast which belongs to the greatest of the feasts of the Church year -- the Epiphany. As in ancient times oriental monarchs visited their principalities (theophany), so the divine King appears in His city, the Church; from its sacred precincts He casts His glance over all the world....On the final feast of the Christmas cycle, the Presentation in the Temple, holy Church meets her royal Bridegroom with virginal love: "Adorn your bridal chamber, O Sion, and receive Christ your King!" The burden of the Christmas cycle may be summed up in these words: Christ the King establishes His Kingdom of light upon earth!

If we now consider the Easter cycle, the luster of Christ's royal dignity is indeed somewhat veiled by His sufferings; nevertheless, it is not the suffering Jesus who is present to the eyes of the Church as much as Christ the royal Hero and Warrior who upon the battlefield of Golgotha struggles with the mighty and dies in triumph. Even during Lent and Passiontide the Church acclaims her King. The act of homage on Palm Sunday is intensely stirring; singing psalms in festal procession we accompany our Savior singing: Gloria, laus et honor tibi sit, Rex Christe, "Glory, praise and honor be to Thee, Christ, O King!" It is true that on Good Friday the Church meditates upon the Man of Sorrows in agony upon the Cross, but at the same time, and perhaps more so, she beholds Him as King upon a royal throne. The hymn Vexilla Regis, "The royal banners forward go," is the more perfect expression of the spirit from which the Good Friday liturgy has arisen. Also characteristic is the verse from Psalm 95, Dicite in gentibus quia Dominus regnavit, to which the early Christians always added, a ligno, "Proclaim among the Gentiles: the Lord reigns from upon the tree of the Cross!" During Paschal time the Church is so occupied with her glorified Savior and Conqueror that kingship references become rarer; nevertheless, toward the end of the season we celebrate our King's triumph after completing the work of redemption, His royal enthronement on Ascension Thursday.

Neither in the time after Pentecost is the picture of Christ as King wholly absent from the liturgy. Corpus Christi is a royal festival: "Christ the King who rules the nations, come, let us adore" (Invit.). In the Greek Church the feast of the Transfiguration is the principal solemnity in honor of Christ's kingship, Summum Regem gloriae Christum adoremus (Invit.). Finally at the sunset of the ecclesiastical year, the Church awaits with burning desire the return of the King of Majesty.

We will overlook further considerations in favor of a glance at the daily Offices. How often do we not begin Matins with an act of royal homage: "The King of apostles, of martyrs, of confessors, of virgins — come, let us adore" (Invit.). Lauds is often introduced with Dominus regnavit, "The Lord is King". Christ as King is also a first consideration at the threshold of each day; for morning after morning we renew our oath of fidelity at Prime: "To the King of ages be honor and glory." Every oration is concluded through our Mediator Christ Jesus "who lives and reigns forever." Yes, age-old liturgy beholds Christ reigning as King in His basilica (etym.: "the king's house"), upon the altar as His throne.

 

Sources for this article were taken from:  The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

 

Prayer

Father all-powerful, God of love,

 You have raised our Lord Jesus Christ from death to life,

 Resplendent in glory as King of creation.

 Open our hearts, free all the world to rejoice in his peace,

To glory in his justice, to live in his love.

Bring all mankind together in Jesus Christ your Son,

 Whose kingdom is with You and the Holy Spirit, One God,

for ever and ever.

Amen.

Christ, our King – have mercy on us

 

 

A Holy Life

Saint Andrew Düng-Lac and Companion Martyrs

Priest and Martyr, Martyrs of Vietnam

Feast day – November 24

St. Andrew was one of 117 martyrs who met death in Vietnam between 1820 and 1862. Members of this group were beatified on four different occasions between 1900 and 1951. Now all have been canonized by Pope John Paul II. Christianity came to Vietnam (then three separate kingdoms) through the Portuguese. Jesuits opened the first permanent mission at Da Nang in 1615. They ministered to Japanese Catholics who had been driven from Japan. The king of one of the kingdoms banned all foreign missionaries and tried to make all Vietnamese apostatize by trampling on a crucifix. Like the priest-holes in Ireland during English persecution, many hiding places were offered in homes of the faithful. Severe persecutions were again launched three times in the 19th century. During the six decades after 1820, between 100,000 and 300,000 Catholics were killed or subjected to great hardship.

