Jesus Prays! Why not us?

The beginning of todays' Gospel says that Jesus departed to the mountain to pray. And He did not only pray for hours but spent the night in prayer to God! You ask; "Jesus prays?!" And why not? Prayer is communication with God more than an activity of a creature to its Creator. It is a person to person exchange. It is an exchange of "wills" if you will. The Christian is expected to pray always and more in serious situations. There is nothing important to a Christian than to know what his God wills and to express his will in the process. Jesus shows here his true humanity. He was the Son of God, true, but He was also the son of Mary and Joseph. He needed to pray, and pray, He did!

Incidentally, He did it because He was about to choose His twelve apostles. Men who will be witnesses to everything He will do and say. Men who will compose of the foundation of His Church. Men who will see to it that everything will be passed on from generations to generation. They were important men and therefore, He has to confer with God!

As parish priest, I get to choose also my servants. They are men and women who will be my co-operators in the ministry of salvation. Ever since I became parish priest, I have always looked for people who will be of service to the parish. And I invite them and even interview them to let them know what are expected of them and what service in the parish would entail. Every time, I will always find myself praying to God for enlightenment. I will also tell them to spend time in prayer before they make their final decision to be servants. Service to God is ultimately between them and God and not with me. In most cases, our decisions were stable and responsible.

Personally, I make it a point to be in prayer before I go out of my room in the morning for my ministry. I know that once I get out of my room, I would find it hard to commune with God anymore because of so many things to do and people to attend to. Before I retire at night, I pray again. So that I and God will always be on the same page.

Needless to say, prayer is the source of my spiritual strength. It is also my refuge during challenges and crucial decisions. If Jesus prays, much more should we!

Live To Love

The Lord Jesus cured a man with a withered hand on a Sabbath. According to Jewish Laws, it is forbidden. But He did it not before He gave His teaching; " I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" Jesus was a Jew, a very pious Jew. His parents reared Him as one. He was subjected to everything  Jewish boy should undergo. He knew its teachings from His parents. He knew the Law on the Sabbath. But He was also God's Son. He knew the spirit of those laws. He knew the purpose and importance of the Sabbath Law and all Jewish Laws. He took advantage of this situation to show them the real intent of the Law which is to be a good child of God and to merit receive salvation. The Laws were not given only to be followed literally but to imbibe and live its spirit which will save.

In my ministry as a priest, I usually follow a schedule so that I could effectively attend to the needs of my parishioners and to give myself time to prepare well in disposing those commitments. Once I had a mass at six in the evening in our parish. Half an hour before the time I was already busy preparing myself. But just minutes before the mass, a call from my secretary came telling me that a woman was in the office asking for a priest to visit and give the Sacrament of Anointing to her dying mother. Immediately I told her to wait for me and I will go with her. I gave instructions to my secretary to inform the people at mass to wait because I  would be attending to a dying person. I was hoping that they will understand. But even if they did not, going to the dying person was the right decision. It was not that hard for me anymore to make the decision. Although I was committed to the mass, the soul of a sick person took priority. I need not relate here in detail the sad story of a sick person I rejected when I was a young priest. In brief, what happened was I decided to preside over an scheduled mass first before going to that sick person. Unfortunately, the person died before I arrived. The family was angry at me but I was thankful that later they were able to forgive me.

After the visit, I rushed back to the parish to preside in the mass I left for a while. I was told that some left but many stayed and even prayed for the sick person. I was sad for those who left (unless they had important schedules too!) but I was happy for those who stayed and even prayed for the sick I visited.

We always hear some lawyers and even some non-lawyers cry out the Latin dictum, "Dura lex sed lex!", meaning, "The law maybe harsh but that is the law!" Whoever said that and whatever it meant to him, the truth about who the servant and the master still faces us. The fact that it is harsh renders it useless and illegal! For Jesus, the law is the servant and men are its master. Of course, the ultimate Master is God for He created everything. But according to God's purpose, the law must serve man. Man should not be enslaved by the law.

Out Of Court Into God's Kingdom

2011 Sep 4, Sunday: Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Ezekiel 33:7-9/Psalms 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9/Romans 13:8-10/Matthew 18:15-20

In one university in the early seventies, conflicts among fraternities and organizations were prevalent. Not a year would pass when there would be no riots or clashes by the members. Worse, many of their members would end up severely injured and in some cases there would be death. I was a part time professor in that university and it so happened that the dean of our department was the Professor-Adviser of these recognized fraternities and organizations. When the tension among these groups had become worst, my dean decided to meet with all their leaders, representatives, and elders. He believed that bringing in law enforcers would just aggravate the situation. This one, he told me could only be resolved by dialogue.

He set the date, time, and venue of the meeting. Then, he gave me strict instructions to give each participant something to eat and drink as soon as they arrive. I remembered being so afraid and tense for that meeting. These were warring groups and it was very possible for them to attack each other once they meet. But my dean knew better. And he was right. As each arrive, I could sense their anger against their enemies. When they began eating, the anger was still written all over their face. They even would give sharp and threatening stares at each other. But I noticed that as they continued eating, they begin to lower down their guards. Next thing some were already talking about their differences. Others had even reconciled! By the time dessert was served,almost everyone is already in the mood for dialogue. That was the time when my dean adviser arrived. Needless to say, the meeting went well. Everyone was cooperative. They were even laughing when they went out.

