How Can I Make This For Three

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Spirit Moments

In the original score of the musical Sound of Music, these beautiful lines were part of the song “You are sixteen going on seventeen”:

A bell is no bell till you ring it
A song is no song till you sing it
And love in your heart wasn't put there to stay
Love isn't love till you give it away.

The heart knows it – love is not love unless we give it away. We do not save what we keep for ourselves but we multiply what we give to others. Nature knows it. Unless a seed dies and gives up its life, no new life is ever possible. Science knows it – what we do not use we lose.  Muscles that are not used nor exercised soon waste away and get atrophied. Even in finance, money that is left idle soon loses its value to inflation.

People often ask the question, “What’s in it for me?” in making a decision. It is very natural and usually the first thing that comes to my mind when I have to choose. And I often wonder how I can change that natural impulse to make it more Christian, in keeping with Christ’s promise and challenge of making things a hundredfold more, or even a thousandfold more.

“How can I make this for three?” I am able to move beyond myself. I create more thus I have more to share. I am rewarded as Christ promised a hundredfold and even a thousandfold. Then, the bell is rung; the song is sung and love has grown deep.

To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
~ Psalm 50

Peter began to say to Jesus,
‘We have given up everything and followed you.”
Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.
But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
Mark 10:28-31

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Three Levels of Being Good

Posted on May 25, 2015 by Spirit Moments

Everyone wants to be good and do what is just. Deep in every person’s heart is the desire to attain eternal life, enlightenment, salvation, heaven, Nirvana. Yet, it also seems obvious that there are destructive and negative forces within each one that pull, push and drive us to the opposite direction.  We have inordinate desires that enslave and tie us to the ground, self-serving tendencies that would have us harm or even hurt others, narrow-mindedness that prevent us from seeing the greater good.

There are three levels of goodness. The first level is to avoid doing that which is evil, hurtful, or destructive. Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. This is the minimum. But often this minimum can be easily distorted through devious disambiguation. Like, if I were to steal just a small amount, does that make me bad? Or, isn’t it better for a criminal to be condemned to die before he causes anymore pain and trouble to others? Or, if I tell little white lies to protect another person, am I doing wrong? The source of the this difficulty is that it is too focused on me, myself. In the end, I end up making decision based on what is good for me.

The second level of goodness focuses on the other: sell what you have and give to the poor. I forget my needs and instead focus on the needs of others. I make my decisions based on what is good for others. I give up my life so that others may live. I shed the excesses I may have accumulated and share these with others. This is a higher level of being good. But one may still be tempted to share only from one’s abundance. The challenge is to be able to share even out of one’s emptiness and neediness. This is the reason to the challenge to sell what one has.

The highest level of goodness is to let go and let God. This is total surrender to God’s will and his providence. I make my decisions according to God’s will. Very few have managed to do this but it is not impossible to do. St. Francis of Assisi did. Mother Teresa did. Mahatma Gandhi did. Albert Schweitzer did. With God’s grace, it is possible. For all things are possible for God.

Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
~ Psalm 32

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up,
knelt down before him, and asked him,
“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus answered him, “You know the commandments”

He replied and said to him,
“Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.”
Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him,
“You are lacking in one thing.
Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor
and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

So Jesus again said to them in reply,
“Children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God!
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.”

Jesus looked at them and said,
“For men it is impossible, but not for God.
All things are possible for God.”

Mark 10:17-27

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Under the Influence

Posted on May 24, 2015 by Spirit Moments

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Europe today is held up by many as the model of a successful humanist secular society, driven mainly by rationalistic science, pragmatic technology and market-oriented capitalism. The principles of socialism move much of the social discourse and inspire many of the political decisions. Religion has been pretty much relegated into the background and peripheries of national decision-making.

And yet, the places we saw during our brief visit there were replete with signs of Europe’s Christian past. There were many magnificent churches, some of which are still in use as churches; but many have been converted to other uses like museums, art galleries, even pubs and restaurants. Punctually every hour, we would hear the bells of some distant church tolling the hours. We were in Copenhagen on Ascension Thursday and it was a national holiday. So are Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Pentecost in most of Europe.

