Reflections on Palm Sunday Year B

Mark 11:1-10 When they were approaching Jerusalem, in sight of Bethphage and Bethany, close by the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, ‘Go off to the village facing you, and as soon as you enter it you will find a tethered colt that no one has yet ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone says to you, “What are you doing?” say, “The Master needs it and will send it back here directly”.’ They went off and found a colt tethered near a door in the open street. As they untied it, some men standing there said, ‘What are you doing, untying that colt?’ They gave the answer Jesus had told them, and the men let them go. Then they took the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on its back, and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, others greenery which they had cut in the fields. And those who went in front and those who followed were all shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessings on the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heavens!’ Isaiah 50:4-7 The Lord has given me a disciple’s tongue. So that I may know how to reply to the wearied he provides me with speech. Each morning he wakes me to hear, to listen like a disciple. The Lord has opened my ear. For my part, I made no resistance, neither did I turn away. I offered my back to those who struck me, my cheeks to those who tore at my beard; I did not cover my face against insult and spittle. The Lord comes to my help, so that I am untouched by the insults. So, too, I set my face like flint; I know I shall not be shamed. Psalm 21:8-9,17-20,23-24 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? All who see me deride me. They curl their lips, they toss their heads. ‘He trusted in the Lord, let him save him; let him release him if this is his friend.’ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Many dogs have surrounded me, a band of the wicked beset me. They tear holes in my hands and my feet I can count every one of my bones. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? They divide my clothing among them. They cast lots for my robe. O Lord, do not leave me alone, my strength, make haste to help me! My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? I will tell of your name to my brethren and praise you where they are assembled. ‘You who fear the Lord give him praise; all sons of Jacob, give him glory. Revere him, Israel’s sons. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Philippians 2:6-11 Jesus Christ’s state was divine, yet he did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave and became as men are; and being as all men are, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross. But God raised him high and gave him the name which is above all other names so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue should acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Mark 14:1-15:47 It was two days before the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread, and the chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by some trick and have him put to death. For they said, ‘It must not be during the festivities, or there will be a disturbance among the people.’ Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper; he was at dinner when a woman came in with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the ointment on his head. Some who were there said to one another indignantly, ‘Why this waste of ointment? Ointment like this could have been sold for over three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor’; and they were angry with her. But Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. Why are you upsetting her? What she has done for me is one of the good works. You have the poor with you always, and you can be kind to them whenever you wish, but you will not always have me. She has done what was in her power to do: she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. I tell you solemnly, wherever throughout all the world the Good News is proclaimed, what she has done will be told also, in remembrance of her.’ Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, approached the chief priests with an offer to hand Jesus over to them. They were delighted to hear it, and promised to give him money; and he looked for a way of betraying him when the opportunity should occur. On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was sacrificed, his disciples said to him, ‘Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the passover?’ So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the city and you will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him, and say to the owner of the house which he enters, “The Master says: Where is my dining room in which I can eat the passover with my disciples?” He will show you a large upper room furnished with couches, all prepared. Make the preparations for us there,’ The disciples set out and went to the city and found everything as he had told them, and prepared the Passover. When evening came he arrived with the Twelve. And while they were at table eating, Jesus said, ‘I tell you solemnly, one of you is about to betray me, one of you eating with me.’ They were distressed and asked him, one after another, ‘Not I, surely?’ He said to them, ‘It is one of the Twelve, one who is dipping into the same dish with me. Yes, the Son of Man is going to his fate, as the scriptures say he will, but alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Better for that man if he had never been born!’ And as they were eating he took some bread, and when he had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to them. ‘Take it,’ he said ‘this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and when he had returned thanks he gave it to them, and all drank from it, and he said to them, ‘This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is to be poured out for many. I tell you solemnly, I shall not drink any more wine until the day I drink the new wine in the kingdom of God.’ After psalms had been sung they left for the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, ‘You will all lose faith, for the scripture says: I shall strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered, however after my resurrection I shall go before you to Galilee.’ Peter said, ‘Even if all lose faith, I will not.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you solemnly, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will have disowned me three times.’ But he repeated still more earnestly, ‘If I have to die with you, I will never disown you.’ And they all said the same. They came to a small estate called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Stay here while I pray.’ Then he took Peter and James and John with him. And a sudden fear came over him, and great distress. And he said to them, ‘My soul is sorrowful to the point of death. Wait here, and keep awake.’ And going on a little further he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, this hour might pass him by. ‘Abba (Father)!’ he said ‘Everything is possible for you. Take this cup away from me. But let it be as you, not I, would have it.’ He came back and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, ‘Simon, are you asleep? Had you not the strength to keep awake one hour? You should be awake, and praying not to be put to the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And once more he came back and found them sleeping, their eyes were so heavy; and they could find no answer for him. He came back a third time and said to them, ‘You can sleep on now and take your rest. It is all over. The hour has come. Now the Son of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up! Let us go! My betrayer is close at hand already.’ Even while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, came up with a number of men armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now the traitor had arranged a signal with them. ‘The one I kiss,’ he had said ‘he is the man. Take him in charge, and see he is well guarded when you lead him away.’ So when the traitor came, he went straight up to Jesus and said, ‘Rabbi!’ and kissed him. The others seized him and took him in charge. Then one of the bystanders drew his sword and struck out at the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear. Then Jesus spoke. ‘Am I a brigand’ he said ‘that you had to set out to capture me with swords and clubs? I was among you teaching in the Temple day after day and you never laid hands on me. But this is to fulfil the scriptures.’ And they all deserted him and ran away. A young man who followed him had nothing on but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, but he left the cloth in their hands and ran away naked. They led Jesus off to the high priest; and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes assembled there. Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the high priest’s palace, and was sitting with the attendants warming himself at the fire. The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus on which they might pass the death sentence. But they could not find any. Several, indeed, brought false evidence against him, but their evidence was conflicting. Some stood up and submitted this false evidence against him, ‘We heard him say, “I am going to destroy this Temple made by human hands, and in three days build another, not made by human hands.”’ But even on this point their evidence was conflicting. The high priest then stood up before the whole assembly and put this question to Jesus, ‘Have you no answer to that? What is this evidence these men are bringing against you?’ But he was silent and made no answer at all. The high priest put a second question to him, ‘Are you the Christ,’ he said, ‘the Son of the Blessed One?’ ‘I am,’ said Jesus ‘and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.’ The high priest tore his robes, ‘What need of witnesses have we now?’ he said. ‘You heard the blasphemy. What is your finding?’ And they all gave their verdict: he deserved to die. Some of them started spitting at him and, blindfolding him, began hitting him with their fists and shouting, ‘Play the prophet!’ And the attendants rained blows on him. While Peter was down below in the courtyard, one of the high priest’s servant-girls came up. She saw Peter warming himself there, stared at him and said, ‘You too were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.’ But he denied it. ‘I do not know, I do not understand, what you are talking about’ he said. And he went out into the forecourt. The servant-girl saw him and again started telling the bystanders, ‘This fellow is one of them.’ But again he denied it. A little later the bystanders themselves said to Peter, ‘You are one of them for sure! Why, you are a Galilean.’ But he started calling down curses on himself and swearing, ‘I do not know the man you speak of.’ At that moment the cock crew for the second time, and Peter recalled how Jesus had said to him, ‘Before the cock crows twice, you will have disowned me three times.’ And he burst into tears. First thing in the morning, the chief priests together with the elders and scribes, in short the whole Sanhedrin, had their plan ready. They had Jesus bound and took him away and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate questioned him, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ ‘It is you who say it’ he answered. And the chief priests brought many accusations against him. Pilate questioned him again, ‘Have you no reply at all? See how many accusations they are bringing against you!’ But, to Pilate’s amazement, Jesus made no further reply. At festival time Pilate used to release a prisoner for them, anyone they asked for. Now a man called Barabbas was then in prison with the rioters who had committed murder during the uprising. When the crowd went up and began to ask Pilate the customary favour, Pilate answered them, ‘Do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?’ For he realised it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over. The chief priests, however, had incited the crowd to demand that he should release Barabbas for them instead. Then Pilate spoke again. ‘But in that case,’ he said to them ‘what am I to do with the man you call king of the Jews?’ They shouted back, ‘Crucify him!’ ‘Why?’ Pilate asked them ‘What harm has he done?’ But they shouted all the louder, ‘Crucify him!’ So Pilate, anxious to placate the crowd, released Barabbas for them and, having ordered Jesus to be scourged, handed him over to be crucified. The soldiers led him away to the inner part of the palace, that is, the Praetorium, and called the whole cohort together. They dressed him up in purple, twisted some thorns into a crown and put it on him. And they began saluting him, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ They struck his head with a reed and spat on him; and they went down on their knees to do him homage. And when they had finished making fun of him, they took off the purple and dressed him in his own clothes. They enlisted a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, father of Alexander and Rufus, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull. They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he refused it. Then they crucified him, and shared out his clothing, casting lots to decide what each should get. It was the third hour when they crucified him. The inscription giving the charge against him read: ‘The King of the Jews.’ And they crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. The passers-by jeered at him; they shook their heads and said, ‘Aha! So you would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days! Then save yourself: come down from the cross!’ The chief priests and the scribes mocked him among themselves in the same way. ‘He saved others,’ they said ‘he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, for us to see it and believe.’ Even those who were crucified with him taunted him. When the sixth hour came there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you deserted me?’ When some of those who stood by heard this, they said, ‘Listen, he is calling on Elijah.’ Someone ran and soaked a sponge in vinegar and, putting it on a reed, gave it him to drink saying; ‘Wait and see if Elijah will come to take him down.’ But Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The centurion, who was standing in front of him, had seen how he had died, and he said, ‘In truth this man was a son of God.’ There were some women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary of Magdala, Mary who was the mother of James the younger and Joset, and Salome. These used to follow him and look after him when he was in Galilee. And there were many other women there who had come up to Jerusalem with him. It was now evening, and since it was Preparation Day (that is, the vigil of the sabbath), there came Joseph of Arimathaea, a prominent member of the Council, who himself lived in the hope of seeing the kingdom of God, and he boldly went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate, astonished that he should have died so soon, summoned the centurion and enquired if he was already dead. Having been assured of this by the centurion, he granted the corpse to Joseph who bought a shroud, took Jesus down from the cross, wrapped him in the shroud and laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb. Mary of Magdala and Mary the mother of Joset were watching and took note of where he was laid.

