God's Word and Daily Life

The gospels tell us that Peter knew Jesus for at least three years. He was one of his closest friends and followers. He heard Jesus speak and teach, he saw Jesus work miracles. Peter was at the Last Supper with Jesus; he was witness to all that happed to Jesus. And, as we know Peter not only witnesses these events, he was directly involved in them. Famously, he denied that he even knew Jesus as he was being arrested and beaten prior to his crucifixion and death. Peter lost faith in Jesus, but Jesus never lost his faith in Peter.

When Jesus appeared to his friends after the resurrection, he asked Peter not once, but three times whether he loved Jesus! When Peter says he did love him, Jesus said to him, ‘Look after my sheep… feed my sheep.’ So Peter, the very one who denied and disowned Jesus is now called, chosen and entrusted with responsibility of leading this new infant group called ‘The Christians,’which will eventually become the Church, the People of God.

Given his history, no one in their right mind would have picked Peter to lead the new church. But God’s ways are not our ways. God does not choose the powerful, the wealthy, the clever or the important. God chooses the least likely who have the most potential. As it says in the Old Testament; God does not look at outer appearances, but at  the heart of a person.

By Mel Jasmin

With the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist on June 24, we reflect upon the life and legacy of he who was “great in the sight of the Lord.” St. John is perhaps best known for his baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, marking the beginning of Jesus’ public career.

John was born to Elizabeth, who had been barren for years and advanced in age when she conceived. When the angel Gabriel appeared to her husband Zechariah to tell him of John’s conception, he declared of the child:

 [H]e will be great in the sight of [the] Lord. He will drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.” (Luke 1:15-17)

A child of the desert, John grew up and lived as a hermit in the Judean wilderness, eating a diet of locusts and wild honey, and clad in camel hair clothing – details which may be reflective of strict commitments to Nazarite law (Matthew 3:4). In his late twenties John left and began his ministry preaching by the Jordan River, yet the wilderness of Judea remained a definitive aspect of John’s identity. In John 1:23, when the Pharisees ask him who he was, he answered with the language of Isaiah, saying:

I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the desert,

 Make straight the way of the Lord.’

By Mel Jasmin

“But as blessed as I was to have been given such a strong, proud mother, Father’s Day sometimes makes me think about what I lost as a boy.”

But as blessed as I was to have been given such a strong, proud mother, Father’s Day sometimes makes me think about what I lost as a boy. I sometimes imagine what it would have been like to have seen my dad sitting right there alongside my mom on all of those special occasions. To have benefitted from the wisdom of his experience as I faced the choices and challenges of adolescence. How proud he would have been of me and my siblings. And, how wonderful it would be today to be able to throw my arm around his shoulders and simply say, “Thank you, Dad, for all that you’ve done for me.”

The key to a happy life, however, is not to ruminate about what we don’t have, but to be grateful to God for the many people He has brought into our lives, for however long. Equally important is that we extend that gratitude by offering our compassion to those who struggle. To be someone in someone else’s life—a person for whom another person is grateful. It’s nothing short of what our Father asks of us. His will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

So many of our young people come from homes without a father—up to 86% in fact. Meanwhile, they’ve also had to cope with so much more than my family did. I struggle to imagine what would life would have been like for my mother and for us had circumstances in our lives been vastly different. Had we been surrounded by poverty and powerlessness. By broken streets and boarded up buildings. By crime and violence. By disillusionment and despair. We had others in our lives who helped us get through, who helped us succeed.

By Father Bernard Holzer, AA

“Ninety-seven (97%) of Filipino Catholics believe that the Holy Eucharist is actual body and blood of Christ”

This was the result of the Veritas Truth Survey conducted by Church-run Radio Veritas.

When I was reading these news, I remembered one of my sharings with Dom Helder Camara, Archbishop of Olinda and Recife, serving from 1964 to 1985, during the military dictatorship in Brazil.

"One day, grieving faithful came to inform me that thieves had broken the tabernacle in one of the churches, had stolen the ciboriums and spread the consecrated hosts on the ground. They asked me to preside over a celebration of atonement. During this celebration, I asked this question: "How is it that we are so outraged by the desecration of consecrated hosts and so little by the inhumane living conditions of slum dwellers? Aren't they also the body of Christ? »

Saint John Chrysostom in the fourth century already challenged his faithful in the same way: “Do you wish to honor the body of the Savior? Do not despise him when it is naked. Do not honor him in the church with silk vestments while outside he is naked and numb with cold.”

(Quoted by Pope Francis in “Fratelli Tutti”, §74)

During this pandemic, where many of us were deprived of the Eucharist, did we encounter Christ in the suffering and in the poor?

By Mel Jasmin

On Sunday, the Church commemorates the solemnity of the Corpus Christi (Latin, it means the Body of Christ). The body of Christ is the living bread from heaven which he gave to us as his ultimate oblation during the last supper.

The body of Christ in a form of bread should be shared with everyone so they may have life. And when one eats the body of Christ, he/ she will live in the Lord and will have life eternal until the last day. The assurance of Jesus to the people that if they will live their lives in accordance to God’s will and will take Jesus as their bread of life, they will be with God forever.

