visible rhetoric

Two experiences: There are two activities in my priesthood that I find so rewarding - rewarding in the sense that they give me a sense of fulfillment while actually doing so little. Never anywhere else in the life and work of a priest is the law of proportionate returns so flagrantly repudiated. The result of such actions when done properly is so tremendous compared to the work expended. If the priest is indeed "a pencil in God's hand," a mere instrument and channel of God's grace, it is in these activities that one can see volumes done, a masterpiece created, a best seller hitting the charts . . . with just a little pencil lead. Permit me to tell you these activities in the concrete. First, there was this stooped man who came to me one day. His face complements his stature, burdened by so many cares and so many guilt in life. He wanted to talk to me immediately and so we sat down in a little corner in the convent.

How do we know that the Holy Spirit is with us in our daily life? Permit me to tell you of my own experience of his presence. A year ago, we held a communal Anointing of the Sick in one of our barangays. It was a hot afternoon and I was sweating profusely after attending to so many sick and old persons in their homes in that particular barangay. Then we came upon a very small house in the squatters’ area. It was a house about to fall. We knocked, but nobody answered. We knocked again, and probably because of the force of our banging, the door opened by itself. We peeked inside and we saw an old woman in the little corner of the house (by the way the house was so small it was all “corners”). She was on her bed, covered with a blanket that looked like torn rags sewn together. She was alone not just for that day but for most of her days, as I later came to know. The smell was terrible too. She could not walk and her bed served as bed, her comfort room, and dining table, that is,...

Today I would like to reflect on one of the most wonderful, beautiful and marvelous creature God has ever thought of creating – MOTHERS! There is something about them that could not just be replaced when they are gone – they are irreplaceable, unique and even immortal, for as they say “mothers don’t die they just fade away,” because we know, even if one does not want to acknowledge it, there is always something of our mothers in us which we bring with us through life. It may be our way of loving, our taste, an attitude, a certain manner of doing thing and perhaps a way of cleaning, cooking and arranging the house. A mother’s influence can just be overwhelming for as they say in times past – “the hand the rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” Our mothers are one of a kind, incomparable and unique. They are unlike anybody in the world. They have their own way of reasoning. They even have their own rules for logic. My mother was once nagging my brother about his heal...

Here’s an interview the boys did once for their school paper. They asked me about gardening. I still find these thoughts useful. Permit me to share them with you. on gardening When did you start gardening? I started gardening during my theology years when arthritis struck for the second time. I have to do it to fight the disease and the lingering feeling of uselessness. In the two parishes where I was assigned when I became a priest I also made two gardens, one in the compound of Jaro Cathedral which people would refer to as my “secret garden,” and the other one in Pototan. I guess it has become a habit.

I found this piece in a little, often bypassed corner of my computer. The program was not even updated. This must have been written a year after I began my seminary assignment . . . probably ten years ago. It’s unfinished. Anyway, I’m sharing it with you if only to give you a glimpse of the ministry I’ve learned to love through all those years. the ABC’s of seminary life A - Aesthetic experience – viewing things the non-practical way. Sometimes we go through life without really looking; watching without really seeing. . . . to see in a drop of rain not just water, its use or its elementary components ... but the beauty of the world. The beatific vision will be a boring eternity when we have not developed the capacity to look at things beyond the practical. B - Boogle – life is like a game of boogle – only those who are creative enough to see from different angles, wind his way through the maze of meaningless letters and see a word, depart from the usual track to discover ...

It is said that in Thailand one can find a Buddha ten feet tall made of solid gold. It is gold all over. But it was not like that years back. In fact just beside the golden Buddha one can see clay. It is a reminder to worshipers and tourists that clay once covered this golden statue and for many years people thought it was just one ordinary Buddha made of ordinary clay. Not until 1957. During that year the monks wanted to transfer the clay Buddha to another place in the temple but it was too heavy to be carried so they called up a crane. After some difficulty, and some mishandling perhaps, they finally moved the statue to its desired place, but cracks appeared all over it. And as if it was not enough to move the monks in a state of panic, rain fell in torrents and the cracks grew bigger and wider.

May isa anay ka lalaki nga ginahapohapo nga nagdalagan pasulod sa iya opisina kag nagsiling, “terible ang naagyan ko bag-o gid lang!" Ang tanan nagtulok sa iya nga may kakibot sa nagapalamuti nila nga kaupod. Kag sia nagpadayon sa pagsugid, “sang didto ako sa tienda, sang nagabakal ako sang palamahawon ko nga bichokoy kada adlaw, gulpi lang may mga nagadalagan nga mga tawo nga may dala nga armas. Bumalikid sila kag nagpaarak sang ila mga pusil sa mga nagalagas sa ila. Lumumpat ako sa kilid kag nagkober. Abi ko mapatay na gid ako kay daw ginaagyan-agyan lang ako sang mga bala sa ila pagtirohay. Hay, maayo lang buhi pa ako!” Naghipos ang lalaki kag ang tanan natulala sa iya istorya. Sa hinali may kaupod sila nga nagbayaw sang iya kamot kag nagpamangkot,”Pare, tuod ka, bichokoy gali ang pamahaw mo kada aga?”

