March 29, 2020, 5th Sunday of Lent *Raising of Lazarus

Ms. Melinda Grace Aoanan,UCCP

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_of_LazarusEnter a caption

Psalm 130:1-8

Ezekiel 37:12-14

Romans 8:8-11

John 11:1-45
In hopeless situations, especially when we are faced with death, we cling to our hope in God. The Psalm 130 text is a cry for help and forgiveness. The supplicant is hopeful and confident that such requests would be granted. Ezekiel 37:12-14 gives the assurance that even the driest of bones will be brought back to life, an allegory of the promise of restoration after the Babylonian exile of Israel’s elite. The exile was God’s punishment for the wrongdoings of Israel’s officials who “are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain” (Ezekiel 22: 27) and who “have not strengthened the weak, …healed the sick, …bound up the injured” (34:4). The Romans 8:8-11 pericope illustrates how life in God through Jesus is a life transformed and aligned with God’s will. It is a life infused with God’s Spirit, therefore always battling death-dealing forces and always siding with that which gives life. The raising of Lazarus from the dead in John 11:1-45 proves that God through Jesus indeed gives life. It is to testify that Jesus is “the resurrection and the life”. To believe in Jesus means to always choose life and that one must continue Jesus’ ministry of working for that which gives life.

Our people today are faced with many death situations. There is the war on drugs which is in fact a war on the poor. There is the constant threat of starvation for the poorest of the poor. We have OFWs on death row. There are prisoners, including political prisoners, languishing in jail for crimes they did not commit. There are killings of human rights defenders and political dissenters. There are Lumad communities forced off of their lands because they defend the mountains, lands, rivers and natural resources. And there is the COVID19 worldwide pandemic. The diseased political structure that we have has only exacerbated our vulnerability to the death and disease the COVID 19  brings. We are not only dangerously exposed to the virus, the virus has exposed all the more how rotten to the core this prevailing political-economic system is. The ill-implemented nationwide lockdown only brings more hunger and misery to those on a hand to mouth subsistence. Medical supplies are insufficient and those in the front lines are not protected enough as they battle this disease. The fallen among them is rising. As of this writing, four medical doctors have already died: martyrs in the fight against COVID. Doctors and other medical personnel have been unknowingly exposed to untested patients (and tested Senators!) who have COVID, thus they need to be quarantined. Who now will attend to the fast-growing number of those getting sick? May there be no more lives taken by this disease. Please God, help us and equip us. The World Health Organization highly recommends mass testing. The Philippine government still needs to implement this as of this writing. The Filipino people demands this. And yet those in power and their kin get to be tested, not just once but even twice, even if they show no symptoms while those who are actually sick wait in long lines. The director of the leading hospital in Metro Manila that does the testing has been fired because she disallowed these selfish and heartless demands of the greedy politicians. Two days later, Health Secretary Francisco Duque who did the firing says that it was an administrative error. The Filipino people are faced with many and varied threats of death. In many instances we feel that all hope is lost. But we are reminded that there is a God– a God who will never forsake us, a God who answers prayer. We are also made aware that we ourselves must be the hope that we are looking for and the answer to our prayers.

Our hope lies in God who reanimates us with God’s Spirit despite the driest of bones– the most hopeless of situations. And because God’s Spirit is in us, we are moved to work with God towards restoration to God’s intent for all of us of a life of fullness and justice. As God raised Jesus from the dead, we who belong to Jesus are raised with him, reanimated to do as Jesus did. Jesus came that we might have life, life in all its fullness. We must, therefore, rise up with the mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, kin of the slain against the so-called war on drugs and cry justice for the lives, both young and old, that have been snuffed out in this nefarious war. We must call for land for the tillers in order that they may be able to produce food enough for all of us, especially for themselves who oftentimes go hungry. We must call for decent jobs in order that the exodus of migrant workers, now at approximately 8,000 per day, will stop. We must call for the release of all unjustly imprisoned. We must expose the truth that in our country, to speak against atrocities committed by those in positions of power is a death sentence. We must raise our voices even higher in our demand what is rightfully ours: that government must first and foremost cater to the health and well-being of the people and not kowtow to the caprices of the moneyed and powerful; that those in positions of power must be true to their oath to serve.

Jesus stood on the side of the oppressed, spoke truth to power, laid down his life for his friends. Are we ready to really follow him and stand up to our name Christian? As a people infused with God’s Spirit, let us stand together, let us work together to be the hope that we are looking for. Let us be the answers to our prayers. May we not get tired of renouncing death-dealing forces in whatever form they may be. May we always be on God’s side, on the side of life. And fight for it. Amen.##

 

March 15, 2020, 3rd Sunday of Lent*

 

Sr. Gemma Dinglasan, RGS,   Good Shepherd Convent, Baguio City

amaritan Woman At The Well” by He Qi

Nameless. Unidentifiable. Anonymous. That’s the woman in today’s gospel. I am wondering why the author refused to give a name to the Samaritan woman who had a very long conversation with Jesus, maybe Jesus’ longest dialogue to a woman written in the Scriptures. This encounter qualifies her to be an ordained minister or be beatified. Her encounter with Jesus, changed and transformed her to become Jesus’ proclaimer, but remains nameless.