Every organic being eats. Eating is a very important biological activity in life in order to live. One cannot live without eating. In our gospel reading, Jesus had made a very intriguing remark which provoked the Jews to react. There was confusion that led to a quarrel among the Jews especially those who heard Jesus’ exhortation about himself. The image of the living bread from heaven is absurd for them. And whoever would eat the bread will live forever as the bread would sustain him/ her till the end of time.

Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus declared that He is the living bread that came down from heaven. The living bread is referred to Jesus’ flesh, his body to be eaten by those who want to live forever, and his blood as the drink. This statement was not acceptable to the Jews as it was blasphemous for one to claim that he is from God and to declare that he is living bread from heaven. The bread that gives life and sustains life, unlike the bread that the ancestors of the people of Israel who ate manna (food) in the wilderness but died. It is because they have not known God fully well as they murmured and always complained.

By Mel Jasmin

Next Sunday, we celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. We remember during this Feast the God is one in three divine persons – the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, reveals Himself in the Bible. The Bible clearly tells us there is only one God. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one”. At the same time, we encounter multiple passages in the Bible that show that the one God consists of more persons. This is hard for us to understand. We should realize that is not because of a logical contradiction, but because of our limitations. That the complexity and beauty of God’s being surpasses our understanding is not strange. He is God and we are man.

The third chapter of John’s Gospel John proclaims that the Father loves the world and sent His Son to share eternal life with all who believe. The God, we contemplate today is present in, with and for us. The story of God’s love, Jesus, the Word Incarnate, draws us into His relationship with God as Father.

If you notice, Jesus as the “Son” is referred to three times in this passage, but the Holy Spirit is not mentioned. We come to know and recognize the Spirit in the love that is poured out into the world through the oneness of the Father and Son.

The first reading (Exodus 34:4-9) and the Gospel emphasize the power, mercy and love of God. In the second reading (2 Corinthians 13:11-13), Paul confirms that God is a “God of love and peace”. The reading from 2 Corinthians is the only one that mentions all three Persons of the Trinity. The Alleluia verse reminds us that all three Persons of the Trinity share in glory: “Glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit: To God who is, who was, and who is to come.”

A bit of interest: The Doxology was instituted in 1674. The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity was instated in the Third Century.

By Mel Jasmin

This Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate the birthday of the Catholic Church.

We are the Church. In an amazing paradox, the Holy Spirit unites us as one, despite and because of our differences. Each of us is a unique reflection of God. Each of us has his or her own gifts, our own manifestations of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit; and yet, we are all the same.  Each of us and all of us are the Church. We are transformed into a Living Body, the Body of Christ, just as the first disciples on Pentecost Sunday were transformed by the Holy Spirit into Church.

Like those disciples who, once they received the Spirit, became apostles, we have to leave the Upper Room, the false security of our own little worlds, and dive into the world, leap into the world, bring who we are, Church, to the world. And we do this. We preach with our lives and, as St Francis of Assisi said, if necessary, with our words. We proclaim the eternal life offered for all who are willing to confess Jesus and accept His Gospel, live His Life.  And others hear a language touching their hearts, yelling inside their hearts.  We speak as Church and the Holy Spirit animates, brings life to those seeking meaning for life.  We live as the Church we are, and others are drawn by the Spirit to be Church. 

And yes, sadly, we can reject the Holy Spirit. We can close our ears and our hearts to His call to affirm the Gospel, to His call to reach out to others, to His call to embrace the Way with our lives, but then we are not just rejecting a particular grace, we are rejecting God. Simply put, I do not have the right to treat my Catholicism merely as though I am a member of a group. None of us has that right. I have a responsibility to the world; we have a responsibility to the world, to be Church.

By Father Bernard Holzer, aa

May starts with Labor Day!

In this time of pandemic, it’s a moment to reflect on a reality.

Let’s take some minutes to refocus on our life.

Work is an essential pillar of spiritual life.

That's the great lesson of the monks. Anthony the Great, the first of the fathers of the desert and father of the monks asked God: "How can we be saved?"

And God answered him: "Ora and Labora" (Pray and work), which became the motto of the Benedictines.

Work allows us to live, to help those in need, it also raises the soul because it gives meaning to life. Giving someone work is allowing them to live and grow.

“Work should be the setting for this rich personal growth where many aspects of life enter into play: creativity, planning for the future, developing our talents, living out our values, relating to others, giving glory to God.” - Pope Francis in “Laudato Si”

How do I consider the work I do?

Does it allow me to live and give life? Is it flourishing?

What do I need to change?

By Father Bernard Holzer, aa

On May 1^st, Pope Francis inaugurated a “Marathon of Prayer” for an end to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In communion with the 30 sanctuaries in the world associated to his initiative, let us pray every day with him:

"O Mary, Comforter of the afflicted, embraces all your children in tribulation and obtain from God to intervene with his all-powerful hand to free us from this terrible pandemic, so that life may resume in serenity its normal course."

“Most loving Mother, grant that the sense of belonging to one great family, in the awareness of the bond that unites us all, might grow in the world; so that, with a spirit of fraternity and solidarity, we might come to the aid of the many people who are poor and the many situations of misery. Encourage firmness in faith, perseverance in service, constancy in prayer.”

                               “Hail Mary, full of grace…”

 And let us continue the marathon of the community pantries to help the poor and to be for them a sign of God’s care: « Give what you can, take what you need. »