 

Foreign missionaries martyred in the first wave included priests of the Paris Mission Society, and Spanish Dominican priests and tertiaries. Persecution broke out again in 1847 when the emperor suspected foreign missionaries and Vietnamese Christians of sympathizing with the rebellion of one of his sons. The last of the martyrs were 17 laypersons, one of them a 9-year-old, executed in 1862. That year a treaty with France guaranteed religious freedom to Catholics, but it did not stop all persecution. By 1954 there were over a million and a half Catholics—about seven percent of the population — in the north. Buddhists represented about 60 percent. Persistent persecution forced some 670,000 Catholics to abandon lands, homes and possessions and flee to the south. In 1964, there were still 833,000 Catholics in the north, but many were in prison. In the south, Catholics were enjoying the first decade of religious freedom in centuries, their numbers swelled by refugees. During the Vietnamese war, Catholics again suffered in the north, and again moved to the south in great numbers. Now the whole country is under Communist rule.

 

It may help a people who associate Vietnam only with a recent war to realize that the cross has long been a part of the lives of the people of that country. Even as we ask again the unanswered questions about United States involvement and disengagement, the faith rooted in Vietnam's soil proves hardier than the forces which would destroy it.

 

“The Church in Vietnam is alive and vigorous, blessed with strong and faithful bishops, dedicated religious, and courageous and committed laypeople.... The Church in Vietnam is living out the gospel in a difficult and complex situation with remarkable persistence and strength” (statement of three U.S. archbishops returning from Vietnam in January 1989).

 

Sources for this article were taken from:  AmericanCatholic.org

 

Prayer

O God,
the source and origin of all fatherhood,
you kept the Martyrs Andrew Dung-Lac and his companions
faithful to the cross of your Son
even to the shedding of their blood,
grant, through their intercession,
that, spreading your love among our brothers and sisters,
we may be your children both in name and in truth.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, you Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

+Amen.

Saint Andrew Düng-Lac and Companion Martyrs

– Pray for us

 

 

Gospel Reflection

November 24, 2012

Saturday – Year of Faith

Memorial of Saint Andrew Düng-Lac, Priest and Martyr

And his 116 companions, martyrs
by Rev. Fr. Paul Marquez (St. Paul Church and Seminary, Bagtikan Street, Makati)

Lunch Mass at Sto. Nino de Paz Chapel, Greenbelt, Makati

Reading 1 Rv 11:4-12

I, John, heard a voice from heaven speak to me: Here are my two witnesses: These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths and devours their enemies. In this way, anyone wanting to harm them is sure to be slain. They have the power to close up the sky so that no rain can fall during the time of their prophesying. They also have power to turn water into blood and to afflict the earth with any plague as often as they wish.

When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will wage war against them and conquer them and kill them. Their corpses will lie in the main street of the great city, which has the symbolic names 'Sodom' and 'Egypt,' where indeed their Lord was crucified. Those from every people, tribe, tongue, and nation will gaze on their corpses for three and a half days, and they will not allow their corpses to be buried. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and be glad and exchange gifts because these two prophets tormented the inhabitants of the earth. But after the three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered them. When they stood on their feet, great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven say to them, "Come up here." So they went up to heaven in a cloud as their enemies looked on.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 144:1, 2, 9-10

R. (1b) Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war.
R. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
My mercy and my fortress,
my stronghold, my deliverer,
My shield, in whom I trust,
who subdues my people under me.
R. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
O God, I will sing a new song to you;
with a ten stringed lyre I will chant your praise,
You who give victory to kings,
and deliver David, your servant from the evil sword.
R. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!

Gospel Lk 20:27-40

Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us, If someone's brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless. Then the second and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her." Jesus said to them, "The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called 'Lord' the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive." Some of the scribes said in reply, "Teacher, you have answered well." And they no longer dared to ask him anything.

HOMILY

Napakinggan po natin sa ating mga pagbasa at sa atin pong Ebanghelyo na mayroon pong namamatay, ngunit mayroon din pong nabubuhay. Sabi po sa First Reading, namatay ang dalawang alagad ng Diyos. Bagamat hindi ho sila pinangalanan at sila ay sinabing dalawang punong olibo (two olive trees), ang sabi po ng mga iskolar sa Bibliya, sila ay wala pong iba kundi si Moses at si Elijah, with Moses representing the law, and Elijah representing the prophets. Sila po ang naghanda sa pagdating ng Panginoong Hesukristo, ng Manunubos. Sinabing sila ay mamamatay nang tatlo't kalahating araw at pagkatapos noon, sila ay muling mabubuhay.