It is kind of ironic that the continent that brought Christianity to the colonies during their heyday has practically shed off its Christian identity. Several years ago, as the European Union was planning a great jubilee to celebrate Europe and its history, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger lobbied that Europe acknowledged its Christian heritage. Its Graeco-Roman roots were honored but there was no mention of its Christian roots.

And yet, as I walked the streets of Amsterdam and Copenhagen, I felt the Spirit alive. In the openness and welcoming attitude of the Dutch. In the creativity and discipline of the Danes. Did I feel love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control while trying to feel and soaking in the zeitgeist of the place? Somehow, I did. I felt there was something about the places we went to that gave them these special character. And these are the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

I am a Filipino living now in the United States. To rephrase an old advertising jingle, you can me out of the Philippines but you can never take out the Philippines in me.  Europe may have become secular but embedded deep in her DNA is the Christian gene.

Today is the feast of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit. Cardinal Ratzinger once described the Holy Spirit “as the power through which the Risen Lord remains present in the history of the world.” I am thinking of the millions of people who have been inspired and have lived by the words of the Risen Lord. Throughout the ages. Doing good works out of  love. Serving without asking for reward. Giving and not counting the cost.

Pentecost means that through the Holy Spirit, I/We remain under the influence. The influence of the one and only commandment of love. Under the influence of the Crucified Lord. Under the influence of the Risen Savior. Under the influence and care of a loving Father.

Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
~ Psalm 104

On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.” 
John 20:19-23

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There Is No Plan B

Posted on May 23, 2015 by Spirit Moments

Whenever I reflect on the early days after Jesus ascended to heaven, I imagine halcyon days of love, service and commitment. I imagine all the apostles of sainted memory and the disciples who worked with them coming together every chance they got to celebrate the Eucharist and to be the source of strength and happiness for one another. The early Christian communities were easily noticeable for they impressed others by the joy in their lives and the love they showed and had for one another. They had a certain glow because of the indwelling of the Spirit among them.

But a closer look shows that it was not all tongues of fire and songs of joy. These early followers of Christ had to struggle through a lot of challenges. Internally, there was bickering among them. There were people dipping their fingers into the till. There were the problems of exclusions. There were disagreements on who could be baptized and over what was expected from those to be baptized. Externally, there was the hatred and condemnation from the Jewish authorities. Later, there would be the persecution by the Roman authorities. Soon, to be a Christian meant certain death at the hands of the Jews or of the Romans. Very much like what is happening now in some Muslim lands in the Middle East.

The apostles were no different. Right after the Resurrection and just before Christ ascended into heaven, Peter perhaps in a pique of sibling rivalry or jealous curiosity asked Him “Lord, what about him?” referring to John. And this only after Christ had asked the same Peter, “Do you love me more than these?”

In the end, it is all about God writing straight with crooked lines, about making the cornerstone that stone which they builders had rejected, about transforming Adam’s happy fault into the great story of our salvation, about proclaiming the one and only commandment of love.

Sometimes, when faced with all that is wrong in the world, I wonder if God has a Plan B, in case love does not work. Can he not make it to rain fire and brimstone to knock some sense into our heads? Sometimes I think that time is coming as we reap the fruits of our despoilment of our planet. God says, “There is no Plan B. There is only love.” But love can get us killed if we don’t fight back! God replies, “Yes, it could and it might. Why do you think I had to die on the cross?”

The just will gaze on your face, O Lord.
~ Psalm 11

Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved,
the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper
and had said, “Master, who is the one who will betray you?”
When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”
Jesus said to him, “What if I want him to remain until I come?
What concern is it of yours?  You follow me.”
So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple would not die.
But Jesus had not told him that he would not die,
just “What if I want him to remain until I come?
What concern is it of yours?”

It is this disciple who testifies to these things
and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.
There are also many other things that Jesus did,
but if these were to be described individually,
I do not think the whole world would contain the books
that would be written.
John 21:20-25

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Words of Love

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Spirit Moments

Stating a scientific principle, like Newtons’ Third Law of Motion “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”, over and over again does not change its meaning. It does not add nor subtract anything to what is meant. Even unstated or unspoken, the truth of the statement remains.

