Are you willing to follow Jesus?

Let’s begin with what Jesus didn’t mean. Many people interpret “cross” as some burden they must carry in their lives: a strained relationship, a thankless job, a physical illness. With self-pitying pride, they say, “That’s my cross I have to carry.” Such an interpretation is not what Jesus meant when He said, “Take up your cross and follow Me.”

When Jesus carried His cross up Golgotha to be crucified, no one was thinking of the cross as symbolic of a burden to carry. To a person in the first-century, the cross meant one thing and one thing only: death by the most painful and humiliating means human beings could develop.

Two thousand years later, Christians view the cross as a cherished symbol of atonement, forgiveness, grace, and love. But in Jesus’ day, the cross represented nothing but torturous death. Because the Romans forced convicted criminals to carry their own crosses to the place of crucifixion, bearing a cross meant carrying their own execution device while facing ridicule along the way to death.

Therefore, “Take up your cross and follow Me” means being willing to die in order to follow Jesus. This is called “dying to self.” It’s a call to absolute surrender. After each time Jesus commanded cross bearing, He said, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” Although the call is tough, the reward is matchless.

Wherever Jesus went, He drew crowds. Although these multitudes often followed Him as Messiah, their view of who the Messiah really was—and what He would do—was distorted. They thought the Christ would usher in the restored kingdom. They believed He would free them from the oppressive rule of their Roman occupiers. Even Christ’s own inner circle of disciples thought the kingdom was coming soon. When Jesus began teaching that He was going to die at the hands of the Jewish leaders and their Gentile overlords, His popularity sank. Many of the shocked followers rejected Him. Truly, they were not able to put to death their own ideas, plans, and desires, and exchange them for His.

Following Jesus is easy when life runs smoothly; our true commitment to Him is revealed during trials. Jesus assured us that trials will come to His followers. Discipleship demands sacrifice, and Jesus never hid that cost.

If you wonder if you are ready to take up your cross, consider these questions:
• Are you willing to follow Jesus if it means losing some of your closest friends?
• Are you willing to follow Jesus if it means alienation from your family?
• Are you willing to follow Jesus if it means the loss of your reputation?
• Are you willing to follow Jesus if it means losing your job?
• Are you willing to follow Jesus if it means losing your life?

In some places of the world, these consequences are reality. But notice the questions are phrased, “Are you willing?” Following Jesus doesn’t necessarily mean all these things will happen to you, but are you willing to take up your cross? If there comes a point in your life where you are faced with a choice—Jesus or the comforts of this life—which will you choose?

Commitment to Christ means taking up your cross daily, giving up your hopes, dreams, possessions, even your very life if need be for the cause of Christ. Only if you willingly take up your cross may you be called His disciple. The reward is worth the price. Jesus followed His call of death to self (“Take up your cross and follow Me”) with the gift of life in Christ: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it”.

Sino si Hesus para sa iyo?

Ang tagpuan sa Ebanghelyo ngayon, ang Caesarea Philippi, ay hindi teritoryo ng mga Hudyo. Mas maraming pagano ang nakatira roon. Sa lugar na ito tinanong ni Hesus ang kanyang mga disipulo kung ano ba ang tingin sa kanya ng mga tao. Hindi niya tinanong kung naiintindihan ba ng mga tao ang pangangaral niya kundi kung ano ang pagkakilala sa kanya ng mga iyon.  Narinig natin ang sagot ng mga tao: may nagsabing siya si Juan Bautista, o si Elias o si Jeremias at yung ibang walang masagot ay nagsabing isa siya sa mga propeta. (Siyempre alam natin ngayon na hindi lamang Siya isa sa mga propeta.)

Nagustuhan marahil ni Hesus ang sagot ng mga tao. Ngunit nagpatuloy siya sa pagtatanong dahil may nais siyang patunayan. At sa pagkakataong ito, mas mahirap na ang tanong dahil nangangailangan ito ng mas personal na sagot: "Sino ako para sa iyo?"