Samakatuwid, ang ipinapangako po ng Unang Pagbasa at ng Ebanghelyo ay ang muling pagkabuhay - ang resurrection. Kaya sa lesson plan po ng Simbahan, 'yon pong itinuturo po namin kada Linggo, mayroon pong 33 Sundays in a Liturgical Year, kasi 'yon po ang edad ni Hesus noong Siya po ay ipinako sa Krus. 30 years na nanahimik lang si Hesus kasama ni Maria at ni Jose, tumutulong sa Kanyang mga magulang, at nagpapagabay sa Kanyang mga magulang. Pagtungtong po ni Hesus mula edad 30 hanggang 33, siya po ay nagsimulang mangaral sa mga tao, nagpagaling ng mga maysakit, bumuhay ng mga yumao, nagpatawad sa mga may kasalanan, nagbigay ng pag-asa sa mga taong bigung-bigo at dapang dapa na sa buhay. Three years lang po 'yon. Pero hindi po natin sinasabing sa 33 Sundays lang nagtatapos ang kalendaryo ng Simbahan, sapagkat hindi ho nagtatapos ang kamatayan ni Hesus, kundi ito ay nagpapatuloy sa Gloria, sa kaluwalhatian.

Bukas, araw ng Linggo ay ang dakilang kapistahan o Solemnity of Jesus Christ as King of the universe - heaven and earth. Diyan po ang patutunguhan ng buhay ni Hesus - hindi lamang po hanggang krus, di lang hanggang kamatayan, kundi hanggang sa muling pagkabuhay. Siya ngayon ay nakaluklok sa kanan ng Ama. 'Yan po ang ating sinasampalatayanan.

Dito po sa Ebanghelyo ngayon, ang mga kontrapelo ni Hesus (ang mga Saduccees) ay lumapit sa Kanya at tinawag Siya, at nagpapanggap na tinawag si Hesus na guro. Di ba pag sinabi mong guro, ibig sabihin ay gusto mong matuto? Pero ang mga Saduccees ay wala talagang balak matuto. Ang gusto nila ay siluhin - i-trap si Hesus. Siguro habang nagtatanong sila ukol sa balong nakapangasawa ng pitong lalaking magkakapatid, nagsisikuhan pa sila at nagkikindatan. Mayroon kasi silang batas na matuloy ang lahi ng isang pamilya ng isang lalaki, kaya kinakailangang kapag namatay ang mister, pakakasalan ng sumunod na kapatid na lalaki ang nabalong babae. Ang kwentong ito syempre ay gawa-gawa lamang nila. Ang mga Saduccees ay mga aristokrato, may-ari ng malalawak na lupa, ngunit hindi naniniwala sa muling pagkabuhay. Kaya't ang motto po nila ay 'eat and live, for tomorrow, we will die'. At pag namatay ka, doon na natatapos, wala nang resurrection. Kaya para sa kanila, life is one big party. Wala na silang iniisip tungkol sa pagmamalasakit at pagtulong sa kapwa.

Ang mga Phariseo naman ay kalabang matalik ng mga Saduccees, sapagkat ang mga Phariseo ay naniniwala sa mga spirits, sa angels at sa resurrection. Ngunit sila ay biglang naging magkakampi sapagkat mayroon silang maitim at masamang balak laban kay Hesus, at iyon ay ang siluhin Siya. At sa katanungan ng mga Saduccees kung kaninong asawa mapupunta ang balong babae, simple lang ang sagot ni Hesus. Dahil naniniwala ang mga Saducees sa batas ni Moses, ginamit ni Hesus na entry point si Moses. Sinabi ni Hesus na natatandaan ninyo si Moses, during the burning bush, habang nagliliyab 'yong mababang punong-kahoy, ano ang sinabi ng Diyos sa kanya, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob". At dahil Ako ay kanilang Diyos, ako ay buhay na Diyos, at buhay pa rin sila. Ang Diyos ay ang Diyos ng buhay, at hindi ng mga patay. Siya ang Diyos ng muling pagkabuhay.

Simple lamang po ang aral na nais iwanan sa atin ng mga pagbasa ngayon, habang tayo ay naghahanda sa dakilang kapistahan ni Kristong Hari. Na ang buhay dito sa lupa, puno man ng mga pagsubok at mga paghihirap, ay ipinapangako sa atin ng Diyos na hindi ito ang huling salita. Life on earth is not God's final word for us. Hindi ho hanggang dito lang ang buhay. Iniisip natin na sa ating muling pagkabuhay ay wala na tayong sakit, wala na tayong pagtangis, ngunit sigurado po ako na higit pa roon ang buhay sa kabila. Sabi nga ni St. Paul, no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor has it dawned on man, kung ano ang naghihintay sa atin sa kabila. Hindi po maliit ang langit; hindi po iyon kasing liit ng imahinasyon ng tao. Palaging lampas at lampas pa doon ang naghihintay sa atin. Kaya nga iyon ay misteryo. Kaya nga sabi ng mga santo, oras na malaman mo ang hitsura ng langit, mamamatay ka. Hindi mo kakayanin, kasi napakaganda, ubod nang ganda, at ubod nang sarap manitili doon.

