CHRISTMAS BLESSING 2011

TO ALL THE MEMBERS OF THIS BLOG AND THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING MY PREACHING ONLINE THROUGH THIS BLOG:

THANK YOU FOR BREAKING THE WORD AND SHARING IT WITH THE WORLD.

HERE IS A TRIPLE CHRISTMAS BLESSING FROM ME, FR. JASON (USA) AND FR. SAM (UK):

Please click this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd0tuO6iD8s

SEE YOU ALL IN THE EUCHARISTIC CRIB!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!



Please read the poetograph: BIRTH OF THE KING

http://frvladpoetographer.blogspot.com/2011/12/birth-of-king.html 

ABANDONING YES!

4^TH SUNDAY OF ADVENT - B

Lk. 1:26-38

  
TO LISTEN:
http://cradio.org.au/index.php/resources/homilies/4th-sunday-of-advent/       

          For the past three Sundays we have been reflecting on the life and message of John the Baptist as he prepares and guides us in the coming of Jesus.  This fourth Sunday of Advent, we turn our gaze to Mary, the ultimate guide to the Mystery of the Incarnation.

          Right after the Fall of Man in the Old Testament, God promised a Messiah through a woman (Gen 3:15).  It could have been easier for God to grant outright redemption right there and then but he had a plan which we call History of Salvation.  If a woman was the reason of the Fall of man, then it would be through another woman that man would be saved.  It took thousands of years for God to carry out his plan and it took the same length of time to create that woman who would be the instrument for the salvation of man.  In the language of St. Paul, the Messiah was born in the fullness of time through a woman (Gal 4:4).  That woman is Mary.

          In the Annunciation we see first and foremost the faithfulness of God who in his graciousness fulfilled his promise of old.  Secondly we also see God’s humility by asking a woman, his mere creature a favor.  God could have just told Mary that she was chosen by him and that she was already conceiving the Messiah.  But out of God’s deep respect for freedom of the will, he asked Mary: “Would you be my instrument so that I can become a man?”  It was that very moment when heaven and earth stood still and almost hang in a balance when God awaited for Mary’s response… a moment in history God has been awaiting for.  In all her humility, Mary said her Fiat, an abandoning and wholehearted YES: “May it be done according to your word”! And that very instant, the Second Person of the Trinity became a human being.  This glorious spark in history was made possible through the meeting of the faithfulness and humility of God and Mary.

          Did Mary understand everything?  Was everything glorious? No! Not all!  Mary, although favored by God, was an ordinary and simple woman who had to struggle in understanding the ways of God.  Not everything was a rose garden for her.  Yet Luke gives us a hint in the greatness of this woman: “Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart” (Lk 2:19).

          What is this Mary’s Annunciation to us?  Just like the Israelites who waited for the coming of their Messiah, we have been waiting and longing for the coming of Jesus.  How open are we to cooperate in the Incarnation of God in the present time?  Just as God needed the cooperation of Mary for Jesus to be born, he wants our participation in the further incarnation of Jesus.   He wants our personal yes!

          Fullness of life consists in abandoning our life to the will of God even if his ways are odd and difficult to understand.  If we do this, then God will accomplish great things for us because for him nothing is impossible. Like Mary, we just have to say YES!

 

         

WHITE MARTYRS

3^rd  SUNDAY OF ADVENT – B

Jn. 1:6-8.19-28

  

TO LISTEN:

http://cradio.org.au/index.php/resources/homilies/third-sunday-of-advent/

Today is GAUDETE SUNDAY! It is a day of rejoicing because the Savior is close at hand!  St. Paul reminds us in the second reading: “Always be joyful!”  It is not just about joyful expectancy that Christmas is very near but a reminder that Jesus is the reason to rejoice in the midst of life’s pains, sufferings and tragedies.  He is not just “the reason of the season” but “the reason to rejoice in all seasons.”

On this third Sunday of Advent we continue to meditate on the life of John the Baptist as he leads and guides us to encounter our own personal Messiah.  Last Sunday we meditated on his role as a prophet; this Sunday we meditate on his being a witness.  The word witness occurs 64 times in the writings of St. John out of the 173 in the New Testament.  To witness is to give testimony to something one has experienced or has seen.  It is the translation of the Greek word marter (marter) from which we derive the word martyr.  The early Christian martyrs were those who gave witness to their faith by shedding their blood.

“There is no man born of a woman greater than John the Baptist,” says the Lord.  The greatness of John the Baptist lies in his being the greatest prophet and witness par excellence.  And yet it was also his limitation being just a messenger, a mere voice!  When the people flocked to him, he could have made use of that opportunity to aggrandize himself but in all his humility he said “I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandal; he must increase, I must decrease.”  Our greatness does not depend on what others think of us; it does not even depend on the power we’ve got.  It all depends in our personal relationship with God; how we are able to carry on the mission entrusted to us.  Our life’s worth is only seen through heaven’s eyes.

Pope John Paul II once said “To die for the faith is a gift for some, to live the faith is a gift for all.”  To give witness to the faith by shedding blood is red martyrdom; to witness the faith in our daily lives is white martyrdom.  It may not be our call at the present age to be red martyrs like the early Christians, but certainly by living the faith in the most extra-ordinary way through the ordinariness of life, we are giving testimony as important as shedding our blood.   We are called to witness our faith in our homes, in our workplace, in the market, restaurant and everywhere.

