June 28, 2020, 4th Sunday after Pentecost*Radical act of solidarity

Deaconess Norma P. Dollaga, United Methodist Church

Psalm 89:2-3, 16-19
2Kings 4:8-11, 14-16
Romans 6:3-4, 8-11
Matt 10:37-42

Loving Jesus and following his commandments are ways to love our parents and family. It is not a competition between family and discipleship. Rather, loving our family is also embracing and following the teachings of Jesus. When the disciples decided to become full-time workers with Jesus in his ministries of healing, preaching, and teaching, it did not mean that they turned their backs on their families. Rather, this means that they have chosen an important task in pursuit of the Kingdom of God, which is a higher calling. The disciples had to physically leave their families to pursue their mission, but this did not necessarily mean they abandoned their families spiritually. There are choices to be made in order to embrace the radical calling of becoming a disciple of Jesus.

Likewise, welcoming the prophets in our midst is a radical option. To welcome them is to be identified with them. A host might not be in full understanding of what prophets do, but it is in the name of hospitality and mercy that hosts welcome the prophet into their homes. I am reminded of a story in the Bible, the widow of Zarephath. There was a prophet named Elijah being hunted by the forces of the King. The widow and her son were gripped with poverty. But in spite of their situation, the widow welcomed Elijah. The genuine hospitality and radical welcoming is a beautiful act, yet a dangerous undertaking. The authorities and the King himself may implicate her as collaborating with the “wanted” man. In the story, siding with truth-bearers and victims of injustice manifest a strong sense of solidarity.

The prophet had nothing to eat. He could have accepted the King’s bribe. He could have recanted his words against the king. He subverted the “rule and expectation” of a ruler. He did not choose to compromise his words and principles. He is being pursued by the king and he could be handed over to the authorities at any given time. An arrest is expected, persecution is predictable and death either through the means of law or outside of it (extrajudicial) was possible. Here is a widow, out of her nothingness, she offered her home and bread to the prophet in need. She could be persecuted and be summoned by the King.

Both the widow and the prophet have their own predicaments.
Who gave a sanctuary to the prophet? Who fed him? Out of almost nothing, the widow shared whatever she had.

The story subverted the usual images of those who are expected to help each other. The unavoidable circumstances of hunger, poverty and persecution made them extend whatever strength and vulnerabilities they had.

To welcome the prophets and the strangers is a radical act of solidarity. It takes radical love and courage to embrace those who have been ostracized and marginalized. Those who do not belong to “us.”

Recently, the lockdown, that was supposedly a device to curb the spread of COVID 19, has been weaponized against people. It was gravely abused to supress the democratic rights of the people. There was a series of illegal and arbitrary arrests among those who provided relief to poor families. Jeepney drivers who were deprived of their livelihood by the lockdown were forced to beg for food. Worse, six jeepney drivers who rightfully protested and demanded for the government for assistance and to lift the ban on jeepneys were detained in an already congested detention facility. A few days ago, LGBTQIA+ allies and activists were arrested while they were commemorating the 51st anniversary of the Stonewall Protest. It was a peaceful protest against the repressive Anti-Terror Bill. The police, however, came and violently disperse, harassed and illegally arrested the 20 of the protesters.

From humanitarian workers, to jeepney drivers, to a peaceful LGBTIA protest, the lockdown has been used and abused to violate human rights. They were punished with detention and filed court cases against them. Their health were also put at risk when they were held in a congested detention centers. The humanitarian workers, the jeepney drivers, and LGBTQIA+ allies and activists who exercised their rights bravely manifested a prophetic exposition of the anomalies in the government.

It takes a radical spiritual and political will to open our houses, homes, our physical base, solidarity support and faith resources to strangers, the justice and peace workers, the community organizers, the beleaguered journalists, the whistleblowers, the environmentalists, the human rights defenders and the persecuted because of their prophetic work. It takes deep compassion and charity to open up our churches to provide sanctuaries to the victims of human trafficking, those being harassed because of their adherence to truth.

