Nov. 25, 2018 Feast of Christ the King*Christ Reigns, Christ Calls

Weena Salvador Meily, Association of Women in Theology(AWIT)

 

photo by Nonoy Espina https://kodao.org/2018/10/21/9-farmers-massacred-in-sagay-city/

Daniel 7: 13-14

Psalm 93:1-2, 5

Rev. 1:5-8

John 18:33-37

 

The reign of God in traditional Catholic understanding might present problems in forming our image of God. I remember my childhood days when our rich Roman patriarchal religious heritage has filled our visions with powerful images of a God who punishes, who sees us on every angle we face, who waits for us to make that one little mistake and kapow! you’re out.  The picture of an angry god who holds a lightning in his hand plagued my questioning mind.  We had a certain fear for God.  But it was a fear founded on “oh no I’m scared to death to be punished!”   These were real problems that persisted and that which I have to face until my adult years.

In the first reading today,  let me tell you a little background story necessary to understand the context of the Reign of God or particularly, Jesus Christ as King.   The era of the prophet Daniel was a troubling time. The author of the Book was a witness to the transformation of the Jewish faith. It was the year 65 BCE and for 200 years religion and faith in Israel had become rigid.  The focus was on extreme obedience to instructions, laws, and regulations in order to maintain the established order, the status quo. There was a theocracy and priests were at the top of the social pyramid.   The people obeyed the Law, the Temple had been rebuilt, and “there was nothing else to wait for”.  But at the same time, people were suffering.  Life was hard, and people were oppressed by huge landowners who were preoccupied with making sure wealth was concentrated on filling the coffers of the kings of Egypt.

In the event that this moment in Israelite history has progressed into materialism, it was because the intellectuals, priests, and the rest of the population were thirsting for “something new”.   At the time, Greek culture, art, and sports were flourishing.  Pleasures were the order of the day.  Life was at its peak and yet empty.  Then persecution came and it was easy to give up their “useless religion”.  What a perfect time for a change.  A crisis.

Enter the Hasideans.  These spritual people spent their lives in solitude and prayer in the harsh, cruel desert.   Soul searching, inner working.  They turned to the Prophets’ books that the priests have neglected.  And enlightenment dawned on many.  Hope lived on. “ One like the son of man came on the clouds of heaven…his dominion is eternal and shall never pass away; his kingdom will never be destroyed.”  (Daniel 7:13-14)   Yes, hope lived on.  And the people were relearning this lost art.

Till after centuries later, Jesus, who must have loved the Book of Daniel took it to be his source of revelation.  He must have had an epiphany when he assumed the title “Son of Man” (taken from Daniel 7:13).  And indeed he was ‘one of us’, the Emmanu-el.  The ‘son of man’ meant a ‘servant leader’, one who serves, one who stays with the people, lives with the people, knows the heart of the people, shared their suffering, aches and pains.  In other words, the meaning of ‘son of man’ is synonymous to ‘one who served the people’.

Let’s connect this to the Gospel.  In the disturbing conversation with Pontius Pilate, the Roman leader was trying to lead the now seemingly exhausted Jesus, to a trap.  “Are you the king of the Jews?…”  (Jn. 18:33)  Then Jesus had a ready answer, “ If my kingdom were of this world, my guards would have fought to save me…but my kingdom is not of this world.”  Pilate becomes frustrated by now and tries to reiterate his query, “ So you are a king?”  Jesus, who remained poised and self-assured replied,  “ …for this I have come… to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is on the side of truth hears my voice. “   (v. 37) Today’s gospel, however, does not continue on to the next line, the famous line of Pilate’s disturbed ‘and what is the truth?’ that remains a dead-end question, and which Jesus did not respond to.  Because it was clear Pilate never understood what Jesus meant.