Holy Saturday is the day when we commemorate the sleep or the death of Christ, the three days of Christ in the tomb and his descent among the dead. This is the most neglected day of the Holy week and in actual practice there are no celebrations today to mark this aspect of our faith. Thus it is also the most neglected part of our faith. Probably we can compare it to any well-meaning biography of a very important person.

The rector has told me to explain to you my stand regarding the plan of the city to put up a coal-fired power plant. I will do it he said because I supposedly did some research weeks ago on the so called clean-coal technology of this power plant. Well I believe I could not say much more than what Msgr. Oso has probably talked about in class. What I know for a fact is, one, there is no such thing as a clean coal. It’s an oxymoron! Irregardless of what we do it is still the dirtiest among the fossil fuels. We can lessen its emissions, but we could not totally obliterate its hazardous by products.

A curious thing can be found in our reading this evening. The author of the letter to the Hebrews puts a quotation in the mouth of Jesus, but the author quotes it differently. Instead of saying “an open ear you have given me” from Psalm 40, he had Jesus say instead “a body you have prepared for me.” The quotation may sound miles apart but the meaning is the same. In fact he reworded the quote to reiterate emphatically and specifically a very important point. God did not just give Jesus an “open ear” to listen to whatever God wishes, to listen to whatever God wills him to do, but Jesus was given “a body” he was given flesh and blood so that he can carry out whatever God wishes, what God specifically wants him to do. Jesus was given a body, Jesus was given flesh and blood so that he can carry out what the Father specifically wants him to do. He was given flesh and blood, he was given a body so that he can suffer and die for us in obedience to the Father.

For these past three days we have been reflecting on the importance of seeing beyond what we ordinarily see. Our gospel speaks of the same scene we begun reading last Monday - people flocking to Jesus not because they wanted to be saved, not because they hungered for his word, but because they saw him multiplying bread, bread that satisfied their hunger. Now they looked for him, they were attracted to him not for anything else but because of the bread he provided. Last Monday we spoke of the importance of setting our eyes on things above, that we should not remain too earth-bound in our concerns but to work for things that will bring us to eternal life. Jesus was telling us to move beyond our day to day concerns and work for things that are eternal, things that will nourish and answer the needs of our spirit.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Joseph which we cannot celebrate on the nineteenth, a Holy Wednesday. The feast of the saint to whom the whole church is placed under his protection is just too important to miss, so the church allows us to celebrate it on this day. By sheer coincidence, a coincidence which happens every few hundred years, we celebrate an anniversary to the priesthood which falls exactly on this day, on the very day to which is transferred the feast of St. Joseph. For one who finds a reason for everything, one of whom is naturally the homilist, this is not just a stroke of luck but an ingenious God-given opportunity to reflect on the vocation and life of Joseph and the vocation and life of a priest.

How does it feel for a young boy to begin his early development in socialization skills in a predominantly all-girl institution? Frankly, I have to do some deep thinking. But let me tell you of its effects. When Liit Celiz texted me that I would celebrate mass with the ruby jubilarians during their retreat in Bo. Obrero, I have to text back that I cannot do it, not just because of a schedule gone haywire due to the fiesta of Jaro but also because out of delicadeza. I can’t be domineering the sights and sounds not excluding the thoughts of the old girls/old boys day of 2008 by celebrating the two most important masses these alumnae would attend. However, Liit was not convinced, so she called me up on my cellphone. I let it rung and held my ground for what seemed like hours fighting the temptation to answer. Eventually, thank God, it stopped ringing. And I have to leave my room in a hurry for there just might be a follow-up call. Luckily she did not call back. I think she understood m...

The world loves it’s own and the world hates those who do not belong to the world. A Christian does not belong to the world. We reflect today on non-conformity. Notice the logic of the world. "Since everybody is doing it, we also do it." This is the logic of the world. Since it is done in Taiwan, or in China, or in Pagbilao, we also do it. Since everybody gives bribes to make things easy, we also do it. Since everybody steals anyway, we also do it. Since gambling is an everyday occurrence and everybody does it, we also do it, better still, let us legalize it. This is the logic of the world!

For the past several years, in the 11:00 o’clock mass I have reflected with you the significance of the various personages in our gospel today. We reflected on the child Jesus being offered in the temple as the light of the world, we have reflected on Mary and Joseph, and we have reflected on the old man the prophet Simeon and the prophetess Anna. Today I would like to reflect with you on something different. I would like to reflect with you on the significance of the place of offering, the temple of Jerusalem and its significance in our lives today. Jesus was offered on that temple, a temple since long gone, destroyed by the Roman Army led by Titus, a temple so long admired by many even Jesus looking at it so many years after, in his ministry wept because a temple so admired, so beautiful was soon to be destroyed. Now nothing is left of that temple except for a wall which they call the Wailing Wall. That temple was significant and it is significant for us now because of what it sta...