* Some of the Jews gathered to triumphantly welcome Jesus of Nazareth through the gates of Jerusalem.  They hailed Him as the Son of David, as the King of Israel.  They have seen this Man, they have heard His Words, and they have witnessed all the marvels and miracles He has done.  He has healed the sick, raised the dead, and fed thousands.  Some of the Jews wanted Him for king, king as they understood it: someone who would lead them to freedom from Romans; who would bring them to prosperity, to the land of milk and honey; who would bring them fame and success.  Days later, the day before the Passover, Jesus hangs on the cross, dies and is buried.

* We have heard of those who would identify the people who triumphantly welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem with the same people who shouted to Pilate that the same Jesus be crucified.  This is possible.  We see this change of heart even in ourselves.  Our initial conviction about Jesus and about our Faith can be changed into displeasure, discouragement or disappointment.  We might have been expecting one thing from Jesus, but we get another.  What we knew was not what Jesus would have us know.  And we change our heart about Him.  This change may be caused not only by something in us, but also by the world itself, or by the temptations of the devil.  Whatever the cause, the effect is the same.  Whereas before we follow Jesus, now we follow Him no more.  We now follow other persons, or even only ouselves.

* Pope Benedict XVI advances the idea in his book Jesus of Nazareth that the Jews who welcomed Jesus were not actually the same Jews who condemned Him to death.  The former remained convinced of Jesus but, because of varied reasons, they were absent and silent during His trial before Pilate.  The voices of Hosanna were different from those of the Crucifixion.

* Both readings are applicable to us today.  We might be convinced of Jesus today and follow Him, but it is possible to deviate from this conviction the next day.  Life becomes complicated, more likely by our own doing.  And as well, we might be convinced of Jesus in our heart of hearts but when push comes to shove we fall silent, and we would let Jesus be crucified a second time.

Fifth Sunday of Lent Year B

Jeremiah 31:31-34 See, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks – when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel (and the House of Judah), but not a covenant like the one I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant of mine, so I had to show them who was master. It is the Lord who speaks. No, this is the covenant I will make with the House of Israel when those days arrive – it is the Lord who speaks. Deep within them I will plant my Law, writing it on their hearts. Then I will be their God and they shall be my people. There will be no further need for neighbor to try to teach neighbor, or brother to say to brother, ‘Learn to know the Lord!’ No, they will all know me, the least no less than the greatest – it is the Lord who speaks – since I will forgive their iniquity and never call their sin to mind. Psalm 50:3-4,12-15 A pure heart create for me, O God. Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness. In your compassion blot out my offence. O wash me more and more from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. A pure heart create for me, O God. A pure heart create for me, O God, put a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, nor deprive me of your holy spirit. A pure heart create for me, O God. Give me again the joy of your help; with a spirit of fervor sustain me, that I may teach transgressors your ways and sinners may return to you. A pure heart create for me, O God. Hebrews 5:7-9 During his life on earth, Christ offered up prayer and entreaty, aloud and in silent tears, to the one who had the power to save him out of death, and he submitted so humbly that his prayer was heard. Although he was Son, he learnt to obey through suffering; but having been made perfect, he became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation. John 12:20-33 Among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. These approached Philip, who came from Bethsaida in Galilee, and put this request to him, ‘Sir, we should like to see Jesus.’ Philip went to tell Andrew, and Andrew and Philip together went to tell Jesus. Jesus replied to them: ‘Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you, most solemnly, unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest. Anyone who loves his life loses it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for the eternal life. If a man serves me, he must follow me, wherever I am, my servant will be there too. If anyone serves me, my Father will honor him. Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say: Father, save me from this hour? But it was for this very reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name!’ A voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ People standing by, who heard this, said it was a clap of thunder; others said, ‘It was an angel speaking to him.’ Jesus answered, ‘It was not for my sake that this voice came, but for yours. ‘Now sentence is being passed on this world; now the prince of this world is to be overthrown. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself.’ By these words he indicated the kind of death he would die.

* In the first reading, Jeremiah urges the Israel to stop following other gods and to start following Yahweh alone.  God, all throughout Israel’s story, has continuously renewed His covenant with His people despite Israel’s continued unfaithfulness.  In His mercy, He has continued to be faithful, forgiving Israel and re-establishing the covenant ever anew.  Israel is His people and He is their God.

* The Responsorial Psalm prays to Yahweh that He might grant the one who prays with a new heart, a heart which knows to follow God alone and no other gods.  The heart continuously looks for someone to love and many a time the choice falls on passing things of no real value.  But when it finds the One, God who is Love, then it looks no more but becomes content as a child in his mother’s embrace.

* In the second reading, the holy writer synthesizes nicely Jesus’ life.  He is the model of Israel because He has ever followed the Will of God, through thick and thin, through suffering and pain, even unto death on the Cross.  Jesus is portrayed in the Letter to the Hebrews as He who has the heart wholly at one with the Heart, with the Love who is God.  His obedience to the Father for all and everything He has done on earth is an example to each and every of us.

* Finally in the Gospel reading, John describes the “Hour” of Jesus as the hour of his ultimate obedience to the Father.  Here John describes how Jesus was obedient to the Father, even unto pain, suffering and death.  Everything the Father commanded, the Son did.  And so the glorification of the Son is great indeed because it is the Father, Himself, who glorifies the Son who did not have His own way but always followed the dispositions of the Father in heaven.

