visible rhetoric

In our first reading today there are several titles used here that we must look into.  First is the title Lord.  The title is given to Jesus.  To say that Jesus is Lord is a profession of faith that Jesus is God.  To say that Jesus is Lord is to say that Jesus is God and there he is to be worshiped as God.  This kind of worship is called latria and this is worship rendered to God alone.  To say that Jesus is Lord is to profess that Jesus is God.  It is good to note that there are other religious faiths that do not believe that Jesus is God.  Our brothers in the Iglesia ni Kristo is one and also the Mormons .  They believe that Jesus is an elevated being, higher than us, higher than the angels but he is not God equal to the Father.  But we Catholics, when we pray that Jesus is Lord, when we say Lord Jesus Christ, we proclaim that Jesus is God.

In our gospel today the smallest word makes a big difference.  The word is “mine” - I know mine and mine know me.  Jesus is referring not just to any sheep but to his sheep, my sheep.  This possessive personal pronoun spells the difference between the good shepherd and the hired man.  The good shepherd will lay down his life for the sheep because it is his sheep.  But the hired man will run away at the first sign of danger because he only works for pay.  It is not his sheep anyway. There is a big difference between owner and manager, between mother and yaya, between real proprietor and a mere leaser, between shepherd and hired man.  Or if not, one can at least see a difference in management or in treatment when there is what we call an “owning,” or when I take things as “my” own.  The difference is in the words mine and my - this is my child, this is my house, this is my store, this is my land, and as Jesus said, this is “my sheep”. ...

Jesus said: “ I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.  These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.” Who are the people Jesus is referring to with this passage?  Who are these other sheep that Jesus is talking about who do not belong to this fold?  Who are these people whom Jesus said he must also lead?  Who are these people who do not belong to this fold but will also hear the voice of Jesus? Actually the gospel is not saying who these people are, of where they would come from.  But the point I would like to make is the fact that with this pronouncement, with this assertion, Jesus is saying that his work is not done yet.  Jesus has preached the good news, he has healed, he has forgiven sinners, he has suffered and died, and he was risen from the dead, he has ascended to the Father in heaven and has sent the Holy Spirit to all, but still, still his work is not done yet.

Fr. Andy:   Ako si Fr. Andy ang maestro kag prefect ni Raymond. PolPol:   Ako si Paul Patrick ang classmate ni Raymond. Fr. Andy:   Let us start by saying that our gospel today that narrates the event in Cana is not just about a mother and a son attending a wedding, it is not just about a mother and a son saving the day for the new couple who ran out of wine on their wedding day.  More than that it is also about a male and a female confronting a problem and how the differences in their sexes as male and female led to solutions that averted a social disaster.  It is about Mary the woman and Jesus the man and how the differences in their sexes complimented each other in providing a solution to an impending problem.

Today we read from the Acts of the Apostles on the martyrdom of Stephen, one of the first seven deacons appointed by the apostles.  When Stephen was about to be martyred by the lynching mob, he looked up and saw the heavens opened and he exclaimed, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”  St Ephraem interpreted this vision of Stephen saying that Stephen was given courage to face his martyrdom by his vision of the glory of the Blessed Trinity.  Before dying a martyr’s death Stephen was already made to see the glorious and blessed vision which will be his reward because of his martyrdom.  Indeed martyrdom can only be faced with courage when we have come to know and believe what we will receive in return.  At the same time when Stephen was about to face his final test and suffer greatly and die, he was encouraged by the presence of Jesus.  Jesus was there in his suffering and pain.  Jesus was there t...

We continue our reflection on our first reading, this time from the Acts of the Apostles.  Luke narrates to us what life was among the first Christian community presided over by Peter and the Apostles.  Several characteristics of this first Christian community are given – they were of one heart and one mind, there was unity in the community, and there was also solidarity among the members because each one was concerned with each other’s well being.  Everything was held in common, nobody was claiming anything as his own and these were disposed of according to the need of each member.  I remember Cardinal Sin in his homily where he said, let us abolish the “mine” industry, abolish the “mine” industry.  By mine industry he meant our tendency to always insist on - this is mine this is mine, this is mine, akon ini .  So many quarrels and bitter conflicts come about in our communities and even in our families because of our insistence on this is mine, th...

Allow me to share some few thoughts.  Unlike other gatherings for prayer which almost always start with an opening song and the sign of the cross, the rite of baptism starts instead with a question, what name do you give your child?  Now you may take this question and its answer for granted or you may even take it as stating the obvious by the fact that this has been already established a fortnight ago in her birth certificate.  But this first act in the ritual of baptism is very important.  It defines our purpose today, it establishes the intent of our gathering this afternoon, it summarizes and therefore simplifies the varied actions in this long ritual into something that is both simple to understand and at the same time expressive of our longing for this child. What name do you give your child?  To be baptized is to be defined – to be baptized is to establish who you are and who you will become.  Thus the question - What name do you give your c...