The promise is that there will be a reward. Being invited to discipleship and accepting it is already a reward. That means choosing a life of a meaningful journey. ##

June 21, 2020, 3rd Sunday after Pentecost *Fear No One!

Fr. Aris Miranda,MI

P

Psalm 69:8-10,14,17,33-35
Jeremiah 20:10-13
Romans 5:12-15
Matt 10:26-33

“Fear no one. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.” (Mt. 10, 26-27)
Oftentimes I hear and read from scholarly articles affirming that we Filipinos are resilient people. Being immersed in the humanitarian mission not only in the Philippines but as well as abroad, fellow workers laud our people for being resilient. We proudly say, “subok na matibay subok na matatag” (proven strong proven lasting). This could be a good reason to claim our fearlessness.

However, the saddest truth is that “the wicked is in torment all his days, and limited years are in store for the ruthless …” (Job 15,20). He never stopped tormenting and terrorizing his people. We have been thrilled and trembled by the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of overcoming the torment that most of us are experiencing, it is being aggravated by introducing an out of tune measure such as the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (House Bill 6875).
Our most urgent concern is the pandemic, saving lives rather than aggaravating the already vulnerable health condiopn of ur people. . Several of our front liners are in danger of death, and yet their cry for mass testing remains unheard. Millions of Filipinos are losing their jobs. Some of them are forced to find their luck in the streets by begging and yet they are being arrested for allegedly violating provisions of the Bayanihan Act to Heal as One Law.

Concerned citizens mobilized and exercised their rights as subsidiary to the government, who failed to adequately respond to the pressing needs of its constituents in the spirit of solidarity, an authentic Bayanihan. Yet, they are being arrested and being falsely accused of politicizing and romanticizing the pandemic, not to mention those who are being killed because of red-tagging.

The wicked is weaponizing the law to subjugate dissent and silence their critics—fear and terror reigns in our land.

“But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph. In their failure, they will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion.” (Jer. 20,11). This bold and sincere prayer of Jeremiah brings out in him the certainty of God’s faithfulness. The disappointments, adversities, persecutions have shaken, for a moment, his confidence and his hope, but have failed to suffocate and extinguish them.

Our readings of today, calls each of one of us, the new disciples of Jesus of our time, to fear no one. This the theme of our celebration. It’s a reason for us to be bolder in our witnessing as the new prophets of God.
It’s hard to be a prophet; it is difficult to tell and live by the truth, to raise our voice and denounce what is wrong. It is more comfortable to remain at the margins in silence and pretend not to see and hear what is happening, or to let the others talk. Still, if one wants a real change in our society, a community faithful to the Gospel and more docile to the spirit, if one aspires to a newness of life, prophets are needed. Like Jeremiah, may we have the courage to say what the Lord tells us, even at the risk of life.

The same inspiration that St. Matthew, the evangelist, has when he wrote this Gospel amid the coercion of the people to worship emperor Domitian (81-96 AD). The local authorities, the tentacles of the emperor subservient to power, wanted everyone to bow down and worship the one whom the seer of Revelation calls “the beast” (Rev 13:4, 12).

The Christians defied the order. For this, misappropriations (red-tagging), punishments (warrantless arrest), discriminations (suppression of human rights), and confiscation of properties (deprivation of the right to defend) started for them. Many could no longer bear these constant harassments. They were at the limit of endurance and the looming risk of apostasy. In this challenging moment, the Lord never remained silent.
“Fear no one. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.” (Mt. 10, 26-27).

As a Christian, persecution is not an accident; it is an inescapable fact. St. Paul reminds us in his letter to Timothy: “All who want to serve God in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2Tim 3:12).

In today’s Gospel, St. Matthew highlights three reasons why we must acknowledge our own fears. By our have faith, we trust that we can address them. As disciples, our hearts know well it that our Master is always at our side.