 

March is women’s month. Here in Baguio City, where I am assigned, we just celebrated the International Women’s Day by joining a simple parade along Session Road.  It was simple not because the parade was short but because it was participated by very few women coming from only 2 groups – some representatives of the Association of Women Religious of Baguio-Benguet and the greater number coming from Inabuyog-Gabriella. What was striking was that, despite the limited participation it called the attention of the people. How? The Cordillerans or simply the Igorots were wearing their traditional attires and doing their tayaw with the sacred gongs while parading – giving no choice for people but to read the streamers/ slogans they were holding. Quantity does not matter as long as the purpose is achieved. That’s creativity! Like the nameless Samaritan Woman, many of those women were nameless. Anonymous in the sense that they would not bother proclaim who they are. They even used face mask and you can only see their eyes – indeed unidentifiable. But this is a choice. You and I know why they need to be unidentifiable. Primarily, because of the outbreak of the COVID 2019 and secondarily, they need to be cautious from the suspecting eyes of those in uniform. We can do and be more when we are anonymous.

As I reflect on this matter of namelessness, a clearer picture dawned on me when I focus on the request of  Jesus to the woman: “Give me a drink.”  I see the mystery of  Jesus being dependent . He could have borrowed the woman’s bucket and  fetch his own water. He did not need to ask the woman to give, but he chose to do so. He decided to become dependent to a woman with questionable reputation and social background. Jesus never even asked for her name. The woman was a total stranger .  The narrator of the story must have forgotten the importance of the name.

The state of having a name is important and necessary . How her name was forgotten is something we can reflect on.  It is too good that   her story was included in the narrative of Jesus ‘  encounter with people. In the story, it shows  that even  Jesus  has to depend of his need to drink  on  “somebody” . He asked  the one  who is ordinary  but  capable of doing extraordinary things. In the ordinariness of our being, we too can give nourishment to God. Jesus revealed himself to the woman who was not named in the narrative.  Though she was known in the village. Many believed her because of her testimony.  

 

 

 

March 8, 2020, 2nd Sunday of Lent*An Encounter with the Divine: A Call for Faith in Action

                Ms. Jennifer Ferariza-Meneses, National Co-coordinator, Association of Women in                        Theology

https://philihappy.com/bencabs-50th-year-exhibit-another-scale/amp/

Ps 33:4-5, 18-20, 22
Genesis 12:1-4
2Timothy 1:8-10
Matthew 17:1-9

The Context of our Present Time

“Kahirapan,
karahasan,
kagutuman,
kawalan ng hanap-buhay,
hindi makapagpaaral ng mga anak sa kolehiyo,
maagang pag-aasawa ng aming mga anak,
sekswal na abuso sa mga bata…”

These were some of the words describe by the women of the United Methodist Church in Puerto Princesa, Palawan when I asked them this question during our recent discussion in celebration of International Women’s Day, “Para sa inyo, ano ang kasalukuyang kalagayan ng mga kababaihan at mga bata sa Pilipinas?”

What our churchwomen in Palawan have expressed as their own experiences and realities, observations and encounters, reflect the worsening situation of our Filipino women and children in a macro-level setting. As part of the larger society, the poor Filipino women and children, being vulnerable are adversely affected by economic and political crisis . Tens of millions of Filipinos suffer income insecurity, lack of decent work, lack of education, insufficient nutrition and poor health, inadequate housing, lack of clean water, sanitation and electricity, lack of assets, exploitation and other vulnerabilities. Agriculture and manufacturing are failing and unable to create the jobs needed by the growing population and real unemployment is at a record high. Tens of millions of Filipinos are forced either to go abroad or into all sorts of odd and low-paying service work. TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) law continues to burden our poor consumers with higher consumption taxes [IBON 2019 Yearend Birdtalk]. Women continue to face particular problems on gender discrimination and oppression such as misogyny, sexual violence and abuse. Our indigenous peoples have been struggling for their self-determination, and in defending the ancestral domain and right to education.

Extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary or illegal arrests and detention and other civil and political rights violations are happening in the different regions of the country. Red-tagging/labeling as communist or terrorist has been a trend among individuals and organizations which includes church people critical of the Philippine government. Killings under Philippine drug war remain rampant. Victims continued to be overwhelmingly from poor and marginalized communities, and often were part of unsubstantiated “drug watch lists” that police continue to use in their operations [EcuVoice].

The Context of the Transfiguration

The context of the Transfiguration is not much different from our present context described above. According to Rev. Helder Luis Carlos in his essay, “The Socio-Political and Economic Situation in the First Century C.E. Palestine: The Earthly Ministry of Jesus and the Programme of Renewal for the People of Israel”, Jesus lived in a society characterized by various socio-political and economic crises such as: tributary mode of production (peasant society), domination by external imperial powers like Rome (subject society), purity system (purity society) and structures of patriarchy (patriarchal society).

