visible rhetoric

Isko, ang sabat sa panawagan, may not be your typical vocation story - although I believe there is no such thing as a typical vocation story – every vocation story is unique -  but this musical play affirms the age old reality that a vocation can only grow with the support of the Christian community.  We used to say in our vocation campaigns that no one is born a priest or a religious, for indeed a new born child though a bundle of so many possibilities is just that, a bundle of possibilities but with nothing definite.  It is rather the family and the Christian community surrounding the child that affirms him or her in the religious vocation.  Today therefore this musical play is in part a tribute to the parish community that makes a vocation grow.

There are two versions of what happened during the months and days preceding the birth of the Lord on that first Christmas - the version of Matthew and the version of Luke.  Both may be telling the same story externally but there exist a difference.  The version of Luke it would seem came from the perspective of Mary – it narrated what happened to her, her encounter with the angel, her inner thoughts and feelings, her confusion, and eventually her agreement and surrender.  The other version, the version of Matthew it would seem came from the perspective of Joseph, it narrated what happened to him, it gave the reader a look into what went through his mind and heart, how it disturbed and confused him, it narrated his feelings, and we even came to know of his dreams and eventually his obedience.  Since our gospel comes from Matthew then I would like to discover and dig further into this latter perspective, the perspective of Joseph.  How did Joseph experienc...

I am once again assigned on the second day of the Aguinaldo mass, in the same chapel, surely with more or less the same people in attendance, and with the same gospel, a gospel most priests dread.  Amo na ang diperensya sa kalibutan.   Kon ulihi ka pili, imo ang bilin. This is the problem when you are made to repeat one thing over and over again.  It loses its newness, it loses its novelty, indi na sia fresh kay man liwat liwat na sia.  Wala na sing surprise, wala na ini naga-create sang sense of wonder.  May sacristan ako sang una.  Ang ngalan niya si Jose.  Jose was 8 years old.  He died because of leukemia.  But anyway kada gani istorya ko, even if he was only eavesdropping, he would always ask, ngaa haw.  So ang amon istorya sa lamesa for as long as he was around pirme lang sabat sa pamangkot nga ngaa haw, ngaa haw, ngaa haw, endless ngaa haw.  Sang ulihi natak-an ako  kag ginsingganan ko sia, Jose sugod subong ...

As the celebration of Christmas draws near our preparation grows intense.  Today in our first reading from the prophet Zephaniah, we are reminded of the four graces rejected by Jerusalem because of her rebelliousness, her pollution and tyranny. First Jerusalem is despised because she hears no voice, she does not listen to the word of the Lord.  Second she does not accept corrections, she does not embrace conversion.  Third, she does not trust in the Lord.  And fourth she does not draw near to God.  The opposite of these rejections are the four marks of the remnant, those who are considered humble and lowly.  Humble and lowly are not social statuses but the dispositions of the heart regardless whether one is rich or poor.  One who is humble and lowly possesses these four graces.  They listen to God’s voice, they seek direction from God and not from human wisdom or conventions and fashions.  This is an important disposition of the humble...

Today we read that part of the book of the prophet Isaiah which we call the book of consolation.  It is called the book of consolation because Israel after many years of exile in Babylon will now be permitted to go back to Jerusalem.  Finally they are going home.  The chapters before this chapter are full of condemnation and judgement.  Israel is punished, Judah is chastised for her sins.  Then the shift of tone begins.  Now beginning with this chapter the book of consolation begins and it begins with the emphatic command from the Lord, “comfort, comfort my people.”

Today in the third day of advent we read from the book of the prophet Isaiah.  We will hear a lot from the prophet Isaiah in this season of advent because of his oracles on the coming messiah.  But it might be good to start our reflection by knowing the context of these oracles so that we can have a better appreciation of what Isaiah is talking about.  Isaiah is a prophet of hope because he speaks of the coming salvation.  But hope cannot be hope without a context of despair or misery or at the very least hopelessness, and salvation cannot be salvation without that context from which one is being saved from.  Diri kita pirme nagakadula.   This is a season of hope – hope from what, hope for what?  This is a season of joy, joy because of what?  Kon madula ka gani sa context ti lain man ang imo paghangop sang hope kag lain man ang ginahalinan sang imo joy sa sining krismas. So ano ang context ni Isaiah?

If you examine the bible more closely you will see two kinds of beliefs on the 2 nd coming of the Lord.  There is the belief on the imminent return, dali na gid lang, sa dili madugay ; and second there is the belief on the future return or what is also called the delayed return, dugay pa, lawig pa nga hulatay ni.   It seems that when Mark was writing our gospel today he is familiar with these two beliefs in his community.  So what did he do?  What did he believe in?  What did he choose to insist on, the imminent or the delayed.  In our gospel today Mark seemed not to choose from the two.  He simply put those two beliefs together.  Not because he cannot decide but because he has his own purpose.  Actually he may even have two purposes.

Today in the last week of the liturgical year the church reads from the book of revelation because the book of revelation speaks of the end times, the time when the second coming of Jesus is near.  Revelation as I have explained last week is full of symbols because it is a subversive document and thus has to write in coded language.  Today we talk about the 144,000 who stand together with the Lamb in Jerusalem.  144,000 is the result of multiplying 12 and 12 and 1000.  12 represent the 12 tribes of Israel – it is a perfect number.  This is multiplied with 12 representing the 12 apostles – again it is a perfect number.  Then the total is again multiplied by 1,000.  1.000 is a symbol of a vast multitude, it represents a number that we cannot count.  And so there we have 12 times 12 equals 144 times 1,000 equals 144,000.  It represents the vast multitude of Christians who are marked on their foreheads with the name of the Father.

Why is it that it takes time for a running train to stop?  Why does it take time for a car driven fast to come to a full stop?  Because of a law in physics which we call momentum.  Momentum is mass times velocity.  An object has more momentum if it is bigger or if it is going faster.  For example gamay man lang ang football pero tungod kay ginsipa sing todo, dasig kaayo, then the momentum is higher and so it is harder to stop – the goalie will have to bear the force of the kick if he wants to catch the ball and prevent it from entering the goal.  A ng truck nga nagakambia sa neutral if it begins to roll, gamay lang iya velocity, indi gid sia madasig, pero tungod kay daku ang iya mass ukon bug-at sia, then budlay papundohon.  Pero kon bug-at na kag dasig pa pareho abi sang tren ukon eroplano ukon nagadalagan nga awto, mas mabudlay pa gid papundohon bisan naprinohan mo na.  Why because of the momentum which was created and determined by mass...

Two things from our first reading today. First, the little scroll that John ate was sweet like honey to the mouth but when it is swallowed it fills the stomach with bitterness.  In symbolic language this is what prophecy is all about.  It is filled with grace and blessing but it also contains judgment and condemnation.  Whenever we seek God’s will there will always be blessings and grace but there will also be dying, parting and cutting.  Be always prepared for that.  As they say you cannot have your cake and eat it too.