visible rhetoric

Our reading today is a continuation of yesterday’s passage when the people wanted to kill Jeremiah because he prophesied that Jerusalem will be destroyed.  But through his own defense and the timely intervention of certain men his death sentence was averted.  The situation in Jerusalem was such that people there began to think that nothing that offends their sensibilities or contradicts their desires can come from God.  So it’s like saying - it saddens me, it frightens me so this must not have come from God.  It gives me discomfort, it compromises my position, it inconveniences me, so this must not have come from God.  It puts me at a disadvantage, it puts me down, it does not make me happy and comfortable, then it must not have come from God.  It is suffering, it is pain, it is a burden, then it must not have come from God.  Nowadays we only want to hear what we love to hear. 

Jeremiah was almost killed by the mob when he dared to say the unthinkable - that what happened to the shrine in Shiloh many years before will also happen to Jerusalem, the holy place, most sacred to the Jews.  Shiloh was the first shrine where the ark of the covenant was placed in a tent just after they entered the promised land.  Jerusalem was not yet founded by King David and there was no temple yet except the sanctuary in Shiloh.  It was in Shiloh that the Israelites met a brutal defeat.  Their armies were totally routed and the ark of the covenant was taken by their enemies the Philistines.  To say that Jerusalem will become another Shiloh is to say that Jerusalem, the temple and the ark of the covenant itself will be destroyed.  To say that Jerusalem will become another Shiloh, is to say that Jerusalem will become nothing but ruins.  How could God allow such a thing to happen?  This is his temple, this is his abode, we are his chosen ...

Today the prophetic word is preceded again by another symbol action.  God brings Jeremiah to a potter’s house and there shows him what God is about to do to Israel.  There at the potter’s house the potter is working on the wheel.  And Jeremiah notices that whenever the object of clay which the potter is making turns out badly in his hand, the potter tries again, this time making of the clay another object of whatever sort he pleases.  The potter does not destroy or discard the clay that turned out badly.  No, he simply remakes it into another object, taking off from the mistake and using this to make another object that pleases him. Several lessons can be learned here.

Woe to me, Jeremiah said, like Job he wished that he was not born at all.  And the source of his moaning and complaining was his vocation as a prophet.  Today we get a glimpse of what happens when the man of God undergoes a spiritual crisis.  Jeremiah bared his soul for all of us to see.  He was wallowing in self pity, he feels sorry for himself, he blames himself for the conflicts around him, he was giving his all but things don’t turn out well.  Everyone was against him, he feels lonely, alone, abandoned and he turns to God and blames him for going soft on evil doers and sinners who are plotting against him. “Your anger is very slow,” Jeremiah said to God, “realize that I suffer insult for your sake.”  Now that is a strong statement.  And Jeremiah continued, “I devoured your words they became my joy and the happiness of my heart, and because I am working for you I did not enjoy, I did not party like the rest.  Then why are you making me s...

Our first reading is a beautiful prayer.  It is part of the Lamentations of Jeremiah written during the war that would bring Judah to what we call in history as the Babylonian Exile.  But first let us ask what is a prophet?  Sometimes we have that wrong understanding that a prophet is one who predicts the future.  No that is not a prophet, that is a fortune teller.  In the bible a prophet is a prophet because he speaks for God, he speaks to the people on God’s behalf.  He brings and reveals, so to say, the heart of God. And yet at the same time a prophet is a prophet because he speaks to God in behalf of the people. He brings and reveals, so to say, the heart, the collective cry of the people to God.  And this is why I refer to our reading as a beautiful prayer for the prophet Jeremiah in this instance speaks both ways. 

Our first reading is a beautiful prayer.   It is part of the Lamentations of Jeremiah written during the war that would bring Judah to what we call in history as the Babylonian Exile.   What is a prophet?   Sometimes we have that wrong understanding that a prophet is one who predicts the future.   No that is not a prophet, that is a fortune teller.   In the bible a prophet is a prophet because he speaks for God, he speaks to the people on God’s behalf.   And yet at the same time a prophet is a prophet because he speaks to God in behalf of the people. And this is why I refer to our reading as a beautiful prayer for the prophet Jeremiah in this instance speaks both ways.   First God speaks through Jeremiah   - Let my eyes stream with tears day and night, without rest, Over the great destruction which overwhelms the virgin daughter of my people, If I walk out into the field, look! those slain by the sword; If I enter the city, look! those cons...

