Who Can Really See?

The Gospel this Sunday is taken from John 9:1-41.  The bible tells of the blind man miraculously healed by Jesus.  But instead of praising Jesus for the healing, the Pharisees doubted this and believed it was just a trick, but they were proven wrong for the man was born blind and his parents testified.  Since they couldn't find any evidence that the miracle Jesus did was fake, they went looking for something else, they questioned Him for healing on Sabbath Day.

Jesus healing the blind man
Courtesy of photobucket

In the priest's homily, he mentioned about the experience of his missionary friend in Japan.  It was about a Japanese child waiting in line for food ration.  The missionary, pitying the child, gave his coat and share of food.  The child thanked him for his kindness, walked to the front line and offered the food to the first person in line.  The missionary was stunned.  He asked the child why did he do that... the child answered him that there might be someone in front more in need.

The priest compared it with his experience in the Philippines.  They were giving relief goods and what he observed was people were all rushing to get ahead of another.  Others were even taking advantage to get more than one... And majority of us are Christian Catholics.

Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

Jesus came to earth to let people see the true meaning of being the children of God.  Yes, we do worship God but our action is very opposite to His teachings.  And there are those who see, but interpret and use God's word for their own benefit and selfish intentions... while some are so hypocrite that they pray and preach the gospel in public emphasizing how righteous they are and how sinful others are...

Sometimes those who we think to be followers are the real backsliders... I believe that the real blind are those who are claiming to be righteous yet their lifestyle shows otherwise. Although I'm not speaking in general, Japan is not a Christian country but their discipline and concern for others are so opposite what we see around us here in the Philippines.... 

For me, blindness constitutes not seeing God according to Jesus' teachings.  True Christianity can be shown more in deeds and action.  Let us not merely say we are Christians... but let us stand to what our religion is all about... Let us strive until one day we can finally say we are no longer blind... that we are true Christians. God bless.

Without Discrimination

The week’s Gospel was taken from John 4:5-42.  It’s quite a long one and having two children with you made it much difficult to focus and listen to the gospel and the priest’s homily.  But so far, this is what I digested and my personal views, backed-up by some readings.

The Gospel shows us that Jesus does not look at a person’s status to bear witness to Him.  Here, He shows us that even the people whom we looked down and we thought least important are significant for Him.  He sees us all without discrimination... like the Samaritan woman.

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
picture taken from:  www.eons.com

Just to show the barrier between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, Jesus is a Jew while she is a Samaritan.  Due to their inter-marriage with non-Jewish people, Samaritans lost their ethnic identity.  Thus, they were regarded with less respect and importance.  This is still a reality nowadays, I heard of these countries that offer privileges to those who would marry their own nationality or pure breed.  And those who do not, more especially women, will be stripped off of all rights and privileges they are enjoying.

More is that, Jesus is a man with high stature, a rabbi, most respected by His followers and disciples, is conversing with a woman, which is not considered proper in that time and place.  Further, the woman is a cast off by her own kind, considered misfit for she had five husbands.  But none of this matters to Jesus.  He accepts the woman and treats her with respect by conversing with her and answering her doubts and queries.

The woman asks Jesus, who’s right in worship and where is its rightful place?  Many, if not all of us have not yet resolve this issue... until now, we often fight for the answer.  Maybe we are not just listening to His answer, or we’re just too shut to accept it... Jesus tells us that it does not matter where we worship God, what is important is that we worship God in Spirit and in truth.

Jesus shares with us His deepest secret, that He is the living water Whom whoever takes It would never thirst again for the truth.  He is the Messiah and He shares this with us without any reservations... without any discrimination on what we are or who we are.  If we truly say who we are as believers of Christ, then we must not only say what He does... but also do what He says and do.  God bless.

What Matters Most

Jesus said to his disciples, “Be careful not to make a show of your righteousness before people. If you do so, you do not gain anything from your Father in heaven. When you give something to the poor, do not have it trumpeted before you, as do those who want to be seen in the synagogues and in the streets in order to be praised by the people. I assure you, they have been already paid in full. If you give something to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your gift remains really secret. Your Father who sees what is kept secret, will reward you.”