* Obedience is natural to us.  As children we dutifully obey our mothers and fathers, elder brothers and sisters, and grandparents and aunts and uncles.  We do not question, we obey.  As we grow older, questions start to arise from us regarding the commands and requests of our elders.  Sometimes the questions gather to the point of causing disobedience.  But as we grow older and wiser, wisdom and hind sight show us that although our elders are not all-knowing, the motives behind their commands to and choices for us have always been for our betterment.  There are sad exceptions but the general rule is that our elders want the best for us.  So from obedience to disobedience, we learn to obey again.  We have to learn to obey again.  We realize that if we do not obey these who love us, we anyway continue to obey either people who do not really love or do not really care about us, or ourselves, our caprices, who really only care in satisfying their own wants whatever the consequences to us, to you and me.  If we do not obey our betters, if we do not obey God, then we will obey someone or something else.  The former may cause pain and suffering for a little while but then glorification comes, but the latter may offer immediate gratification but later on eternal damnation.  Obedience is natural to us.  But the question is: whom shall we obey?

Fourth Sunday of Lent Year B

Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year B, March 18, 2012 Readings: 2 Chronicles 36:14-16,19-23 All the heads of the priesthood, and the people too, added infidelity to infidelity, copying all the shameful practices of the nations and defiling the Temple that the Lord had consecrated for himself in Jerusalem. The Lord, the God of their ancestors, tirelessly sent them messenger after messenger, since he wished to spare his people and his house. But they ridiculed the messengers of God, they despised his words, they laughed at his prophets, until at last the wrath of the Lord rose so high against his people that there was no further remedy. They burned down the Temple of God, demolished the walls of Jerusalem, set fire to all its palaces, and destroyed everything of value in it. The survivors were deported by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon; they were to serve him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. This is how the word of the Lord was fulfilled that he spoke through Jeremiah, ‘Until this land has enjoyed its sabbath rest, until seventy years have gone by, it will keep sabbath throughout the days of its desolation.' And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfil the word of the Lord that was spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord roused the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to issue a proclamation and to have it publicly displayed throughout his kingdom: ‘Thus speaks Cyrus king of Persia, “the Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; he has ordered me to build him a Temple in Jerusalem, in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be with him! Let him go up.”’ Psalm 136:1-6 O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not! By the rivers of Babylon there we sat and wept, remembering Zion; on the poplars that grew there we hung up our harps. O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not! For it was there that they asked us, our captors, for songs, our oppressors, for joy. ‘Sing to us,’ they said, ‘one of Zion’s songs.’ O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not! O how could we sing the song of the Lord on alien soil? If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not! O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not, if I prize not Jerusalem above all my joys! O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not! Ephesians 2:4-10 God loved us with so much love that he was generous with his mercy: when we were dead through our sins, he brought us to life with Christ – it is through grace that you have been saved – and raised us up with him and gave us a place with him in heaven, in Christ Jesus. This was to show for all ages to come, through his goodness towards us in Christ Jesus, how infinitely rich he is in grace. Because it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God; not by anything that you have done, so that nobody can claim the credit. We are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the beginning he had meant us to live it. John 3:14-21 Jesus said to Nicodemus: ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. Yes, God loved the world so much that he 

gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved. No one who believes in him will be condemned; but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already, because he has refused to believe in the name of God’s only Son. On these grounds is sentence pronounced: that though the light has come into the world men have shown they prefer darkness to the light because their deeds were evil. And indeed, everybody who does wrong hates the light and avoids it, for fear his actions should be exposed; but the man who lives by the truth comes out into the light, so that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done in God.’

