One day in the mother house in Calcutta, there were about three hundred novices and they were all out for the morning. One of the novices working in the kitchen came up to Mother Teresa and said, “We’ve planned poorly; we’ve no flour to bake these chapatis for lunch.” Chapaties are little flour and water pancakes.

The situation looked bleak, three hundred plus mouths are coming to be fed in about an hour and a half and there’s nothing to cook. There’s no food. “What I had expected Mother Teresa to do,” Fr. Langford explained to me, “was that Mother would pick up the telephone and call up some of her benefactors and mobilize them to find some way to feed her ‘daughters.’ Instead, her reaction – her spontaneous reaction – was to say to this little one, ‘Sister, you’re in charge of the kitchen this week? Well then, go into the chapel and tell Jesus we have no food. That’s settled. What’s next?’”

Lo and behold! Ten minutes later, there was a ring at the door, and Mother Teresa was called downstairs. A man she had never seen before was standing there with a clipboard. He addressed her saying, “Mother Teresa we were just informed that the teachers at the city schools are on strike. Classes have been dismissed and we have 7,000 lunch packs. We don’t know what to do. Can you help us use them?” God provides for the needs of His children.

Mother Teresa’s sanctity was built on a very simple foundation of deep faith and trust in God. Mother Teresa turned to Him in prayer, not only in need, but also to rest in the arms of the Father – body and spirit. That was how Mother Teresa lived each day of her life. May we live as Mother Teresa lived… with true faith in God the Father Who provides for all our needs… Who makes all things possible!

(This story was told by Fr. Joseph Langford, the co-founder of the Missionary of Charity priests, on a radio interview, to Sr. Patricia who made a transcription of it for her book.)
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*Newsletter of the Comboni Missionaries in Asia

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.

The Resurrection

At the outset, I wish greet everyone, a Blessed Happy Easter! Many people, most especially the young ones, think that Christmas may be the merriest, most-awaited, and most-enjoyed, thus the biggest celebration we have in the whole year.

But wait, this is not to belittle the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, or His coming to the world, which is Christmas, as nearly everybody treats the occasion to be so, aggravated by the commercialism that has crept to change its real meaning. Still, the Christian world declares that Easter, being His Resurrection – Jesus Christ rising from the dead – surpasses Christmas in liturgical significance. St. Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians: “If Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your trust in God is useless” (1 Cor. 15:14)

“What if He did not rise from the dead, and Scripture did not happen?” This is the foremost question which only Easter Sunday has answered! And the whole world rejoices with all thanksgiving! Alleluia to the Risen King! Our Salvation has truly come! May this awesome FREE gift, paid in such great sacrifice of Blood and Life, be not lost in our life!

Easter “is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year”.  The Easter Season (also known as Eastertide, or Paschal Time), is from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday, covering a period of fifty days.

Again, rejoice! And may the light of the Risen Christ be on us all to brighten one’s life, and radiate it as a blessing to others! Once again, Happy Easter!

Picture credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resurrection_of_Jesus

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.

It began with: A person wears a mask to hide his true self due to inferiority and insecurity, with two reasons behind: poor self-image and negative judgment of self. The person usually gives more value on the acceptance or rejection of the people around him, and of society as a whole. Covering the core self are the layers of power, prestige and wealth, which are the temptations that lead to sin.

The theme of the recollection was becoming good and faithful stewards, stewardship being “a call to discipleship in freedom to live life as (Filipino) Christians in the service and commitment to God’s community.”

I was appreciative of the topics and how they were discussed that I got notes, and with permission, I’m sharing them to you as my Lenten contribution to our reflection that befits the season:

The Human Person Above All:
1. We are of value for what we are and not for what we have.
2. Our value is ultimately based on human dignity
3. Our dignity is enhanced when we exercise our three-fold capacity to love, to rule creation, and to shape life and destiny

We have rights because of our dignity. However, we have to remember that for every right, we have a responsibility.

Sin: The Human Dignity Degraded
1. We are continually living in and surrounded by a situation that violates the human person and degrade human dignity.
2. There are factors within and outside ourselves that prevent fullness of our human dignity and violate our rights
3. The root of all these forces is the reality of sin

God’s Dream For Us: A truly fraternal community and a just society where human dignity is upheld and promoted. The situations that degrade human dignity frustrate God’s dream for us.

Conversion (in Pilipino, Pagbabago): A constant demand of the Kingdom present among us.
1. Conversion is the breaking of the Kingdom and its message into our personal life, not a turning away from something but a turning towards something.
2. Conversion demands a faith in Jesus for a change of heart in the life of the person.

Conversion: An experience of transcendence of my present life, the result of my past, and live in a new direction.

Conversion: A Change of Security
1. Conversion: the need of acceptance and love
2. Conversion: a process of knowing ourselves to be secure
3. Conversion: a moment of discovering love in the life of a person

Commitment and Service: “Here I am”
1. Commitment in the life of a disciple is rooted in the love for Jesus. It is a response of faith: an act of obedience and availability to His will, commitment is made to the person of Jesus
2. Commitment has a contemplative dimension

Commitment to Jesus is commitment to the service of the Christian community, people, and nation. It implies the making of a choice. The problem of commitment is not the making but the keeping.

Jesus’ message on the Cross: “Go therefore and do the same.” …“Take up your cross and follow me.”

(Note: For the  sequel post to this, please click here.)

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.

3.) A large crowd was around Jesus, enough to discourage one with a negative attitude (“I can’t go near Him.” he would say), yet blind as he was, he edged through, courting the ire of the other people (verse 48)
4.) When he shouted more loudly, and Jesus noticed him, the same people who earlier were angry with him, cheered him up. So my realization: When the Lord acts on our concerns, by His mercy and also by our persistent faith, even those who are opposed to us, if they are people, or circumstances that may be hopeless, give way as the power of God now reaches out to us – in His perfect time.
5.) A revelation of verse 50 is interesting: “So he threw up his cloak….” Cloak here, as explained, refers to our spiritual “extra baggage” which we have to throw away before we can come to Jesus. We are made immobile to go to Church, attend prayer meetings, Bible studies, or any religious activities by our vices; pride; evil thoughts, words and deeds, all that are not pleasing to God.

Even in air travel, we pay for the extra baggage that we bring with us. In our spiritual life, the above “extra baggage” costs us our peace, joy, unity among family/relatives/ friends, and the life of grace with God. All of the latter cannot be ours if we cling to those needless extras. Let’s exercise our faith, and throw those away (we pray to the Lord to help us)!

A life of peace, joy and love, anyone? Only in, and with, Jesus!

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)

We thank God for the gift of love! I hope you had a happy Valentine’s Day celebration too.

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