psalm 96: what the world will become because of Jesus - dec 30 2017 buganhi

Today I would like to continue reflecting on the responsorial psalm of the mass, this time Psalm 96.  If you notice, there are so many things in the psalm that are not really true at the time it was composed, and even now in our time.   "The LORD is king,” the psalm says.  Not true.  If the Lord is king things would not be as difficult, things would not be as bad.  The psalm says, “the Lord has made the world firm, not to be moved; he governs the peoples with equity."  What equity is the psalmist referring to?  On what part of the world does the Lord rule with justice and love and where his followers are loyal and true?   And so, many assertions of the psalms are not really true, at least today.

But here the psalmist is merely reiterating a very important reflex of our faith in God.  And what is that reflex?  The belief that the best is yet to come.  The belief that something good has started today and therefore something better is coming.  The belief that things in my life today may not be up to my expectations but there is still a better world coming and therefore a better tomorrow.  The belief that God will fix things, he will make things right, and with a bit of striving and hard work on my part things would turn out well.  

If the psalms seem to lie it is because it is talking about the future, and he talks about the future as if it is the present, as if it is happening even now.  Why?  Because a Christian looks at the present world with an eye to the future God has in store for each one of us and he looks at this with optimism.  

And so we live our lives today, we pattern our lives today based on what we believe the world will still become because of Jesus.  What do I mean?  If in the future God will finally give us his gift of peace, today in my own little way, I shall learn to live in peace with everyone.  If in the future God will finally bring justice, then today in my own little way, I will treat everyone I meet justly.  The prophetess Anna in our gospel may be 84, but she was one hell of an old woman who always look forward to the better, the greater and the larger things that she knew she will still come by even at 84.  And she did.  She met what she longed for, she saw what she hoped for and she held what she thought she could only dream of.  Only a prayerful person can sense a future such as this.

I still remember that time when we were gathered in a circle thinking of a name for the class.  I narrated to you then the dreams we had for our community and also the regressions that have happened in our community life - what our community was once before and now no more.  I painted somewhat a bleak picture but you were so fired up then to do something about it, to restore what we have lost, to dream and long for a better community and so you called yourselves Bugandi - buhi nga salandigan – to revive what was lost and to be the salandigan of that revival, the salandigan of our dreams, the dream makers.  Your name is always forward looking, your name is always optimistic, expectant of better things to come, greater things to await, larger things to create.  This is our spirit, the spirit of the class that first met to give itself a name.  Our vocations may have diverged but the same spirit urges and moves us – into whatever dream, into whatever goal and purpose – for your family, for your community, for the church, for God.  Buganhi.