‘The truth’ remains to this day, Jesus’ truth he held on to.  All his life this was his truth.  In his passion, this was his truth.  And to his death, died for the truth.  This truth is founded on Jesus’ becoming human, one-of-us, living with us, dying everyday with us.  Jesus lived a life to the full.  A fully human life.  And his kingdom, which is not of this world, is still misunderstood unto this day. Our catechism teaches us about waiting and working towards the heavenly kingdom, the one that is not of this world.  However, Jesus means, the here and the now.  Our salvation has come. The “world” referred to is the way people understood things.  The way people wanted to be free.   It does not only come with our accepting this truth, no, because that is only half of the picture.  Our salvation is here and now, because Jesus has called us to follow him.  All of us…all of us.  Including everyone.  Everyone is welcome in this kingdom that is here and now.  And how is Jesus’ kingdom manifest?  In feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the sick and elderly, working for a just and lasting peace, giving hope by caring for EJK victims’ families, being a prophetic voice to oppressive structures, giving voice to the voiceless (and that includes creation’s helpless creatures).

In drawing images of God as power, as authority and punisher,  and as I remember these in early childhood days,  I knew then that my heart is open to change.  I never gave up on myself, my mind to open and keep thinking, there must be new ways.   The ground of my heart was being prepped for growing verdant pastures for service and love to graze.  And when I reached my theology years, things cleared and words became more meaningful and life felt better.

My life in companionship with theological studies (and practice, as a teacher and in my personal life), was a deep relational experience.  I felt like I had a friend journeying with me keeping me sustained and alive and happy.  I noticed, little by little, inch by inch, step by step, my image of a patriarchal God was transforming.  My perspective in understanding society and the god-of-history (and herstory!) deepened in many ways.  I was trained in my school of theology to connect body and spirit, mind and body, movement and thinking, dance and spirit, nature and numbers, I can go on and on.

Today is Feast of Christ the King.  The Reign of Christ is here and now.  Christ’s reign isn’t something lofty and high culture.  The Kingdom is here and now.  We do not see a huge castle and a fabulously clothed Christ with crown and scepter.  (Though some pictures in calendars depict him thus.)  His reign is when love is all around us.  Christ reigns when a street child is given hope because he can study and follow his dreams.  Christ reigns when a just and lasting peace is earned through Peace Talks between ng government and the National Democratic Front,   and efforts borne out of genuine love for country.  Christ reigns when there is food security for every family, enough for everyone ( not superabundance for few,  and scarcity for  the many)  fields are pregnant with rice grain, our seas are protected, and when we wake up to the truth that  we do not need the construction of corporate-profit-driven dams to provide electricity for us.

It is easy to proclaim Christ as King and savior in our worship, singing hosannas and hallelujahs.  But the Christian call remains. Does Christ reign in our practice, in solidarity with the poor and marginalized recognizing  all forms of oppression, discrimination and giving them voices so that proper authorities may know that as a people, we are loved by a god “who hears the cry of the poor.”  My kingdom is not of this world.

 Indeed because the ways of the world are not the ways of the Christ who reigns as Spirit of Love.  This Christ who reigns, (in the same sense as Feminist Spirituality does) proclaims wholeness, healing, and spiritual power not as hierarchical power, as power over, but as power for, an enabling power. (E. S. Fiorenza in “Feminist Spirituality, Christian Identity and Catholic Vision”)   There is a more beautiful description of  Kingdom of God in Filipino, that is, “Ang pamamayani ng kagandahang-loob ng Diyos”. Which is loosely translated as “the felt presence of the goodness of God”.

Oh that we may experience this presence,

that loves, cares for and looks after the flock. 

Oh that we may ever be comforted

that there lies an age-old wisdom that speaks

to all to this day.

Oh that we may ever be disturbed

by the Christian call to solidarity

with all forms of poverty,

to be with the people,

to genuinely serve the people. 

So that everyone will know,

that this Christ of love, reigns!