It is different when it comes to love and the language of love. Words of love are meant to be repeated and the meaning of love becomes richer with each repetition. And the strange thing is that unstated and unspoken, whether in words or in deeds, love eventually dies. Saying ‘I love you” to persons I love makes me stronger in that love and also strengthens my loved ones in my love for them.

Anabelle and I had an overload of love messages from family and friends for our 40th anniversary. But then again, there can never be an overload of love affirmations. No word of love is ever wasted. Once spoken, it works its magic like magic. Yes, we can never say “I love you” often enough.

May I never have to wait for someone to ask me “Do you love me?” before I say these words that are so life-giving and life-affirming to them.

The Lord has established his throne in heaven.
~ Psalm 103

After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them,
he said to Simon Peter,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He then said to Simon Peter a second time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
He said to him the third time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time,
“Do you love me?” and he said to him,
“Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger,
you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted;
but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will dress you
and lead you where you do not want to go.”
He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.
And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”
John 21:15-19

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Grateful For Forty Years

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Spirit Moments

This is the day the Lord has made for me and Anabelle. Forty years ago today, we exchanged our marital vows. In those years, I have learned what it meant for two hearts to become as one. We have shared both laughter and tears, joys and sorrows. We have known each other like no one else have. Yet, we remain two distinct and different persons. Yet, there is still a lot to learn about each other.

Forty years is a lifetime. I am grateful for all the graces and blessings Anabelle has brought into my life. One close friend has said it all once when she said that I cannot really count my blessings unless I start with Anabelle. I could not have gone this far in life without her by my side. Even the most ordinary and mundane things become extraordinary and memorable because I do and share these with her.

By their fruits, you shall know them. I only have to look at our three sons to be affirmed in the love Anabelle and I have for each other. And with her, the love keeps on growing in ever widening circles of service and commitment. I love the ministry we have shared in preparing young couples for marriage and, today, in preparing young people to receive the sacraments.

It has been a wonderful life and I bow down my head in amazement at the wondrous deeds the Lord has wrought in our lives, in humble realization that we did not really deserve any of these blessings and that they have been given us as pure gift, in deep gratitude for such abundant and overflowing grace totally undeserved and unmerited, in heartfelt sorrow for the times that I doubted or squandered or felt totally entitled to such blessings.

Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
~ Psalm 16

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:
“I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Father, they are your gift to me.
I wish that where I am they also may be with me,
that they may see my glory that you gave me,
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
John 17:20-26

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Paradoxes Yet Again

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Spirit Moments

Life is paradoxical and full of contradictions.
Like, life is a precious gift to me; and yet I cannot just live it for myself.
A fruitful and consequential life is meant to be lived in the love and service of others.
And sometimes that would mean giving up my life,
or at least some or a part of it,
so that others my live.

In my life, I have been endowed with freedom and choice.
It is what distinguishes me from all other living things on earth.
And yet, the fulfillment of my freedom is in surrendering it to God’s will.
I am free but I am often enslaved by my passions and sin.
I become free again by surrendering to Him
who has freed me from my passions and sin.

I am an embodied consciousness, living in this world.
This world is the only reality I know.
And yet, there are stirrings in me
that say that I do not belong to this world.
Paradoxical and so contrary to reason it might be,
I know there is another existence waiting for me,
beyond the present time and space I see,
for all eternity.

Sometimes, I truly wonder:
Have I gone mad, having lost all my rationality?
When I encounter in prayer the Person
who said all of these things to me
that is when everything makes sense
and I see the rhyme and the reason in my life
and the world around me.

Sing to God, O Kingdoms of the earth.
~ Psalm 68

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying:
“I speak this in the world
so that they may share my joy completely.
I gave them your word, and the world hated them,
because they do not belong to the world
any more than I belong to the world.
I do not ask that you take them out of the world
but that you keep them from the Evil One.
They do not belong to the world
any more than I belong to the world.
Consecrate them in the truth.
Your word is truth.
As you sent me into the world,
so I sent them into the world.
And I consecrate myself for them,
so that they also may be consecrated in truth.”

John 17:11-19
 
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Knowing What Truly Life Is

Posted on May 19, 2015 by Spirit Moments

In my recent travels, I have been amazed by what men have been able to accomplish over the centuries: the pyramids of the Maya, the churches and palaces in Europe, the cities within which these monuments were built. These did not just appear out of nowhere. There were very creative and ingenious builders who constructed them. Their grandeur and beauty are simply astounding and point to the genius of their builders.

