Seek And Find

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Spirit Moments

Sunflowers turn to follow the sun.
Rivers flow till they reach the sea.
Birds fly south to keep warm in the winter.
Beasts search far and wide to find watering holes.
Fish come back to where they were born to spawn.
Nature knows what to seek for
And in time, it finds what it seeks.

Nature is ruled by needs and instincts.
Man is moved by longings and yearnings.
Needs and instincts are unthinking.
There is no going against them.
Longings and yearnings are subject to choice.
Man can fulfill them in a variety of ways.

Man seeks peace and he will find peace,
Sometimes even in the midst of war and turmoil.
Man seeks happiness and he will find happiness,
Sometimes in the most unexpected places
And from the least expected people.
Man seeks redemption from all that ails him
And he will find his salvation
Often by simply appreciating what he already has.
Redemption does not come from the stars
But from the yearnings and longings deeply embedded in us.

Peace comes when we break bread together.
Happiness happens whenever we share a meal in love.
Redemption is when we recognize the person before us
For the person he truly is.
For every place can be an Emmaus.
And every bread broken with friends is sacred bread.
And every meal shared with loved one is a holy meal.
For if we but seek the Lord, we will find him.

Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.

As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, “Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Luke 24:28-31

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I Have Seen The Lord

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Spirit Moments

When loved ones die and are gone, we try our best to keep their memories alive so that they can still be with us even if we do not see them bodily anymore. I keep Ima and Tatang alive in my daily prayers and somehow they are still with me. Is it possible this is also what happened to Christ at the Resurrection? That out of the intense love of His disciples and their utter sadness over His death, they kept His memory alive by re-living His presence with them? For after all, didn’t He tell them to “Do this in memory of me?”

Through the centuries, there have been enduring doubts about the reality of the Resurrection. That it is just a myth, a mass hallucination by a band of grief stricken followers, a hysteria foisted on simple-minded folks. Indeed, there is nothing in science or even in rational terms that can explain the phenomenon. We can only talk about it in mystical and spiritual terms. And yet, the accounts were all consistent: “We have seen the Lord.”

And I am thinking: If Someone can create something out of nothing, can’t that Someone transform the something He created into yet another something? If Someone can bring forth the light by simply saying the word “Let there be light!”;  can He not shed light into our feeble minds by becoming just like us? If that Someone can fashion out human life out of star dust, can He not say but the word and that human life is restored, renewed and transformed?

I have not put my finger at His side as St. Thomas did. I did not encounter Him at the road to Damascus as St. Paul did. I did not have the experience of tongues of fire to have the wisdom to understand my faith as the Apostles at Pentecost did. I have but glimpses of His Presence in my here and now, in nature, among the people I love and serve, among the people who have shown me love and care, in the unfolding of what is good and beautiful. I struggle daily with my Easter faith, trying to understand it more fully and, more importantly, to live it in my daily activities. And in my struggling, I say humbly and fervently with Mary at the empty tomb: “I have seen the Lord.”

The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,”
which means Teacher.
Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me,
for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them,
‘I am going to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God.’”
Mary went and announced to the disciples,
“I have seen the Lord,”
and then reported what he had told her.
John 20:11-18

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Easter Hope

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Spirit Moments

Anabelle has a regular practice of going through her things and stuff and throwing away the old, the worn-out and the unnecessary. On the spiritual side, this activity of hers is a good practice in learning detachment and living a life of simplicity. On the practical side, this allows room for other newer, better and needed things and stuff to come in.

Indeed, if one had a lot of good or precious things coming; wouldn’t he make room for the treasure coming into his life? If one’s life is filled and cluttered with material things, how can one receive spiritual blessings?

This making room and this emptying in expectation of better and greater things is part of man’s capacity for hope. It is a great lesson to learn how to cherish the present moment for it is really the only time we have. Yet at the same time, we realize we don’t just live for the moment. Man is able to postpone some present satisfaction for some greater happiness in the future. We are able to sacrifice a bit of today for something better tomorrow. Man saves now so he can enjoy with greater pleasure later.

Only man can hope. Animals do not. They live entirely by instincts. And it is this capacity to hope that man has established his dominion over creation. Through the resurrection, Christ taught us to make our hopes outrageously high. If we are burdened by tears and sorrow, Christ held out to us the hope for eternal happiness. If we are living in darkness or have lost our way, Christ taught us how to hope for his perpetual light to guide us. If we are stricken or paralyzed by the fear of dead, Christ rose from the dead and gave us hope for the fullness of life in eternity.

Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb,
fearful yet overjoyed,
and ran to announce the news to his disciples.
And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them.
They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid.
Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee,
and there they will see me.”
Matthew 28:8-10

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The Empty Tomb

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Spirit Moments

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It is a glorious Easter morning.
I imagine myself sitting under a bower of freshly bloomed spring flowers,
Basking in a golden shower of God’s graces upon me on this bright and beautiful day,
Drawing in all the goodness and beauty around me,
Allowing this beautiful day to speak to me.

The tomb is empty.
In that emptiness, we find the fullness of life that has been promised us.
Often, it is emptiness that defines us.
It makes sense.
For in the beginning, there was nothing but the void. Emptiness.
Science says there was a primeval particle.
It blew up in one big bang and the universe came to be.
There is a more radical and simpler explanation.
He said, “Let there be light!” and there was light.
He spoke the word and the word came to be.
And he created everything out of nothing, out of the emptiness.
“My word that goes out from my mouth will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

Man is not defined by what he has.
Job was a rich man and he was blessed with many good things.
Then, everything was taken away from him.
It was in his bereftness of material possessions that he found the only true possession.
Stripped of his wealth and comforts, he found the spirit within him that refuses to die
Even when all possessions have been taken away.

Man is not even defined by the people he loves.
Abraham was asked to give up and sacrifice his only son, Isaac.
In faith and obedience, he was willing to give up the person he loved the most.
In that emptiness created by losing his only child,
Abraham discovered the one Father who has made us all His children.

Man is defined by the empty space he creates to allow God to work His wonders.
Christ emptied himself on the cross.
Stripped of his clothes, the only possessions he had left
Abandoned by friends and family, with only a handful left to mourn
As He hung dying on the cross.
He totally emptied himself to a shameful death as a condemned criminal.
In that utter emptiness, He allowed God to work His wonders.
He was the Word of God and through Him everything was made and made new.
He was laid in the tomb and that could have been the end on the story.
And on another Sunday morning like today, His disciples found his tomb empty.

Can I let go of the things I have to make room for Christ to come alive in me?
Can I imagine life without my loved ones to allow God room to work His wonders in me?
Can I empty myself and in that emptiness encounter my beginning and my end?
Can I allow myself to be defined by my emptiness and nothingness
So that I can be raised up to the fullness of life?

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.

On the first day of the week,
Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don’t know where they put him.”
John 20:1-9

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Musings Over The Tomb

Posted on April 19, 2014 by Spirit Moments

 

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All is quiet now and very still. He lies dead in the tomb.
It was good while it lasted but now the great adventure ends in gloom.
People thought He was the Messiah who has come to save His people.
But He came to an ignominious end. His mission has been doomed.

His disciples and the apostles have all scurried away.
One betrayed Him and another was asked if he knew Him and said “No way.”
He was condemned just as a common criminal.
And He was made to suffer and die like an animal.

Now all hope is lost but might have there been a fluttering in His mother’s heart?
He said he was going to rise again and show them eternal life.
Mary who was dear to Him must have had a sneaking suspicion
that the Jesus she loved will fulfill all His predictions.

I am a coward and I have died a thousand times.
In my cowardice I have sought courage and strength from this man in the tomb.
And indeed He has brought me back to life many many times.
Up till now and from the moment He formed me in my mother’s womb.

He who made the earth and all of the universe
Is Lord of the light, of the land and of life that does not end.
I pray that His grace burst forth in the glory of the Resurrection
and let His life-giving Spirit upon me descend.

The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth,
the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss,
while a mighty wind swept over the waters.

Then God said,
“Let there be light,” and there was light.
God saw how good the light was.
God then separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”
Thus evening came, and morning followed—the first day.

Then God said,
“Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin,
so that the dry land may appear.”
And so it happened:
the water under the sky was gathered into its basin,
and the dry land appeared.
God called the dry land “the earth, “
and the basin of the water he called “the sea.”
God saw how good it was.
Genesis 1:1-9

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The Depths and Emptiness of Good Friday

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Spirit Moments

Joel is a good friend.
His was a life most people could only imagine in their wildest dreams.
He was a respected doctor, having come from a family of doctors and married to one.
He was a smart, not a shrewd, and successful business person.
He and his wife are blessed with three sons.
Then, his second son was diagnosed with brain cancer.
His world came crushing down.
But he is not crushed.
He becomes a better and stronger person.
A more loving an caring father.
The son rises up from his cancer.
And he is given a new and better life.
They are blessed by your presence in their lives.
And that makes all the difference.

