SACRAMENTAL WAITING

          

32^ND SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME – A

         (Matthew 25:1-13)

         We have now come to the last three Sundays of the year and the readings prepare the Church towards the Second Coming of Christ which we call the Parousia.

          The gospel this Sunday is the parable of the ten virgins who were bridesmaids in a wedding. The covenant relationship between God and Israel has always been depicted through a wedding.  Let us now take a look at the Jewish wedding as shown in the parable.  The wedding takes place after dawn so it was normally dark.  The bride usually awaits for the groom to fetch her and bring her to his house through a procession.  There are usually ten bridesmaids who are the closest friends of the bride and are assigned to bring lamps to guide the procession of the families of the bride and the groom together with the guests.  It was during this procession that those invited to the wedding would bring their gifts usually things in the kitchen and food.  When they reach the house of the groom, the wedding starts which is followed by a banquet until late evening. 

          In the parable, five of the bridesmaids were wise because they prepared enough oil for their lamps while the other five were foolish by not bringing enough oil.  The coming of the groom was delayed with an unknown reason.  When the foolish bridesmaids ran out of oil they tried to ask from the wise bridesmaids who refused because their oil was just enough for them.  When the foolish ones went to buy oil, the groom came and it was too late for them to join the wedding procession.  When the door of the groom’s house was shut off, they were not allowed to enter simply because they were not prepared to do their task.

          In the allegory, the ten bridesmaids represent the Christians who responded positively to the invitation in the wedding between Christ who was the groom and the Church which was the bride.  The time of waiting is the lifespan of each Christian before the Second Coming of Christ.  The lamp represents faith and the oil is the work of charity.  The delay of the bridegroom and his coming late in the evening suggest that he is the one in charge of time.   When the door is closed, there will be people not allowed entrance to the heavenly banquet as a consequence of their personal choice.

          To be a Christian is both a gift and responsibility.  It is not enough to say “Yes” to God as we profess our belief, as it is an easy thing to do.  But to live the faith through concrete acts of good works is the challenge of faith.  We all are living under a borrowed time; the present is a precious gift from God.  It is when God becomes manifest in the “eternal now”. It is called sacramental waiting wherein each moment is an opportunity to do good to others rather than just passively waiting for the last tick of the clock without doing anything.

          We do not need a wake up call from God like an horrible accident or sickness like cancer just to realize that we don’t have all the time to ourselves.  There are people who think that they have all the time in the world just because they are young and able.  They are those who take life as if they are in control and live the way they want it without the norms of religion and morality. 

As time is running out, it is good to ask ourselves “How much oil do I have?”   

Note: You can visit my other blog to read the poetograph WAITING

http://frvladpoetographer.blogspot.com/

    

GOD'S AMBASSADORS OF GOODWILL

29^th SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME – A
       (Matthew 22:15-21)

To listen to the Australian Catholic Radio Online:
http://cradio.org.au/index.php/resources/homilies/29th-sunday-in-ordinary-time/       

To download as Itunes podcast:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id421043849           

            Because Israel was under the Roman Empire during the time of Jesus, the Israelites had to pay a tribute to the Roman Emperor in form of taxes.  They were forced to pay being a conquered nation but they could not expect social services in return. For the nationalistic Jews, payment was an offence to Israel yet refusal to pay would be a form of rebellion.

          When he was asked by the Pharisees and the Herodians about the lawfulness of paying the census taxes to the Roman emperor, Jesus was actually being led into a trap.  Either which way, Jesus’ response would anger both the Romans and the Israelites.  It was a very difficult dilemma for Jesus but his response stunned his hearers: “Render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” 

          It may seem to appear that it was a political question on payment of taxes but the truth is the question was meant to destroy Jesus.  When Jesus asked for a coin, they gave him a denarius which bore the face of Caesar.  It means that they were carrying the Roman coin and they knew they had to pay the taxes so there was actually no need to ask the question. Here is a concrete example when people maliciously use religion to destroy other people.