(a poetic-interpretation of Psalm 93, by Weena Meily)

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 18, 2018, 26th Sunday after Pentecost BE ON YOUR GUARD

Ylah Alba, United Methodist Church

https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/326792516690823348/?lp   

Psalm 16:5-11

Daniel 12:1-3

Hebrews 10:11-14,18

Mark 13:24-32

As I read the whole chapter of Mark 13, I learned that the disciples were asking Jesus about the ‘signs of the end times.’ Jesus answered them, “Do you see all these great buildings? Not one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down.” And then the aerial bombings in Marawi City crossed my mind and I was made to think, is it happening already?

I was astonished by how Jesus described the ‘signs’ – wars, nations and kingdoms will rise against each other, earthquakes in various places, and famines. Of which includes the arrests and trials the disciples must face being witnesses, preaching the gospel, and standing before governors and kings in account of him.

Again, I was made to think, is the end times looming?

20,000+ lives stolen from their loved ones under President Duterte’s flagship program against illegal drugs – “Oplan Tokhang.”  Pervading culture and climate of impunity reminiscent of Martial Law spread terror and repression especially in poor communities. Gross, systematic and brazen violations of human rights continue unabated. Threat, harassment, arrests and worst, extrajudicial killings of human rights defenders, peace advocates and political dissenters are becoming more rampant and violent. Many of the victims are peasants and indigenous people who struggle to claim their right to live with dignity, such as the recent massacre of 9 farmers in Sagay and massive displacement of Lumad and other IP communities due to militarization.

Images of homeless families littering the streets have become a daily occurrence, while the 1% richest Filipinos continue to acquire more millions at the expense of their workers. Severe unequal distribution of wealth and resources still makes poverty rampant, while stubbornly high inflation, the highest rate in years, burdens and renders the country’s poorest 14 million households to a life of mere survival.

While all of these are happening, critics including church people are not spared from the President’s lambasting especially when they express concern over killings and other rights-abuses. And instead of addressing the root cause of the problems and providing social services to the poor, the word ‘human rights’ is being mocked at and insulted by the President and his supporters, as if they do not have one, which justifies the deteriorating respect of our inherent dignity.

These are some of the cases in our country, but the global context is ever more volatile, uncertain, and complex with increased polarization, populism, and violence in regions. Nation breaks war against nation, and kingdom rise against kingdom. Huge earthquakes, hurricanes/typhoons, droughts, and wild fires causing massive destruction, humanitarian crisis, and deaths are happening in different parts of the world, and we expect for an intensified and more frequent events since the climate is changing so fast due to human greed, abuse and neglect of the environment for profit.

I am both amused and frustrated – amused about the fact that these are all part of what Jesus has already shared thousands of years ago as ‘the signs,’ and frustrated because I do not know the extent of how we as churches or followers of Christ interpret and act on what’s happening in the Oikoumene, the whole inhabited earth.

“Watch out that no one deceives you. You must be on your guard,” Jesus reminded his disciples.

Even before, he warned his disciples about the struggle and persecution they will face as they remain faithful in bringing the Gospel – the good news, in those challenging times. I am personally troubled by how we become apathetic and judgmental on the issues affecting our society. I believe that the ‘signs’ poses challenges and opportunities for the Church to play a meaningful role in fostering a just and inclusive world. However, our priorities speak a lot of our response to these issues. We tend to make ourselves busy on building big temples and technologically advanced church buildings, which Jesus said would be thrown away when the time comes. Our times have been occupied with increasing our membership to sustain the existence of our churches, and not so much with our relevance to the communities we are in. We have been satisfying ourselves with activities and ministries bound to enrich our own relationship with God, but not translating it to our mission towards our neighbors, especially the marginalized. We often choose the comfortable rather than what is required of us – to act justly, to show mercy, and to walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8). With this, I came to think that the lawyers, peasants, IPs, HR defenders, and church workers who sacrifice their lives towards a full life for all are the ones being faithful to the call of Jesus of bringing the good news where it is mostly needed.

