The Nexus

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“The reign of God is like a buried treasure which a man found in
a field.”

In the gospel for this 17th Sunday of the Year, we will encounter Jesus, as
He speaks about the reign of God through three parables: like a buried
treasure which a man found in a field, like the finding of a really valuable
pearl, and like a dragnet in which its haul of contents were separated into
what was worthwhile and what was useless.  Jesus spoke these three parables
to a crowd, which He was always accustomed to do, since the people will
understand what He is saying about the Kingdom through familiar things
and realities.  Common folk in the time of Jesus will understand what a
buried treasure is, what fine pearls are, and what a dragnet that is thrown
in the lake can haul ashore.

Bible scholars and commentators have full explanations and comprehensive
analyses of what these parables mean: both in text and in context.  They
are able to study the implications of the message in the time of Jesus
and also for us now in the present times.  The meanings they obtain from
their studies are replete and pregnant with various nuances and shades
of understanding for everyone or anyone who wishes to fathom the deeper
meaning of these parables.  Reading some of their commentaries can help
us see dimensions of meaning not often found through ordinary meditation
or reflection.

For our purposes, it is enough to listen well to what Jesus says to us
through the text, and to listen also to what the parish priest explains
in relation to the context in which these parables are given.  The familiar
meaning is clear to us and the application for our Christian lives will
depend on what we discover as really valuable in the message which this
gospel conveys for our particular life situation.  What may be common
for all of us to see and recognize is that the valuable thing that Jesus
wants us to see in the reign of God is what we should place above all
things - and sometimes sacrificing other things so that we could give
more attention to this valuable thing.  When we see that valuable thing
in our Christian life, then like the people in the parables of Jesus,
we are to give up other less valuable things in order to make more room
for that more important and more precious thing in our life and in our
family.

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“Part of it, finally, landed on good soil and yielded grain a hundred-,
or sixty-, or thirtyfold.”

In the gospel for this Sunday, July 13, we will learn of the wisdom Jesus
teaches us as regards how we are to prepare our souls in receiving His
Word.  He used a parable for this, saying that the Word of God is like
a seed sown on four types of ground: along the pathway, on patches of
rock, among thorns, and in good soil.  There was a problem with those
seeds planted in the first three kinds of ground.  In the first, the
birds came and ate it all up.  In the second, the seed sprouted but had
not been able to root itself well, and thus became scorched by the heat.
In the third, the seeds grew up, but the thorns choked them and they
perished.  However, with the good soil, the seeds yielded grain many
times over.

Our souls are like those four types of ground.  Sometimes when we hear
the Word of God, we don’t make an effort to understand it and so it
goes out of our minds and hearts - stolen from us by the Evil One.
At other times, we listen to God’s Word and are joyful and consoled
for its effect upon our lives.  However, we don’t let it become rooted
in our daily living, so what happens then is when trouble and hardships
come, we resort to what is not of God’s Word.  And still at other times,
we listen to God’s message and receive it in our life.  But, when we
are assailed by anxiety over worldly and financial concerns, the life
of the Word in us is choked and perishes.  But when we prepare our
souls well with humility, docility to God’s will, frequency of the
sacraments, cultivation of Christian virtues, and doing works of
service and charity, we enrich and fertilize the soil of our souls,
so that the seed of the Word bears a harvest of God’s providential
blessings - both spiritual and material.

We are imperfect beings, perfected only through God’s sanctifying
grace.  In our journey to spiritually progress as mature and responsible
Christians who contribute to the good of the family and society’s
institutions, we will not always be able to be the “good soil” that
Jesus idealizes for all of us.  However, with every failure, setback,
or fall, what is important is we do not give up, but pray to the Holy
Spirit always, who will strengthen and raise us up again for the work
of holiness and sanctification: in ourselves and through the secular
fields we render our service to others.  It is important that we continue
on in doing good, and never giving up, because in the proper time, God
will indeed provide us with a harvest - in reward for the cultivation
of the “good soil” of our souls, which we have fertilized with the
spirit of Mary’s humility, and her openness to receive God’s will.