First reason, fear has a positive vital function: it signals the dangers, prevents rash, risky, foolish gestures. However, if it gets out of control, it hinders the courageous actions and resolute choices.

For all of us who embraced Christianity and resolved to follow Christ, fear is often the worst enemy. “It manifests itself in fear of losing one’s position, of seeing the esteem of one’s superiors diminished, of losing friendships, of being deprived of one’s properties, of being punished, demoted, for some even of being killed. Whoever is afraid is no longer free. It is normal to be afraid, but woe to one dominated and guided by fear, one ends up paralyzed.”

We should not be afraid of the external forces, the wicked who sows havoc and fear. What we should be afraid of is the evil that mutes our voices and paralyzes our bodies to move and witness our prophetic calling and faith. This evil is under our full control, and we can extinguish it if we believe in our freedom as we are created originally.

No doubt, it will be a long and painstaking struggle. Most probably, we will not see the seeds of light and goodness germinate, which they have sown with toil and pain. “However, they must cultivate the joyful certainty that the harvest will grow and will be plentiful. Their work will not be in vain; though they are put to death, no enemy force will be able to prevent the realization of God’s Kingdom.

Second reason: “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” (Mt. 10,28). “The fear of being mistreated or even put to death is the one who has the power to destroy both soul and body. It is not an external character to us. It is the evil that, since birth, we carry within us. It is the negative force that suggests paths opposed to those of Christ.”
As many of our historic heroic models affirmed that — while they may kill our bodies, and sanction our voices, our dreams and aspirations for a just and lasting peace — the reign of God as opposed to the reign of terror will never die. The consequences might be severe and unwanted, but the gratification is far greater, knowing that what we have done is what we are supposed to be.

Third reason: “Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Mt. 10,29-31).

Persecution is a fact, and it frightens us because often it affects us and those around us who may be deprived of the necessary subsistence. Whatever rightful acts we commit, it always has its impact on others because of our fundamental interconnectedness. God knows both the intentions and the goodness that we do. If God knows how to take care of every creature like the sparrows and and look after every strand of our hair, how much more to us the chosen people. No one can escape His love and kindness. He is interested in every creature, even the smallest. The more He will follow the cause of one who is fighting for his kingdom!##

Art Work:https://paintingvalley.com/images/resurrection-abstract-painting-20.jpg

June 14, 2020*Compassion: the call of the time

The Right Reverend Rex RB. Reyes, Jr., D.D

Exodus 19:2-8a

Psalm 100

Romans 5:6-11

Matthew 9:35-10:8-15

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd”

Since January, Christians observed the high points of the saving acts of our Lord. We started the year with the Feast of the Epiphany where our Lord manifested himself to the “Gentiles” and we sought to understand what that meant to us. Then we went further in time to re-call the first pass-over and the reminder that we are but dust on Ash Wednesday. Then the call of Lent – a more conscious call for self-examination and repentance for the things we have done and left undone. Then came the first spontaneous mass mobilization in the New Testament where the people shouted “Hosannah to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” Then on to the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord, to his Ascension, to the descent of the Holy Spirit and the celebration of the more pronounced operation of the Trinity. All of these milestones in the life of our Lord in a span of less than five months. This year’s observances stand out when compared to any other year in recent history in the sense that in a way we have been in captivity due to the pandemic. We have all undergone painful episodes of a sense of helplessness, despair and pain. Some have lost relatives due to the pandemic. Some suffered or died in ways that do not make any sense at all when people in authority become the judge and executioner with neither mercy nor empathy. And there was no time to mourn our dead. We have seen the best and the worst in people. We have witnessed the order in our society thrown into confusion: double standards in the implementation of laws and protocols, conspiracy theories with serious implications on the Constitutional provisions especially on human dignity, questions of accountability, the blatant altering of narratives and the maze of requirements in order to receive “ayuda” with others ultimately excluded. We heard of difficulties as people waited in the hope of getting home. We heard the stories of health frontliners discriminated against and bereft of equipment to protect themselves. The stories of goodness are drowned in the confusion. And while our attention is directed to how we can rise and go ahead to whatever the new normal leads us, we are concerned that the ambiguous term “terrorism” has become a dangerous pretext for curtailing intelligent discourse, creative conversations for the good and principled dissent. No single entity has a monopoly of the solution to the gargantuan humanitarian crisis that we are in and the labelling, harassment and red-tagging place additional burden if not spawn more resentment and heavy hearts. We are saddened by all these and over the disunity that has befallen our country and we need to dig in with the fact that we are all in these together.