I dreamt of going to a Jesuit seminary.
I was not allowed to.
On the night I received the news,
I tossed in my sleep unable to sleep.
I kept asking why.
I felt sad and lonely.
But I was not alone for I felt You were with me.
And now looking back,
I would not have it any other way
that the way where You have led me.

I dreamt of changing the Philippine Church.
I joined a quixotic group out to change the way
seminarians are prepared for the priesthood.
Martial law is declared and our dreams are dashed.
Most of us were on the wanted list of the military.
I wake up one night in tears and in fear of the future.
I was despondent and broken.
But I was not alone.
You were there through Fr. Abe.
And You again led me to a path
I would gladly take again were I to live my life all over.

I dreamt of changing an organization.
Instead I was fired from the job.
I dreamt of leading an institution.
Instead I was hunted to the side.
I dreamt of changing people’s lives.
Instead I realized my greatest challenge was changing myself.
I was too engrossed with the Transfiguration,
Calvary just crept up on me.

I am nearing to the time when I will say
“It is finished.”
I only pray that I stay and abide in Your presence.
Often these days, I feel like letting go
of the things that have kept me close to You.
I sometimes think that You do not care
or that You are not even there.
And yet there is that thirst and hunger in me
that can only be slaked and satisfied by Your presence in my life.
Keep me strong and faithful till the end.

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

After this, aware that everything was now finished,
in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
Jesus said, “I thirst.”
There was a vessel filled with common wine.
So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop
and put it up to his mouth.
When Jesus had taken the wine, he said,
“It is finished.”
And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.
John 19:25-30

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Dayenu – It Would Have Been Enough For Us

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Spirit Moments

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Today is the beginning of the Triduum, the remembrance of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, His Paschal Mystery. It His Passover from death to life into His glorious resurrection. This event has cosmic significance as Christ also leads us in passing over from darkness into light, from sin into salvation, from our mortal lives into eternal life. It is the fulfillment of the great Passover of God’s people Israel who passed over from slavery into freedom, from bondage into liberty, from oppression to liberation. Just as the Passover is the greatest of Jewish feasts, so is the Resurrection the greatest among Christians.

The greatness of our God is that He keeps doing even more and greater things for His people. During the celebration of the Passover, the Jews sing the Dayenu hymn. It proclaims God’s boundless love and generosity in giving His people blessings way above and over their expectations.

As I embark on the Triduum, today I mull over the words of this hymn and see God’s unending graces, blessing and surprises in my own life:

If He had brought us out from Egypt,
And had not carried out judgments against them
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had carried out judgments against them,
And not against their idols
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had destroyed their idols,
And had not smitten their first-born
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had smitten their first-born,
And had not given us their wealth
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had given us their wealth,
And had not split the sea for us
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had split the sea for us,
And had not taken us through it on dry land
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had taken us through the sea on dry land,
And had not drowned our oppressors in it
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had drowned our oppressors in it,
And had not supplied our needs in the desert for forty years
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had supplied our needs in the desert for forty years,
And had not fed us the manna
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had fed us the manna,
And had not given us the Shabbat
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had given us the Shabbat,
And had not brought us before Mount Sinai
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had brought us before Mount Sinai,
And had not given us the
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had given us the Torah,
And had not brought us into the land of Israel
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

If He had brought us into the land of Israel,
And not built for us the Holy Temple
Dayenu, it would have sufficed!

Our blessing-cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ.

The Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over,
took bread, and, after he had given thanks,
broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,
you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
1 Corinthian 11:23-26

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Betrayals I Have Been Guilty Of

Posted on April 16, 2014 by Spirit Moments

One of the great burdens I carry in my heart are the many times I have betrayed people – sometimes even for something less than thirty pieces of silver. I have betrayed people I love and those closest to me. I have betrayed people I consider as dear friends. I have betrayed people I have pledged to serve. I have reneged on my sworn commitments to others. I have failed in my responsibilities to them. I have turned my back on them when the going got tough or when I was too engrossed in my self-gratification.