God uses a strange metaphor to illustrate his closeness to Judah.  Through the prophet Jeremiah, God compares his relationship with Judah to a man and his underwear.  It does not need much explanation why we refer to these clothing as our intimate apparel.  But that is how close God is to us.  However, with Judah the relationship has become rotten illustrated by a rotten loin cloth.  It has become useless, for Judah refused to listen to God.  In Hebrew the word to listen and to obey is one and the same word.  And that is also true in Hiligaynon.  Ang mga wala nagapamati include not just those who did not hear but even those who heard but did not follow, those who heard but did not obey, kay man wala nagapamati – dala gurinat.   Relationship and intimacy is always bound in our capacity to listen to each other, in our capacity to hear each other and the resolve to follow the truth of what we hear, isn’t it?  Intimacy always starts wi...

The kingdom of God is not what you expect in terms of political clout .   I t is not about gleaming big cities with the homes of the rich, with the offices of the powerful, with magnificent edifices .   The kingdom of God is not about some fierce and powerful army that can crush anything that opposes it Instead, Jesus in our gospel today affirms first and foremost that the kingdom of God is here in our midst.   But it is modest.   In fact it is hidden.   It is quiet.   Those who discover it sometimes would just simply stumble upon it almost by accident, and it surprises them almost always.   Even the person who owns the field won't even know it is there.   But once it is found, joy will be so great that one will do whatever it takes to buy that field. Remember the surprise expressed by those placed on his right at the day of judgment when they aske, when did we see you hungry, when did we see you naked, when did we see you homeless and he...

The kingdom of God is not what you expect in terms of political clout.  It is not about gleaming big cities with the homes of the rich, with the offices of the powerful.  The kingdom of God is not about some fierce and powerful army that can crush anything that opposes it Instead, Jesus in our gospel today affirms first and foremost that the kingdom of God is here in our midst.  But it is modest.  In fact it is hidden.  It is quiet.  Those who discover it sometimes would stumble upon it almost by accident, and it surprises them almost always.  Even the person who owns the field won't even know it is there.  But once it is found, joy will be so great that one will do whatever it takes to buy that field.

Mary Magdalene was one of those who followed Jesus in his ministry, serving him and his disciples after the Lord had cast out seven demons from her.  She was also one of those who stood faithfully beneath the cross after all of his disciples, except John, abandoned him out of fear.  She was the first who sought the Lord in his tomb coming early on the first day of the week and while she sought she wept for love of him and with her eyes welling with tears she did not recognize him when he stood before her.  And so it happened that the woman who stayed behind to seek Christ was the only one to see him.  She is therefore rightly called the apostle of the resurrection for it is to her that the joy of Easter was first announced.  She saw him that Easter morn because, as St. Gregory the Great said of her, perseverance is essential to any good deed.  Her perseverance, her faithful love was rewarded.

Today Tay Vic or Msgr. Vic Casa turns 95 years old and yesterday I texted all the priests in the archdiocese  making it known that 95 is summa cum laude .  It is not common that people reach the age of 95.  The bible says, specifically, Psalm 90 says, that our life span is 70 or 80 for those who are strong.  Yet there are some of us, not all, who are graced with the gift of old age and it is a wonderful gift.  I will tell you why. What does it feel like to have so many years in your life, with a memory still able to recall the good and the bad that transpired?  What does it feel like to have so many years in your life with a still vivid remembrances of the beautiful and the ugly, the triumphs and defeats, the successes and mistakes, the achievements and the regrets?  What does it feel like holding all the memories of those long years and yet powerless to do anything anymore that would alter regrets, correct our mistakes and rectify our faults?...

Today we read the parable of the wheat and the weeds.  It is a parable which reveals to us our own reality - the reality of our own community, the reality of our own families, the reality of our church even, the reality of our own personal history - that we are wheat and weeds, that life in this world is far from perfect.  The Son of Man sows wheat but the evil one comes at night when everyone is asleep and sows weeds.  Meanwhile while harvest time has not yet arrived, the master prohibits the workers to pull out the weeds for fear that the wheat, the good seed, might be pulled out also and be destroyed in the process.  And so the good and the bad co-exist, the wheat and the weeds grow together, side by side until harvest time. This is our life isn’t it – may malain, may maayo.  Sa community naton may mga malain man kag may mga maayo man – they grow side by side, they grow together.  Many times tungod sang katuntuhan we would think nga madula na i...

