The Nexus

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“Jesus at once stretched out his hand and caught him.”

In the gospels, Jesus is reported to have performed so many miracles. In
this gospel account, He is seen walking on the lake towards the boat of His
disciples. Since this does not occur in the natural order, His disciples
were frightened and thought it was a ghost.  But Jesus assured them from
afar: “It is I. Do not be afraid!”

Many of the miracles of Jesus are beyond the laws of nature: calming the
storm, bringing the dead to life again, multiplying the loaves of bread
(as was shown last Sunday), and now walking on the water. These supernatural
acts witnessed by His disciples made them exclaim within themselves and
also before Him: “Beyond doubt you are the Son of God!”

It is by virtue of His divinity that Jesus was able to perform miracles.
When Peter saw Him walking on the water towards them on the lake, Peter
spoke up and said, “Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you across
the water.” And Jesus said, “Come!” Peter got out of the boat and began to
walk on the water, moving toward Jesus. But when he perceived how strong
the wind was, he became frightened and began to sink, so he cried out,
“Lord, save me!” And Jesus stretched at once his hand and caught him.

The power of faith in Jesus can make us do extraordinary things. In Peter,
he was able to walk on the water moving toward Jesus.  For many of us, it
can mean the curing of our long-standing ailments.  Or it could mean the
gift of fortitude and courage to dispel fears that hinder us from going
beyond ourselves, beyond our comfort zones, and helping another person
in need - knowing the risk of involvement and the danger it may pose to
our lives or the members of our family.  What is important is not so much
the extraordinary or supernatural act that we can be able to perform because
of our faith in Jesus, but the lesson we must learn from Peter’s failure
to walk on the water up to where Jesus was.  The reason Peter failed was
because his focus on Jesus was diverted by his looking at the strong winds
and the waves under him.  He should have kept his gaze straight as Christ
so that his faith was sustained and kept strong.

Whenever we will be placed in situations that may pose some danger to
our lives, like Peter’s walking on the water, let us keep our gaze straight
on Christ.  Let us focus strongly on the great power by which Jesus can
save us and by which He can let us do what we ought to do in moving towards
Him and doing His will.  This takes spiritual discipline coupled with the
gift of faith. But it can be done.  We only have to reread all those miracle
accounts in the gospels whereby so many were healed by Jesus because of their
great faith in Him.  Faith indeed has the power to move mountains. And in
tandem with charity, it has the power to save lives.  It is faith and charity
in a God who saves, that is able to move men and women, who, during times of
emergency and crisis, forget their own safety and save the lives of others.
Like the stories we hear from war or from those saved from acts of terrorism.

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“[Jesus]…looked up to heaven, blessed and broke them and gave the
loaves…”

The healing, teaching and preaching ministry of Jesus was attracting crowds
of people.  Even when Jesus withdrew by boat to a deserted place by Himself,
when the crowds learned where He was, they would follow Him on foot from the
towns.  As Jesus sees these crowds, His heart is often moved with pity, and
He cures all of the sick among them.

In our gospel account this Sunday, the crowds were said to have followed
Jesus to a deserted place.  And evening was fast approaching. The disciples
of Jesus suggested to Him that He dismiss the crowds so that they can go
home to eat.  Jesus, however, told His disciples to provide the crowds with
food themselves.  But upon learning that they had no large source of food
to feed the crowds, Jesus took what was available from them (five loaves
and a couple of fish), looked up to heaven, blessed and broke them, and
gave the loaves to His disciples, who in turn gave them to the people. All
were able to eat their fill of the food.  And what was leftover filled up
twelve baskets.  This gospel account tells us that the crowds of people
were five thousand men - not including women and children.