Marahil natahimik ang mga disipulo, nagsikuhan o nagkatinginan muna—parang mga estudyanteng nangingiming sumagot sa tanong ng guro. Marahil may inaasahan silang may isa sa kanilang grupo ang sasagot sa tanong ni Hesus. Kaya si Simon Pedro, ang itinuturing na lider ng grupo, ay nagtangkang sumagot: "Kayo po ang Mesiyas, ang Tagapagligtas, ang Anak ng Diyos."

Ikinalugod ni Hesus ang sagot ngunit sinabi niyang hindi kay Simon Pedro o sa talinong taglay ng isang mangingisda o sa tagal ng kanilang pinagsamahan nagmula ang sagot kundi sa kapangyarihan ng Ama. Sa Diyos nagmula ang inspirasyon kaya ganoon ang naging sagot ni Simon Pedro. Mapalad si Simon Pedro dahil nagpakilala ang Diyos sa kanya ng personal.

Kung ako kaya ang tanungin ni Hesus—"Sino ako para sa 'yo?"—paano ko kaya sasagutin? 

Marami akong puwedeng isagot: kapatid, kaibigan, kasama, guro, tagapagtanggol, tagatubos ng kasalanan...walang katapusan ang maaaring ilista rito. Subalit may mga tanong na hindi kailangan ng sagot. Minsan, kailangan lang nating pagnilayan kumbakit ba tayo tinatanong dahil doon makikita natin ang kalooban ng nagtatanong. Hindi kailangang sumagot; baka mas kailangan natin ang makinig. Baka mas kailangan nating kilalanin ang nagtatanong kaysa isipin kung ano ang isasagot.

Noong tinanong ng Diyos sina Adan at Eba—"Nasaan kayo?"—hindi Siya nagtatanong kung saang lupalop sila napadpad. Iniimbitahan sila ng Diyos na pagnilayan nila kung nasaan ang kanilang kalooban, kung bakit napalayo sila sa Diyos.

Ganoon din siguro ang paraan ng pagtatanong ni Hesus. Nag-iimbita siyang pagnilayan natin kung sino ba siya sa ating personal na kalooban. Kung nasaan ba si Hesus sa ating mga puso. Malapit ba siya o malayo? O kumbakit tinatanong niya rin tayo kung nakikita ba natin siya sa ating buhay.

Naniniwala akong si Hesus ay buhay at kasama pa rin natin hanggang ngayon. Nararamdaman ko ang kanyang presensya sa pamamagitan ng paggalaw sa aking buhay ng handog niyang Espiritu Santo. Mas mabuti sigurong harapin ang buhay nang kinikilala si Hesus kaysa itigil sandali ang buhay upang maisip kung ano ang isasagot sa tanong ni Hesus. Dahil sa mismong buhay natin makikita si Hesus.

Sa personal na karanasan, naramdaman ko ang misteryong pagkilos ng Espiritu Santo. Isang hapon, habang nagninilay ay natanong ko ang aking sarili, bakit kaya sa tagal ko nang nasa Parish Youth Ministry at sa dalas kong pagpunta sa simbahan, ni hindi ko naramdamang may Vocation Ministry? Siyempre hindi ko iyon masagot, ngunit ipinagdasal kong sana'y makilala ko rin ang mga kasapi ng Vocation Ministry dahil sa likod ng aking isip, ninanais kong makasali roon upang makatulong sa aking paglago bilang kabataang naghahangad mapaglingkuran ang Diyos sa pamamagitan ng pagsagot sa tawag ng bokasyon. Noong gabi ring iyon, may balitang dumating na di ko inaasahan. Sa isang iglap, magbabago pala ang pamunuan ng Vocation Ministry at tinanong ako ni Padre kung maaari kong tanggapin ang isang posisyon doon. Naisip ko, ganoon pala magpakilala ang Diyos. Hindi mo Siya makikita pero mararamdaman mong Siya nga iyon na kumikilos sa aking buhay.