In short, having gone through the high points in the life of our Lord and the benefits of those mighty events in order that humanity may have life and have it abundantly (John 10.10), we find ourselves “lito and lupaypay”. I believe we are in the same situation as that crowd  that Jesus  saw and which moved him to compassion. Incredible as it may seem, there is this absence of compassion, yet we know that there those who do have, based on the stories we hear of people sharing and that is where the hope lies. Scripture reminds us more profoundly this time “all who do not do what is right are not from God nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters” (1John 3.10) and again, “how does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help?” (1John 3.17)

In his letter to us today, Paul reminds us that Christ came at a time when humanity was weak. Such timeliness we understand only within the framework of our human predicament and within our finite minds. Only God knows the ultimate determination of the exactness of God’s timely intervention. But the point, according to Paul is that Christ died for our sins in a way no other human being could do, even if he conceded that “Mahirap mangyaring ialay ninuman ang kanyang buhay alang alang sa isang taong matuwid, bagaman maaaring may mangahas na gumawa nito alang alang sa isang mabuting tao.” (Rom 5:6-7). And in that act of dying for us, we are justified, or put right, with God and therefore spared from God’s wrath and in being saved we are reconciled to God. Reconciliation leads to a deep level of friendship. This is a result of the timely presence and intervention of Jesus Christ. And we need that kind of reconciliation and/or deep friendship today. Paul’s letter brings into our remembrance something that happened a few months after the people were delivered from Egypt and found themselves crossing the Red Sea and in the wilderness. The flight from bondage and slavery into freedom was fresh from their minds. The ecstatic feeling that they are finally out of Egypt is one that we can imagine. There at Sinai, Moses reminded the people of God’s intervention and the intervening events and that all God asked in return was for the people to remember the covenant – they shall be God’s people and God shall be there God. At that instant, the people said “All that the Lord has spoken we will do!” (Ex. 19.8) God instituted a way where He can communicate with his own, through Moses. Thus the beginning of the prophetic ministry. As Exodus unfolds the people forgot God’s mercy, goodness and compassion. They started complaining and worse even wished that should have been left in perpetual slavery in Egypt and not have to undergo this process of being refined into being God’s own. Down through the ages until God determine the best time to send Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the law and the prophets as we encountered them in the Old Testament this has been a human predicament. Indeed, in situations of want, confusion and resentment can ensue when people forget this most basic of God’s character – compassion and those who are called to serve display raw power and privilege rather than serve with compassion and empathy and that unites. And this is where our problems begin because all sense of justice is lost. If it is there, it is defined or interpreted by those in power.

Thankfully, there are still people who stand out and persevere in these trying times even if it is a popular thing to do, a risky position to take, and a dangerous and life-threatening endeavor to undertake. No, they are not harassed and they do not look helpless, because they see the helplessness and the harassments in others as their own. They have fully understood what compassion means. Thanks be to God for people such as these and may their tribe increase indeed. Their stars have glittered brightly casting light on others. To the evil ones these lives are threats because they could be exposed. Compassion is a virtue we pray will flood our common lives. In our Gospel today, what are needed are laborer/workers – people who strive to produce or create something, mirroring the creative nature of our Lord, who strive to proclaim what Jesus came for, stood for and died for. And they do that following the Lord of the church – the creator of life and not the grim reaper of death.

