A Family that Journeys Towards Jerusalem

The mystery of Christmas is the mystery of God becoming man... the invisible God becoming visible. And God became man in a family, in the family formed by Mary and Joseph. Thus, Blessed John Paul II asserts: “The divine mystery of the Incarnation of the Word… has an intimate connection with the human family.”

Yes, Christmas is a celebration of faith, but our celebration today, the Feast of the Holy Family, reminds us that Christmas will always be a celebration of the family.

And so, we ask: what can every family learn from the family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph?

The gospel today talks about the story of the Lost and Finding of Jesus in the Temple. We can learn a lot from this experience of the Holy Family but allow me to focus on one.

The gospel tells us that each year Jesus, Mary and Joseph went up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. Jerusalem is where the temple is. Jerusalem is the center of Jewish faith

If we are to imitate the Holy Family, then we must be a family ever willing to journey towards our own Jerusalem; the journey to Jerusalem is a journey of faith. We must be a family willing to enter into the path of faith. We must become a family willing to know more about our Catholic Faith. We must become a family that longs to grow into friendship and intimacy with God.

Later on, Jerusalem too, is where Jesus met his fatal condemnation. It is a place where he suffered and just outside its walls, it is where he died on the cross.

Oftentimes, it is through the cross that faith grows and matures. Dealing with conflicts and issues in the family is not always easy; asking and giving forgiveness in the family are not always pleasant; working for family reconciliation is always a demanding task. But it is precisely in facing these with openness, honesty and faith that families grow in unity, in genuine love and true friendship with God.

My dear friends, it is still Christmas, but lest we forget, a re-reading of the Story of Christmas reveals to us the shadow of the cross. In the story of Christmas, we hear about the rejection from the inn keeper, the poverty of the manger, the killing of the innocents, the escape into Egypt. All these reveals that from the very beginning, the family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph has always known trials and difficulties but these did not stop them to be united and persistent in fulfilling the will of the Father

Let us not be afraid for our families. Let us not be afraid to journey into our own Jerusalem - a place where demands for sacrifice will be found, but it is also a place where a renewal of love and faith in the family awaits.

Let us allow the family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph to lead us. Let us allow the Holy Family to transform us to become holy, Christian, Catholic, families. Amen.

We will see!

Jesus asked the blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man answered, “I want to see.”

Pope Benedict XVI, in talking about faith, wrote that faith makes us see. Faith makes us see beyond the physical, beyond what we can touch or understand. Faith makes us see God, working in and around us. Faith makes us see Christ in our neighbors.

But sometimes there are obstacles to this faith. There are hindrances that blind us spiritually. Allow me to give three.

When we are full of ourselves – our successes, our achievements, our opinions – we begin to believe we are self-sufficient. We cling to the illusion of total independence. We fail to see what good other people offer us. We fail to see how much we need God. Then, pride blinds us.

When we are in pain and we allow it to close our hearts and to focus only on ourselves, making us withdraw from family and friends, then, we fail to see the giftedness of people around us. We fail to open up. Then, pain blinds us.

When we are too satisfied with how things are for ourselves, too comfortable, we become complacent. We fail to become sensitive to needs of other people and realize what we can do to make things better for our less fortunate brothers and sisters. Then, comfort blinds us.

Pride, pain and comfort; they can make us spiritually blind.

May kasabihan po sa Pilipino:

Mahirap gisingin ang nagtutulog tulugan.

Mahirap makakita ang nagbubulag bulagan.

We may be spiritually blind and not know about it, or we may know about it and we just don’t care. The gospel today invites us to “Take courage; get up, he is calling you.” The Lord is calling us. He is calling us to see with the eyes of faith. But we need to take courage, to get up and to pull down the blinders. When we do so, we will see!

Trust in God

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28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The young man has a very valid question: What must I do to inherit eternal life? And the first answer of Jesus was obedience to the commandments. But the young man has done all that since childhood. And so, Jesus gave him a more personal, penetrating answer: Sell what you have and give to the poor, then, follow me.

Now, the question of the young man has been answered. Now, the young man knew what was necessary, what was needed to be done. But he went away sad for he had many possessions. The young man knew what was the right thing to do and did not do it. Why? For he did not trust Jesus enough. He trusted more his possessions; not the Lord.

I guess, in one way or another we are like the young man. We already know what to do. We know what is pleasing to the Lord. We know what is right, what is good. We have an inkling of what the Lord wants. We all know that we need to have faith, to serve, to help, to give, to share, to forgive. We all know we need to be honest, to be true, not to get what is not ours. We all know we need to turn away from sin, to overcome vices, to cast away pride, to conquer selfishness. 

We all know what to do. But, oftentimes, we don’t do it. Why? Because we rationalize; we justify. We say we are not ready. We say we still have time. We say God will understand. We say that it is not for me. 

But the bottom line is this: we do not do what we know we ought to do because like the young man in the gospel, we do not trust the Lord enough.

And so Jesus in the gospel today reminds us: “For human beings it is impossible, but nor for God. All things are possible for God.”

Do we trust him enough that when we say yes to him, he shall not abandon us? Do we trust him enough that when we surrender to him, he shall provide for us? Do we trust God enough?