Reflections:

* The bronze serpent was raised up by the command of Yahweh to Moses so that all the Israelites in the desert who were bitten by the snakes may be healed.  This serpent is somehow contradictory: it deals mortal blow because of its deadly poison but now Yahweh uses it to heal His people.  The serpent did not have the power to heal in its own.  The bronze serpent is just bronze.  What healed the Israelites was their faith which was encouraged and channeled by the raising up of their eyes to the serpent.  All who were bitten and saw it with faith in their hearts were healed instantly.  The bronze serpent is taken up by Jesus in today’s Gospel as a figure of His Cross.

* The Cross of Christ was raised by the Will of God the Father.  Everything the Son did the Father willed.  He could have saved us by just one drop of His Precious Blood but He saved us by giving His Life.  He was raised up on the Cross: a sign of contradiction to unbelievers and believers alike for the Romans used the Cross to punish most severely the most hideous of criminals but here God used it to forgive most mercifully the worst of the sinners.  The Cross, the Crucifix with Christ crucified on it, heals us not only of our bodily hurts but more importantly it heals us of our spiritual hurts.  With our faith given to us as gift by God Himself we are not only healed but also saved.  On the Cross He pours on us His overflowing grace and love. 

* The Cross has become the symbol of Christians since Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice.  What once was a terrible punishment is now a wonderful grace.  We have it in and on our churches.  We have it in our homes.  We have it in our pockets and around our necks.  But we see today that either the cross has become a banal object or it has been relegated to oblivion or shame as a sign of faith and removed from public places.  The cross continues to excite different feelings to different people and it continues to call us to gaze at it and make a stand: to believe or not to believe.

* The dreadful difficulty here is the radical decision which the Cross demands for those who follow Christ.  The decision to follow Christ does not merely consist of intellectual assent and empty promise to follow Him but to really make the choice, to really make the decision.  When we look at the Cross, yes we are healed and saved, but we are also called to heal and save others, in a way to put ourselves on the Cross as well.

Saturday, March 10, 2012 Reflection for the Third Sunday of Lent Year B


Readings: Exodus 20:1-17 God spoke all these words. He said, ‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ‘You shall have no gods except me. ‘You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God and I punish the father’s fault in the sons, the grandsons, and the great-grandsons of those who hate me; but I show kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.‘You shall not utter the name of the Lord your God to misuse it, for the Lord will not leave unpunished the man who utters his name to misuse it. ‘Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath for the Lord your God. You shall do no work that day, neither you nor your son nor your daughter nor your servants, men or women, nor your animals nor the stranger who lives with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that these hold, but on the seventh day he rested; that is why the Lord has blessed the sabbath day and made it sacred. ‘Honour your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God has given to you. ‘You shall not kill. ‘You shall not commit adultery. ‘You shall not steal. ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour. ‘You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his servant, man or woman, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is his.’ Psalm 18:8-11 You have the message of eternal life, O Lord. The law of the Lord is perfect, it revives the soul. The rule of the Lord is to be trusted, it gives wisdom to the simple. You have the message of eternal life, O Lord. The precepts of the Lord are right, they gladden the heart. The command of the Lord is clear, it gives light to the eyes. You have the message of eternal life, O Lord. The fear of the Lord is holy, abiding for ever. The decrees of the Lord are truth and all of them just. You have the message of eternal life, O Lord. They are more to be desired than gold, than the purest of gold and sweeter are they than honey, than honey from the comb. You have the message of eternal life, O Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 While the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom, here are we preaching a crucified Christ; to the Jews an obstacle that they cannot get over, to the pagans madness, but to those who have been called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is the power and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. John 2:13-25 Just before the Jewish Passover Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and in the Temple he found people selling cattle and sheep and pigeons, and the money changers sitting at their counters there. Making a whip out of some cord, he drove them all out of the Temple, cattle and sheep as well, scattered the money changers’ coins, knocked their tables over and said to the pigeon-sellers, ‘Take all this out of here and stop turning my Father’s house into a market.’ Then his disciples remembered the words of scripture: Zeal for your house will devour me. The Jews intervened and said, ‘What sign can you show us to justify what you have done?’ Jesus answered, ‘Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this sanctuary: are you going to raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking of the sanctuary that was his body, and when Jesus rose from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the words he had said. During his stay in Jerusalem for the Passover many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he gave, but Jesus knew them all and did not trust himself to them; he never needed evidence about any man; he could tell what a man had in him.