Our Gospel also gives us an idea of the kind of people who are called to manifest the compassion of our Lord – simple folks. How often indeed, do we fail to realize that we are called into relationships that are just, giving and sharing because by our own doing we have made the simple complicated as a result of our self-centered ways or by our lack of sensitivity to the concern of others.

The call includes a set of tasks that is totally new to the persons being called or at the very least calls those who are called to strive towards being new persons. This is where its radicalness lies because to be a follower of Christ makes that requirement. As we can see in those instances where Jesus talks about the cost of discipleship, Christ never said it was easy. But he ensured a prize – “the joys of the Master” and “the crown of glory that fades not away.

God’s goodness was bestowed upon us freely yet at a heavy price – the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. And we are called to particular tasks in turn: “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons”. Down the ages, these have gone beyond the literal to include its figurative sense. For instance, when we talk about cleansing the lepers, we are also talking about removing the stigma, the discrimination and the “othering” and prejudices that we impose on others. These are outlined in our baptismal promises and for us Anglicans in the common task spelled out in the Five Marks of Mission. These tasks are pre-empted by the mandate of our Lord: “Proclaim the good news: ‘the kingdom of heaven has come'”. It is in fully appreciating what this means – the proclamation of the physical presence of the embodiment of love, justice and peace, and compassion in Jesus Christ – that the healing, the raising, the cleansing and the casting out become possible and can actually begin through us and in us.

And so we come now to the prayer intent of the church or Collect, on this particular Sunday. We prayed that: (1) the Church will be steadfast in faith and love; (2) that through God’s grace, we may proclaim God’s truth with boldness; (3) that all of us may pay attention to justice with compassion, all for the sake of the eternal Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit who live and reign eternally. This partly explains why our church and perhaps other churches speak out like in the way our bishops released a statement over the week. We issue those statements not for the sake of opposing or simply being critical but because we want our government to succeed. Far from being interfering in the affairs of governance it is also our means to remind everyone of the deeper meaning of justice and righteousness explicit in the summary of the law – to love God and to love others.

Justice cannot be justice without compassion. And compassion is not pity from a distance – but being associated with the pain and the suffering that somebody undergoes as if that pain or suffering are ours. In the community, Paul says: If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (1Cor 12:26) I pray that the “new normal” which is evolving in shape and form even now, will be transformative – where we are renewed by actually claiming the words uttered many years ago “All that the Lord has spoken, we will do.”

Artwork: http://www.marysouthardart.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Compassion-6.jpg

June 14, 2020, Body & Blood / Corpus Christi ( Roman Catholic)

  Fr. Delfo Canceran, OP

Ps 147:12-15, 19-20

Deut 8:2-3, 14b-16a        

1 Cor 10:16-17

John 6:51-58

                                                 

This Sunday, we celebrate the solemnity of the Body of Christ. Today, the topic of the body is significant and relevant because we see different bodies suffering around. Sometimes we are blind of these bodies and we cannot relate with them as if we do not have our own bodies.

We have the body of George Floyd that was killed by a police by kneeling on his head. Here is a body, not just any body but a colored body. He is a black man. He suffered as a black man. We have to look into that black body. He was killed not just of a police officer but by a white man. Here we have a contrast between a white body and a black body. The black body suffered from discrimination by a privileged white man.

We have the body of Michelle Silvertino who wanted to go home to Bicol missing to see her young children. She walked from Quezon City to Pasay City carrying a heavy baggage and going to different bus stations. She waited for a bus ride in a footbridge along Edsa-Pasay in the hope of catching a ride. She died after five days of waiting and living in that pitiable place. Seeing her pictures, obviously she became emaciated due perhaps to worries and hunger. Her eyes on her picture showed her miserable condition. Her body was burried without seeing her children. She is not just a body. She is a neglected body to an indifferent government.

