More Than Just a Material World

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Spirit Moments

We live in a physical and material world. Yet, I know there is more to life than the physical and the material. Even science now posits multiple and parallel universes, coexisting in the same space but existing in different dimensions.

All life in this physical and material world follow the same cycle of birth, growth and death. Yet, I know that my life does not end in death but will go on forever. The physical and material world is intelligible and governed by certain laws and reason. Yet, the deepest truths I know go against the grain of reason. In the physical and material world, what I give away I lose. the food I give away is no longer available to me and the money I give away is no longer mine. Yet, when I give away that which is not physical nor material, I do not lose it but on the contrary multiply it. Like, I give away and share my talents like my capacity for learning or my ability to play games, I do not lose those abilities or capacities but on the contrary I make them stronger and I become better at them. The more I give away love, the more loving I become. The more I share my happiness, the more abundant my happiness becomes. The more forgiveness I give, the more forgiving I become.

Christ came to live in this physical and material world we live in. He was born, grew up, did his thing and was put to death. But throughout his life, he kept on teaching us there is more to life than this physical and material world. There are more truths and realities we can learn beyond our reason. There are realities and existences beyond what we are experiencing now. And he has promised all of that to us. The more I think about these things and the more advanced I get in years, the more these things make sense to me.

‘I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgement: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgement, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.’
John 16:5-11

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Witnessing to the Good News

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Spirit Moments

In today’s secular, technology-driven and materially oriented environment, God has been driven out from many places including some government offices. There could come a time when non-believers will outnumber and overpower believers. This might in fact be true already in some places.

And yet, I can also sense a deeper commitment and a more authentic witnessing among believers today. Pope Benedict, speaking from his European roots, was envisioning a Church with small numbers and lesser members but who would be more strongly committed to their faith. Pope Francis, coming from his Third World experience in Latin America, called for a stronger and simpler witnessing to our Faith by proclaiming the Good News to the poor, the peripheries, with humility and simplicity, in the ordinary actions of our everyday lives.

With my heart burning with the Spirit of truth, I will testify to the Risen Lord. For out of the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks out and testifies. A heart that is at peace will speak of peace. A heart burning with love will proclaim and do deeds of love. A heart filled with beauty will radiate that internal beauty in what it says and does. I will be sensitive and be open to the promptings of the Spirit within me.

Jesus said to the disciples, “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.
John 15:26-16:4

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Peace and Love

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Spirit Moments

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I love having spent my teens during the 60’s, the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. The children then of the Flower Generation, among whom I counted myself, preached Peace and Love. The epicenter of the Hippie movement was San Francisco. One of the popular songs then advised: “If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.” How amazing it is that in my later years, I would be living in the this area.

Most of the anxieties and lack of peace that people experience are caused by too much preoccupation with money. Hunger and poverty, which money could ostensibly solve, can be easily wiped out by money, of which we have more than enough. But greed and selfishness keeps that money locked away in banks and private safes. Like, how can one person amass more money than what the poorest countries can make in one year. Yet, money is truly an illusion. Watch, for example, money locked in say mutual funds. On a good day at the markets, you can see its value rising. On a bad day, you watch its value falling. And during a financial meltdown, you can see the value of your money get wiped out.

Love is more real than money. Jane’s love for me will be a source of great joy and consolation in my last moments here on earth. My love for her will be her strength and comfort as she grows up into the wonderful lady she is destined to be. Anabelle’s love for her students will be with them as they remember the excitement of this weekend as they receive their First Communion. For some of them, this will be truly a momentous event. Knowing I am loved and that I have loved truly and deeply brings me peace that no amount of money can buy.

The Hippies of my Generation were on to something real. It is this: Peace, Man! Make Love not war.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
John 14:23-29

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Going Home

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Spirit Moments

Ever since I could remember, I have always felt different and unique and therefore immeasurably blessed. Not better in comparison with others but just one of a kind like no other. And because I am unique I can belong only to one who is infinitely unique. Growing up, going to school, working at a career, settling down here in the US – I have always felt I did not belong. This was specially true when I was at the peak of my career as a senior executive. I felt a stranger in the corporate boardrooms and the corridors of power and influence I used to frequent then. I knew in my heart that I belonged somewhere else. I felt more at home being with the poor and those in need of help. But then I suspected that I was really being self-centered because I was in ‘superior’ position vis-a-vis the poor and the needy. Even now, I feel a stranger in the groups and communities I try and want to be a part of.

Yet behind these feelings of not belonging, of being a stranger are the strong feelings of longing for a home I already knew and have been to before. In my sleep, I have recurring dreams of flying, of being in a place where time and space do not exist. In my waking hours, I experience small things that make me see how everything else make sense and fit together perfectly. I am amazed, for example, how perfectly Jane fits into the crook of my arm when she snuggles close to me. Or how perfectly made my back is for Jonathan when he rides me piggy back. Or, how my two arms are the perfect one-size-fits-them-all instruments for giving warm embraces to people I love and care for. No high-tech precision engineering can match those perfect snug and fit.

