Coming to Church

Why do we go to the marketplace?

Business people and vendors go there to sell, to gain profit, to earn. Buyers go there get what they want or what they need. Basically, we go there to have something for ourselves.

Oftentimes, this disposition we bring with us to Church. We come to church asking ourselves what are we to gain by going there; what are we going to have in return. We come to church and wonder if what we want will be given. We come to church because we want to have.

If this is the only motivation we have in coming to church, then, we make the church a marketplace.

Even without the animals being sold; even without money changers, if the only motivation we can find in our hearts every time we go to church is to get, to receive, to gain, or to have, then, we make the church a marketplace.

And the exhortation of Jesus in the Gospel today is clear: Stop making my Father’s house into a marketplace. Stop going to church thinking only of yourselves. Stop going to church thinking only what you will get in return. How about coming to church in gratitude? In thanksgiving? Thanking the Lord for his blessings and graces, for his faithfulness, for his mercy, for family and friends, for challenges and trials that make us strong. How about coming to church ready to offer ourselves to God? Ready to offer our time, our talent, our treasure.

It is not bad to ask God what we want or what we need. But a true Christian does not end there. Or better yet, a true Christian does not start there. A true Christian starts with gratitude and the generosity before the Lord.

We do not come to church because we need something from God. We come to church because we need God, for He provides for our needs.

We do not come to church because we want something from the Lord. We come to church because we want the Lord, because in Him, there is nothing we shall want.

We do not come to church to have something from God. We come to church to be with God, for to be with Him is have everything.

We ask the Lord to grant us a heart full of gratitude and generosity. Because when we enter the church with gratitude and generosity first and foremost, then, we enter, not a marketplace, but the Father’s house.

INCENSE by Fr. Romano Guardini

"AND I saw an angel come and stand before the altar, having a  golden censer; and there was given to him much incense, and the  smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascended up  before God from the hand of the angel." So writes Saint John in  the mysterious book of the Apocalypse.  The offering of an incense is a generous and beautiful rite. The  bright grains of incense are laid upon the red-hot charcoal, the  censer is swung, and the fragrant smoke rises in clouds. In the  rhythm and the sweetness there is a musical quality; and like  music also is the entire lack of practical utility: it is a  prodigal waste of precious material. It is a pouring out of  unwithholding love.  

"When the Lord was at supper Mary brought the spikenard of great  price and poured it over his feet and wiped them with her hair,  and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment." Narrower  spirits objected. "Whereto this waste?" But the Son of God has  spoken, "Let her alone. She hath done it against my burial."  Mary's anointing was a mystery of death and love and the sweet  savour of sacrifice.  The offering of incense is like Mary's anointing at Bethany. It  is as free and objectless as beauty. It burns and is consumed  like love that lasts through death. 

And the arid soul still takes  his stand and asks the same question: What is the good of it?  It is the offering of a sweet savour which Scripture itself tells  us is the prayers of the Saints. Incense is the symbol of prayer.  Like pure prayer it has in view no object of its own; it asks  nothing for itself. It rises like the Gloria at the end of a  psalm in adoration and thanksgiving to God for his great glory.  It is true that symbolism of this sort may lead to mere  aestheticism. There are imaginations in which the fragrant clouds  of incense induce a spurious religiosity; and, in such instances,  when it does so, the Christian conscience does right to protest  that prayer should be made in spirit and in truth. But though  prayer is a plain, straight-forward business, it is not the so- much-for-so-muchness which the niggardly imagination and  fleshless heart of the religious Philistine would make of it. The  same spirit persists that produced the objection of Judas of  Kerioth. Prayer is not to be measured by its bargaining power; it  is not a matter of bourgeous common sense.  Minds of this order know nothing of that magnanimous prayer that  seeks only to give. Prayer is a profound act of worship, that  asks neither why nor wherefore. It rises like beauty, like  sweetness, like love. The more there is in it of love, the more  of sacrifice. And when the fire has wholly consumed the  sacrifice, a sweet savour ascends.   

