great ordinary happenings

In a previous post, I wrote about the jail recollection conducted by Fr. Nestor R. Caber, Region 6 Chaplain of the BJMP (Bureau of Jail Management and Penology). He has been going around the different jails of Region 6 conducting this recollection since the second week of March yet. No wonder that during his talk he would sometimes cough due to a throat already most-used, but thanks be to the Almighty, he attested that when he would nearly lose his voice, in the morning upon waking up, there again is God’s rescue, he is once more given a voice ready to tackle another day! Truly it is the work of the Lord!

What made a powerful impact, I’m sure not just to us whom he calls “the service providers”, but to the prisoners most of all, was Fr. Caber’s life testimony of God’s plan in his life, how he became a priest in spite of his being a problem son, student and citizen, that was before he got renewed; and how God came into his life, until he was made His priest!

He has told us about the Regional Service Providers Council of the BJMP 6 which has been organized for “the inmates’ welfare and development, so that the inmates will be productive citizens upon their re-integration in the mainstream of society,” I have read from the internet that they have conducted a “First Inmates-Family Congress on May 31, 2008”.

He said: “I am for religious freedom in the jails, but I don’t approve of any religion or denomination that would attack or belittle any other religious group that may cause chaos or conflict among inmates belonging to different religions or denominations. We have 23 different religious groups in BJMP Iloilo Province, but there is peace and camaraderie, with this rule being followed: No preaching of religion inside jails but rather preach and promote morality and spirituality.”

We thank God for Fr. Nestor! May there be many more priests of his caliber, dynamism and dedication! As a way of expressing our gratitude, this post is dedicated to him.

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Today, Good Friday – our Day of Salvation – the Christian world commemorates the passion, crucifixion and death of Jesus, the Son of God made Man, Who sacrificed His life for the salvation of mankind.

No greater love has there ever been! Jesus went through all the pain, the shame, the rejection and persecution, in order that we may have life – to open the gates of Heaven for us once more!

What response have we made for such great act of love? Have we in our life given value to what Jesus did for us? This needs a personal scrutiny, a soulful search, only the person – you and I – and his God know the answer.

I don’t want to say more here, for this day is better spent in silence: “Be still and know that I am your God.”

This post is a little way of homage and dedication to our King Crucified, with a prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, thank You so much for Your great gift of Salvation, bless this tiny offering of love, may it be a worthy one.

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Today, is an important milestone in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, as it celebrates Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten Season. Most churches are filled with people to attend the Holy Mass and receive ashes.

Each is crossed with it on his forehead, as he hears the words: “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.” This serves as a reminder that “dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return”. We have to veer away from committing sin – man’s disobedience of God, and the separation of man from God – and in our daily living, we should put into action the teachings of Jesus Christ, which are laid down for us in the Gospel, which can be found in the Holy Bible and taught by the Church.

“Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is He,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.” – taken from the 1st Reading of today’s Gospel

In the priest’s homily of today’s Holy Mass, he gave meaning to each letter of the word A-S-H (for us Catholics):

A – Admit that we have sinned. Before one can repent for a sin committed, he has first to admit that he has sinned, so he has something to ask forgiveness for. For how can one seek forgiveness if there is nothing that he has repented for? For how can one repent if for him, he has not committed any sin at all?

To admit that one has sinned is courage and strength, plus humility. Only by God’s grace can we admit, and for this, prayer is needed. We admit that we are imperfect and we bow down to the Maker for “repair”. We have to reconcile with our Creator to enjoy once again His grace, and the “joy of His Salvation”.

S – Step out and step forward to declare that we are followers of Christ. We Catholics make the sign of the Cross even publicly when called for, as a declaration that we believe in the power of Christ’s dying on the Cross – His death and Resurrection – leading to our Salvation. For those who believe, they experience the power, but for those who don’t, as they disbelieve so it is for them.

Once a year, on Ash Wednesday’s, we are given the chance to declare our faith with this Cross of ashes on our foreheads, aside from its being a reminder.

H – Hope. Christians are people of Hope. By Jesus’ resurrection, He has opened the gates of heaven, so now we can hope for eternal life, a life with God in His Kingdom up above!

“So that having been justified by His grace,
we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”
Titus 3:7 (NIV)

Yes, Christians have hope in God’s promises!