'Yon ang pangako sa atin ng Panginoon. Ang importante lang, habang tayo ay buhay pa, sana makita natin ang koneksiyon ng buhay natin dito sa lupa, sa buhay natin sa kabila. Kung ang buhay sa kabila ay totoong banal dahil naroroon ang Diyos, at ang buhay naman natin dito ay isang pagsisikap tungo sa buhay na banal, may koneksiyon. Ngunit kung ang buhay natin ay nananatili sa buhay ng pagkakasala, ating isipin - babagay ba tayo doon sa buhay sa kabila?

Ang pangako ng Panginoon ay nariyan Siya upang laging magpatawad. Ngunit kinakailangang hingin natin ang Kanyang kapatawaran. Tanggapin natin, hangarin natin ang Kanyang kapatawaran at biyaya. Kaya't sa misang ito, tayo ay magpasalamat sa Kanya sa pagbigay Niya sa atin ng biyaya ng muling pagkabuhay. Sinasabi ng Diyos na nais Niyang magkaroon ng ugnayan sa atin. Hindi tayo kagaya ng karaniwang nilikha gaya ng halaman at hayop na nariyan ngayon, bukas wala na, at hanggang doon na lang sila. Tayo ay tao, at mayroon tayong tinitingalang muling pagkabuhay. Salamat po, Panginoon, at nawa'y turuan Mo kaming maging karapat-dapat sa Iyong paghahari sa langit. Amen.

 

Saint Andrew Düng-Lac and Companion Martyr

Pray for us

You may also want to see: A Holy Life - Saint Andrew Düng-Lac and Companion Martyr

Gospel Reflection

November 23, 2012

Friday - Weekday – Year of Faith

by Rev. Fr. Benjo Fajota (Vice Rector of the EDSA Shrine)

Morning Mass at Shrine of Mary, Queen of Peace (Our Lady of EDSA)

Reading 1 Rv 10:8-11

I, John, heard a voice from heaven speak to me. Then the voice spoke to me and said: "Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land." So I went up to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll. He said to me, "Take and swallow it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey." I took the small scroll from the angel's hand and swallowed it. In my mouth it was like sweet honey, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then someone said to me, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings."

Responsorial Psalm Ps 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131

R. (103a) How sweet to my taste is your promise!
In the way of your decrees I rejoice,
as much as in all riches.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Yes, your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
The law of your mouth is to me more precious
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
How sweet to my palate are your promises,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
Your decrees are my inheritance forever;
the joy of my heart they are.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!
I gasp with open mouth
in my yearning for your commands.
R. How sweet to my taste is your promise!

Gospel Lk 19:45-48

Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, "It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves." And every day he was teaching in the temple area. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death, but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on his words.

HOMILY

It is very surprising to some that Jesus, who is meek and humble of heart, would have to be getting angry at people, and shouting at them. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus even made a cord out of ropes to whip the people and the animals that are being sold in the temple.
What is this anger that we see in Jesus Christ? It is very simple. He said, "My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves." A lot of times, we are also angry. But we could ask ourselves - what are we so angry about? During confessions, I will be hearing, "Father, I could not control my temper." "Father, it is so petty, but it really irritates me and I easily get angry with the people around me, especially when I have problems." But you see, anger in itself is not a sin. It only becomes a sin when it is directed to God and to other people, and when it is already at a stage of leading you to another sin. Nagiging kasalanan lamang ang ating galit kapag ito ay yumuyurak na sa dangal ng ibang tao, nananamantala, at napapailalim na ang tunay nating mabubuting motibo, dahil lamang sa ating galit, na hindi natin ma-control.
Jesus was very strong and very brave in incarcerating these evil things that are happening. Tayo tatanungin natin sa ating sarili - do we also voice our anger on the injustices that we see around us? O tahimik lamang tayo? There is a time for everything. Mayroong panahon na kailangan tayong manahimik, pero mas marami ang panahon na kailangan tayong magsalita laban sa kawalan ng katarungan na nakikita natin sa ating paligid. Pero minsan, mas ginugusto nating manahimik dahil sa takot.
Jesus was not afraid to speak of the evil things during His time, that is why people were plotting to kill him. Tayo - mayroon kaya tayong lakas ng loob para maging tinig ng ibang taong walang kakayahang ipagtanggol ang kanilang karapatan, o para ipahayag ang mga katiwalian na nakikita natin sa ating lipunan?
God is with us. He is always with us. And if we consider this temple a house of prayer, truly, the courage that we need and the grace of the Holy Spirit will be with us in everything we do. Amen.