Fr. Romano Guardini (17 February 1885, Verona – 1 October 1968, Munich)

KNEELING by R. Guardini

WHEN a man feels proud of himself, he stands erect, draws himself  to his full height, throws back his head and shoulders and says  with every part of his body, I am bigger and more important than  you. But when he is humble he feels his littleness, and lowers  his head and shrinks into himself. He abases himself. And the  greater the presence in which he stands the more deeply he abases  himself; the smaller he becomes in his own eyes.  But when does our littleness so come home to us as when we stand  in God's presence? He is the great God, who is today and  yesterday, whose years are hundreds and thousands, who fills the  place where we are, the city, the wide world, the measureless  space of the starry sky, in whose eyes the universe is less than  a particle of dust, all-holy, all-pure, all-righteous, infinitely  high. He is so great, I so small, so small that beside him I seem  hardly to exist, so wanting am I in worth and substance. 

One has  no need to be told that God's presence is not the place in which  to stand on one's dignity. To appear less presumptuous, to be as  little and low as we feel, we sink to our knees and thus  sacrifice half our height; and to satisfy our hearts still  further we bow down our heads, and our diminished stature speaks  to God and says, Thou art the great God; I am nothing.   

Therefore let not the bending of our knees be a hurried gesture,  an empty form. Put meaning into it. To kneel, in the soul's  intention, is to bow down before God in deepest reverence.  On entering a church, or in passing before the altar, kneel down  all the way without haste or hurry, putting your heart into what  you do, and let your whole attitude say, Thou art the great God.  It is an act of humility, an act of truth, and everytime you  kneel it will do your soul good.   

Clarifications on Some Adjustments on the Celebration of the Mass in OLPP

If you go to mass at Pentecost you might have observed that the parish has introduced some adjustments in the way we celebrate the mass, particularly the following:

1.     the beginning of the mass (from the sign of the cross up to the opening prayer) is done at the presider’s chair (not at the altar table as was previously done);

2.     the priest may opt to spend some time of silence immediately after the homily before the prayers of the faithful (on weekdays) or before the profession of faith (on Sundays);

3.     the Prayers of the Faithful (also known as General Intercessions) is introduced and concluded by the priest from the presider’s chair;

4.     the rites after communion (which consists of Post-Communion Prayer and Concluding Rite) are done at the presider’s chair (and not at the altar table as was previously done).

Although these adjustments concern mainly the mass presiders, a brief explanation about them would help for better appreciation.

The document that guides us in every aspect of our celebration of the mass (similar to a manual if we can call it that) is the “General Instruction on the Roman Missal,” simply referred to as GIRM (used here is the 2002 edition).

In paragraph 50, referring to the beginning of the mass, GIRM states that “when the entrance chant is concluded, the priests stands at the chair and, together with the whole assembly, makes the sign of the cross.” Thus, the proper place to begin the mass is at the presider’s chair. But leeway is generally given to masses celebrated outside the parish church (e.g. in offices, in schools, in funeral parlors, in small chapels, etc.). The same can be said regarding the conclusion of the mass.

By reserving the use of the altar exclusively for the Liturgy of the Eucharist (and not for the Introductory and Concluding rites), we proclaim the centrality of the table of the Lord “on which the Sacrifice of the Cross is made present” (GIRM 296). By tradition, the altar should be made of stone (GIRM 301), which clearly signifies Jesus Christ, the living stone (Eph 2:20).

Talking about the General Intercessions (or the Prayers of the Faithful) GIRM 71 states, “It is for the priest celebrant to direct this prayer from the chair. He himself begins it with a brief introduction, by which he invites the faithful to pray. He also concludes it with a prayer.”

What does the chair signify? GIRM 310 explains that “the chair of the priest celebrant must signify his office of presiding over the gathering and of directing the prayer.”  Thus, what can be a more eloquent manifestation of this fact than by beginning and concluding the mass, where all the faithful is gathered in prayer, at the chair.