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“Do not fear those who deprive the body of life but cannot destroy
the soul.”

For the gospel this Sunday, June 22, we will be led to learn what it really
means to follow Jesus.  The passage excerpted from the gospel of Matthew
is part of the discourse of Jesus - urging and telling His apostles to
go forth and spread the Good News, even amidst an opposing or persecuting
force. So Jesus encourages His apostles not to fear any opposing force
that may destroy their physical life but not the soul wherein the life
from God dwells.  And Jesus assures His apostles strongly that as they
acknowledge Him before all people, so shall He acknowledge them before
His Father in heaven.

All the apostles of Jesus, with the exception of John, died a martyr’s
death - the same way as their Master, Teacher and Risen Lord. Tradition
also tells us that St. Peter was crucified upside down, while St. Andrew
was crucified in an X-shaped cross.  Not only did the apostles shed
their blood for God like Jesus, but they also inspired many others to
this gift of martyrdom - with numerous martyrs witnessing to Christ
many generations thereafter.  This truth makes us aware that like Jesus,
and the apostles, our following of Christ, the Christian ideal, and
the Catholic vision, may entail some physical suffering and other manner
of afflictions in our life at one time or another.

Jesus asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit to encourage all His
apostles and disciples, to share in His ministry and mission.  The
Holy Spirit, of which Christian tradition speaks of as the “Soul’s-
hardening for the fight”, will help all the failings of our flesh
and supply it with never failing power.  But the fight which the
Spirit is helping us, so that we may share in Christ’s victory, is a
spiritual fight - one that resists the temptation to sin and to do all
manner of good amidst adversity and difficulty.  We know that not all
are called to have the gift of martyrdom, but all are called to share
in the Cross of Christ.  And sharing in Christ’s Cross may mean, in
the world of family and work, opposing or resisting any spirit that
seeks to destroy the Christian soul of the family, or the Christian
spirit in which we work and earn our living.  It is by a life of prayer
and union with the Spirit that we shall obtain the strength and the
power to resist and oppose sin - in ourselves and among us.

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“…the heart of Jesus was moved with pity…they were…like sheep
without a shepherd.”

The gospel for the 11th Sunday of the Year tells the story of Jesus in
His ministry to His people.  The crowds were gathering before Him because
they sense in Him the spirit of life, compassion and guidance.  He had
twelve disciples whom he gave authority to be with Him in His ministry
of expelling unclean spirits, curing sicknesses, and gathering the lost
sheep of the house of Israel.  Jesus tells and instructs these disciples
of His to make this announcement: ‘The reign of God is at hand!’ Cure
the sick, raise the dead, heal the leprous, expel demons.’  And His
disciples followed His commandment and became His laborers to gather in
the harvest of souls for the reign of God.

The heart of Jesus is the heart of a spiritual father: one who cares for
the direction of the people.  When he saw the crowds and had pity on them,
He immediately commanded His twelve disciples to pray that there would
be laborers to gather the harvest for God.  And He Himself set the example,
by ordering His apostles to preach that the reign of God is near. And to
show evidence of this sign, they were to cure the sick, raise the dead,
heal the leprous, and expel demons.  The leadership of Jesus is one that
involves the heart - the core of our being where God Himself dwells. Thus,
Jesus leads with a fatherly spirit - caring for the people as a father
would care for his children.  And to set an example of this fatherly
concern, He instructed His disciples to do as He does in His ministry
and mission of caring for the sick and expelling demons who threaten the
life of persons.

Every family is part of a greater spiritual family: the Catholic Church
and the family of all humanity. Each father is called to imitate the
heart of Jesus and to guide his family to a direction of life, as Jesus
shows by example in His ministry. Catholics are fortunate to have the
Catholic Church to guide all families in what is true and what is according
to God’s will (through the Holy Spirit’s inspiration).  The family is the
domestic Church, the Catholic Church in its basic nucleus.  With each
father guiding his family like the heart of Jesus and the mother assisting
in this mission, and both of them following the teachings of the Church as
regards family life, then the social unit of the family shall be a strong
foundation for the betterment of the society and culture in which it lives,
and contributes to the service of charity, dialogue and peace.