Reflections:
*Homo faber we are thought by the philosophers to be.  Man works, is born to work, lives through his work.  He makes himself better by his work.  We are even born with inlaid instruments.  We have voices for singing, hands for making and head for those ideas which innovate and make the world a better place to live in.  We work, we build, we create.
*Our contemporary society highly encourages work.  We get our bread and butter form the work of our minds, hearts and hands.  We build our homes and our building and our common areas and places.  We beautify our surroundings with our ideas.  We make this world a better place to live in.
*Since childhood all of us are trained to engage our minds and hearts for the construction of whatsoever that may be useful to us and to the community.  We are educated and disciplined in the arts of building and construction.  Although only a fraction of us such as the engineers and architects dedicate their lives in direct building of edifices, all of us one way or another build and create.
*Our readings today challenge us to build another kind of building, another kind of edifice.  We build on earth, let us build on heaven.  Our bodies are made of flesh yes, but we have souls too, inseparable from our bodies.  The obedience to the Ten Commandments of Exodus chapter 20 helps us build ourselves, our families, our communities and the world in general.  It is true that these commandments directly guide us by encouraging us to avoid what is evil but inversely we can understand them as invitations, even injunctions, to do what is right by ourselves, our neighbors and our God.  A life lived by these commandments is surely a life lived in the light of the Lord and far from the darkness of sin.
*Some people tend to think that to focus only on spiritual things is really foolishness.  If you say to your family that you have no house here on earth because what you are really trying to build is a magnificent house in heaven, they will probably make fun of you.  It is good and proper to look for success on earth, especially because many may be depending upon your labor and profit.  But the point here is this, that we can not only think of our buildings here on earth but we have to think also and even more of our future in heaven.  And some even, with a greater degree of courage and love, dedicate their lives almost exclusively only on things of heaven.  They are examples for all of us.  Their foolishness is wisdom for God and therefore for our emulation as Saint Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians chapter 1 reminds us.  It is better to be temporarily called foolish on earth and be perpetually wise on heaven than the inverse of that.
*Finally John chapter 4's message is spot on on what is being set upon here.  As we build a temple fitting for our God, a cathedral worthy of Him for example, it is His overpowering desire that we build our Temples, our bodies, fitting for God, for the Holy Spirit to dwell upon us.  In this way, we are also preparing our abode in heaven.

Second Sunday of Lent Year B

Genesis 22:1-2,9-13,15-18 God put Abraham to the test. ‘Abraham, Abraham’ he called. ‘Here I am’ he replied. ‘Take your son,’ God said ‘your only child Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him as a burnt offering, on a mountain I will point out to you.’ When they arrived at the place God had pointed out to him, Abraham built an altar there, and arranged the wood. Then he bound his son Isaac and put him on the altar on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and seized the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven. ‘Abraham, Abraham’ he said. ‘I am here’ he replied. ‘Do not raise your hand against the boy’ the angel said. ‘Do not harm him, for now I know you fear God. You have not refused me your son, your only son.’ Then looking up, Abraham saw a ram caught by its horns in a bush. Abraham took the ram and offered it as a burnt-offering in place of his son. The angel of the Lord called Abraham a second time from heaven. ‘I swear by my own self – it is the Lord who speaks – because you have done this, because you have not refused me your son, your only son, I will shower blessings on you, I will make your descendants as many as the stars of heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants shall gain possession of the gates of their enemies. All the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your descendants, as a reward for your obedience.’ Psalm 115:10,15-19 I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living. I trusted, even when I said: ‘I am sorely afflicted,’ O precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful. Your servant, Lord, your servant am I; you have loosened my bonds. A thanksgiving sacrifice I make; I will call on the Lord’s name. My vows to the Lord I will fulfill before all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Romans 8:31-34 With God on our side who can be against us? Since God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to benefit us all, we may be certain, after such a gift, that he will not refuse anything he can give. Could anyone accuse those that God has chosen? When God acquits, could anyone condemn? Could Christ Jesus? No! He not only died for us – he rose from the dead, and there at God’s right hand he stands and pleads for us. Mark 9:2-10 Jesus took with him Peter and James and John and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone by themselves. There in their presence he was transfigured: his clothes became dazzlingly white, whiter than any earthly bleacher could make them. Elijah appeared to them with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter spoke to Jesus: ‘Rabbi,’ he said ‘it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ He did not know what to say; they were so frightened. And a cloud came, covering them in shadow; and there came a voice from the cloud, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.’ Then suddenly, when they looked round, they saw no one with them anymore but only Jesus. As they came down from the mountain he warned them to tell no one what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They observed the warning faithfully, though among themselves they discussed what ‘rising from the dead’ could mean.