In paragraph 56, GIRM asserts that during the liturgy of the word, “it is also appropriate to include brief periods of silence, accommodated to the assembly gathered together, in which, by the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, the word of God may be grasped by the heart and a response may be prepared through prayer.” Thus, by spending some time for silence immediately after the homily we allow the Holy Spirit to inspire in us prayer, deeper understanding of the Word, and appropriate Christian action.

I pray that these adjustments, however little they may be, may contribute greatly to the solemnity and meaningfulness of the Eucharistic celebrations in our parish.

Fr. Dennis S. Soriano

The great reason for this transfiguration was to remove the scandal of the cross from the hearts of his disciples, and to prevent the humiliation of his voluntary suffering from disturbing the faith of those who had witnessed the surpassing glory that lay concealed. (Pope Leo the Great)

We trust in the Lord.

2nd Sunday of Lent

As a priest, many people come to us seeking answers to their questions.

Questions that are difficult to answer.

A mother came to me once and said,

Father, I loved my husband and my children with all my heart.

Ibinigay ko naman lahat para sa kanila.

Why is it that after all the things I did,

my husband still left me for another woman?

A young man came to me and said,

Father, all my life, I have never given trouble to my parents.

Mabait naman ako. Hindi naman ako masamang tao. Masipag naman ako.

I have been working hard. Why am I not getting the break that I want?

A father once approached me and said,

Father, my wife and I did all we could to give our child a good education.

Hindi kami nagkulang sa patuturo, sa pagpapaalala, sa pangangaral.

Why is his life a mess now?

It seems we are losing him. Why?

Difficult questions.

And we are not alone in asking these questions.

Abraham, in the first reading today, I’m sure asked the same difficult questions.

Why would God ask that I sacrifice Isaac, my only son, his gift to me? Why?

The disciples of Jesus could have asked the same questions on Calvary.

If Jesus is the Messiah, the savior, why is he crucified on the cross?

If his mission is God-sent why does it seem that he is a failure?

We all have our questions in life.

And the gospel today does not give us a clear answer.

What the Lord gives us is an invitation.

“This is my beloved son, listen to him.”

Open your heart to Jesus.

Believe in him.

Trust him.

Trust in the Lord.

Trust in his love.

St. Paul in the second reading reminds us that

If God can give up his only begotten Son for us

Will He not give everything else to us.

Kung hindi ipinagkait ng Diyos ang kanyang anak sa atin

Ipagkakait ba nang Diyos ang iba pang makabubuti sa aitn.

God is trustworthy.

We may not fully understand how.

We may not find all the answers to our questions.

But we listen to the Lord.

We open our hearts to him.

We trust in him.

More than a prayer of thanksgiving...

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ten lepers approached the Lord. All ten were healed from their leprosy but only one came back to offer gratitude and praise. Jesus made him an example for all.

Gratitude is a very important attitude for all of us. Gratitude is the only appropriate disposition we can have before the Lord. What does it mean to be truly grateful to God?

As a sign of our gratitude to God we can choose to offer a prayer of thanks, or a mass of thanksgiving or even a part of our treasure but ultimately what God wants is an offering of ourselves.

In the first reading, Naaman was healed from his leprosy by taking a bath in the river Jordan. Gratefully Naaman offered gifts to Elisha but Elisha rejected them. So Naaman promised, “I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice to any other god except the Lord.” Naaman understood that it was not gifts that Elisha wanted but his profession of faith, his very life.

And so, during the offertory of the mass when we offer money for the collections we do not only offer money but our offering invites us ultimately to offer ourselves. Kitang-kita ang paanyayang ito kapag nagmimisa sa barrio, lalu na sa liblib na lugar. Pagdating ng pag-aalay, yung magbababoy ang alay, baboy. Yung magmamanok ang alay, manok. Yung magugulay ang alay, gulay. Malinaw na malinaw na ang kanilang alay ay simbulo ng kanilang sarili.

