Wings March 8- 14, 2009.pmd - Parokya ni San Vicente Ferrer ...

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The Real ____________ Presence of GodReflectionsMay tatlo anay ka mangingisdanga nagpaindis-indis kon sa diinmay mas madamo nga isda. Silingsang taga-Masbate, “ Sa amon yapare, paghaboy mo sang bunit,waay 30 segundos alsa ka dasongapisikpisik ang isda.“Waay na pare,” sugpon sang taga-Negros, “sa amon ‘ya indi kanakinahanglan nga maghaboy pasang mo bunit, ituntun mu langsa tubig, hala sa dason gapisikpisikna ang isda.“Waay kamo sa amon pare,” sabatsang taga-Leganes, “ sa amon saLeganes antes mo ituntun ang imobunit sa tubig hawanan mo anaysang isda ang tubig agud maytuntunan ka sang imo bunit,”Daog nanaman ang taga-Leganes.Sin-o pa abi ang magdaog kay taga-Leganes man ang nagsugid sini.Sa masami sugid sugid man langkita. Te, kon amo kita sina kaabilidadan ang masunod ngapamangkot amo ang: Te?,napaambit man bala naton iningaton mga abilidad sa iban? Konmaayo gid man kita, nagmaayoman bala ang sitwasyon sang atonnga kaingod balay?Ang panahon sang Kwaresma,panahon sang pagpangmuyopagpuasa, kag pagpaambit. Taniimbes itikal naton,magpamalandong kita sa mgaginbuhat sang Dios sa aton -- sapagsakripisyo ni Jesus sa aton.Tani, magpuasa kita, indi lang sapag-sakrispisyo kundi paramakatipon kita sang substantialpara dako nga kantidad ang atonmahatag nga limos sa mga imolkag nagakinahanglan.The grace we ask for has to do with our twosenses of hearing and seeing. We pray todistinguish between the Word of God andprojecting our selfish desires into God’sWord. Hearing differs from listening andwe pray to allow the Word of God into thecenter of our lives where we can listen to itand to what that Word calls us.We are invited also to pray for seeing betterin Christ’s Light so to become familiarwith the path that leads to true life. Thelight for which we pray is not the same asclarity of course. Our readings for this liturgyand the spirituality of Lent call us toa faith and a listening which lead to ourtrusting God.The First Reading and the Gospel for thisSunday’s liturgy present us with two experiencesof liturgy, in a way. There is agoing up, a preparation or calling together,a central act of faith, a “Word of God”, asurprising revelation of the “real presenceof God, and a going onward.We hear first of the terrifying story ofAbraham’s being tested by God. He is calledto take his only son, Isaac, to a distant placeand sacrifice him by the knife and thenburning him on an altar which Isaac wouldhelp build. Abraham takes his son whohelps carry the fire and the wood and offthey go in a journey of trust. Upon arrivalat a divinely-pointed-out hill, the dirtydeed is set in motion, no questions asked,except by Isaac who asks about the lamb tobe slain.At the point of the knife’s being about toenter Isaac who has been bound and placedon the altar, the voice of the Lord’s messengercalls for a timeout. Abraham hasproven his faith so that he is not only thefather of Isaac still, but the “Father ofFaith” and the eternal model for the Peopleof God. A ram is tangled up in a near-bybush and so God has provided the meansfor the sacrifice rather than AbrahamA promise is then made by the Messengerof God that, through Abraham, as he continuesliving in faith, his descendants whowill increase through this same Isaac, willflourish and possess a land of blessing.The Gospel presents us with the “Transfiguration”.Peter, James and John go up ahill with Jesus. They have a most intimateencounter with Jesus, God the Beyond, andof course, themselves. Jesus dazzles His followerswith some state of glorification.Moses and Elijah are seen conversing withJesus. Moses is the “man of the Law” andElijah the “man of Prophesy”. Jesus is thefulfillment of the Law and the prophets andthe “voice” again ordains Him as “My belovedSon.” The terrified trio is encouragedalso to, “Listen to Him.”Immediately, there they are, just the fouragain and nobody else, no other sounds.They leave with this experience and theirquestions about what all this was about.Ipakita naton ang aton pagtuo! They are charged also not to speak aboutit until the “rising from the dead”, and4 Marso 8- 14, 2009they did not