Today is the third day of the octave of Easter.  Octave of Easter comes from the latin word octo meaning 8.  Octave means the 8 days of Easter starting from Easter Sunday and ending in the second Sunday of Easter.  If the 9 days novena is preparation for the feast, the 8 days octave is the prolongation of the feast.  There are only two feasts which have an octave – they are Christmas and Easter. Today in our first reading Peter baptized 3,000 people in just one day.  Peter after speaking about the crucified Christ who was raised from the dead spoke of the need to repent and be baptized.  When Peter was asked “What are we to do, my brothers?”  Peter said to them in reply, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you.”

This portion of the book of Isaiah was written after the exile.  The people have now returned to the Promised Land and have begun rebuilding their lives after years of exile in Babylon.  They were filled with enthusiasm and hope.  They are now in their own land.  They are starting things anew and there was a surge of excitement.  Then after sometime things did not turn out the way they envisioned things.  The rebuilding was not easy.  The leaders they put their hope on did not turn out the way they expected them to be.  The people too, the returnees were a source of disillusionment.  There were quarrels and conflicts.  There were disagreements.  People were no longer happy and sure enough the initial enthusiasm soon faded.

Today we hear the last of the five so called Confessions of Jeremiah.  It is called by commentators as the Confessions of Jeremiah because like the Confessions of St. Augustine, it also reveals the feelings of his heart,.  It is a prayer of trust where the prophet opens his heart to the Lord and pours his deepest emotions and inner complaint to God, it was a time of inner crisis.  This prayer was uttered probably at the time when Jeremiah was persecuted by King Jehoiakim.  Why was Jeremiah pouring out his heart to God?  Because despite his efforts Jeremiah felt he has failed miserably.  He did what he can, he has given his all and it all ended up in failure.  Because of this Jeremiah even doubted his vocation – was I really called in the first place or has God misled me.  He even lamented his vocation as a prophet for because of this call he received nothing but pain, persecution and utter shame.

Today we end another chapter in the long history of St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary.   There are those who will proceed to Philosophy and Theology inching their way to the priesthood.   There are those who will have to find their way in the world following their hearts and their dreams.   Remember always to pray because a person who prays can always be trusted to know what to do with God’s call, wherever that is and for whatever purpose that call may be.

Before Abraham came to be called Abraham he was first Abram.  Before Sarah became Sarah she was first called Sarai.  There is a change of name because there is a change in their persons.  They have changed, they have become different persons and so they have received new names. What changed Abraham and Sarah?  They came to know who God is.  God revealed his name to them.  God is El Shaddai which means “the all sufficient,” “the God who is more than enough.”  Abraham and Sarah had no child, they had no heir.  They had nothing, they lacked something, they were insufficient.  Contrast this to the knowledge that I am nothing but God is El Shaddai God is everything, I am insufficient but God is God is El shaddai God is sufficient, I am lacking but God is El Shaddai, God is more than enough;  I am unable, I am powerless and incapable but God is El Shaddai, God is able.  When we begin to know who God is, then our persons also begi...

Let us reflect on our first reading from the Book of the prophet Isaiah.  King Ahaz was the King of Judah.  The kingdoms of Syria and Israel made an alliance to wage war on King Ahaz of Judah. When King Ahaz saw this he became so afraid and instead of heeding the prophet’s plea to trust only in God who would deliver Judah from its enemies, the king instead made an alliance to the superpower of those days, the kingdom of Assyria. Instead of trusting God he trusted Assyria.  It was easier it seems to trust on weapons, arms, horses and armies.  It was hard to believe merely on words of assurance, when there is no basis for belief, when there are no signs indicating that God’s promises will indeed be fulfilled.  It’s like some of you making promises in your application letters – I will become better, I will improve next year, I will study harder next year.  Do you expect me to just believe it outright? No.  I will ask - But where is the sign?  ...

Our first reading today from the book of numbers narrates to us the story of the bronze serpent.  It all started with the complaint regarding food.  The Israelites have been eating manna in their long journey in the desert so much so that they began to call manna as that wretched food.  For this they began crave for what commentators calls food of slavery – the meat, fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, garlic, grain, figs, grapes, and pomegranates which they once ate in the land of slavery in Egypt.  In the eyes of the prophets it was a kind of idolatry because now it is the belly that dictates the person, it is the belly that influences the decision, it is the belly that is followed.  In the letters of Paul for example we hear him remonstrating sinners saying “their god is their belly.  And in another letter he wrote, such men serve, not Christ our Lord, but their own bellies.

Today as we end the school year I would like to reflect with you on this last benediction for the school year on the obedience of Christ.  We learn the virtue of obedience by looking at how Christ became obedient even unto death, because Son though he was, he learned obedience. Obedience is not taken lightly in the letter to the Hebrews and in the whole the bible for that matter.  We only have to recall the letter of Paul to the Romans when he asserted “ For as through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.”  Adam was disobedient and so we were all made sinners, but Jesus was obedient, obedient even unto death and so we are saved.

