The power of the Word

Today is the liturgical feast of St. Matthew, the tax collector turned apostle of our Lord Jesus.It is inspiring to behold how the Incarnate Word of God – Jesus our Master – is able to effect change and transformation in the lives of people. Putting together the Gospel readings of last Saturday, September 16 (cf Lk 8:4-15) and last Sunday, September 17 (cf Mt 20: 1-16a), I came up with this reflection, remembering also the creative reading of the Pauline priest who guided our Hong Kong community in the monthly recollection last July. The seed sown on different types of soil could also be re-read in the time dimension of our daily life. Usually, we listen to the Word of God early in the morning during meditation, when we are still incapacitated or “out of condition” to listen; hence we sleep while listening or we listen, sleeping. Hopefully, as the sun of God’s grace continues to shine in our day, we progressively warm up to the Word and we accept it with joy even if we still don’t dwell in it deeply. At midday, we enter into the forest of the day’s occupations and distractions. Lucky if the Word survives such treacherous terrain! Fortunately, we have 24 hours in a day and God’s grace is present all throughout. So, hopefully, before the day ends, the Word perseveres in letting its presence be felt.  Hopefully it succeeds in penetrating our hearts, in mysterious ways: sometimes even through seemingly insignificant items like a passing comment, a brief conversation with a fellow sister or other persons, a glance on the beauty of nature and the like. God’s Word is alive, active, powerful. It perseveres despite all oppositions. It is not we who persevere. It is not we who are patient. It is God’s Word, because His Word is a Person. The Word became flesh in Jesus our Master. With Jesus in us, and we in Jesus, there will surely be fruits – of faith, love, hope, joy, kindness (cf Gal 5:22-23).

endings...beginnings...

“In my beginning is my end,” so goes the first line of T.S. Eliot’s East Coker, the second part of his Four Quartets.
“In my end is my beginning.” You’re right: this is the last line of the same piece.
It’s the poem that comes to mind as I listen to and contemplate Jesus’ words in this concluding phase of the Easter season while we await the celebration of Pentecost.
Jesus says to his disciples: “I come from the Father and now I go back to him…” – my beginning is my end.
But it is not actually the “end”. Jesus assures his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled... And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always…I will not leave you orphans." (see John 14).
The circle of life, human and eternal, continues. There is nothing to fear. Jesus has preceded us in all experiences, up to the limit experience of death.
When I arrived here in Manila, Philippines almost three weeks ago, the main news circulating was the end of the world prophesied to take place last May 21. Thank God, we are all still here. In fact, the “miscalculation of the world’s end” is out of circulation now.
What is in? The beginning of school year. It is expected that 12 million students in primary, secondary and tertiary levels will be out in the streets today, June 6. See this news page presenting the readiness of the public authorities to face the challenge.
In line with this, there is also the additional urgency of the implementation of the mandatory kindergarten education in public schools this time, hence the pressure faced by the Department of Education to employ thousands of kindergarten teachers.

So life is indeed buzzling, at least in this part of the world. And it’s good news enough to know that despite the poverty that continues to plague the country, there is always the attempt to hope and work for a better future by a long-term strategy called education. It consoles me to know that so many scholarships both at the public and private sphere are being offered to poor but deserving youth.
Endings and beginnings both in the Church’s liturgical season and the Philippine society’s civil calendar harmoniously blend. I would like to believe that this too is a sign of the Spirit’s creativity at work in our lives and our society.