“Standing among you, unknown to you, is the one who is coming…”  How often do we recognize the Messiah walking in our midst?  We have been waiting for him but he has come already although incognito among the poorest, the lowest, the least and the marginalized. Unless we humble ourselves and learn to see through heaven’s eyes, we will miss the divine encounter we have been longing for.   Unless we experience a radical change of hearts, our waiting for the Savior will be in vain.

SPEAK UP, PROPHET!

2^ND SUNDAY OF ADVENT – B

(Mk 1:1-8)

 

         

           In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah was sent to the Israelites who were exiled in Babylon (587-530 BC); they had broken the covenant and God seemed to be absent.  Jerusalem was far away and the people could not bear the terrible trauma of being in captivity in a foreign land.  In this desperate situation, Isaiah became God’s voice of hope for the people.

          In the second reading, the promised Second Coming of Jesus (Parousia) was long delayed.  The people were again in despair, thinking that Jesus might not be the Messiah, after all He has not come quickly as some had expected.  The Second Letter of Peter was written to give them hope:  God does not conform to human expectations and what they were awaiting was a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign.

          For more than four hundred years, the Israelites had never heard nor seen a prophet.  Then suddenly came John the Baptist!  Again as God’s voice of hope to a people who lived in the shadow of death, to a land as barren as the desert!  His message was that of the prophet Isaiah’s:  “Prepare, the Lord is coming!”  The long exile of sin had ended, a new spring time had come!  It was a refreshing message like rain drenching the parched land; like ice-cold water to a weary and lost pilgrim in the middle of a desert.  So people flocked to him like a superstar!  But what did they see?  A very simple man dressed in camel’s hair.  But his message was tremendous and disturbing as well.  He could have glorified himself from such popularity and adulation but he knew he was a mere messenger, only a voice of Someone greater than anyone else.  He even declared that he was not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of His sandals.

          The world of today has not changed so much in terms of the need of such prophets of hope!  We may have conquered the moon, explored the universe, made the world a small global village, advanced in technology and science, but in this cyber age of wonders and innovations, people are in despair as it was in the time of the Israelite exile and as in the time of Jesus. 

Not too many of us know that when we baptized, we participated in the three offices of Jesus: priest, prophet and king.  Yes, we are all prophets!  And what is to be a prophet in this present time?  It is to be the voice of Jesus in a world that is desperately in need of salvation, of comfort and of hope! 

          Like John the Baptist and Isaiah, we may also experience our own personal exiles and sinfulness nevertheless God sends us to be His prophets in spite of our unworthiness.   But we need to hear first the message from the Master and own it onto ourselves before we can speak to others.  Then we look around and see and deliver the same message we received: to our families, our children, our spouses, our friends, our officemates, maybe even to strangers.   Speak the truth even if it hurts; disturb the peace of the status quo if there need be, but most especially to be God’s voice of hope. 

Speak up, prophets!  If not us, then who will?  If not today, then when?  Let us make a difference to someone’s life today!

Please read the supplement poetograph in my other blog:
http://frvladpoetographer.blogspot.com/2011/12/lullaby-let-me-lay-down-in-your-cradle.html         

DOORKEEPERS

1^ST SUNDAY OF ADVENT – B

(Mk. 13:33-37)

To listen to the Australian Catholic Radio Online:         
http://cradio.org.au/index.php/resources/homilies/first-sunday-of-advent/

               There are three kinds of time: CHRONOS, COSMOS and KAIROS.  Chronos refers to historical time which is determined by the units of second, minutes, hours, day, months, years, etc which are unrepeatable.  Cosmic time refers to events or cycle that may be celebrated like birthdays, anniversaries or foundation days hence repeatable.  Kairos is a spiritual time; it is a time of grace when we encounter God through special events in our lives.  Advent is both cosmic because it is part of a cycle that we celebrate year after year and also kairos because it is special season in the Church which brings about grace and blessing.

          As we enter Advent, we open the new liturgical calendar in the Church.  Advent comes from the Latin word “adventus” which is the coming of a very special person.  So we are not waiting for an event nor a date but God Himself who is about to come.  The Church offers us this season in preparation for such coming.

          The parable this Sunday is about the Doorkeeper.  In Palestine, the doorkeeper is in charge of watching the property most especially at night to secure the household against robbery or theft and to open the door should the master arrive home late.   Therefore the main characters of the doorkeeper are watchfulness and vigilance. 

          Jesus is the master of the house who is on a long journey and his “prolonged absence” will end with a glorious and sudden return which is the Parousia.  Every Christian is a doorkeeper who awaits the return of Christ.  Just as a doorkeeper must watch and be vigilant because he does not know the time of his master’s return, so also Christians must be watchful because they do not know the time when Christ will come again.

          To be spiritually awake is to be conscious of our personal encounter with Christ in all the events of our lives, great or simple they may be.  How can we remain spiritually awake?  Firstly we have to be attuned to the task given to us just like the doorkeeper is attuned to the task of guarding the security of the house and being watchful for the possible return of his master.  Secondly, we turn our attention to the future, that is, the final goal of our life which is our destiny. 

          Our whole existence is a waiting for God who is our future and our destiny.   Sad to say that some people live as if there is no God either in the present nor in the future so their lives are determined by their own personal belief without spirituality.  They are like tourists who  are busy preparing their luggage but they do not know where to go because they do not have a destination.

As doorkeepers, we are also pilgrims who are aware that the end of our life’s journey, the time of our death, will be the moment of Christ’s Parousia for us. As we await for our definitive and personal encounter with Christ, our attitude is not of fear but of expectant joy and full of hope just like when we await the coming of a long expected beloved.

     
You can also read the poetograph "The Banquet" in  http://frvladpoetographer.blogspot.com/