There is a nagging and persistent voice that echoes within me the motto of St. Stanislaus Kostka: “Ad maiora natus sum.” I am born for greater things. There is definitely more to life than what we are currently experiencing or going through. I am currently engrossed with a book ( Proof of Heaven ) about the near death experience of Dr. Eben Alexander, a top-notch neuro-surgeon, who is a hard-nosed and skeptical scientist-researcher not given to sentiments often associated with spirituality or religion. He writes in the Prologue:
“My experience showed me that the death of the body and the brain are not the end of consciousness, that human experience continues beyond the grave. More important, it continues under the gaze of a god who loves and cares about each one of us and about where the universe itself and all the beings within it are ultimately going.”

I know to whom I truly belong and it is to Him I am eventually going home to.

Jesus said to his disciples, “If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world–therefore the world hates you.
John 15:18-21

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Coming Home

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Spirit Moments

If today were to be my last day, how would I spend it? Would I immediately go to a priest and go to confession to put my spiritual house in order? Or, would I spend it before the Blessed Sacrament and wait until the angel of death comes for me? No, I would like to spend it like it any other ordinary day: bring Jonathan and Jane to school, take my daily walk with Anabelle, set up a doctor’s appointment for her, greet and connect with friends online and offline, and maybe grill our dinner for tonight. For life has flowed even before I was and life will go on after I am gone. I will go with that flow till my time on earth is over.

If, by some special revelation, I were told today that there was no afterlife and that life is over when it is over, would I act and do things any differently? Am I one of those who “in piety go because of a heaven to follow?” No, I would still live by the same values and principles I have chosen to live by all my life even if there were no paradise on the other side. For I have seen how love changes people and how serving others is more meaningful and rewarding by itself than just looking after one’s self.

And if I were to finally move on to the other side, what would be my greatest fear? At this stage of my life, I am not afraid of the end for it inevitably comes to everyone. I can even steel myself for any pain that might come with my final days. But I am afraid and I do not want to be a burden to those I would leave behind. And my greatest fear is that I would already be standing before my Lord and my God and I would not recognize him, that I am already in eternal bliss and do not realize it, that the Lord would still need to rebuke me like he did Philip that after all these times I still did not know him. My prayer at my final hour is to be able to say with joy and with feelings of finally coming home: “It is the Lord!”

Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
John 14:6-14

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ImageLast night was our ILM Graduation. After three years of study, 46 of us completed this inspiring and inspired Faith Formation program of the Diocese of San Jose. It was a night of grace and blessings as we recieved our certificates in the presence of our family and friends, gathered together as a community of love.

The ILM program has opened my eyes in so many ways. As a catechist, I cannot teach what I do not know; I cannot give what I do not have and I cannot share what is not in my heart. My classes at the ILM taught me how much richer our Faith is; and how alive and dynamic it is. When Moses came down from the sacred mountain, he brought to the Israelites the ten commandments carved in stone. When Jesus gave us his new commandment (“Love as I have loved you.”), he etched it in the heart of everyone of his disciples. And because this commandment of love is etched in the human heart, it is alive, vibrant, dynamic. It is ever changing yet remains the same.

Through the ILM, I have come to experience this vibrancy and dynamism of our Faith. Our Faith is alive, ever changing, yet it remains the same as it becomes deeper, grows stronger  and spreads out ever more widely. I have always thought I knew my Faith because of my seminary education. My three years in the ILM made me realize how much more there is to this Faith I treasure and how richer it has become through the lived experience and the common reflection and discernment of the Church. It made me realize that my Faith is inter-racial. Last night, we prayed and sang together as one community in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Filipino. I love the deep commitment and action driven faith of the Americans. I love the heartfelt and passionate devotion of the Spanish community, specially their devotion to our Lady of Guadalupe. I love the quiet and strong caring there is in the Vietnamese community. I also came to appreciate the Filipino roots of my faith being enriched by the other races in this multicultural and truly catholic Church. And there many other races and cultures present: Chinese, Korean, Indian, Mid-Eastern. Everyone is welcome here.

The community was also inter-generational: from the budding faith of children like Jonathan and Jane who came to congratulate me, to the young adults whom Mickey is helping to form as their faith grows into maturity, to young professionals like Martin and Kathleen and Mickey struggling to keep their faith active and relevant in an environment that is secular and materialistic, to mature adults holding on to a faith that gives them strength and courage to face the changes and challenges of earning a living and raising a family, to seniors like me who are straddling between still being of service in their remaining years and stepping slowly into eternity.

Different races, different cultures, different generations, all sorts of struggles. Gathered together in the name of Jesus and the commandment of love that he preached. Inspired by the Spirit to do good and bear his fruits. Hoping to attain the joy that comes with being one with the Father. Praying the our joy may be complete.

Jesus said to his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.“
John 15:9-11

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Spirit Moments | Comments Off on Our ILM Graduation

Dignity of Labor

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Spirit Moments

“It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.” thus replied Batman when Rachel asked him his name.

Today is labor day, a celebration of the dignity of human labor. For many years, labor has often been defined in terms of manual and physical labor. In recent years, labor has also come to include intellectual labor and knowledge work. In both cases, man is defined by the work that he does and he finds fulfillment in the fruits of his labor. Nothing can be more punishing than doing work one does not enjoy or love doing. And nothing can be more dehumanizing that not finding work to do or being denied the right to work.

