October 1, 2023*Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time * Psalm

Rev. Izzy Alvaran, United Methodist Church

Rev. Izzy Alvaran, United Methodist Church

https://www.ehow.com/info_11402399_types-plants-used-budding.html

18:25-28       

Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9          

Phil 2:1-11         

Mt 21:28-32     

Psalm 25: 4-9

4 Show me your ways, God, teach me your paths.

5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

6 Remember, God, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.

7 Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me, for you, God , are good.

8 Good and upright is God; therefore God instructs sinners in God’s ways.

9 God guides the humble in what is right and teaches them God’s way.

Have you ever been lost? Remember the superstitions we have? If you get lost take your shirt off and wear it again but the inside should be outside.

Have you been with friends on a road trip and you can’t find your way? Some just want to keep on going, like they know the right way, while others are humble enough and willing to ask locals for directions. Which kind of friend are you?

Remember the time when we didn’t have GPS and maps on our phones? We just relied on maps. Lots of maps! I am sure younger folks today cannot survive without their GPS and their phones.

Even in today’s world, some still rely on old style instructions. Even old folks like me can’t work with that! I remember visiting a bishop in Cavite. His instructions were simple: “Go up this highway and once you pass this store you will find two big twin narra trees. There’s a small street after that, turn right.” Wow. I got lost and finally had to call him.

Today’s Scripture invites us to humbly seek God’s instructions.

We might be confident that we already know a lot, but no one can really full comprehend the divine, even if we do have sparks of divinity in our humanity. Humility is the first step in not getting lost. Have you read Scripture lately? Have you prayed? I am sure many want to know how we get divine answers to our questions. We want to know what God’s ways are but how? Friends, have you immersed in the life of your community to hear and see where God is leading you? I believe that God is present in communities working for the betterment of all. God speaks even in the most mundane conversations we have, and through everyday people, especially the poor and oppressed. I see the face of Jesus in their struggles. Are you watching and listening?

Another lesson here is appreciating that God’s plan is for the good of all. This is grace. Even when we are not perfect, or worthy, we are embraced by God’s love. That’s very hard to comprehend when we see a lot of evil around us. But God is not a puppeteer that controls what we think or do and the consequences that come with it. God is about justice and healing brokenness in our communities. This does not happen like magic. We are God’s instruments in justice-seeking and justice-making. St. Augustine rightly says so: “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”

Have you been working for the good of those in need? A quote from Methodism’s founder John Wesley is apt here:

“Do all the good you can,

By all the means you can,

In all the ways you can,

In all the places you can,

At all the times you can,

To all the people you can,

As long as ever you can.”

Let us humbly seek God’s instructions, listen to God’s beloved community, seek God’s justice and goodness for all.

God’s beloved community, seek God’s justice and goodness for all.

September 24, 2023*Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time* The Parable of the Vineyard Workers (Mt 20:1–16) and the plight of migrant workers

Sr. Beth Pedernal,MSCS

https://wamu.org/story/15/04/10/painting_the_epic_
drama_of_the_great_migratio
_the_work_of_jacob_lawrence/

Is 55:6-9

Ps 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18

Phil 1:20c-24, 27a

Mt 20:1-16a

The 25^th Sunday of Ordinary time falls as a celebration of 109^th World Day of Migrants and Refugees and the 37^th National Migrants Sunday. It just worth considering, how the gospel readings of today be related to these celebrations.

In 2021, the Philippine Statistic Authority estimates that about 1.83 million OFWs worked abroad from April to September of the same year. The same data reveal that about “four in every ten” OFWs work low-status or ‘elementary’ jobs, such as street vendors, construction and factory workers, cleaners, domestic helpers, and agriculture laborers. They are the hired workers, doing the 3Ds works, (dirty, dangerous, and demeaning). It was recorded that the majority of OFWs work in Asia, specifically Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Singapore, and Qatar.

The plight of poor and vulnerable migrants is precarious and fraught with difficulties. Aside from  lacking of proper work, food, and housing, they experience  harassment, exploitation, and at times outright violence.

What does it mean to read the New Testament in the context of vulnerable migrant workers, the so- called heroes? How do the realities of vulnerability, poverty, lack of economic opportunities, and threats of violence influence reading of the parable of the vineyard workers (Matt 20:1–16)?

For those who are familiar with the socio-cultural and economic realities in the Philippines,

immediately notice many similarities with the parable: a place where day laborers gather each morning for employment, whether in villages or cities; agreement or negotiation of a daily wage; day-to-day realities of the poor and vulnerable laborers, including the uncertainty of finding employment; and the presence of large landowners(or contractors) and middlemen (equivalent to the manager in the parable). These features in the parable are realities of millions of day laborers today, the same with our OFWs who are in the same way  are vulnerable.