Ito ngayon ang ikalawa at huli kong punto tungkol sa Ebanghelyo ngayong Linggo. Kalakip ng pagpapakilala ni Hesus ay ang imbitasyong sundan Siya. Nakilala ni Simon Pedro si Hesus kaya tinawag siya upang maging bato na magsisilbing sandigan ng Simbahan. At ang pagtawag ng Diyos ay walang hanggan; hindi matatalo kahit ng kamatayan. Subalit nasa atin ang kalayaan sa pagsagot. 

Kaya naman noong ako'y imbitahan ni Padre na maging kasapi ng Vocation Ministry, gaya noong imbitahan niya rin akong tulungan ang Tarcisian Adorers ng simbahan, sumagot ako ng "oo" pagkatapos kong manalangin sa Diyos na tulungan Niya ako sa aking pagsagot.

Patuloy ang pagpapakilala ng Diyos. Patuloy ang pagtawag ng Diyos. Nasa ating mga palad kung kikilalanin natin Siya, at kung papakinggan natin ang tawag Niya. Patuloy tayong magdasal at magnilay upang makilala natin nang lubos si Hesus sa ating buhay. At kung mayroon Siyang ginagawang pagtawag, ipanalangin nating huwag tayong matakot na pakinggan at sundin ang tawag Niya. Amen.

Contemplating the Call of Matthew.

“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus saw Matthew, sitting at his customs table, Jesus must have seen how the people despised this tax collector. Jesus had to sense that this kind of resentment and rejection did things to a tax collector. He had to immediately feel compassion on Matthew and what it had done to him. Had it made him defensive and thick skinned? Had he become gruff and insensitive to others? Did he bark and push others away?

I imagine that the first thing Matthew noticed was how Jesus was looking at him. Could it have been that the first experience Matthew had of Jesus was that Jesus was simply looking at him in a way no one had ever looked at him? When their eyes met, Matthew must have seen love and compassion, not blame and judgment. Jesus did not look on him with hate and contempt. Jesus simply looked at him with care.

As I picture the scene, Matthew immediately sensed that Jesus somehow understood the predicament he was in. He got himself into this and he'd not been an attractive character at all. He played the role people had put him in. But, Jesus didn't fix him in that role somehow. Before he uttered a word, Jesus' eyes must have said to Matthew, "I know this isn't really you. I understand how much playing this role is distorting you, souring you, hardening you." It was as though Jesus' face, and the sadness it revealed, reflected the sadness in Matthew's heart.

"Follow me." The words must have made their ways straight to Matthew's heart. Never had his heart been so opened by such understanding, compassion and loving acceptance. For a moment, he must have thought, "Me? I'm just a ... I can't change ... I'm stuck here ... And, what'll they say about ..." But, those protests surely were replaced with something responding from deep inside that welcomed this call, this liberation, this vote of confidence more than anything in the world. Without a word, with their eyes still locked in that communication of intimacy, Matthew's heart said, "Yes! Amen! I'm yours!" Nothing else had a hold on him. There were no excuses, doubts or fears. Matthew had been healed as he had been called. His yes was his surrender to being loved.

Can we look up from our own custom table today and see Jesus looking at us with compassion and love? He knows and understands whatever has us locked into roles, images, patterns that aren't very attractive and that we don't really like about ourselves. Can we let ourselves experience and feel his love? On the other side of that loving acceptance, there's a freedom to imagine him calling us today, in our situation, and say "Follow me."

Reflection on the Most Lovable Heart of Jesus.

We have three Hearts to adore in our Savior which, nevertheless, are but one single Heart by their intimate union. The first is his divine Heart, which is God, for God is love; it is also the eternal love of the Word in the bosom of the Father which, with the love of the Father, is the source of the Spirit. The second is his spiritual Heart, which is the higher function of his soul, where the Holy Spirit wonderfully lives and reigns, and concentrates the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God; it is also his human will, whose work is love, love to the extent of laying down his life for us in obedience to the Father. Finally, the third is the organ of the body, hypostatically united to the Word, shaped by the Holy Spirit from the blood of his loving mother and pierced by a lance on the cross.