“But in keeping with His promise
we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth,
the home of righteousness.”
2 Peter3:13 (NIV)

The Word of God, the Holy Bible, is replete with God’s promises which are given only to those who obey Him, to those who do His will.

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Filed under: Bible sharing, Gospel sharing, reflections

Last Monday’s topic of our prayer meeting, even though I’ve heard it many times already, had a new angle being tackled by the preacher, resulting in a fresh revelation, which for me is still enlightening, that’s why I’d like to share it with you. The Gospel was taken from Mark 10:46-52, and may I give it here:

46 They came to Jericho, and as Jesus was leaving with his disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus son of Timaeus was sitting by the road.
47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David! Have mercy on me!”
48 Many of the people scolded him, and told him to be quiet. But he shouted even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man. “Cheer up!” they said.  “Get up, He is calling you.”
50 So he threw off his cloak, jumped up, and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. “Teacher,” the blind man answered, “I want to see again.”
52 “Go,” Jesus told him, “your faith has made you well.” At once he was able to see and followed Jesus on the road.

This is still healing, the Mark version of a Matthew Gospel in a previous post. (An example of the first point of healing, the blind man was healed because he himself believed Jesus could heal him, and asked for the healing.)

Before the preacher took up the Gospel, he explained that a person cannot only be blind physically, but that his mind can be blind (2 Corinthians 4:4), as also his heart (Don’t we often hear “Love is blind”? Ops! But this is a worldly view, erase). Spiritually, when due to sin, we don’t see the light of God, we are being blinded.

For the above Gospel, as expounded, here are the new highlights for me, as supported by Bible verses:

1.) Jericho was a cursed place (Joshua 6:36, and fulfilled in 1Kings 16:34), yet this did not deter Jesus from performing a miracle because of the persistent faith of Bartimaeus

2.) Jesus was leaving the place with His disciples, yet this did not discourage the blind man, he shouted all the more, that’s how he showed his persistent faith – I call it faith in action. He acted on his faith, and did not just remain where he was, doing nothing, but did everything to attract the attention of Jesus before He could leave.

(to be continued)

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Señor Sto. Niño de Cebu

The Solemnity of the Infant Jesus as King is commemorated with today’s Gospel (only here in the Philippines)* enshrining the little child: “Let the children come to Me, and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you that whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” (Mark 10:14)

As what I have heard from the priest during the homily: The Feast of the Infant Jesus is much celebrated here in the Philippines, and we have two good reasons for this:

1. Its being historical – When Ferdinand Magellan landed in Cebu in 1521, which marked the discovery of the Philippines, he gave the native queen Juana (who was converted to Catholicism together with Rajah Humabon, the chieftain) a statue of the Infant Jesus, robed in red as a little King, complete with crown, scepter on His right hand which has the gesture of blessing, and on His left, the world with the Cross on top of it. It is said that many years after, in 1565, when the expedition of Miguel López de Legazpi came, the Spaniards found the image among the burnt ruins of a big fire, but miraculously left unburned, though it came out black. Devotion to the Señor Sto. Niño de Cebu (the Philippine version of the Holy Infant Jesus of Prague in Czech Republic) since then flourished up to this day, made more popular due to numerous miracles happening in the lives of the devotees after praying to the Infant Jesus for whatever are their needs.

2. Its being dogmatic – This is one feast that is uniquely Filipino, as this has been declared by a Papal decree only for the Philippines. The Pope must have seen the fervor of the devotion of the Filipinos to the Infant King, plus he must have considered its being historical, or it could just be as God has designed it to be, making the Philippines the first Christian nation in the Far East.

The two challenges therefore of the Gospel to the faithful are, as the priest celebrating the Eucharistic celebration exhorted this morning, that we have to continue the spirit of being evangelizers, and that we have to love the least of our brethren: the marginalized, those who lack, those who are weak, as represented by a child.

Let all our countrymen therefore rejoice during this special feast celebrating the Infant Jesus as King. As the Cebuanos and all devotees shout, “Viva, Pit Senyor!”

*Today’s Holy Mass Readings (Philippines)
1st Reading: Isaiah 9:1-6
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 98:1,2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6
2nd Reading: Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-18
Gospel: Mark10:13-16

Compare to: Today’s Holy Mass Readings taken from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) website (which is universal):
1st Reading: 1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
2nd Reading: 1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20
Gospel: Jn 1:35-42

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Filed under: Gospel sharing, celebration, devotions, events, greetings