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“I have come to call not the self-righteous, but sinners.”

The gospel for the 10th Sunday of the Year tells the story of the call of
Matthew.  Matthew was a tax collector, and tax collectors at the time of
Jesus were considered outcasts of the Jewish society - together with other
sinners.  Tax collectors were outcasted because they work for the Roman
Empire, and obtain income by taxing their fellow Jews.  But in this gospel
passage, it tells us that Jesus was moving about until he saw Matthew
at his post collecting taxes.  Jesus said to Matthew, “Follow Me”. At
this call, Matthew got up and followed Jesus.  Since Jesus accepted
Matthew as one of His own, Matthew invited Jesus to his home and there
was a celebration together his fellow tax collectors.  The Pharisees
saw this and took it against Jesus for dining and associating with such
people.  But Jesus replied: “People who are in good health do not need
a doctor; sick people do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘It
is mercy I desire and not sacrifice.’ I have come to call not the self-
righteous, but sinners”.

The majority of Jesus’ followers were fishermen: ordinary people who
found in Jesus the hope of Israel and the salvation of their life. And
many who believed in Jesus were simple folks who found in the words and
teachings of Jesus the very Truth from whom they found light, love and
life.  Sometimes, although not in all cases, a lot of knowledge and
status and power may blind people from knowing the ultimate truth about
God and life.  But when people, and this means also the learned, the
rich, the powerful, the influential, together with the simple and those
who are unlettered, suddenly discover their sinful nature and the wisdom
of seeing themselves as creatures before an all-powerful, all-merciful
and all-saving God, they realize that all hope and salvation lies in
the God of life in Jesus of Nazareth.  That is why Jesus told the
Pharisees in this gospel passage that it is not the self-righteous that
He calls, but sinners.  Jesus knew human nature in its very essence and
is certain that when He calls sinners to Himself and lead them to His
saving and merciful help, they will at once follow Him.  Matthew is a
very good example of this because he was well aware that the society
he lives in looks down on his sinful social status.  Jesus thus became
his hope, his salvation, and his future.

In our life journey, there were many times we probably heard the call
of Christ but did not heed it because we were so immersed in a life in
which our hearts were filled with riches and material things.  The
inordinate desire for these has crowded out the spirit from our hearts
and souls in a way that we become blinded by the reality that we will
never bring all our material possessions and treasures with us to our
death.  It is not bad to have wealth or to possess many material sources
of comfort and ease.  But when it becomes the sole love and treasure of
our heart, we become deaf to the call of Christ to share our wealth with
others.  We can have material possessions and wealth without loving them.
Instead, if we become charitable with what we have, we bring the Spirit
of Christ within our hearts and we safeguard our soul from the works of
the flesh: envy, jealousy, competition, dissension, disunity, anger,
pride, greed, lust, and so on.  When we heed the call of Jesus and strive
to live more in charity, like Matthew, we will find our treasure not so
much in our possessions or our status, but in Christ Himself - the One
who is the source of all that we need in life: for ourselves, our family
and our loved ones.

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“This is the bread that came down from heaven.”

In the gospel for the solemnity of Corpus Christi, Year A, we read a
passage from the gospel of John, chapter 6, verses 51-58.  The passage
tells us of Jesus who said to the crowds of Jews: “I myself am the
living bread come down from heaven.  If anyone eats this bread he shall
live forever; the bread I will give is my flesh, for the life of the
world.”  The reaction to this teaching by Jews was a quarreling among
themselves, for if indeed the saying were to be taken literally, how
can Jesus give his flesh for them to eat?  Despite this disquiet among
the Jews, Jesus continues with His discourse and solemnly assured those
who were present that [his] “flesh is real food and [his] blood is
real drink.” If the Jews had a foreknowledge of what would happen to
Jesus - that He would sacrifice His life on the Cross so that their
sins would be forgiven, then this teaching and saying of His would be
easy to understand.  However, Jesus often speaks in veiled language,
as He did with His parables, and with many other sayings that are filled
with deep meaning and truths.  Jesus would only then reveal what He
meant to His inner circle - the apostles and those who were close to
Him.