The church has to change. With the fast pace of the changing context, we should not waste our time by waiting for the ‘signs in heaven,’ because the world will not wait for us. May we be encouraged in today’s reading, “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrew 10:23-25, NRSV)

We are being challenged to do more than what we are doing NOW as witnesses of the Gospel – extending solidarity and compassion even if it means leaving our comfort zones and risking our lives as Jesus and the faithful did, as we will never know when the end of times will come.

Amen.

November 11, 2018, 25th Sunday after Pentecost* Faith

Koko Alviar, Kalipunan ng Kristianong Kabataan

https://www.redbubble.com/people/alepekaarts/works/30078255-do-justice-love-kindness-walk-humbly

Psalm 146:7-10
1 Kings 17:10-16
Hebrews 9:24-28
Mark 12:38-44

“Hindi ba gawain ‘yan ni Kristo? (Isn’t that the work of Christ?). It is beyond us ”

I remember a young Christian comment the above on a post of the Kalipunan ng Kristiyanong Kabataan sa Pilipinas (Philippine Ecumenical Youth Council) encouraging young people to fight injustice. I also remember the mix of disappointment, alarm and anger that took over me.

My heart beat faster and my eyes watered. “How could such a Christian see Christianity this way?” I asked myself. How abstract the faith. How detached from the now. Just plain unbelievable.

After some ranting to close friends in ministry and, prayers for the commenter, I calmed down and thought through the proposition empathetically.

“I wish God‘s thoughts, words and deeds did not have so many layers to them; I wish the points were clearer, kahit onti lang,” I thought to myself. We must accept a God  beyond what human thoughts  could  define and understand .

 

The young commenter’s point made sense, too, in all fairness; and it was way easier to make sense of Jesus like that: Christ’s great sacrifice on the Cross absolves us of our sins; He will come again, all we have to do is keep the faith. It can actually more convenient to interpret God for the assurance (and the resulting “wala na akong dapat gawin”), period.

The layers — and the reality of poverty, classism and discrimination, to name a few — cannot be shunted aside, though, and some Christians actively reclaim the place of these nuances in knowing God. Faith is not an end and is, instead, a means. Faith must compel us to work like God’s hands and feet, and voice, for faith without works is dead.

Today’s readings can easily reflect the dangers of “faith as an end.” They can easily be grasped with the lens of that Christian youth. But, with faith as a means, a richness is revealed to me. I magnify a rekindling of the hows and whys (the harder, deeper questions) of my faith.

The Old Testament reading can simply mean handing out alms to those who ask. I find a  prophet immersing in the life of a widow and a child, two of the most vulnerable at the time.

In the reading from Hebrews, we note the awesomeness of God, easy peasy. But the letter was written to a persecuted people; the whole point of the recounting of a mighty God was to remind them why they must continue professing their faith amid hardship.

And, oh, the uber-popular narratives from the Gospel invite us to come closer to our heart by humbly subjecting ourselves as a church to criticism and self-criticism.  To me, the narratives are an admonition to work for God sincerely and humbly; and to celebrate the example — not the status — of the widow because “binigay nya ang lahat ng meron siya, lahat talaga (Pinoy Version).”

 

In the readings this week, I saw that my God is an awesome God, yes, but also one who calls and enables me to proclaim God’s presence in the lives of the last, least and lost; to affirm divine equality that the dynamics of the world must not corrupt; to help in the establishment of peace “on earth as it is in heaven.” I also saw that abnegation is part of emulating Christ: that my faithfulness will require self-emptying, hardship, accompaniment and bonggang courage

Nope, they don’t tell me to quiver in fear of Judgment Day or to just relax and hang tight because Jesus will come again anyway.