Peasant Society – Marcos J. Borg in his “Jesus in Contemporary Scholarship” argues that the tributary mode of production in a peasant society stratifies the society according to their relationship to the land and a peasant society is established in a more hierarchical structure. From top to bottom, there are the ruler and the governing class who constitute 1 to 2% of the total population, living in cities and generally receiving one-half of the wealth generated by agricultural production; following them, there are the retainers (soldiers, tax collectors, priests who constitute about 8% of the total population and receive about one-sixth of the society’s income; finally there are the peasants (agriculturists), artisans, unclean, degraded (despised or downgraded occupations) and expendables (outlaws and beggars) who constituted about 90% of the population. Borg adopts this Gerhard Lenski’s model of social stratification which implies that one of the main features of a peasant society is a huge gulf between the elite and non-elite. The majority of peasant producers are economically marginalized while the minority urban consumers are economically stable.

Subject Society – In the Roman system, peasants were forced to pay double tax to rulers like Herod and to the landlords. They had to sacrifice their normal eating diet to avoid imperial punishments. This situation led to impoverishment of the majority of peasants.

Purity Society – This purity system had a vertical position in a sense that the ruling elite was at the same time the purity elite (Borg 1994). Indeed, the ruling elite (also viewed as pure) was the economically and politically privileged group, whereas the impoverished class was at the same time portrayed as impure. Though some peasants had internalized the purity system as a natural established order, the majority of them could not succeed in observing all the intensified purity laws. Therefore, they were declared sinners and excluded from the pure community and Israel become increasingly a society characterized by a huge gap between the ruling elit and the poor peasants.

Patriarchal Society – One of the main characteristics of the ancient marriages was procreation, whereby women were expected to become pregnant, give birth and nurse children after marriage [Kraemer 2003]. From this perspective, women who could not bear children were regarded as invalid not only in their families but also within the society. Kraemer further describes that in most cases, women appear to have married or entered into active sexual and productive lives at the age between 12 to 20 with men who were 10 or 15 years older than them. The rights of women were not fully observed, because their roles in marriages seem to have been reduced to that of sex and reproductive machines.

In response to the aforementioned socio-political economic crises, Jesus could not lose the opportunity to challenge these crises which marginalized and enslaved the majority of people. Jesus confronted the tributary system, not only established by the local authorities but also increased by the Romans; Jesus associated himself with the outcasts of the society in order to challenge the quest of holiness, as a protest against the existing oppressive structure of Israel and presents an alternative way to be followed; Jesus suggests that in situations of crisis, people should jump the boundaries from a society of domination to a society of justice, equality and inclusion. Jesus suggests an alternative way of living, which reflects a social moral based on God [Carlos 2013].

The Call of our Time
The Transfiguration of Jesus is a mountaintop experience, an encounter with the Divine. When the disciples witness Jesus and the prophets in dialogue, Peter offers an idea. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” [Matthew 17:4]. The moment is good for Peter and the disciples. They are witness to a miracle. They are in the presence of greatness. But while they were in that divine moment, mountaintop experience, there are ongoing concerns and issues down the mountain. There are violence, exploitation, injustices, and sufferings. Finally, they all came down the mountain and continued their ministries of teaching and healing.

Like the disciples and as believers of Christ, we may have our own mountaintop experience, a divine encounter with God. This experience invites us to witness a new revelation of and from God. But how long do we stay in that divine moment? How do we come down to be with our poor, suffering and marginalized people like Jesus did?

The women of faith through the Ecumenical Women’s Forum, Association of Women in Theology and the National Council of Churches in the Philippines , the Women and Gender Commission of the AMRSP continue to be part of the collective struggles and actions of Filipino people towards realizing God’s promise of life in its fullness. For this year’s International Women’s Day ecumenical celebration, we declare through our unity statement the following:

We are women of faith. Today with deeper resolve, we are committed to continue the work of our forebears who decided that to RISE UP is an option and to fight for justice is a work of a spirit-filled life.

We are women of faith. And today we are one with the people calling to end tyranny and oppression.
We rise against the weaponization of the laws that curtail our civil and political rights and put the lives of our brothers, sisters, sons and daughters in peril as they take the option of serving the poor and in pursuing peace based on justice.

We call on the resumption of the Peace Talks between the Government of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front. It is important that the covenant signed by both parties are honored in the interest of addressing the root causes of the armed conflict, and to build up a political and economic structure that benefits the poor, protect our sovereignty and guarantee our patrimony.

We are people of faith. We commit ourselves to build JUSTICE and PEACE in our land. Like the disciples who were transformed by their divine encounter and mountaintop experience and Jesus who came down the mountain with the disciples, we shall RISE for our people!

References:
1. Borg, M.J. 1994. Jesus in Contemporary Scholarship. Pennsylvania: Trinity Press
2. Carlos, Helder Luis 2013. heldercarlosdotcom.wordpress.com
3. Ecumenical Women’s Forum Unity Statement for International Women’s Day Celebration 2020
4. https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/01/31/20/ph-rights-groups-to-un-human-rights-situation-in-ph-worsening
5. Kraemer, R.S. 2003. Typical and Atypical Jewish Family Dynamics: The Case of Babatha and Interdisciplinary Dialogue, Michigan/Cambridge: WBE Publishing Company
Presentation on National Situation of Filipino Women and Childre