The most lovable Heart of Jesus is a furnace of love. He loves the Father eternally, immensely, and infinitely. He loves his Mother without measure or limit, which is abundantly proven by the inconceivable graces he has granted her. He also loves the Church—triumphant, suffering and militant—whose sacraments, especially the Eucharist, which is a summary of all the wonders of God’s goodness, are so many inexhaustible sources of grace and holiness flowing, as from an ocean, from the Sacred Heart of our Savior. Finally, he loves each and every one of us as he is loved by the Father. That is why he did everything and suffered everything to withdraw us from the abyss of evil in which we have been thrown by our sinfulness, and made us children of God, members of Christ, heirs of God with Christ, having the same kingdom that the Father gave his Son.

Our duty to this most loving Heart consists in this: that we adore him, praise him, bless him, glorify him, give him thanks and ask his forgiveness for ail that he suffered because of our sins; also, that we offer him, in atonement, all the joy given him by those who love and all the affliction endured by us for the sake of his love; and finally, that we love him fervently. We must also make use of this Heart, because it is ours: the eternal Father, the Holy Spirit, Mary, and Jesus himself have given it to us, to be our refuge in need, our revelation in doubt, and our treasure in difficulty. Moreover, they gave it to us not only to be the model and norm of our life, but also to be our very own Heart, so that we might, through this wonderful Heart, fulfill our duty to God and neighbor.

The importance of the birth of St. John the Baptist.

The Church observes the birth of John as a hallowed event. We have no such commemoration for any other fathers; but it is significant that we celebrate the birthdays of John and of Jesus. This day cannot be passed by. And even if my explanation does not match the dignity of the feast, you may still meditate on it with great depth and profit.

John is born of a woman too old for childbirth; Christ was born of a youthful virgin. The news of John’s birth was met with incredulity, and his father was struck dumb. Christ’s birth was believed, and he was conceived through faith.

John, then, appears as the boundary between the two testaments, the old and the new. That he is a sort of boundary the Lord himself bears witness, when he speaks of the law and the prophets up until John the Baptist. Thus he represents times past and is the herald of the new era to come. As a representative of the past, he is born of aged parents; as herald of the new, he is declared to be a prophet while still in his mother’s womb. For when yet unborn, he leapt in his mother’s womb at the arrival of blessed Mary. In that womb he had already been designated a prophet, even before he was born; it was revealed that he was to be Christ’s precursor, before they ever saw one another. These are divine happenings, going beyond the limits of our human fraility. Eventually he is born, he receives his name, his father’s tongue is loosened. See how these events reflect reality.

Zechariah is silent and loses his voice until John, the precursor of the Lord, is born and restores his voice. The silence of Zechariah is nothing but the age of prophecy lying hidden, obscured, as it were, and concealed before the preaching of Christ. At John’s arrival, it becomes clear when the one who was being prophesied is about to come. The release of Zechariah’s voice at the birth of John is a parallel to the rending of the veil at Christ’s crucifixion. If John were announcing his own coming, Zechariah’s lips would not have been opened. The tongue is loosened because a voice is born. For when John was preaching the Lord’s coming he was asked: Who are you? And he replied: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. The voice is John, but the Lord in the beginning was the Word. John was a voice that lasted only for a time; Christ, the Word in the beginning, is eternal.

Corpus Christi Reflection.

Eating is important stuff, but there is also something very intimate about it. What I mean to say is that you don’t typically invite people over for dinner if you don’t like them because sharing food together is something that is communal and it’s also a gesture of friendship and love.  For this reason, the words “Can you stay for dinner?” are the most Christian words we can say to another person.

What, then, does it mean for Christ to invite us to share in a meal that is Himself? It means that we are His friends and that He loves us. It means that no matter how many times we fail
to follow Him through sin, He always invites us back to His table where He Himself nourishes and strengthens us.