This passage from the gospel of John clearly speaks of the Eucharist,
the sacrament we receive when we celebrate the Sunday Mass or any Mass
on a weekday.  Since we know that the sacred host is the very body and
blood of Christ Jesus, then we understand how His flesh and blood that
we receive in the Mass gives life to us - a life that is centered on
eternity and heaven.  When Jesus says that He is the bread that came
down from heaven, we can easily relate to this as we know that the
Eucharistic bread that we consume is Jesus Himself: the Bread of Life
and the Bread that came down from heaven.  Acknowledging this truth is
a great gift from God.  And if we do believe in it, then we will truly
see the Eucharist as a gift from God and something that is very vital
to our daily living.  It is a gift of life that nourishes our soul and
strengthens our spirit that we may follow in the footsteps of Jesus
and serve our brothers and sisters - most especially those who are
closest to us: our family, loved ones and friends.

The feast of Corpus Christi reminds us to be thankful to the Lord for
the gift of His Son, who instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist,
so that we may share in His life and be directed towards what is of
the essence: eternal life and heaven.  By our participation in this
great sacrament, we are connected with the mystery that was enacted
on Calvary and onward to the glorious event of the Easter life with
Jesus.  The more we immerse ourselves in a Eucharistic life, the more
we shall receive the Spirit of Jesus and do what He commands us to
do: to love God with all our hearts, with all our minds, with all our
souls, and with all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourself.
The feast of the Body and Blood of Christ is a mystery of Life from
God - the mystery of God’s only Son, who was sacrificed on Calvary and
then raised up again to life after three days to be victorious against
sin, evil and death.  Let us therefore be thankful for this gift of
the Eucharist in our lives.  And let us pray also for those people who
live in war-torn and terror-stricken areas where the celebration of
the Eucharist is hampered and prevented.

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“Yes, God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that
whoever believes in him may not die but may have eternal life.”

In this Sunday’s gospel, the gospel for Trinity Sunday, Year A, we read
a passage that tells about Jesus - teaching one of the Pharisees, whose
name was Nicodemus, about the love of the Father for mankind.  If we
read the beginning of chapter 3 from which this passage was taken, we
will find that Nicodemus went to Jesus by night (which bible scholars
interpret as a discrete move by Nicodemus so that he would not be seen
in a bad light by his fellow Pharisees) to learn more of Jesus and
His teaching.  And one of the teachings that Jesus emphasized to this
searching Pharisee is how God wanted the world to be saved through His
Son.  Whoever believes in the Son will be saved and merit eternal life,
while those who do not believe in the Son will be condemned by their
lack of belief.

From this passage in the gospel of John, we see the relationship between
the Father and Jesus - Jesus as the Son who was sent by His Father to
save the world from sin.  Last Sunday, Pentecost Sunday, we read about
the resurrection appearance of Jesus to His apostles and wherein He
“breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit”.  We can thus learn
from these passages how God redeems us through His Fatherhood, His
Sonship, and His Most Holy Spirit.  Just as the apostles received the
Holy Spirit, we who are members of the Church Jesus founded, receive the
same Spirit through them.  And when we are called to reflect who God is
for us, one of our responses is: “God is Father, Son and Spirit”. Thru
this triune relationship, we are saved from our sins and will be rewarded
with eternal life, if we continue to believe in God-in-Jesus, who sends
His Spirit among us, so that we can also participate and continue the
mission of redemption which Christ commissions us to do through our
baptismal consecration.

We believe in one God in three persons whenever we make the sign of the
cross on our forehead, shoulders, and chest.  We also profess this faith
whenever we recite the Apostles Creed in the Sunday Eucharist.  God in
three persons is a mystery that we are called to believe and live out
in our daily lives.  It is a relationship of love and community that
seeks to dwell in our heart and soul so that we too may share this spirit
with others.  We are lucky to profess this faith simply in our Christian
lives whereas in the early centuries, many saints have struggled so that
this truth of one God in three persons and three persons in one God may
be proclaimed in our Catholic Church.  As we now celebrate the mystery
of the Trinity this Sunday, let us pray to recognize the triune mystery
that pervades through the whole Eucharistic liturgy beginning with the
sign of the Cross at the start of the Mass and ending also with the sign
of the Cross when the priest dismisses the congregation for a mission of
peace.