Matthew 20:1–16 and the plight of migrant workers. The above description of the workers’ plight highlights features that resonate with the parable, prompting for reflection. The plot of the parable focuses on the landowner who goes out to the marketplace to hire workers. As the exposition indicates, the landowner shows extraordinary compassion and care for the wellbeing of the laborers. He personally goes back and forth to ensure the remaining workers are hired.  In that sense he represents God (and Jesus). He is good, compassionate, and generous. He wants the last laborers to avoid public humiliation and gives them a chance to work, even if for just one hour. The workers demonstrate extraordinary endurance for waiting around until the end of the day. They must have been desperate to accept the call to work that late. Landowners were not exactly trustworthy employers in the eyes of day laborers. As such it is surprising that the laborers trusted the landowner’s promise to “pay what is just.”

So, what is the meaning of the parable and how does it relate to migrant workers? As the exposition indicates, the focal point is the surprising justice of the landowner toward the latecomers and the reimagining of social relations between the landowner and the workers. The fact that there is work for everyone and each is given the dignity to earn their daily wage is remarkable. We may ask, “What is justice for an unemployed man [or a woman], eager to work … [for] those willing to stand in a public place all day long and endure the humiliating glances of the financially secure[?]”

The call for justice becomes even more pressing issue like that of Mary Jane Veloso, who is a victim of Trafficking, and others who are victims of labor trafficking, unjust wages, unpaid and torture and is still in jail due to a bureaucratic and broken socio-legal political system; institutional violence, exclusion from citizenship, and forced sexual favors are considered. Neighbor love compels followers of Jesus to act with justice (Matt 5:6, 33; 23:23), hospitality, and solidarity (25:19–31) also in the economic and sociopolitical sphere.

Socio-political and economic powers want to divide and conquer and maintain the status quo. In some sense the oppressors have already won, socio-cultural and caste division hampers cooperation within the church and the society. Organization of the migrant day laborers together with various NGOs in is particularly important, and churches play a major role in this. The parable challenges the day laborers, and all those in solidarity with them, to stand united and work for a better community and society where there is work, justice, and dignity for everyone.

Challenging oppressive systems is risky, especially when justice is denied and those in power  and serving their own selves.  Without doubt, this does not only antagonize the powerful but will also elicit disgruntlement on the part of those who feel that they have “borne the heat of the day.” Yet Jesus was willing to confront the powers of his day as he embodied the kingdom of God and lived in solidarity with the outcasts of his day. This is the call of the kingdom for the church today as well, however risky it might be.

Pope Francis would state that to make migration a choice that is truly free, efforts must be made to ensure to everyone an equal share in the common good, respect for his or her fundamental rights, and access to an integral human development, thus, to offer to each person the possibility of a dignified and fulfilling life, whether individually or within families. Heeding to the message of the Holy Father let us work to ensure that in every case, migration is the fruit of a free decision, we are called to show maximum respect for the dignity of each migrant; this entails accompanying and managing waves of migration as best we can, constructing bridges and not walls, expanding channels for a safe and regular migration. In whatever place we decide to build our future, in the country of our birth or elsewhere, the important thing is that there always be a community ready to welcome, protect, promote, and integrate everyone, without distinction and without excluding anyone. Let our parish, our community, our diocese, and our society become a welcoming land to welcome the migrant Jesus.

It is clear that not many interpretations consider the present-day implications of the parable for analogous situations. It was argued that the focal point of the parable is on the goodness and justice of God’s kingdom as manifested through the actions of the landowner. By considering the idea, it can be concluded that the parable challenges Christians to be agents of God’s kingdom together with and on behalf of migrant workers and those in the same situation, the most vulnerable.

September 17, 2023*Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time*US$ 12 BILLION!

Prof. Revelation Velunta, , Union Theological Seminary

https://religiontaskcharlotteryan.weebly.com/the-parable/story-line-with-captions

Sir 27:30—28:7 

Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12         

Rom 14:7-9        

Mt 18:21-35       

The Gospel of Matthew has parables of Jesus that talk about talents. Despite scores of sermons that tell us otherwise, these talents do not refer to gifts, skills, or competencies. During Jesus’s time, a talent (talanton) referred to the largest unit of currency and was roughly equivalent to about 20 years of labor. The New International Version translates it correctly: talents were bags of gold!

So, the 10,000 bags of gold in Sunday’s lection was equivalent to 200,000 years of labor. Or about 12 billion US dollars!

For me the key to making sense of the parable (outside of how Matthew uses the tradition) is the ten thousand talents! When Rome conquered Palestine in 63 BCE, the taxes the empire exacted from its colony was that exact amount. (See Josephus, Antiquities, 14.78) By the time of Jesus, Palestine had been under Roman Occupation for almost a hundred years. Half of the population were slowly starving to death. Exploitation was rampant and tax collectors were among the most hated in the land. And Rome executed up to 500 “enemies of the state” daily to remind everyone that defiance was unacceptable behavior.

So the king in the parable pardons a huge debt which was not really owed. Then and now the powerful have laws, ledgers, books, documents, and, yes, theologies that show and teach how much the powerless are indebted to them. And payment always requires more than what is owed.