All over the four gospels, Jesus is reported to have performed many, many
miracles.  The greatest miracle, was of course, His rising from the dead.
There is no person as yet in human history who has been reported to have
risen from the dead, except Jesus.  With such a great miracle as this,
multiplying the five loaves of bread and a couple of fish, to five thousand
men and their families, would seem less “extraordinary” - yet it is also
important, because it prefigures the institution of the sacrament of the
Eucharist.  Jesus, the Bread of Life, multiplies Himself for us in the
Eucharist, that we also may have our fill - with leftovers when the ministers
and the priest return the extra consecrated hosts back to the tabernacle.
Jesus knew where the power to produce miracles comes from: [He] looked up
to heaven.  The priest also follows this gesture of Jesus: raising both
the hosts and the wine with his hands outstretched and his eyes raised
upwards, and then consecrating the Eucharistic species into the Body and
Blood of Jesus for the congregation to consume.

Many families in the world today are suffering from the rising prices of
food.  The volatile price of oil in the world market is causing a spiralling
of prices in basic commodities.  With this situation in many societies all
over the world, perhaps a solution can be found if we follow the spirit
of the Eucharist.  As every breadwinner of the family “looks up to heaven”
in prayer to God (the ultimate Provider of food and nourishment), then he
will surely receive the faith and hope to make ends meet and feed his family.
And as the Eucharistic bread is broken and shared and distributed so that
each one in the congregation can consume the Bread of Life, then this spirit
of sharing and equal distribution, can also inspire our leaders to do the
same with the food supply they produce, and distribute them to the people.
The spirit of the Eucharist is a spirit of sharing and distributing, so
that each one will have his fill of God’s Spirit - with the ministers and
the priest, gathering the leftover hosts back to the tabernacle, so that
they can also be given to the sick and the elderly in their homes.

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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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“Let them grow together until harvest…”

Jesus speaks another parable for the 16th Sunday of the Year. Last
Sunday, He spoke about the four types of ground that receive the seeds
sown upon them.  The lesson we have learned from that parable is that
only the good soil will bring about a bountiful harvest.  So, when applied
to our life, when we are able to become “good soil”, that is also fertile
with prayer and good works, when the seed of God’s Word enters our being,
we too will reap a bountiful harvest of God’s blessings.

In the parable for this Sunday, Jesus speaks again of seed, and crop,
and yield.  However, this time, the situation is about a farmer ordering
his slaves to sow good seed - which grew, matured, and yielded grain -
and then an enemy of the farmer who, when everyone was asleep at night,
sowed weeds through the farmer’s wheat.  When the problem was noticed
by the farmer’s slaves and reported it to their master, the slaves
wanted to solve the problem by pulling out the weeds. However, the
decision of the field-owner was to let the weeds grow with the wheat
- because pulling out the weeds might pull out also the wheat along
with it.  The field-owner’s wisdom and prudent judgment saw that the
better solution would be when harvest time comes.

At first, the disciples of Jesus did not know what the parable meant
for them. But Jesus explained it to them: saying that the farmer sowing
the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world; the good seed
the citizen’s of the Kingdom; the weeds are the followers of the evil
one; the enemy who sowed the weeds is the devil; the harvest is the
end of the world when the good will be received by God and the evil
thrown into the fiery furnace of Gehenna.

Our life on earth is filled with good and evil - in ourselves and in
others. This parable of Jesus teaches us to be kind with all people
- even diehard criminals and those notoriously known to be evil.  It
is not in our authority to judge, for the exercise of true justice
is a virtue infused by the supernatural grace of the Holy Spirit.
But even if justice in the world is not perfect, there is a just
order sustained by universal ideals which all of humanity adhere to
and agree.  What we are called to reflect upon and to really think
more deeply is to see the wisdom of God’s judgment and justice as
one involving punishment but also qualified by His saving mercy.

As we live everyday serving our family, working in our jobs, and
relating with people in many situations, we may encounter mean
remarks, disrespectful actions, verbal abuse, those who intentionally
ignore us when we need service, or those who bully and trample upon
the weak. When we experience such situations, this is the time we
are called to stand back, stand our ground, and prudently do what
ought to be done so that the fruit of the encounter is not enmity
or hatred but one that is directed towards a peaceful resolution.
And when we had finished our day experiencing one of these stressful
encounters, let us sit, settle, open our eyes to God’s wisdom, and
remember what the field-owner said to his slaves: “Do not pull up
the weeds for you might take the wheat along with them. Let them
grow together until harvest - when the weeds will be burned and the
wheat gathered into the barn.”  Our task and responsibility is to
be the good seed that yields the grain; not the weeds that are sown
by the Evil One.