You cannot simply divide the community and say the people here are good soil, the people over there are hardened soil, then the people over here are rocky soil.   If we examine ourselves more closely, we can probably find evidence of several kinds of soil in our own lives.   Each of us have several types of soil that respond differently to the seed, to the word, of God, to the good nga ginasab-og .   In all probability there is the presence of good soil in each of us.   When seeds fall on it, they are nourished and they grow well until they bear fruit in our lives to benefit our community.   It is good to acknowledge that side in us that receives the word and translates this into action bearing fruit in time. It is good to acknowledge the presence of fertile ground that makes us respond to the good.

I am the rector of the St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary for the past four years now.  And I can tell you on your face that by far the seminary is one of the worst investments the archdiocese has made and continues to make.  Tam-an ka diutay sang balik kon ini i-komparar sa ginagasto indi lang sa kwarta kundi bisan pa sa human resources.  Last year we have to look for 1.4 million to cover up the deficit kag pila ang amon gin-recommend n ga ma-theology agod magpari?   Duha gid - ang isa bag-o nga graduate kag ang isa nag-graduate 4 years ago pa.  Kon pamangkuton mo ang siyam ka pari nga na-assign subong sa seminaryo kon luyag man nila nga dira sila na-assign, kon hatagan abi sila tsansa nga magpili assignment, siguro isa lang ukon duha ang magapili nga magpabilin sa seminaryo, most will choose to be assigned elsewhere and that includes the rector.  Many times people will ask me, then why continue, why spend so much, why waste so much, why put your effort...

Let us begin with a little background on our first reading, the prophesy of Hosea.  At the outset there was only one kingdom of Israel, the chosen people.  But because of the sin of its third king, King Solomon, the kingdom was divided into two after his death.  The ten tribes of Israel formed an alliance and separated themselves from the other two tribes.  The ten tribes came to be called the Kingdom of Israel, the northern kingdom, sometimes it is called Samaria, other times it is called Ephraim.  This is composed of the ten tribes.  The other two remaining tribes consolidated themselves and it came to be called the kingdom of Judah with Jerusalem as its center where the temple is located.

Let’s face it life is burdensome.   To be honest and truthful, we are all laboring under burdens.   Today we come to mass and we hear Jesus say, "Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will give you rest."   Take my yoke he said, for it is easy.   Indeed it may make life easier but it is still a yoke.   It is not true that Christ will take away all our sorrows and pain in this life.   It is not true as some others claim that with Christ we will never feel lonely again.   It is not true that if you believe in Jesus your children will grow up to become good persons.   It is not true that you will get promotions and your sickness and ailments will be minor.   Our faith in Jesus is not magic.   Christ himself suffered rejection and false accusations, he was burdened by stupid disciples asking stupid questions and making stupid propositions.   He was weighed down heavily with the betrayal of a disciple a...

Today we hear Jesus saying to us that he desires mercy, not temple sacrifice, not the blood of bulls and sheep but mercy.  What is mercy?  Mercy is the capacity to identify with the other person in the person’s needs.  It is the ability to feel how the other person feels, it is the capacity to be pained by the pain of others, to be touched and to be moved by what they yearn for, by what they desire, to be affected and to be deeply so by what they are undergoing. When I ministered to Tay Isaac last June 22, a Sunday, when we were alone and when I told him that I was praying for him, he told me to please do especially so that God will take away the pain – to tell God to take away the pain.  It must have been painful.  And pain is always difficult to confront – the difficulty is not just in accepting pain but most especially in understanding it. 

I would like to reflect with you in this Eucharist on our first reading, a reading from the prophet Amos and together let us ask ourselves the question most of us religious people ask all the time - does God punish his people?   Our reading today is like a very big tarpaulin placed on a road daw dira sa taytay malapit hall of justice.   And on that tarpaulin is printed the words:   Attention, Punishment is coming.

In our Christian calendar there are four feasts to mark and therefore welcome the change of seasons.  March 25 welcomes spring with the feast of the Annunciation.  June 24 welcomes summer with the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist.  The dangers of the cold of winter with its possible disease and dangers is welcomed on September 29 with the feast of the archangels, specially of St. Michael.  Then when the world is about to be enveloped by darkness December 25 is welcomed with hope with the celebration of the birth of the messiah, the light of the world.  It is the church’s way of asking for God’s blessing at every change of seasons knowing that without God human effort and activity, is bound to fail.  Human effort alone cannot suffice whether in planting, harvesting, and storing, and even in the waiting and surviving of winter.  This is to remind us that in God we move and have our being – this is St. Paul.  This is also to remin...