visible rhetoric

We continue reflecting on the letter to the Hebrews.  Today the letter talks of the old covenant and the new covenant.  The old covenant with Moses was written in stone.  The new covenant however will be engraved in the hearts and minds of the people.  The new covenant is referred to as the better covenant because it is enacted on better promises.  Quoting the prophet Jeremiah God said to the prophet, I will be their God and they shall be my people.  This is no longer something merely legal rather it becomes more personal.  The covenant is no longer enacted as something formal, distant and even aloof but it is one of friendship, one that is characterized by closeness and intimacy.

Our priesthood does not come from Aaron or Levi which is the priestly line of the chosen people.  Our priesthood is a sharing in the priesthood of Jesus, whose priesthood is pre-figured by the priesthood of Melchizedeck.   Melchizedeck is a mysterious figure.  He is king and priest of Salem.  As the letter to the Hebrews attests he is not a member of the chosen race, he is sine matre, sine patre, sine genealogia (without mother, without father, without lineage); he does not have a beginning, and he does not have an end. These qualities in Melchizedeck have repercussion in our priesthood.  First since Melchizedeck is not a member of the chosen race we can conclude thus that the priesthood is a gift.  You cannot claim it as a right or as a privilege of your class or race or as birthright.  It is a gift.  God gives it to whomever he wishes.  Discernment therefore is trying to discover whether I have this gift or not.

The letter to the Hebrews acknowledges that even for a Christian it is easy to fall into despair and to give up on our resolutions and the good work we have begun.  Like a ship battered by the waves we need to be anchored firmly so that we will remain stable.  Without this anchor we will be easily tossed to and fro, we can be crashed into the rocks and we may lose our way in the vast ocean.  And what is this anchor?  It is called hope.  In fact the virtue of hope is symbolized by an anchor.

The letter to the Hebrews acknowledges that even for a Christian it is easy to fall into despair and to give up on our resolutions and the good work we have begun.   Like a ship battered by the waves we need to be anchored firmly so that we will remain stable.   Without this anchor we will be easily tossed to and fro, we can be crashed into the rocks and we may lose our way in the vast ocean.   And what is this anchor?   It is called hope.   In fact the virtue of hope is symbolized by an anchor.

Today we continue reading from the letter to the Hebrews.  Today it talks about the priesthood – specifically the priesthood of Jesus and by implication our own priesthood. No one takes this honor upon himself.  The priesthood is not my choice.  It is God’s choice.  And it can only be said as my choice because I choose what God chooses for me.  In the ordination to the priesthood if you can remember the people clap their hands when the bishop says we choose this man our brother for the order of priest.  The clapping is not for you.  It is for the bishop who chose you and his choice is confirmed by the people who recognized that choice by clapping their hands.  So the clapping is not to congratulate the new priest.  It is as if the people are saying, good choice bishop because we also choose him.  My point here is , the priesthood is a gift.  It is something given to you.  Kon ara thank you, kon wala thank you.  Yo...

The word of God is not just a sound or a combination of sounds that produces in our minds meaning.  In the Hebrew language God’s word is different from man’s word.  God’s word is dabar , it is an active, productive, creative force.  In the book of the prophet Isaiah God’s word is compared to rain or snow which falls to the earth.  Before it comes back to the heavens it has already watered the earth, making it fertile and productive thus giving men the means for nourishment.  God’s word will not return empty.  God’s word will produce its intended effects.

Today the letter to the Hebrews reminds us to strive into enter into God’s rest.  Originally God’s rest is the Promised Land.  To enter God’s rest therefore is to reach the goal and thus to rest from the journey.  In God’s rest struggles will finally cease, desires will be met, dreams will be fulfilled, and the goal would have been reached. Today we are told to strive to enter into God’s rest.  It is a reminder that we have not yet reached the end, we have not yet reached the goal.  We are still struggling, many times exhaustively and still many times fruitlessly; our desires will still make us yearn, they still make us long for the elusive, and at times they make us angry when expectations are not met.  Many of our dreams are still dreams, and many times we feel bad about ourselves because we have all the dreams but do not have the resources to fulfil them, or the guts to have them completed.  This is our life today, the life of one who is st...

 The letter to the Hebrews acknowledges that it is always difficult to persevere in the good that we have begun.  It is difficult to grow in virtue because virtue needs perseverance.  It is difficult to form character because character involves perseverance.  In fact perseverance is essential to any good deed.  Today the letter to the Hebrews says that Christian charity is essential for perseverance.  It is easier to be steadfast in the faith when there are people who encourage us, when there are people who strengthen us along the way, when there are people who will correct us or remind us when we are wrong. 