Man’s natural state is not rest nor sleep. These are but necessary interludes to prepare us for the next day’s work. Man’s natural state is to be productive, to make things out of the resources available to him, both his own talents and the materials found in nature. Thus, by the sweat of his brow, man eats his food and lives. Labor is often defined in terms of the money that is paid for it. But not all labor can be defined in terms of money. Some meaningful labor is not and cannot be measured in terms of money, like raising a family, or rearing children, or making a household, or just being there when others need one’s presence. Milton, on his blindness, wrote: “They also serve who only stand and wait.”

While labor cannot always be measured in money terms, it can always be seen in the fruits that it bears. The fruits of labor depend on the spirit that inspires it. If labor is inspired by the Spirit, then its fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith,  meekness, temperance. If driven by the flesh, the fruits of labor are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings. Thus, St. Paul tells us through his letter to the Galatians.

I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
John 15:1-8

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Simple and Pure

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Spirit Moments

I know that trouble and turmoil are as much a part of living as breathing and eating are. But still they cause a thorny discomfort that I would sooner get rid off and be on my way. Sometimes,  the pain and the ache are due to something external to me and I either remedy or walk away from the situation or occasion. At other times, they just come as an unbidden wave welling within me and refuse to go away; then I just steel myself and wait for the wave to wash over.

There are joyful moments too. It can be momentous event like my graduation from ILM to morrow evening. Or, it can be something as simple as Jane walking into our room in the morning to give us morning kisses. Where sad moments tend to linger and tarry and even sometimes fester, happy moments are often gone sooner than I would want them to be over.

When I think of my life, I would remember both the good times and the bad times. And as I am pondering over these thoughts, two words keep on popping up in my mind: simplify and purify. Simplify – cut down on my needs, throw away all the garbage, make do with less, stop wanting to save the world. Purify – get out all the dirt inside, clean up my motives, chuck all hidden agenda, mean what say and say what I mean. Simple and pure – just like water. And then pray that Peace washes over me, within me and around me.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
John 14:27-31

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Modern-day Sports Events as Religion

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Spirit Moments

Last night, Mickey and I watched the Warriors game with several of his friends. It was an electrifying experience. It is probably the closest thing to a religious event in today’s post modern, secular society with ginormous sports arena serving as the cathedrals where people congregate to ‘adore’ their teams and express their belief. And there were probably many in that crowd last night who, given a choice between going to mass or watching the game, chose to watch the game.

There was a strong sense of a community coming together to celebrate and give support and joy to their team, the Warriors, and to one another. There was a strong feeling of a unifying bond, very close to love, that pervaded the whole atmosphere. Everyone was a friend and a comrade in a common cause. People gave high fives to one another, even to complete strangers, instantly establishing a common connection. There was a palpable connection between the team on the floor and the crowds in the stands and the galleries. They came clad in the same colors and the same attire. They prayed for and with the Warriors to protect, defend, battle, unite, believe – with these prayers/mantras emblazoned on many a shirt.

Man needs something sublime and mystical to lift him out of his humdrum existence. Early man, primitive though he was, tried to express this need by taking colors from the earth and rocks from the ground to adorn his cave dwelling with petroglyphs. And modern man turns to sporting events to celebrate that eternal human longing to become better, stronger, faster and strive for something higher. Christ revealed to us the reason for the cave man’s drawings and modern man’s fascination with speed and strength. It is a longing for a home we are all dreaming of to finally come to one day.

Jesus answered him, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.’
John 14:21-26

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Loving As We Have Been Loved

Posted on April 28, 2013 by Spirit Moments

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The Philippines is a very romantic place and the Filipinos are a very amorous people. We have at least seven words for ‘love’: ibig, irog, mahal, sinta, liyag, suyo, giliw. All of them, however, express love as eros. Eros is the romantic and erotic kind of love. It is a burning desire that ardently seeks the other for one’s pleasure and satisfaction. It is the romantic feeling that gives one butterflies in the stomach, lumps in the throat, makes the heart beat faster and the knees a bit wobbly. It is a heady feeling of falling in love. It drives the very young and is often fueled by their raging hormones. Eros is about taking and receiving and finds its fulfillment in release.

Philos is a more serene and sustained kind of love. It is the kind of love that cares for the children born out of eros. It is the same kind of love that children have for their parents and the people who have brought them into this world. Philos is also expressed through the knowledge and wisdom parents and elders hand down to their children and the youth. This is love of wisdom as in philos sophia. Love in the family is later expanded to include others as friends. True friendship is also philos. Philos is about caring for others, not out of need but more out of gratitude and genuine appreciation and unselfish affection.

Agape is the most sublime kind of love. It brings man closest to the divine. It is also about taking and receiving, about caring and sharing, and more. It is the kind of love that would forgive one’s enemies and do good to those who hate us. It is the kind of love that would lay down his life for his friends. Agape is about turning the other cheek, carrying the cross, making life fuller and more abundant. It is loving as Christ has loved us.

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 13:31-33,34-35

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