Easter 2011

This stunning photo was taken by my friend, Fr. Tony Milner during his Holy Week Retreat at Castel Gandolfo. In his FB album he entitled it "Jacob's Ladder..."
Indeed there are times when it is difficult for us to see the "connection" between our life here and the one after this, especially when there is no one who could at least indicate some "signs" linking the two...
Could this be one of the reasons why we, disciples of Jesus today, need to solemnly celebrate annually the Resurrection event -- to make present the reality of the new life that we are now "caught up into" through Jesus' rising from the dead? We know it by the intuition of our faith, by the doctrine passed on to use through catechism and theology, but it takes time to really capture it in our lives, or rather, be captured by it, by the resurrection faith.
In the beautiful homily I had the grace to listen to today at the English College here in Rome, the priest celebrant rightly said -- we need TIME to understand, to catch the significance of the event. Mary Magdalene needed "two takes": the first one, she mistook Jesus for the gardener (the "old Adam"?). But she caught up soon: upon hearing her name out of Jesus' lips, she recognized him as her "rabbouni" (the "new Adam"?)

On second reflection, we could be forgiven for "failing to understand" what Resurrection means. It is not easy, of course, since the Resurrection is an "out-of-this-world" reality. It is unique. Pope Benedict XVI develops this foundational Christian theme in his latest work, Jesus of Nazareth: "The Resurrection accounts certainly speak of something outside our world of experience. They speak of something new, something unprecedented -- a new dimension of reality that is revealed. What already exists is not called into question. Rather, we are told that there is a further dimension, beyond what was previously known. Does that contradict science? Can there really only ever be what there has always been? Can there not be something unexpected, something unimaginable, something new? If there really is a God, is he not able to create a new dimension of human existence, a new dimension of reality altogether? Is not creation actually waiting for this last and highest 'evolutionary leap', for the union of the finite with the infinite, for the union of man and God, for the conquest of death? Throughout the history of the living, the origins of aything new have always been small, practically invisible and easily overlooked. (...) In terms of world history, Jesus' Resurrection is improbable; it is the smallest mustard seed of history. This reversal of proportions is one of God's mysteries. The great -- the mighty-- is ultimately the small. The tiny mustard seed is something truly great. So it is that the Resurrection has entered the world only through certain mysterious appearances to the chosen few. And yet it was truly the new beginning for which the world was silently waiting."
I personally think that "resurrection experiences" are creatively woven in the texture of our life, if we only TAKE and MAKE TIME to examine deeply our daily lives. I did have experiences lately when such deep desires I hold in my heart and I could only express to our Lord found fulfillment in real life, unfolding in mysterious and unexpected ways.
For this period of the Easter Season (50 days -- a lot of time indeed!) why don't we try a daily "easter exercise": look at signs of connections -- stunning play of clouds and light as in the picture above (like God "showing off" or simply smiling), tiny green sprouts of plants springing from crevices or stones, an encouraging tap on the shoulder, a listening ear offered, a helping hand, etc...
Happy Easter to all!

Via Crucis

Nature continues to undergo transformation as spring decisively enters in.
The city of Rome is in full "movimento" as well not only because of the pilgrims and tourists flocking the city during Holy Week but also due to the full blast preparation for the big event of the beatification of Pope John Paul II come 1st of May. Shall we have a repeat of his funeral event in April 2005 attended by around a million people?
For those who flock towards the direction of St. Peter's Basilica passing through Via della Conciliazione, there is a curious "art exhibit" by the left side of the road: 49 pieces of life-size statues in bronze featuring the 14 stations of the cross or the traditional Via Crucis. It was done by our company Domusdei pddm, srl for a Chilean foundation - Cross of the Third Millenium in Coquimbo Chile. Several press releases have been done about the "art display" but I want to invite my readers to consider the "contemplative work" of Gabriele Bellan who photographed all the stations and shared the photos and his reflections on them in his blog. It could be a good way of doing your "Way of the Cross" now even as you sit before your computer.
I'd like to feature here one of his photos -- to contemplate Jesus' "handing of himself" to his torturers, on one level, and to his Father, on a deeper level. Following Jesus our Lord, we usually find ourselves, on the same "spot" -- accepting and therefore, handing ourselves over to life situations, both voluntarily and involuntarily, but trusting always that there is a Greater Other who is in-charge so no matter how tough times could be, we try to stay the course and be faithful. The story of Jesus did not end with the cross.