It is difficult to give counsel to people who are in pain.  It is difficult to find words in order to console people who are suffering.  Sometimes in our desire to show sympathy to people in their agony and grief, and in our need to show our concern and understanding to them we talk and talk and talk and talk thinking that words would alleviate pain.  Actually they do not.  In my own experience they simply annoy. Many times silence is enough and presence is most helpful.  In the letter to the Hebrews Jesus is able to help those in pain because he himself suffered, he himself was tempted.  It is not what Jesus does to those in pain that alleviates pain.  It is rather what he has been into, what he has gone through that alleviates my pain.  It is the thought that Jesus suffers with me, that Jesus cries in pain with me, that sometimes Jesus is angry too as I am angry in my disability and in my incapacity because of my pain.  Jesus as a...

Today we continue reflecting on our first reading, this time from the letter to the Hebrews.   The letter to the Hebrews today affirms that Jesus is God through whom all things exist.   This is what St. Hilary our saint today defended.   Jesus is God.   But the letter to the Hebrews says he was made for a while a little lower than the angels.   It means that Jesus as the messiah, as a savior, became a human being like us, he shared in our fallen nature and made himself subject to the conditions of human life – he shared in our sadness, pain, sufferings, and finally death.   Was it necessary for Jesus to go through all these in order to save us?   Was it necessary for him to become human.   Was it necessary for him to shed blood on the cross?   No.   The letter to the Hebrews says it is fitting, but it did not say that it was necessary.   Maayo gid, angay gid, bagay gid.   Pero kinahanglanon gid bala ini?   Indi. ...

Our first reading from the letter to the Hebrews narrates the humility of Jesus who was made for a while a little lower than the angels.  To become for a while a little lower than the angels means that Jesus became a human being like us, he shared in our fallen nature and made himself subject to the conditions of human life – sadness, pain, sufferings, and finally death.  Was it necessary for Jesus to go through all these in order to save us?  No.  The letter to the Hebrews says it is fitting, but it was not necessary.  God could have chosen other means to save us, after all nothing is impossible with God.  But God chose the way of suffering. 

Today we continue reflecting on our first reading.  Today we begin reading from the letter to the Hebrews.  Our faith is a revelation.  God spoke to us, first through the prophets then in these final days through the Son.  God spoke to us about himself, God revealed who he is to us.  We do not go out and create our own image of God or preach our own idea of God.  God reveals who he is.  In the same way we do not do things just because we feel and think that it is the right thing to do.  No.  We do things because God wants us to do it, he made it known that this is what he wants from us, he made it known that this is what he wants us to do.  Our faith is revelation and it is not something we concoct in our minds or something we imagine or something we suppose.  Rather it is what we listen to when scriptures is read to us.  It is something we listen to when scriptures is preached and taught to us by the church.

There are differences in the way the baptism of Jesus is narrated in the four gospels, but the gospel of Mark has the most unique among them.  Mark narrated the baptism of Jesus as some event personal only to Jesus and the Father.   Only Jesus it would seem saw the sky open and torn in two. Only Jesus, it would seem, saw the dove, the Holy Spirit descending on him.  And when the Father spoke, he spoke directly to Jesus, it would seem only to Jesus saying “you are my beloved son, with you I am well pleased.”  The dialogue sounded private – a dialogue between the Father and Jesus only.  In contrast the other gospels would narrate this with an announcement meant to be heard by all with the Father announcing, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.  But with the gospel of Mark it is – "you are my beloved son".

Today we continue to reflect on our first reading, again from the first letter of John.  It is in this letter that John made this beautiful and most profound assertion – something that we need to carry with us wherever we are, whatever we do and in whatever situation we find ourselves in.  And what is this assertion - God is love.  In his commentary on this particular passage, St Augustine said, Even if nothing more were to be said in all the pages of Sacred Scripture, and all we heard from the mouth of the Holy Spirit were that ‘God is love’, there would be nothing else we would need to look for.” God is love, ang Dios gugma, siling ni San Agustin, kon wala na may ginhambal pa ang Espiritu Santo nahanungod sa Dios magluwas sini, in fact kon wala na may nasulat sa biblia magluwas sini, nga ang Dios gugma – tuman na ini, wala na kita sing dapat pa pangitaon.    To know that God is love is enough, to believe in your heart that God is love, that is enough....