And the servant whose supposed debt was canceled? He does exactly what the exploitative system has shaped him to do, be the face of the colonizer to the colonized. More often than not, the colonized never see the face of the colonizer–that see only his agents who come from among the colonized. Then and now the colonizer remains benevolent.

Read the parable again. The king comes out smelling like a newly-bathed baby. The colonized are portrayed as seeking the king’s favor. And one of them is actually tortured on orders of the king.

Do not forget this. Ever. The king in the parable is a king and served as a metaphor for the Roman Emperor. For Trump? I’d say, yes. For Duterte? Yes. For Marcos and his Junior? Yes again. For God? Never.

#ChooseJustice

#FreePalestine

#JusticeForMyanmar

#ThursdaysInBlack

#GodWithUs

#ReadingTheParablesOfJesusInsideAJeepney

September 10, 2023Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary TimeBearing Witness to Truth

Rev. Ariel Siagan, IEMELIF

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Ez 33:7-9

Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9

Rom 13:8-10

Mt 18:15-20

How do we determine the truth?

The Gospel reading for the week gives instruction for the early Christian community on how to deal with members who committed an offence to anyone in the community. The first step is for the aggrieved party to personally point out to the suspected offender their fault. The suspected offender may not be aware that they have committed an error. The talk between the aggrieved party and the suspected offender is to be done in confidence, giving chance to hear each other out and piece together the event from each others perspectives. If they have settled amicably then they have arrived at a truth. But if the suspected offender refused to listen, then the aggrieved party may escalate the concern by calling one or two members of the community who are able to confirm every word and every evidence. The truth is determined by the members of the community who bear witness to their dialogue and may probe questions that lead to the truth. If the suspected offender refused to listen to the company of two or three members, then the case may be escalated to the church. The church determines the truth.

Hopefully, the suspected offender may listen, but if not the suspected offender may face demeaning consequences such as being tagged as a tax collector, which is the symbolic equivalent of greediness or as a gentile which is equivalent to being unclean.

The early Christian community has operating rules and guidelines as mechanisms to determine the truth. This guidelines poster mutual trust and encourage behavior beneficial for the community. These guidelines may also answer the need to encourage members to resolve conflicts within the bounds of the community, as many Bible scholars point to the intense persecution the early Christian communities experience from the Temple and the Palace. Aside from the practical utility of these guidelines, the Gospel writer points us to a profound meaning of being a community of believers bearing witness to the truth: the power at their disposal that they can bound things on earth as it is in heaven, and the legitimating presence of the Lord whenever two or three gather in his name.

The early Christian community does not have the complexity of the modern State. But complexity does not mean sophistication. The early Christian community is sophisticatedly more egalitarian. Look at Acts 2:44-46, where the community of believer shared everything. The egalitarian feature of the community shapes the process of witnessing to the truth. When they have nothing to lose since they share everything, the interest of the community is not aligned to the powerful because in an egalitarian community, there is no class of powerful people to begin with. Unlike in the modern state or church, the understanding of the truth is oftentimes determined by power. In our imagination ‘might become right.’ But truth is not determined by power. Truth is allowing suffering to speak.

Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano who are community organizers working with fisherfolk  and were looking at  the impact  reclamation and coastal development projects in Manila Bay were recently abducted. These forced disappearances seem to be part of a pattern of forced disappearances of many activists who are working to better the conditions of marginalized communities. The two young environmentalists work with AKAP Ka Manila Bay, a network of advocates opposing dump-and-fill reclamation activities.  The truth that they bear witness to is the truth that comes from the testimony of the poor people living around the Manila Bay. The reclamation project of the government does not leave too much attention to the impact it will make on the poor people whose livelihood depends much on the water. The nature of truth is that it always belongs to the people who suffer, and not the powerful. The two have responded to bear witness of the suffering of the aggrieved people. I imagine that they are fiercely doing advocacy work to the point that they become a threat to the powerful who bears a different vision for Manila Bay. Jonila and Jhed bear witness to the truth that makes the powerful to tremble.

Since Marcos Jr assumed Malacanan we have heard a number of forced disappearances. They have names: Elgene Mungcal, Ma. Elenea Pampoza, Ariel Badiang, Renel delos Santos, Denald Mailen, Lyn Grace Martullinas, Dexter Capuyan, Gene Roz “Bazoo” de Jesus, Aurily Havana and Jennifer Binungkasan. Desaparacidos is the collective name for the disappeared who were abducted and killed by state forces. These abductions are known to be a classical tool  of silencing people who bears witness to the truth. In many parts of the world, totalitarian and fascist governments used this kind of tactic to impose their inhumane and selfish interest. Any opposition to development projects that plunder our  natural resources to serve the interests of big business is typically a threat to the state. Yet the truth will persist .

  Shall we, as a Church, bear witness to the truth that emanates from the suffering of people, of the disappeared, of the victims of drug war, of the urban poor, of the poor peasants? As a church, who bears witness to the truth of the suffering of our Lord,  let us.