Being grateful to God entails more than our prayers of thanksgiving, more than the offering of what we have. Genuine gratitude to God demands an offering of ourselves, a surrendering of our time, talent and treasure for selfless service, a profession of faith to a generous God.

Pilipino, kaya mong maging santo!

Memorial of San Lorenzo Ruiz and Companion Martyrs

Ang Pilipinas ang kaisa-isang Katolikong bansa sa Asya. Yan ang sinabi ni Pope John Paul II nung dumalaw siya sa Piipinas noon 1995.  Yan din ang ating ipinagmamalaki. Kaya lang may bahid ang pananampalatatayang ito dahil sa buong mundo isa ang Pilipinas sa itinuturing na pinaka-corrupt na bansa. How ironic that the only Catholic nation is Asia is also one of the most corrupt country in the world.

Hanggang kelan tayo mananatiling ganito? Patakaran na nga ba talaga ang pandurugas at paglalagay para umusad ang mga proseso ng gobyerno? Hindi na nga ba mawawala ang kahirapan? Maiiwan at maiiwan na lang ba tayo ng mga kapitbahay nating bansa? Wala na ba talagang pag-asang magbago?

Sa kapistahan ng isang Santong Pilipino, si San Lorenzo ng Maynila, pinapaalala sa ating lahat na walang imposible sa biyaya ng Diyos. Sa pagdiriwang natin ngayon tila baga sinasabi sa atin ni San Lorenzo, “Kung nakaya ko kaya nyo rin. Pilipino, kaya mong maging santo.” Pilipino, kaya mong magbago. Tulad ni San Lorenzo, kaya mong ialay ang iyong buhay para sa Diyos. Kaya mong maging tapat at matuwid. Kaya mong ibigay ang lahat para sa mabuti. Kaya mong magsakripisyo para sa tama. Kaya mong panindigan kung ano ang totoo. Pilipino, kaya mong magbago. Pilipino, kaya mong maging santo.

San Lorenzo, ipanalangin mo kami. Ipanalangin mo ang lahat ng Pilipino. Ipanalangin mo ang Pilipinas. Ipanalangin mong pangatawanan namin ang aming pananampalataya upang tulad mo maranasan namin ang tagumpay ng pagpapala ng Diyos.

Let us not be indifferent.

26th Sunday, Ordinary Time

What was wrong with the rich man in the gospel today? Why was he sent to the netherworld where he was in torment? What was his sin? Is it a sin to be rich? Is it a sin to be wealthy?

We all know that wealth per se is not bad. It is not a sin to be rich. But to be blind to the poverty of others because one is rich, to be blind to the misery of a neighbor because one is comfortable, to be blind to the deprivation of others because one is abundant that is a sin. Riches, comfort and abundance can make one self-centered and unconcerned. Dahil masagana, mayaman at komportable, wala nang pakialam sa kapos, sa mahirap at sa nangangailangan. Pero hindi lang mayaman ang puedeng maging bulag. Lahat tayo, mayaman o mahirap, kailangan nating magbantay baka manhid na tayo sa pangangailangan ng ating kapwa, baka wala na tayong pakialam.

Today is the anniversary of the sad tragedy that the typhoon “Ondoy” brought to us. Many lives have been devastated by this tragedy that until today, one year after the disaster, many are still striving to build their lives.  If there is one lesson that we should learn from “Ondoy” that is indifference to nature means destruction to all of us. It is our tragedy not to be concerned and considerate of our environment. We have to be convinced that to take care of the environment is to take care of ourselves. If this is true in terms of the environment, so much more when talk about out relationship with our neighbor: to take care of the weak, to take care of the miserable, to take care of the needy around us is to take care of ourselves. This is the message of the gospel today. Kailangan nating matutunan na ang kawalan ng pakialam sa mga kapos, sa mahirap at nangangailangan ay trahedya para sa ating pananampalataya, isang trahedya para sa ating pagiging tunay na Kristiyano.

Let us not be indifferent. Let us not be unconcerned. Let us not be apathetic to the needs that exist around us because to do so is to invite our ruinous denouement.