In the gospels there are many stories of people wanting to see Jesus.  There were the wise men who traveled far to see the new born king of the Jews when they saw his star rising from the east.  Herod also wanted to see Jesus although he had a more evil intent in wanting to.  Zaccheus also wanted to see Jesus but because he was small in stature he had to climb a sycamore tree.  Today we hear of Greeks who came to Philip with a request, Sir, we would like to see Jesus. Who would not want to see Jesus?  If I was born at that time and have heard stories going around about Jesus, I too would have wanted to see Jesus.  What intrigued me however is not the fact that they wanted to see him.  What intrigued me was the reply of Jesus when Andrew and Philip told him that there were Greeks who wanted to see him.

Our first reading is the referred to by commentators as the Confessions of Jeremiah.  This is called the confessions because like the book, the confessions of St. Augustine this passage speaks of the deepest feelings of the prophet.  It is a prayer of trust where the prophet opens his heart to the Lord and pours his deepest emotions and inner complaint to God.  The prayer expresses to God the confusion of his heart when he sees the wicked prosper and thrive, while he who did what he could to serve God, he who served God all his life, suffer many hardships and trials. And if we continue reading this passage in our first reading we will see God’s reply.  And it would seem that God shows little sympathy to what Jeremiah felt.  Instead of giving the prophet consolations God said something like, “Ok you are suffering, don’t worry, more sufferings will come, so brace yourself.”

The book of wisdom describes to us the materialistic ways of the wicked person and how he maltreats and thinks ill of the righteous person.  Why?  Because the righteous person is so unlike him, because the righteous person censures his thoughts, and every time he sees the righteous he feels debased and condemned.  The book of wisdom says that the wicked person acts the way he does because he does not believe that holiness will have recompense and he does not believe that the innocent soul will be rewarded.  The wicked man thinks only of this life.  He does not believe that there is life beyond this life – holiness has no recompense, there is nothing, there is no reward for the innocent soul.

In our first reading today, King David asked permission from God to grant him the privilege of building God a house, the temple.  Through the prophet Nathan God did not allow David to build a House for God.  Rather God promised David that he will build instead the house of David.  There is a play of words here.  You want to build the House of God.  No!  Instead I will build the House of David. This promise means that God does not want to dwell in a house, God does not want to be confined in four walls of masonry.  Instead God wants to dwell with his people and God can only do that by “building” the house of David.  Joseph is the last of the house of David and through him Jesus was born.  The prophecy is now fulfilled. God dwells among his people - in Jesus. Today as we honor St. Joseph let us honor him who fulfills his promises.

I would like to use our daily reading for this mass instead of the readings for the mass for the dead.  I always believe that God has an appropriate message for us in these readings in whatever occasion and need we find ourselves in. Today our first reading from the book of Isaiah speaks of God’s love as a mother’s love.  It is a mother’s love because it is a love that can never forget her children.  The term used by the prophet Isaiah for mother’s love comes from the Hebrew word rehem which literally means a mother’s embrace. Watching National Geographic I get to wonder how a baby seal and his mother could find each other among the thousands of babies on the shore, or how can a mother deer find her own from calf from among the many.  They say it’s the unique smell, it’s the unique cry embedded in the memory of the animal from the time it was born.  Jews believe that in the human person it is the mother’s first embrace that cannot be forgotten.  I...

Ezekiel speaks of his vision of a river flowing from the temple passing through the desert making everything on its banks grow and bear fruit, sustaining life.  This river, the water that it brings is fresh and it is life-giving.  Then there is another body of water, the sea.  It is salty.  The sea is seen in the bible as one that is hostile to life on earth, a force that threatens the earth.  In the story of creation when God created the sea God placed a limit upon it so that it will not encroach upon earth and destroy life.  The sea is the symbol of death.  In the Old Testament people are afraid of the sea.  It was the place of leviathans and monsters.  When the Israelites fled from Pharaoh in Egypt the first obstacle that moved them to despair was the sight of the sea, the Red Sea.  But then Moses broke the sea in two and they all walked on dry ground.

Today our first reading from the book of Isaiah speaks of God’s love as a mother’s love.  It is a mother’s love because it is a love that can never forget her children.  And yet even if what is thought an impossibility happens, even if a mother forgets, God will never forget. We all desire a love that can never forget.  We feel hurt when we are forgotten, especially when we are forgotten by the people we thought love us.  We feel insecure when little by little we are no longer accorded the limelight we had before.  We feel spent when we are no longer as popular as we had been.  We feel deserted perhaps because we are no longer received as enthusiastically as were before.People have forgotten us. 

The new heavens and the new earth in our first reading today has been used by both Jewish and Christian writers to describe the kingdom of God which is to come.  The description reveals several things.  First, there is in us a desire to live forever, to be eternal – a hundred years Isaiah said is still young.  But deep inside we know that this life, my life today is not the kind of life I want to live forever with.  There has to be something better, and this is the new heavens and the new earth.