I look at the greater beauty and grandeur there is in nature and I am even more astounded: the richness and variety of life, the passing of the seasons, the splendor of the stars. These did not appear out of nowhere either. There must have been a creative and ingenious Creator who made it all.

I know that there is a God who created all that I see and experience. But I do not know Him like I know the people I love. And even there I often struggle. The God who made this vast universe is simply too boundless for my mind to truly comprehend. But I can feel and sense Him in His handiworks: in the world I live in, in the person that I am, in the people He has brought into my life, in the daily experiences of life and of love with the people around me.

Yes, life – and it has always been meant to be eternal – is all about knowing the only one true God who created all that there is.

Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.
~ Psalm 86

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said,
“Father, the hour has come.
Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you,
just as you gave him authority over all people,
so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him.
Now this is eternal life,
that they should know you, the only true God,
and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
I glorified you on earth
by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do.
Now glorify me, Father, with you,
with the glory that I had with you before the world began.” 
John 17:1-11

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Real Encounters With Christ

Posted on May 18, 2015 by Spirit Moments

We are still in the great season of Easter when parishes welcome new members into the community through the moving rites of Christian initiation – Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist. Sacrament, Word of God and Community become particularly meaningful for me during this period.

I love the rituals, the ceremonies, the prayers and the songs during the Rites of Initiation. There was a time in the past these were the best show in town. But to be stuck in them is to miss the whole meaning of these actions. Sacraments are real encounters with the person of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit He has promised us. The rites and the words only serve to connect us with the Person who called us into communion with Him. And we are initiated into that community through these sacraments.

I love the Word of God. I find solace and deep meaning in the inspiring words that I read in the Gospels. Whatever my disposition on any given day, I can find the appropriate words to inspire me in the words, stories, or parables of Jesus. But these are more than just another inspiring quote. It is encountering the Person who uttered these words, who told us these parables and who lived out these stories. In the person of Jesus, the Word of the Father became flesh and dwelt among us.

I love the Church community. In it, I find my friends and my inspirations. Through the service I contribute, I find personal meaning and fulfillment. But the Church is more than just one happy social club. It is where I truly encounter the person of Christ in the people I meet there. He has said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” Sometimes, it is easy to feel His presence among us. At other times, it is difficult and well nigh impossible to see Him in our bickering, bumblings and stumbling. But through it all, His presence abides.

Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.
~ Psalm 68

While Apollos was in Corinth,
Paul traveled through the interior of the country
and down to Ephesus where he found some disciples.
He said to them,
“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”
They answered him,
“We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
He said, “How were you baptized?”
They replied, “With the baptism of John.”
Paul then said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance,
telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him,
that is, in Jesus.”
When they heard this,
they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul laid his hands on them,
the Holy Spirit came upon them,
and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
Altogether there were about twelve men.

He entered the synagogue, and for three months debated boldly
with persuasive arguments about the Kingdom of God.

Acts 19:1-8

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Like The Windmill.

Posted on May 17, 2015 by Spirit Moments

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What goes up must come down.
That is the reality of life since time began.
We toss our dreams up into the air
And they soon fall back broken. Not fair.

We go up in flights of fancy and dream
We get all fired up and full of steam
But soon enough along comes trouble
To bring us down and burst our bubble.

What goes down must come up.
That is the good news and it’s not just perhaps.
A seed must fall to the ground to come up again
Christ ascended into to heaven so with us He can remain.

Life is like a trampoline where one can prance
The higher the fall, the farther up the bounce.
The deeper we fall, the higher up we rise
Our smiles often sweetened by our cries.

What goes around come around.
That has always been the golden rule.
For we reap whatever it is we sow
Our giving decides how much we grow and glow.

What goes out of the mouth comes from the heart.
Through our words, our inmost soul we impart.
The mystical event of Christ’s heavenly ascension
Imparts the reality that He is our constant companion.

God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
~ Psalm 47

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Go into the whole world
and proclaim the gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,
was taken up into heaven
and took his seat at the right hand of God.
But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.
Mark 16:15-20

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