So that was the point of my dean. There is nothing that can not be resolved by dialogue. The food and drinks helped a lot in disposing them for it. That is also the point of Jesus' in the Gospel today. Why go to court when you can resolve it between the two of you? If necessary, get somebody you trust to be a go between. As a last resort, do it before a community. Harmony is free. If everyone is willing to listen and make sacrifices, jails, criminal courts, and lawyers would be obsolete. In a Christian world, dialogue more than legal battles prevail. To be united is the rule rather than an exception. We just have to be always open to dialogue and forgiveness.

God Rules The Rules

2011 Sep 3, Saturday: Saturday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Colossians 1:21-23/Psalms 54:3-4, 6, 8/Luke 6:1-5


It should not take a genius to know that if you believe in God, then it should be God who must prevail and be obeyed. However, actual experience seems to show that it is easier said than done. In so many instances, we still disobey God and let our will happen than His.

It was one of the main reasons why God sent His only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Aside from the Father's intention of letting us believe that He is with us, He wanted us to see Him, feel Him, hear Him, and even have a taste of His love the human way. But another reason was to let us know the real intent and spirit of His commandments. Salvation should be the ultimate goal and not just doing what He commanded. Everything we do must advance our relationship with God. Everything we do must make us more divine and human. In the same way, everything we do must be a rejection of the attraction of evil. Everything we do must move us farther from the influence of the devil. Everything we do must be a defeat of satan. The laws were supposed to fulfill all of the above.

I was then reviewing for our final examinations in the seminary. One review evening, a fellow seminarian knocked at my door and invited me to pray with him in the chapel. He said he wanted company in asking God for an intention. It was a very tempting invitation. Prayer is a very holy action. I wanted to join him but I was having my review for the next days' examinations. Finally I told him that I could not go because I was deep in my review. If I join him and pray, I will surely risk so much and endanger my passing that subject. I thought that part of my responsibilty to the vocation of the priesthood was to pass my subjects. Had I gone praying and failed in my examinations, I would have done the expectations of a "good" Christian but may have been wanting in becoming a minister of God I was called to be. As the Book of Ecclesiastes say, "There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven..." (Ecclesiates 3:1-11). My decision was not because I did not want to pray nor that prayer was not a good act. It was a matter of choice between two goods. And the challenge was to choose God's Will for me at that time and place. It was my review time and not my prayer time. My passing the exams should take priority. It was God's Will for me in that particular situation. Prayer could be done at another time. Here, God helped me see through the invitation of my friend. At another circumstance, I would have easily gone with him in prayer.

St. Ignatius calls it "discernment". It is the capacity to see through things in terms of their apostolic value and salvific relevance. It helps us to do things not just for the sake of doing them but according to the intentions of God. Faced with a lot of rules to follow in our lifetime, we have to remind ourselves that those rules were man-made and therefore limited. The words and actions used to capture those rules were similarly limited. Only God, who is omnipotent and from whom those rules came from is perfect. Therefore, only God rules the rules!

Changing For The Better, Not To The Letter

2011 Sep 2, Friday: Friday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Colossians 1:15-20/Psalms 100:1, 2, 3, 4, 5/Luke 5:33-39

Jesus came teaching and doing miracles. The people were astonished at the "newness" of those teachings. Some were able to accept them. But others could not. For the Jews, the Torah, the document that contains the laws given through Moses, was the standard. In the Gospel, the people were asking why the disciples of Jesus were not following the fast. He responded by pointing out that the wedding guests do not fast while the bridegroom is with them. Jesus is the bridegroom, so they do not need to fast. Jesus was not really teaching something new or going against any law. He was actually fulfilling the law in its spirit. But since the law was given to Moses, it had developed and multiplied. In the process, the spirit was lost and the laws had not served as intended. In the words of Jesus.

The intention of the law as given by God was to help man towards salvation and not merely to do them even devoid of its spirit. Jesus pointed out their need to go back to the spirit of the law. There is no one who knows the law better than Him. Jesus wanted them to "change", not to something really new, but to go back to the original purpose of the law. The parable of the old and new cloth and the old and new wine skin illustrates the tension He was creating with the leaders. The "newness" He brings will challenge the "old" they hold.

Once, when I was still in formation, a new Rector came and immediately made a lot of changes in our seminary life. Obviously, many of us reacted. We felt that he should have settled for a while first before changes were made. But because he is the Rector, it was within his authority to do so. Because we trust him, we tried to adopt to the change. At that time, I was the beadle (seminarian head) of the community. One day, I just felt I have worked and studied too much that I really needed a break. After an afternoon class, I asked one of my classmates to play basketball in a court at the back of our building. It was already 4;30 pm and our schedule requires that we must be in by 5:30 pm to prepare for the evening prayers. We thought we can easily make it. Unfortunately we did not. We were so engrossed with our game that we lost track of the time. We finished at about 5:45 pm. way pass the required time we must be in. When we entered the seminary, the Rector was there standing and staring at me. When we were closer to him, he asked why I was not following schedules and added that I was setting a bad example to other seminarians being the head of the community. I just told him that I was very stressed and I felt that I needed to release them. I apologized to him for the extended game.

I did not feel guilty about what happened. I needed that release very much. Schedules are guides in order to get the best formation. Being healthy (sane?) and conditioned are parts of that formation. I fully respect the schedule. But I believe, the situation was more in fulfilling the spirit rather than a violation of the law.