Think about it: To see justice as the work of God exclusively is a symptom of an entrenched trait. Gratification-driven acts can control us. We lean towards caprice, convenience and compliments — often to the pain and detriment of the world around us. This is why some think of posting Bible verses on social media as a form of evangelism; why we have tunnel visions and refuse healthy dialogue; why we see worship as reporting to Church (in our #ootd, for added value); why we like posting about Sunday Mass (during Mass) and expect likes. This is why most of us offer help to those who ask but not see root causes that make people more vulnerable. This is why some think the work of liberation and reform are of a God out there, not of God’s disciples now.

I do not expect people to stop posting for I, too, post photos from Church life. I just want people to acknowledge that God commissioned us to “love one another,” and that — the crux of our faith — tells us all to do more than wait.

Greed is actively obscuring human dignity and obliterating life. In these times, faith summons us.
Let me end with a prayer inspired by this week’s psalm:

Lord, help me to uphold
the cause of the oppressed
and give food to the hungry.

Guide me to set prisoners free,
give perspective to the blinded,
lift up those who are bowed down,
love and plant righteousness.

Lord, anoint me to watch over the foreigner
and advocate for the fatherless and the widow;
to frustrate the ways of the wicked.

Lord, who reigns forever,
do not abandon our generation.
May our thoughts, words, deeds
proclaim our praise to You.

November 4, 2018, 24th Sunday after Pentecost*Loving Our Neighbor

Sr. Gemma C. Dinglasan, RGS
Generalate, Rome

https://br.freepik.com/fotos-gratis/o-amor-de-deus-e-ao-proximo_644119.htm

 

Psalm 18:2-4, 47, 51

Deuteronomy 6:2-6

Hebrews 7:23-28

Mark 12:28b-34

 

 

The commandment is perfect – a combination of the Jewish Shema and a phrase from the book of Leviticus.  “Hear O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone…love your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength!”  The Shema of the Jews being prayed three times every day is like a mantra.  This is the main point of the readings taken from the book of Deuteronomy and Mark’s gospel, to give our total self!  And Jesus added the second commandment which is loving our neighbor as ourselves – from the book of Leviticus. A perfect combination!

Every time I think of these commandments, I would always remember the martyred priest of El Salvador – Fr. Rutilio Grande, a friend to Saint Oscar Romero who after his death inspired Archbishop Romero to continue the cause of fighting for the oppressed; and our very own Sr. Agustina Rivas Lopez, RGS of Florida, Peru. She was publicly executed by members of the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) in 1990. She was neither a political activist nor a threat to society. She only loved the poor and the indigenous communities whom she served by teaching them how to cook, taught them their basic rights and how to live with dignity even amidst poverty.  The lives of these martyrs epitomized the living out of these commandments.

Jesus told the Scribe – “You are not far from the kingdom of God” because he knew the right answer and it was uncommon that a Scribe or a Pharisee would agree to what Jesus was saying. He was not far; maybe near, but not yet in. Like many of us, we know very well the commandments… but how can we get in to that kingdom? Saint Oscar Romero started as a typical bookish seminarian – a cum laude at the Gregorian University in Rome. What made him a saint was not his learnings in theology but how he lived this commandment of loving his neighbor.

Who then is our neighbor? In last week’s gospel, Jesus heals Bartimaeus, he gave him back his sight. This event is the center of the Gospel of Mark and it is very much connected to today’s message. Jesus opened his eyes so he could see not himself but his neighbor. Are the eyes of our hearts open to see the realities around us? Can we see our neighbors- those who are not included in our circle of friends, those who are in the periphery, those people whom Grande and Rivas served when they were still alive, those who have fallen victim to extra judicial killings, those whom society rejects… and a lot more?

Yes, the commandments are simply perfect and I know them, yet I must confess that following the commandments is too difficult. I always fall short in loving my neighbor as myself and in this sense I do not love God enough. It might take a lifetime to fulfill the commandments and I yearn to open my eyes so I can see clearly the God in others. Yet one thing is certain:  God’s grace is enough every day to continue to strive loving. Difficult it may seem, but possible.