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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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“Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.”

In the gospel for this Sunday, July 6, we will learn how Jesus sees the
people and Himself.  First, Jesus praises the Father for He has revealed
something precious to the simple and the merest children, and letting it
remain hidden to the clever and the intelligent. And when Jesus says that
“no one knows the Son but the Father, and no one knows the Father but the
Son — and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him”, we can infer from
the text that it was this relationship that was being revealed to the
simple and merest children.  From other passages in the gospels, we will
also learn that it is to the childlike that the kingdom of God and its
spiritual treasures and mysteries will be known and given.

In the second paragraph of the gospel, Jesus invites the people - those
who are especially burdened by life - to take up His yoke and learn from
Him, for He is gentle and humble of heart. Jesus making Himself known to
the people with these words makes us remember of His image as the Sacred
Heart and the Lamb of God.  Since people during the time of Jesus were
literally carrying heavy loads as part of their means of livelihood, this
commandment of Jesus to follow Him and learn from His teaching is a lighter
load to carry, since unlike their masters - who may probably be very taxing
stern, and strict - this Master is one of compassion and love, humble and
gentle of heart.

In these hard and difficult times, when we, our family, and people who are
dear to us, are experiencing the increasing burden of the rising cost of
living, we are fortunate to know Jesus as the Master who is humble and
gentle of Heart - whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light. We only
need to remember how Jesus carried the Cross - a symbol of our sinfulness
and evil - so that we may be saved from the effects of humanity’s sin
and evil.  The love of Jesus lifts us up from our hardships, his gentleness
is a boon to the harshness of the times, and his humility neutralizes our
pride so that we may source all our strength and power from Him and the
Father alone.  After a week of working hard and earning our keep, we only
need to listen to His Word and receive His Sacrament, and we will surely
find rest and feel refreshed from the burdens and problems we have been
carrying and solving the whole week.

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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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“Anyone who hears my words and puts them into practice is like the
wise man who built his house on rock.”

The gospel for the 9th Sunday of the Year speaks of a very important
parable that reveals a wisdom that not only we Catholics believe as true
but also the majority of humanity.  In the first paragraph of the gospel,
Jesus speaks of the importance of doing the will of the Father in heaven.
Then in the second paragraph, we read His teaching about the importance
of building one’s house on a sure foundation - one solidly set on rock,
rather than one on shifting sand.  When we reflect how the two parts
of this passage of the gospel convey a serious message, we discover
that the gospel wanted to impart the importance of heeding the Father’s
will to build our lives on a sure foundation.  And this may mean in
our present Catholic generation, the hope we have in God as the source
of all security and stability in life.

We often fail to make our hope in God as the solid rock on whom our
life has its sure foundation.  We just realize it only when something
bad happens to ourselves or to members of our family or clan.  But God
always reminds us to place our hope in Him.  Every Sunday as we gather
with other families to celebrate the Eucharist, we are reminded of this
truth throughout the whole liturgy.  When we receive communion, we accept
Jesus as the center and foundation of our family life.  He is the Most
Sacred Heart who wishes to place our trust in Him more than in anything
else.  And as the Eucharist ends, and we are sent on a mission of peace,
we bring this spirit of Jesus back to our ordinary family life, work,
business, or profession.  The more we root and anchor ourselves on the
sure hope we have in God, He will surely save and preserve us from any
destructive force that can unsettle us.  That is why the Church obliges
us to celebrate the Sunday Eucharist regularly.  For in the Eucharist,
we are assured that our hope is in God alone and if we live out the
will of the Father in heaven, our Catholic family will be built on
solid rock.