visible rhetoric

Today we reflect on this short reading from the book of the Prophet Isaiah.  I believe every scientist can relate with this passage.  This is the reason why they are looking for signs of water in Mars.  Why are they looking for signs of water?  Because when there is water or in the case of Mars, if there was water, then there must have been life.  The earth does not make life, the world does not make life.  It is not the world that gives life.  What makes life is water.  What makes life is moisture.  The rain, the snow, they come down and make the earth fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats.  When earth does not receive this moisture it shrivels up, green turns brown, everything dies, nothing grows.

Today in our first reading Solomon the builder of the temple in Jerusalem prays in front of the altar dedicating the temple to God.  And in the presence of the whole community of Israelites he prayed to God stretching forth his hands towards heaven. In this prayer Solomon speaks in wonder how God whom the heavens cannot contain chose to dwell among his people in the house which Solomon built. “Can it indeed be that God dwells on earth?  If the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple which I have built!"  Yes, God dwells in the temple but he cannot be confined in the temple.  Yes, God dwells in heaven but he cannot be confined merely in heaven nor in the highest heavens as Solomon said.  Israel would err many times when its people became presumptuous in believing that regardless of what they do God will remain with them forever because God has built his house among them.

If you are asked by God to ask for anything that you want, what would you ask?  Solomon was asked by God and instead of asking for wealth and riches, instead of asking for the life of his enemies, and instead of asking for a long life, Solomon asked God for the gift of wisdom.  He prayed to God saying, "Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong." For this request God said to Solomon, "I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will come no one to equal you." That is how Solomon came to be renowned for his Wisdom so much so that people and rulers from far and wide would come to listen to the wisdom of Solomon.  What is wisdom?  Wisdom helps us to do the right thing using our knowledge, understanding and even our common sense and insight into things.  You are going home.  What are you going to do at home – ...

For two weeks now we have been reading the life of King David.  Now in our first reading we hear about him for the last time.  Departing for a while from the so called historical books of Samuel and Kings we read from the book of Sirach – a poetic eulogy for David. Here the author recalls his life summarizing it as the fat of the sacred offerings.  The fat is considered the best part of an animal.  So when an animal is sacrificed in the temple the flesh which is offered on the altar is divided between the offerer and the priest, but the fat is the Lord's, the best part is always given to the Lord and burnt on the altar. By referring to David as the fat of the sacred offerings the author is telling us that he is special, he is set apart or separated because he is the Lord's. Thus the life of David shows that he is the Lord's.  He slayed the giant Goliath with the slingshot, he led the Israelites to battle, he made the festivals of God beautiful and ...

Last year I reflected with you on the first reading – God as refiner's fire and God as the fuller's lye.  Today we focus our reflection on our second reading – from the letter to the Hebrews. Let me begin by pointing out that in the gospel, Jesus like all Jewish first born male was offered in the temple following the prescriptions of the law.  Jesus as first born male is a special property of God and so he must be bought back, he has to be redeemed by sacrificing in his stead another victim.  If his parents were rich, then they should offer a lamb to redeem him but if they are poor sacrificing two doves will do.  His parents sacrificed two doves. I am recalling this event in Jesus' life, an event which we commemorate today, because the letter to the Hebrews affirms the fact that indeed Jesus shared and continues to share in our blood and flesh.  He is truly human, born of a human family, born subject to the laws of his people, born subject to the natu...

We are inaugurating today parts of the Jaime Cardinal Sin Building for our immediate use.  We have deprived ourselves proper classrooms for more than a year now and we are more than thrilled to come back.  In fact having postponed it twice already, the thrill has already acquired some shades of agitation.  If not for the coming of the Tilma of our Lady of Guadalupe and if not for the Candelaria we would have probably postponed this inauguration for the third time.  The Candelaria needs the building in time for the fiesta and the Lady of Guadalupe has to be enshrined.  Consistent with her role in salvation history Mary ends the long wait.  The formal blessing will be done at the Mass of the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the school year of 2016-2017 in June by the Archbishop himself.  There are still a lot of things to be done.  But in keeping with Filipino tradition, the first place in a house, and even more so the first place in a home,...

Today in our first reading David faces the consequences of his sins.  For committing murder, Nathan pointed out David's punishment saying, the sword shall never depart from your house.  Indeed David's sons Amnon, Absalom and Adonijah will die violent deaths.  For committing adultery Nathan said in his prophecy, I will take your wives while you live to see it, and will give them to your neighbor. Indeed his wives, his concubines will be taken by his son Absalom.  And lastly for the crime of sending an innocent man to his death, his innocent son, the fruit of his relationship with Bathsheba will also die. Modern language would call this karma.  Biblical language would call this divine retribution, divine punishment.  In reality these are consequences of sin.  If there are consequences in the physical order, there are consequences in the spiritual order.  IN the physical order when you eat cholesterol then chances are you will get a heart at...

Two things. First, David's greatest sin consists of three actions – first is adultery, second is the attempt to cover-up the sin and the third, in the attempt to cover-up, he led Uriah to his death.  Sin usually comes in pairs or in threes or even more but seldom is it alone.  That is why confession is important – the admission of sin ends the cycle of sin and its tendency to proliferate.  Confession is an important sacrament – admission puts an end to the cycle of sin. Second,  Solomon, the greatest of David's successors will be born out of David's greatest sin.  And yet Solomon will become the first link that would bring about the fulfillment of God's promise to David.  This only shows that salvation history is not the result of merits and virtues but of the mercy of God who forgives sins. Again in this year of mercy we should not tire of asking and relying on God's mercy especially shown to us in the sacrament of penance.