Because of what this sacrament means and the way in which it draws us both closer to Christ and to each other, I think of this as the most beautiful sacrament entrusted to the Church by Jesus. But at the same time, this sacrament presents one of the biggest issues in the Church. I love to talk about the experience of receiving Our Lord rather than define what the Catholic Church teaches about transubstantiation and the nature of the Eucharist. Why? Because we already don’t fully perceive Christ in the Eucharist! We know through faith that Jesus is truly present, but our senses do not perceive it. So, then, if we look at the Eucharist only through the lens of study, we can still fail to realize what a gift and what a mystery this sacrament truly is for us.

Transubstantiation is not some distant, abstract doctrine that must be memorized. It is a wonderful reality that takes place at every Mass. It is something we must all undergo: a transformation of ordinary bread and wine that, when received with faith and love, has the power to transform even the most hardened of hearts and the most unrepentant of sinners.

One of the things that amazes me about us human beings is how forgetful and ungrateful we can be. How many times have we sat through Mass, persevered through the homily, waited in line, heard the priest or lay minister say “The Body of Christ”, and then stuck out our hands thinking yeah, okay, whatever “Amen”? I’m not pointing any fingers at anyone here except myself, because I’ve done this often. But do you ever stop and think about Who you’re receiving? Does it ever strike you as you hold the consecrated Host that you hold Jesus Christ in your hands?

Jesus shows us a tremendous amount of love in this sacrament, so much so that it’s far beyond words. He is the God of the universe, and yet He humbles Himself. He is the Almighty, and yet He deigns to come to us, His creatures, as food. What more could we possibly ask for? Our God comes to us to give Himself to us Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. What more could we ever want?

Dahilan kumbakit pumupunta ako ng simbahan.

Hindi ako pumupunta ng simbahan dahil pinilit ako. Hindi ako pumupunta ng simbahan dahil natatakot ako sa impyerno kapag hindi ako pumunta. Hindi ako pumupunta dahil feeling ko banal o relihiyoso ako.

Pumupunta ako ng simbahan dahil gusto kong bigyang-dangal ang Diyos na pinananaligan ko. Para sa akin, talagang naririto ang Diyos gaya ng talagang naririto't nakikita natin ang araw; sa pamamagitan Niya, nakikita natin ang lahat ng bagay. Mararamdaman ang presensya ng Diyos sa marahang ihip ng hangin, sa paboritong kanta, kahit sa biglang sumusulpot na advertisement sa YouTube (pero hindi nakakainis ang Diyos). Pumupunta ako sa simbahan upang manalangin at magpuri sa Diyos kasama ang ibang tao, dahil hindi ako nag-iisa sa paglalakbay ko sa buhay. Iba't ibang edad, lahi, mukha at mga paniniwala sa buhay ang pinagsasama't pinag-iisa ni Hesus, na siyang tunay na nagmamahal maging sino man tayo.

Higit sa lahat, pumupunta ako ng simbahan upang tanggapin ang Eukaristiya - ang Katawan at Dugo, Espiritu at Kabanalan ni Hesus. Inaalala ko ang pagmamahal ni Hesus, maging hanggang sa kanyang kamatayan. Sobrang hinahangad ko laging makatanggap ng Komunyon; hindi lang siya basta wafer kundi tunay na presensya ni Hesus sa anyo ng tinapay. Sa pagdiriwang ng Banal na Hapunan laging nasa ating piling ang Diyos.

Inaanyayahan ko kayo, maging Katoliko man o hindi, na magtungo ngayong Linggo sa inyo-inyong simbahan. Hayaan ninyong kausapin kayo ng Diyos, sa pinakakakaibang paraan. Mahalin natin ang mga paniniwala't tradisyon ng mga Kristiyano. Tayo'y mga anak ng iisang Diyos. At dahil sa pagpapadala ng Diyos sa Banal na Espiritu, tayo ngayon ay napagsasama't napag-iisa.

Maligayang Araw sa Banal na Simbahang Katolika! Ang kaisa-isa, tunay na apostolikong Simbahang itinatag mismo ni Hesus.