We have the body of Jesus who walked to the streets and preached to the people. He was frequented by the people listening to his words and asking for healing. He would always feel compassion to them and would serve them. He would talk to them and touch them. After being arrested and tried, he was sentenced to die. He was pinned down by his adversaries. He carried the cross on his shoulder, was flagellated by the soldier, mocked at, crucified on the cross and abandoned by his friends. He is not just a body but a suffering body of a marginalized Jew.

Our bodies are marked by color (black man) by gender (waiting mother) and by class (marginalized Jesus). We cannot remove these marks for they provide us with identities. These marks are not neutral or impartial but valuational or evaluative. Society confers values or worths to these marks. In a racist society, people devalue the black, in a patriarchal society, people depeciate women and in an elitist society, people denigrate the poor.

As we celebrate the Body of Christ, we remember his body that offered compassion to people, his body that suffered on the cross in love. We also remember the different bodies of colored people suffering from discriminations, of mothers dying of our negligence and indifference and of poor people oppressed by exploitations. As we receive the Body of Christ and say AMEN to him, we are also saying YES Lord, I will follow you and offer my body in the service of others. The Body of Christ is indeed liberating for others by ending or even just easing their sufferings. Never again to suffering!##

Artwork by Wing Garibay

June 7,2020*Trinity Sunday *A Reflection on the Trinity, the Great Commission … and the Anti-Terrorism Bill

Rev. Marma Urbano, United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP)

Psalm 8

Genesis 1:1-2:4a 

2Corinthians 13:11-13\

Matthew 28:16-20

A Reflection on the Trinity, the Great Commission … and  the Anti-Terrorism Bill

Last Friday, June 5, 2020, I witnessed how a young girl was handcuffed,  forcibly grabbed and carried by a big man holding an M16 as if she were a pig to be brought for slaughter. I heard another girl crying. More than the words she was muttering, I heard so much rage but also so much fear. No matter how she invoked her rights on top of her voice, she appeared helpless in the face of these armed men. These two girls were among the seven students of the University of the Philippines in Cebu who were arrested for violating social distancing during Covid-19. The UP Cebu administration averred that their students held a peaceful protest against the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill. For that, they were given a foretaste of the terror that the Bill could do. The sight was so disturbing, so outrageous. I could not even claim to know how the mothers of these girls felt.

COVID-19 has revealed the deep roots of systemic injustice and reminds us why seeking justice, pursuing peace is essential. We have seen thousands of cases of extra-judicial killings, of arrests, of the intensification of attacks and threats against community leaders, human rights defenders, and political dissenters. Living out our faith in Jesus is more than ever important when laws like the Anti-Terrorism Bill of 2020 are enacted. The current Human Security Act of 2007 which will replace it is problematic enough. 

Today’s bible texts have become so clear and relevant. In times like these, nothing can be so reassuring than the Trinity – the power and collective authority in heaven and on earth that has been given to Jesus.

Being attuned and committed to the heart of Jesus’ mission and ministry of transforming persons, systems and patterns of relationships has become very comprehendible to me. The message of Jesus’ Gospel and its imperatives in today’s context have become crystal clear : 1) a radical critique of the reigning political establishment, 2) a radical opposition against any power that seeks to exploit, oppress, dominate and dehumanize people, 3) the liberation of the Filipino people from any power—domestic or foreign; 4) the creation of a society that is just, free, and human where everyone can enjoy all the rights that are inalienable to every human being.  Teaching the people to obey everything Jesus has commanded is all the more very crucial.

Being baptized in the name of Jesus means that by Jesus’ authority and power, we will have the heart and the strength of will, the depths of courage to do these things for our people, for our country, for God’s world.  Grow your love. Claim the power.##

Photo from:http://full.creative.touchtalent.com/PENTECOST-213861.jpg