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“Then He breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy
Spirit…’”

The solemnity of Pentecost reminds us of the birth of the Church.
In today’s lectionary readings, the vivid account of what transpired
on that day is given in the book of the Acts of the Apostles. The
passage tells us that in the place where Mary, the apostles, and
other disciples were gathered, “suddenly from up the sky there
came a noise like a strong, driving wind which was heard all
through the house where they were seated…tongues as of fire
appeared which parted and came to rest on each of them…all were
filled with the Holy Spirit.”  After this manifestation of the
presence of the Holy Spirit, the apostles then preached to the
people in different tongues and native languages about the
marvels God has accomplished.

In the gospel account, we are then given a passage of one of
the resurrection appearances of Jesus to His apostles.  In this
account for the feast of Pentecost, we read that “though the
disciples had locked the doors of the place where they were
for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood before them…[and
said] Peace be with you”. At the sight of Jesus, the disciples
rejoiced.  And then Jesus “breathed on them and said: ‘Receive
the Holy Spirit. If you forgive men’s sins, they are forgiven
them; if you hold them bound, they are held bound.’”

Devotion to the Holy Spirit was not popular during much of
the history of the Catholic Church.  However, the devotion to
Him became more prominent as a charismatic renewal movement
swept the Catholic Church in the middle of the twentieth
century.  The second ecumenical Vatican Council, under the
leadership of Pope John XXIII had the Holy Spirit much in
mind in the renewal of the Church according to the “signs of
the times” - the present situation of the world.  But even
before this Council was convened, many Catholics around the
world were already participating in the charismatic renewal
movement - a movement inspired very much by the Holy Spirit.
Through this movement, those who formerly were lukewarm in
their practice of the faith, suddenly became ardent in their
Christian life and much inspired to prayer and community
worship because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in their
life and among their friends, family and loved ones. Many
were converted also because of this charismatic movements.

The feast of Pentecost can help us to reflect on the many
gifts the Holy Spirit gives us.  We receive these gifts
through the sacrament of baptism and confirmation and also
through our regular attendance of the Mass and practice of
the sacrament of reconciliation.  The gifts of wisdom,
knowledge, counsel, understanding, piety, courage or
fortitude, and fear of the Lord are given to us as
individuals so that we may do the Lord’s will and serve
our brothers and sisters in Christ. Through the Holy
Spirit, we are able to pray well and practice the virtues
of strength, justice, prudence and temperance.  Not only
this, by our docility to the Holy Spirit’s promptings and
our attentiveness to the Word of God and reception of
His Sacrament, we shall bear spiritual fruits: joy, peace,
faith, charity, goodness, kindness, patience, generosity,
chastity, modesty, gentleness, and self-control.  And as
a community, some of us may be gifted with the Holy Spirit
to teach, to preach, to heal, to give words of wisdom,
to counsel and to be instruments of God’s miracles to
others.

We receive so much from God through the Holy Spirit that
we are called to be really thankful and grateful for all
God’s goodness, mercy and kindness.  Pentecost is a time
for us to thank God for the gift of prayer, for the gift
of community through our loved ones and through our
co-workers, and most especially for the gift of the Church
- from whom we are nourished daily or every Sunday with
the Body and Blood of Christ - a sacrament that strengthens
us to do God’s will, obey the Church, and serve our brothers
and sisters in Christ.  Let us praise and thank God always
for the gift of Himself through His Most Holy Spirit.

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“I will not leave you orphaned; I will come back to you.”