In our first reading today we find David in prayer before God.  He come before the ark, sat before it and prayed expressing to God his gratitude for the promises God has made to him to build his house, that is, to establish a dynasty that would last forever.  Aware of his iniquities and weaknesses David was alarmed by this call - Who am I, Lord GOD, and who are the members of my house, that you have brought me to this point?  It is this humility of David and the acknowledgement of his guilt that would make him great.  And so he prayed Do, then, bless the house of your servant that it may be before you forever.

There are several things we can learn from our first reading, from the 2nd Book of Samuel.  First, what God wants from us may be different from what we want.  What we want may be noble, heroic, good, super good.  But it does not follow that this is what God really wants from us.  David wanted to build a house for God, a temple.  It was noble, it was admirable, it was even a beautiful idea.  But that was not what God wanted.  In life, what matters for us is what God wants.

Today in our first reading Paul writes to his friend and co-worker in the vineyard of the Lord. Life would be doubly difficult if we walk alone.  It is important to have friends, real friends.   How do we know we have real friends?  Real friends seek always your good.  Paul writes "I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day and I yearn to see you again."  You seek their good if you pray for them constantly.  When was the last time you prayed for your friend, asking God to guide him, to bless him, to help him and his family?  When was the last time you asked prayers from your friend?  Please pray for me.  Real friends pray for each other because they seek your good.

Jesus returned to Galilee as Luke narrates in the power of the Spirit.  What is this in power of the Spirit.  In Nazareth, Luke narrates also that Jesus read a passage from Isaiah which speaks again of the same Spirit whose presence in him anoints him with power to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.  What is this power of the Spirit that is in Jesus?  What can it do? What is it capable of doing?

Today we start reading from the 2 nd book of Samuel.  It was reported to David that Saul and his sons died in battle.  It was reported by an Amalekite who claimed to have killed Saul and reported it himself to David.  He even brought with him the king’s crown and his armlet thinking that David will reward him for killing Saul.  He thought it was happy news.  But David was overcome with grief and he tore his garments to mourn and he fasted.  Although Saul wanted to kill him, David had deep respect for the king and David remembers only the good things that Saul had done and his courage in battle. In grief David composed an elegy and is said to be one of the most beautiful poems in the bible.  In this elegy he narrates the beautiful friendship that existed between him and Jonathan, the son of Saul.  Jonathan would have been the successor to the throne and yet he committed himself to the fact that his friend David would succeed his father’s ...

In our first reading today, once more, Saul, in a fit of jealousy, pursued David with the intent of killing him, thus breaking his promise not to harm him which he made in yesterday’s reading.  But once more David shows his innocence and also his nobility.  He had the chance to kill Saul but he chose not do it because he recognized that Saul is an anointed of the Lord.  Because of this act of gallantry Saul finally recognized the David is indeed king.  Because of David’s response to Saul’s aggression, because of David’s humility and openness to God’s will, Saul saw the kindness of David, his sense of justice and for these Saul saw the qualities of a good king, a good leader. In life, in whatever conflicts we come across, we can always choose our weapons.  Life is not a series of this action followed by a resulting reaction, this specific cause producing a specific effect.  Life is not as predictable as that.  Why, because a person can always c...

Today in our first reading we are made to see the seething jealousy of Saul towards David.  After killing the champion of the Philistines, the giant Goliath, the women of Israel cheered David singing, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.”  That made Saul very jealous, it made him envious and it was an envy, a jealousy that made him want to kill David.  It was only through the intervention of Jonathan his son, that made Saul think otherwise and vowed never to kill David.  But as before Saul never intended to fulfill his promises.  Later he would again pursue David in an effort to get rid of him and kill him.

Reflecting on our first reading today one gets to wonder why David in his fight with Goliath picked five smooth stones.  First why five and not just one?  Was he afraid that he would miss in his first shot?  Is he not a man of faith?  Did he doubt that God would steady his arms, give him a perfect timing and a perfect shot? And why smooth stones?  Why did he select his stones?  He did not say, I’ll just pick up any stone that come my way, anyway God will direct whatever stone I throw straight to the forehead of Goliath the Giant.  David did not do that.  Instead he picked his weapons thoroughly, he knew he has to shoot with proper ammunition and so he selected shiny, round stones that would speed straight to the mark. 

Today in our first reading, we see Samuel grieving.  He was grieving because Saul was rejected by God for his disobedience.  Saul was no longer a king recognized by God.  But that is not the only reason why Samuel was grieving.  Samuel grieved because he probably felt like a dismal failure.  He was Saul’s mentor, he was his teacher, his guide; he was like a father to him, a spiritual leader to him.  Now however Saul was rejected by God.  He disobeyed God, he sinned against God and because of that he was no longer king in God’s eyes.  It must have been very frustrating to Samuel and thus he grieved like a father to his now dead son. As mentors, teachers and parents ourselves, can you relate with the grief of Samuel? Have you also experienced a similar situation when a person you have cared for, the person you formed and taught, when a person whom you have loved and from whom you are expecting many things, ended up a failure?  Have you...

Today in our first reading God rejects Saul, the first king of Israel.   Two things.  First, we are hardwired to act only if what we are about to do is reasonable. We cannot do something unreasonable from our point of view.  Notice for example how we justify sin.  We justify our anger, we justify our conflicts and notice nga kita lang pirme ang sakto , we justify our unkindness to others, well we even justify our eating disorders.  Even if we know deep down that it is not justifiable we justify it, we make it reasonable because we cannot do something unreasonable.  This happens with Saul too.  He disobeyed the express command of God to destroy everything and yet he preserved the best bulls, because he said, he wanted to offer it as a sacrifice for God.  He made his sin of obedience look virtuous.  Be careful.  Many times the gravest of sins are committed because of good intentions.