“When you pray, do not be like those who want to be seen. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues or on street corners to be seen by everyone. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is with you in secret; and your Father who sees what is kept secret will reward you. When you fast, do not put on a miserable face as do the hypocrites. They put on a gloomy face, so people can see they are fasting. I tell you this: they have been paid in full already. When you fast, wash your face and make yourself look cheerful, because you are not fasting for appearances or for people, but for your Father who sees beyond appearances. And your Father, who sees what is kept secret will reward you.” (Mt 6:1-6.16-18)

It’s Ash Wednesday for us Catholics, the start of Lent towards Easter.  Today, I had seen a lot of people wearing crossed ashes on their foreheads.  I haven’t had one yet.  The ashes simply remind us of where we came from and where we’ll be going... that we are simply passing by in this earth.  We are again reminded that everything here is temporary and what is more important is the eternal life with God.

My personal understanding of the gospel is that, we are forbidden to use God or even His Name to show others how godly and what sacrifices we had made to honor and glorify Him.  We are not told that good deeds should be hidden, it can never be concealed specially to the person you’re doing it to, but what the gospel is emphasizing is that we should not think or expect that we should be praised by doing it.  Maybe, the question we must ask ourselves is who do we impress?  Isn’t it more important what God thinks of us rather than what others might think?  And we cannot deceive our God; He knows what we think and what we feel... He sees our hearts... He knows everything.  If we think, that by making an impact on others with the things we sacrificed for Him will impress our God... think again.

I believed that fasting is having to endure something that is hard for you to do without .  And it is not only limited to the abstinence in food and water consumption.  But this also includes our favorite activities, pastimes, and habits like playing computer games, drinking beverages, smoking, watching and listening to our favorite show and music icons, using our electronic devices and a lot more things we love to do.  The question is can you abstain from all these worldly things as an offering to God.  And if you do, can that only be between you and God alone.  That is not to brag or show others how much you suffer doing it, but how you truly mean doing it..Remember God sees our intentions inside out.

Also, in my point of view, it is better that you do goodness and be righteous even if no one sees you nor acknowledges your deed... than to put up a show in which you might fool others but not God.  What is important in helping is how you helped and what intentions did you have, it is noble if it’s heartily given and not expecting for any in return.  Events and symbols are mere reminders to all of us, because humans as we are, we tend to forget.  Remember that we will not be judged for the sacrifices we made or for the good things we did during the Lenten season or on particular events or on special days... rather we will be judged according to all our deeds during our lifetime.  It is not important as to when we did something to glorify God, every single thing we do in our lives matters to Him and He remembers it all.

It is not the ash in your forehead... nor is it the fasting you made.  What matters most is that the deed we do is in accordance to His will and we do it to glorify His name... and to impress Him and Him alone.  A HOLY DAY to us all.

Building Your House on Solid Rock

Listening to the priest’s homily, we were again reminded by Jesus about what’s important about our faith... it is our faith’s foundation.  Some were compared to a sensible man who builds his house deeply founded on solid rock.  And there were those compared to a stupid man who builds his house on sand.

The funny thing is many of us choose to build on sand.  We like things to be easier and we like shortcuts.  I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but not with our faith.  There are a lot of charismatic leaders, heads and persons with authority who we hear speak on the good things we must do in order to become a better student, son, employee, or spouse... a better person and a good follower of Jesus.  But their actions do not represent anything they speak of.  We see them, living abundantly while their members suffer in nothingness... We hear them telling us provisions and policies yet they eat their own words.  Good in words... but not in action.

I ain’t no saint... but clearly in His words... 

When the day comes many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?" Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, all evil doers!

God does not like us to be like this.

Listening and sharing His words is easy... putting His words into action is the challenge to all of us.  Building a house on a rock... building our FAITH in JESUS... is not a simple thing to do.  Choosing the path according to the will of the Lord might be hard... but the rewards are everlasting and nothing beyond compare... God bless.