I have betrayed my own true self many a times too. I have turned my back on my values and my principles for the expediency of the moment. I have taken light the word I have spoken to avoid having to tough it out. I have sat down where I had pledged to keep standing. And I stood up in pride when I should have bowed down in shame, begging for forgiveness.

The Holy Week reminds me of all my weaknesses and frailties. It brings me face to face with my sinfulness and all the dark consequences of my sins. There is pain and suffering in my life because of all the betrayals I have been guilty of. I put my trust in God’s great love and mercy to rescue me from myself, from my weaknesses, from my sins as I spend the next few days in remembrance of His passion, death and resurrection.

Lord, in your great love, answer me.

One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot,
went to the chief priests and said,
“What are you willing to give me
if I hand him over to you?”
They paid him thirty pieces of silver,
and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.
Matthew 26:14-25

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Some Disciples I Have Known

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Spirit Moments

He was a successful business executive. Upon his retirement from the corporate world, he pursued another career as a diplomat. He had hid fair share of enemies. Everyone knew of his deep faith. Many were impressed that he went to daily mass no matter where his travels brought him. There were those who doubted the sincerity of his spirituality. I believed him to be a true disciple, struggling to find the Lord even in the often dishonest, greedy and selfish marketplace. Everyone who knows him will not miss nor mistake his love for the Lord and for his wife. I learned dedication and perseverance from him.

He was a brilliant medical practitioner. Yet, he also carved a name for himself as an excellent corporate executive, a respected government technocrat, an acknowledge innovator in the field of education. He was a die-hard golfer and an avid basketball fanatic. He was an authentic hyphen person. He never did anything in half measures. Everything he did, he did with a passion for excellence. Anything worth doing, he did and he did them very well. Deep inside, he was a lover: he loved his family, he loved his friends, he loved the people he worked with, he loved the Church and he loved his country. All with burning passion. From him, I learned what excellence is all about and how to quest for it.

He was one of the few acknowledged Filipino biblical scholars. He did his biblical studies in a very different fashion. He read the scriptures with and for the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized of Philippine society. He saw and learned of the Christ through their eyes. He talked about the third look at Jesus. He studied the mystery of the Incarnation in the lives of the ordinary Filipino. He proclaimed Christ’s message of salvation in terms and images they could understand. His heart constantly beat with love. Anything and everything he had, he shared with all and everyone. I learned authentic Christian spirituality from him.

O Lord, I will sing of your salvation.

When he had gone out, Jesus said,
‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.
If God has been glorified in him,
God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.
Little children, I am with you only a little longer.
You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you,
“Where I am going, you cannot come.”
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.
Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.’
John 13:31-38

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Life Questions That Would Not Go Away

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Spirit Moments

Man has power over nature and the rest of creation because of his capacity to reason. Through this capacity, man has learned to harness the forces of nature, to make the fields bear fruits, to tame wild beasts and animals for his use and, then to use of all of these to make his life better. But man’s capacity to love is a more powerful gift than his capacity to reason. Often man does things out of love that do not stand to reason. A man would give up everything for the people he loves. In many extreme cases, a man would even give up his own life so that the people he loves may live. Love is wasteful and is prodigal in giving but it is the only way to live life as an authentic human being. Love brings light and salvation to men. Mary wasted very expensive perfume, often a woman’s most cherished possession, on the feet of the man she loved. What do I treasure most among my possessions? Can I willingly give it up for the people I love?

Often protestations of love and concern sound and appear reasonable but can sometimes be but greed and selfishness masquerading as true love and generosity. Indeed, why waste good perfume on the feet of an itinerant preacher? He will soon be on the road again and the perfume will just be wasted on the roads he will be walking. Wouldn’t it have been put to better use if it had been sold and the money used to feed the poor and hungry? A perfectly reasonable suggestion. I probably would have made it myself. But the real issue is the willingness to part with material possessions. Can I truly give without counting the cost? Can I labor and not be asking for rewards? Can I keep on giving until it hurts and hurts and finally hurts no more?

These are questions that I keep on mulling over in my prayers. In my head, I know the answers to my questions. My challenge is to let my heart feel my answers deeply that my life is changed to become Christ-like.

The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany,
where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served,
while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him.
Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil
made from genuine aromatic nard
and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair;
the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples,
and the one who would betray him, said,
“Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages
and given to the poor?”
John 12:1-11

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