Neighbor, Love Thy Neighbor

The parable of the Good Samaritan was Jesus' response to the question, "Who is my neighbor?" (As if they were not aware of the Genesis story of Cain and Abel where Cain, after asked by God where his brother was, answered God; "Am I my brother's keeper?"). As usual, Jesus responded convincingly and to the heart! He told them about the Good Samaritan.

It will be good to put the parable into context. The Jews believed that they were the chosen people. By virtue of that privilege, they expected to receive the Good News of salvation first. In fact, that was the plan of God. Jesus, the Good News, would be born a Jew and there He will fulfill His ministry. Samaria was not a Jewish town. It was a Gentile place. They were not expected to receive the Good News before the Jews. Going back to the parable, you can just imagine the reaction of his Jewish listeners in making a Gentile, a Samaritan, as the do-gooder and the Jews as the villains!

So who is the neighbor? It is easy to say that the neighbor is the victim in the parable or any victim for that matter. He is the one in need. The person who is lying on the ground needing assistance. The person who is hungry, thirsty, imprisoned, oppressed, confused, etc. And you will be right. Anyone who is in need is our neighbor. It is imperative for a Christian to extend anything he can do to alleviate the poverty and predicament of his neighbor. But if you notice, in the parable, Jesus pointed us to the other equally important neighbor, the Good Samaritan. He was the one who helped the victim. He saw to it that the victim was fully assisted. He even left something for him for his further sustenance after bringing him to a home care and entrusting him to a care giver. For Jesus, the neighbor is not only the one in need, but one who can help those in need! For Jesus, we must be neighbors to each other. We must take care of each other. We have the responsibility to see to it that we share and use the charisms, the gifts, that God had given us. From the words of St. Paul, it is ministering to each other. When we use Gods gifts for the good of the community we have become a minister. In this sense, to be a neighbor is to be a minister!

The parable thus reminds us that we must always be on the look out, not blind, mute, deaf or numb, to the needs of others. The time to help is now, here, and to everyone in need.

Neighbor, Love Thy Neighbor!

Mama Mary?

The figure above was taken at the "big lagoon" in El Nido, Palawan. It was part of our island hopping activity. Upon entering the lagoon, our guide pointed to this figure. All of us, aboard the boat, said that the image formed out of this limestone mountain, seems to be Mama Mary. Easily, we attribute similar figures to Mary, the Blessed Virgin. That is faith and there is nothing wrong with it. If, in seeing this figure, one becomes aware of the Mother of God and thus becomes aware of her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, so be it.

The figure can actually be anybody or nobody. In fact, nature was not aware that it was forming a figure of  somebody, much more the Mother of God. Faith will tell us that God may reveal Himself through His creation. And this is definitely part of His creation. 

Pundits would question its immediate association, much more, its definite recognition as a saint or the Blessed Virgin Mary. Many questions can not but arise. Why the shape? Do the wind, air, limestone, trees, and everything around it, "consciously" cooperated to form it? Who is directing these forces of nature to shape the figure? Were they aware it was developing that shape? If not, then, was it accidentally formed? What an accident! 

But these things do happen. Even by just looking at clouds, for example, anyone can make a lot of interpretations from them. Cloud formations are so vast, complicated and full of lines and curves that anybody can really make something meaningful out of it. Much of it depend on the situation and experience of the viewer. Catholics, because of their deep devotion to Mary, would easily and have no difficulty seeing it as the Lady. Such is one of the principles behind an abstract work. It provides the client the freedom to interpret the work according to his experience and knowledge.

It is the same as how the famous Shroud of Turin is recognized. Pictures of it have under it a caption saying "Jesus". This is very dangerous because even though there are some signs and evidences that would make us think it was Jesus, there were also tests that say it was not Jesus. The Church had not yet made any declaration that it was really Jesus' shroud. However, even without the declaration, the faithfuls who are touched and helped by its presence to be more aware of what the Lord Jesus experienced during His Passion and Death may use it as an object of faith. But to claim it as "Jesus" would be walking on thin ice as far as idolatry is concerned. What is more appropriate would be to caption is as "Jesus?".

What is important is what the figure does to us. God uses all His creation to let us know Him more, love Him more, and serve Him more. But caution must be observed that the figure itself will be the object of worship. At most, it should only help us, via our sense of seeing, to recognize and communicate to Mother Mary and to God. Otherwise, it would be bordering on idolatry, i.e. worshipping the figure itself as Mary herself! 

Birth of Mary, Birth of Salvation.

No, Mary is not the Savior. Jesus is. But as the plan of God will show, Mary was part of the plan. Because Jesus will become one like us, He needed to be born of a woman. God chose Mary and she became the Mother of Jesus, who is God.