The Gospel of Mark narrates to us today his account of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ on a mountain on chapter 9, where he took Peter, James and John with him a little before He was to suffer on the Cross on another mountain.  They climbed the mountain because Jesus wanted to pray and when they reached the top Jesus was seen communing with Elijah, representative of the Prophets, and Moses, that of the Law.  Jesus was transfigured, his body and raiment, so white he was that it was whiteness in its purest.  Peter was beside himself and talked but did not know what he was saying.  God the Father certainly had a clear message to the three Apostles and to us today, the Second Sunday of Lent: “This is my Beloved Son.  Listen to Him.”

The importance of listening cannot indeed be overemphasized.  We are told by the medical doctors that we should listen to our bodies for us to be healthy.  The psychologists tell us that we should listen to ourselves, our ways of talking and our ways of acting and our way of life, every now and then for self-evaluation and self-betterment.  Family counselors counsel us to listen to our wives and husbands and to our children and parents for us to have a happy family.  We listen to our friends for their pieces of advice and recommendations.  We listen to our neighbors and co-workers for community and social issues.  Now God the Father invites us to listen to His Son.

Lent is a special time for listening to Jesus.  Alms-giving is listening in action.  Fasting and abstinence are listening in action as well: we listen and respond to the needy.  Especially prayer, it is listening to God Himself.  We kneel and dispose ourselves to Him, soliciting His grace and mercy and insights.

His message for us today is clear: as Jesus was transfigured, so we are as well transfigured, so we will as well be made like Jesus.  There is more for us than this world, than what this world offers, than what this world would have us believe achievable.  Yes, we can have more, do more, be more than just what we have now, what we do now, what we are now.  Worldly things pull us down like strings pull down a finch, a maya bird.  The Lord wants us to soar high and be free from human bondage in sin.  They make us be content with the physical things of this world while the Lord wants us to inherit the Kingdom in heaven.  They tell us that we can only do so much, and we can only achieve so much, that we must be content with what we have.  The Lord tells us that to us belongs more than just passing pleasures and fleeting moments.  He in His Transfiguration is showing us that we are called to be like Him, that we will be like Him, that we Children of God, of God Himself, no less.

Our contemporary society has been numbing us and lulling us to believe that what we really want and need are those things it offers: fame, fortune and success.  It does us great good to turn off once in a while the TV and the radio and to close down our external ears to the worldly things and to open up our internal ears to God in alms-giving, fasting and abstinence and prayer this Lent.

Lord we are your beloved sons and daughters.  We want to listen to you: help us, Lord, to listen to you in prayer today.  Help us to realize that we can have more, do more and be more.  Help us be transfigured to what you have destined for us and not to what the world wants us to stay with and be content with.  Help us not be content with the offers of this world but aspire always to the treasures you have in store for us in heaven where you prepared our dwelling place with you.  Amen.

4 March 2012, Sts. Peter and Paul Parish, Cathedral and Macabog Chapel, Sorsogon City, Philippines.