The gospel for this 6th Sunday of Easter, Year A, is taken
from the gospel of John.  In the gospel, Jesus speaks about
His impending Ascension into heaven.  However, He assures
the apostles and his community of disciples that He will ask
the Father to send another Paraclete to be with them always:
the Spirit of truth.  He tells them that although the world
will not see Him no more, the apostles should not feel
orphaned by His departure.  This is because the Spirit whom
the Father will send will remain with them and will be within
them.  They will recognize that it is indeed the Spirit of
truth who will be with them, because the spirit of love shall
govern their minds and their hearts, and make them one family
in Christ.

This gospel prepares us for the Feast of the Ascension of
the Lord and for the Feast of Pentecost on May 11, 2008. In
some local churches, Ascension is celebrated on a Thursday
while the 7th Sunday of Easter is celebrated after it. In
other local churches, Ascension is celebrated on a Sunday
instead of the 7th Sunday of Easter.  The reason why some
local churches celebrate Ascension on a Sunday is because
their faithful often cannot go to Mass on a weekday.  And
so it is celebrated on a Sunday.  Whatever the local practice
of the church, what is really intended by these feasts is
the victory of Christ over sin, corruption, and death, and
the promise of God’s Holy Spirit to found His Church on
earth.

The season of Easter is a very important liturgical season
in the Church.  It teaches us the very essence of our
Christian faith: that Christ died for us and rose again so
that we may share in the victory of His resurrection. What
we hold in faith is that, as we learn to be faithful in
our following of Jesus and obey His commandment of love,
we too shall share in His glorious resurrection. But before
we do share in the glory of His victory, we must be aware
that we have to share in the pain of His suffering and
death on the Cross. 

As we go through life with all its troubles, sufferings,
pain and problems, we die to ourselves daily as we offer
everything that we do good to the Lord - despite the pain
and the struggles.  We may fall at times and err in certain
areas of what we are and do, but if we keep faith in the
victory of Christ, we shall share in His triumph over sin
and death.  So, what is important is to pray that we may
be given the strength to conquer our sinful selves and have
faith that even despite our failings, Christ will assure
us of His victory; and that He will never leave us.  He
will not leave us orphaned.  Rather, He promises the Spirit,
so that we will do His will and obey His commandment of
love for God, for our neighbor and for ourselves.

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“I came that they might have life and have it to the
full.”

This Sunday is Good Shepherd Sunday.  And the gospel
for this Sunday is taken from the gospel of John. In
John, Jesus speaks of Himself as the “sheepgate”, the
“gate”, and as the “shepherd of the sheep”. He contrasts
Himself to the thief and the marauder - to the stranger
whom the sheep do not recognize.  These the sheep will
flee from as they do not know him and his voice. They
know that these come only to steal and slaughter and
destroy.  But the sheep will follow only the voice of
the shepherd who calls each of the sheep by their names.
The shepherd will lead them as they follow him and
recognize his voice.  Since the sheep recognize the
voice of the shepherd, they will be safe and find
pasture.  Through the shepherd, the sheep are able to
have life as they follow the shepherd and his voice.

With this teaching, Jesus teaches a leadership that
is different from other styles of leadership.  What
He teaches is a leadership that leads its followers
to life and to have it to its fullness.  As we just
celebrated the Easter Triduum several weeks ago, we
can have a glimpse of what this leadership entails:
self-sacrifice to the point of giving one’s very life
for one’s followers.  That is why Jesus is a Good
Shepherd.  By his very word and life, He has taught
many to believe and trust in the Father - who will
reward all who follow His Son with the fullness of
life, eternal life.  And the more we follow in the
steps of the Son, the more the fullness of God’s very
own life will be ours to inherit.

Many of us would probably shirk at the idea of
leadership, saying to ourselves, that is only for
those in politics.  But in our pursuit of Christian
holiness, we exercise a form of Christian leadership
in our ordinary life.  By our simple words and deeds,
we can witness to the truth that there is hope for
all of us - even those who have committed grave
sins or errors or those who have lossed something
very valuable in life.  By making Christ as the
source of our Christian leadership, we make His
light shine through us so that it may also shine
to others.  The more we are rooted in Christ as
our Good Shepherd, the more our Christian leadership
will truly lead others to the very life that Christ
has promised for all of us - eternal life.