Maybe we ask, why God did it that way? We can reflect, speculate, or theologize about but the whole import of that act can only be known by God. As for us, we must be thankful for that generosity of God. Therefore, the feast of the birth of the Virgin Mary is an occasion to celebrate. We celebrate God's love and generosity for saving us. We celebrate God's trust when He elected to invite Mary, human like us, to actively participate in the work of salvation. We thank God for the continued inspiration being brought to us by the witnessing and guidance of the Blessed Mother.

Nowadays, when it seems that only Catholic Christians (unfortunately there are some of us who also attack her and take her for granted) are giving Mary her due recognition, we need to assert more our devotion to her. By knowing her and living the example she lived, we have given justice to her virginity, motherhood, and blessedness. By imitating her perfect discipleship, we have responded to the generosity of God who had taken her and given her back to us to be with us on our journey towards His Kingdom.

Thanks be to God for giving us a Mother.

Happy birthday Blessed Mother!

Because I love you

Nobody is perfect. Though the Lord tells us to be perfect just like the Father, because we are creatures, we have some limitations. In that case, perfection is becoming who we are as created by God. Everyone has his/her blind spot. We can not know everything. For this reason, we need the guidance of others. When necessary, we need to be corrected.

Telling somebody his faults or mistakes is one of the most difficult thing to do. Yet, it is one of the most important thing that we must do, especially as Christians. In the Gospels, Jesus painstakingly enumerated and detailed how fraternal correction maybe done. This sends the message that correction is part of every Christians responsibility. When we were baptized, we were incorporated to the family of God and had acquired the threefold functions of Jesus; prophet, pastor, and priest. Fraternal correction is based on the prophetic ministry given to us by virtue of baptism. We have the responsibility to proclaim the Word of God to everyone we meet. 

The book of the prophet Ezekiel reminds us that fraternal correction is not an option. There are consequences for doing and not doing it. When a wicked person is reminded of his guilt and he does not change, the wicked will die for his guilt but the neighbor who reminded him will be saved. But if the neighbor fails to correct the wicked and did not change, the wicked will die for his sins and the neighbor who did not correct him will be responsible for his death. We are our brother's keeper. 

We can see here that the purpose of the Lord is for the benefit of all; the wicked and the neighbor. What good will it be if we lie to make someone smile? Better to tell the truth and make somebody cry.

A helpful guideline would be to evaluate the correction to be made. First, it must be true. There must be certainty that what will  be said is true. Truth is worth telling even if it will hurt. Second, is it necessary? It maybe true but not really necessary or relevant. In other words, it may not be told and nothing substantial will be affected. If it is relevant, is being done out of love? St. Paul said that with love, one can never go wrong. Loving is always a fulfillment of the commandment. But loving here is not the romantic or the secular carnal kind. This is Christian loving, i.e. wishing the spiritual goodness of the other. Spiritual goodness means salvation. Therefore, fraternal correction must be done out of love for the sake of salvation.

The Power Of Intercession

Catholics believe in intercessions of angels, Mother Mary, and the Saints. The intercession is more of guidance than direct help. We believe that it is God who gives all graces. The intercessors, as experts on relationship with God, are the best models for obtaining these graces. Their experience of God could lead us to live our lives into full fruition.

During the construction of our new church, I had experienced so many intercessions from our patron saint, Alphonsus Mary De Liguori. There was this incident of acquiring a certain material needed for the church. As established practice, because of the big bulk we need, we invited suppliers to quote. The Construction Committee evaluated the quotes. A decision was arrived at and an appointment to meet the supplier was made for further negotiations. After the talk, I would usually bring the matter in prayer. I will ask God through the intercession of St. Al to help me discern. Quality and availability, more than money, were considered more. In this particular order, I did not get a clear message from God. The supplier pressed us to confirm the quote because the prices may change. Worrying about losing the proposal, I decided to sign the conforme. Just then, I received a call from a friend. It so happen that he was also into the construction business. I took the opportunity to asked advice from him  about the deal I was about to sign. He intimated his reservations to the deal. He asked if I can give him some time to know more about it and give me a feedback as soon as possible. He did and he found out some doubts as to the quality and availability of the materials. I did not sign the deal and to make the long story short, we were saved from the "bogus" deal. And to top it all, we were able to find a better deal!

Maybe to some, situations like the above should not be brought to discernment anymore. But my formation (Ignatian Spirituality) from the Jesuits tells me that God is present in all things. All decisions must be made in accordance with God's Will. All decisions must be tested by God's Will no matter how trivial they maybe to some. We believe that we are connected with each other, those in heaven and those undergoing purification. In our Creed, we profess our belief in the Communion of Saints; in purgation, on earth, and in heaven. The guidance of those who had lived their lives in faith are very important. This we need to make use if not to discover.

This is a treasure of our faith. Intercession works!