          In human relationships, how often do we use such tricks for entrapment?  Like the Pharisees some people use seemingly kind words which may appear charitable to the other person but in reality they are like poisoned arrows ready to pin down an enemy.   They are, just like the Pharisees, masters of hypocrisy.  We have to be very careful how to deal with them.  Sometimes we have also to be aware that it is us who are in their shoes.

          The response of Jesus is a wisdom to ponder on:  It is the standard of justice.  Yes we give our due to the government in forms of taxes, we cast votes during election, etc the failure of which is detrimental to us.  Because God is just, he gives what is due to us in terms of the blessings that we receive.  But how much do we give what is due to God?   He does not need anything because he is complete unto himself.  But he wants us to give him something which is due to him: our adoration, praise, love and fidelity.  One very concrete way of giving what is due to God is our rendezvous with him every Sunday in the Eucharist.  If we can spend long hours on movies, TV, sports, shopping, why can we not spend an hour with him on Sundays?  We also give what is due to God by living good lives that will reflect back his goodness to the world.  We do not just avoid doing evil; we become God’s ambassadors of goodwill through our good works which change the lives of others as well as our own.   One very meaningful ritual that we can do before going to bed every night is to examine our consciousness and ask ourselves “What good have I done today?”   If we can honestly say that we have done at least one good deed during the day, then we are justified in living out the borrowed time that was lent to us by God for the day.  We can sleep at peace with our self and God knowing that we did not live the day in vain. 

         

EKKLESIA

23^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time A

 

Recorded at the Australian Catholic Radio Online, pls click:

http://cradio.org.au/index.php/resources/homilies/23rd-sunday-in-ordinary-time/

The gathering of the Israelites in the Old Testament is called Qahal Yahweh; in the New Testament this was translated into ekklesia, a Greek term which means “church”.   The gospel of St. Matthew has always been called “the gospel of the Church” wherein most of the parables pertain to the essence of the Church.

In the gospel this Sunday, we have 1) a glimpse on the role of the primitive Church in terms of fraternal correction; 2) it tells us about the authority and responsibility bestowed on the Church; and 3) the power of fellowship and prayer of its members.

The primitive Christian Church certainly has evolved from its humble Jewish beginnings to one of the most powerful institutions in human history.   Nonetheless, in all its wealth, glory and grandeur its essence remains the same: as the community of the disciples of Jesus Christ.  And because it is composed of sinful members like us, it continues to struggle to transcend herself to rise above human limitations and weaknesses through the mercy of God.

The once powerful European presence of the Church is now represented by massive but empty cathedrals in Europe; the once sprawling huge seminaries are now empty if not abandoned.  Dioceses most especially in the first world countries do not have vocation to the priesthood and their presbyteriums are old and dying.  Even in the Christian countries, the attendance in Sunday liturgies is alarmingly low.  On the other hand, there is a ray of hope in Africa and Asia where the Church is experiencing a “renaissance”, a rebirth among the poorest of the poor. Seminaries and convents in these very poor countries are thriving and they are exporting priests and religious to Europe and other parts of the world.  During the medieval times, there were only white missionaries bringing the faith to Africa and Asia; this time Africans and Asians are the missionaries giving back the favor.

So where do we find ourselves in this complex reality of the Church?  Let us evaluate the family as the domestic church: How do we witness our faith inside our homes?  Do we pray as a family in the same way that we eat together?  Let us see how we participate in the local church which is our diocese and our parish.  Do we ever participate in the programs of our parish?  Whenever we gather as a parish community, we become the One Body of Jesus Christ even if we do not know each other’s name.  The ekklesia in the gospel today becomes alive when the community is 1) forgiven and forgiving  2) nourished through the care of our faithful and dedicated shepherds and 3) strengthened  by each other’s prayer and empowered as God’s People.

There are those who believe that their faith is between them and God; it is partially true.  But we need to celebrate that faith with the Christian community because our relationship with God has an ecclesial dimension and this is where fellowship becomes imperative.  We have to gather together as a Church because it is where we form a communion with each other and we become catalysts of change in the world we live in.  When we do this, the Church becomes alive once again and is relevant to the present time.