understand this either, butthey kept on walking back down from thishill of intimacy.Most of us orient our lives, in varying degrees,toward and from the Eucharistic liturgy.We try also to be people who pray,what ever that means. Abraham and Isaachave an extreme close calling with God.Peter, James and John experience an unusualconvention and communion. All fivego off into the regular, back-down-the-hillliving of their lives. Their faith seems to bestrengthened, but at the same time theirunderstanding seems to experience befuddlement.They would naturally be askingthemselves about the “realness” of whathad just happened.One of the great joys of human intimacy isthat it goes beyond reason. I enjoy askingcouples whom I have the privilege to be preparingfor marriage, “Why do you love her/him?” The relationships I trust the mostare those who fumble around for wordswhich might express some good reasons.Love is not reasonable. When there aremany verbal reasons, I suspect this is atransaction and not a transfiguration.Devotion, prayer, liturgy are such calls tosimple and honest closeness, that to try tofigure it out and explain it cheapens it andflattens it out into a practice rather than adelight.As with Abraham, Isaac, Peter, James andJohn, we go toward a time of being met bythe Holy, given something of ourselves bythe encouragement and comfort of God’spresence and then sent away, but alwaysthe little question, “Was that really real?”“Was I talking to myself, comforting myself,judging myself?” Intimacy does notlead to comprehending, but to the sending,the living, the transfiguring, or changing,because we are so loved.I love the Eucharist for so many reasons,but the very prime reason is that it defiesadequate intellectual explanation and I lovethat freedom from the factual, the scientific,the demand of my arrogant mind. TheEucharist is more than a transfiguration;it is a total trans from a something to aSomebody. The Somebody’s changing of theother somebodies who gather around theHoly Place is also unexplainable, but real.The closer we allow Jesus to come towardand within us, the more we, individuallyand communally, are transfigured and representedto the world. The world cannotadequately explain our living as His Newand Real Presence. We will never know ifour prayer was real. Abraham is our Fatherof Faith and our brothers of faithwalked down that hill with questions,doubts and wonderings about what inHeaven’s Name was all that about? Questionsdo not dampen faith, cheap answersdo. Living the faith is the proof of intimacy,just as living out married love intensifiesand proves the leap.“I will walk before the Lord, in the land ofthe living. I believed, even when I said, “Iam greatly afflicted.” - Psalm, 116
Sometimes we see a change in aperson’s looks or appearance. Thishappens whenever he puts somethingon his face or on his ears or wheneverhe puts on some kind of outfit orclothes. Usually these things are doneto make one’s self appear beautiful,attractive, or presentable, especiallywhen one is attending a specialoccasion or joining some contestwhere looks count. At least an effortis made to put on one’s best face.Today’s Gospel scene tells of thechange in our Lord’s appearance. Inother words, Jesus is trans figured.This event, which serves as a preludebefore things come to a head for Himin Jerusalem, happens on top of amountain and is again witnessed byHis select group of disciples-Peter,James, and John. It reveals hissuffering to come and the glory thatawaits Him in the end in order tostrengthen the disciples for the hardtimes or the ordeal ahead of them.Interestingly enough God chooses amountain to be the site of an importantevent or where He will make arevelation. In the book of Exodus Godon Mt. Sinai discloses to Moses Hisplan for Him to liberated the Israelitesfrom slavery in Egypt.. god called theprophet Elijah to go to Mt. Horeb tomeet Him. The Beatitudes wasdelivered by our Lord on a mountainand his crucifixion and death likewisetook place on a mountain.In this mountain top event, as we aretold, Jesus e’s clothes become dazzlingwhite the two pillars are seenconserving with Lord-Moses, whorepresents the law, and Elijah, whorepresents the prophets. The law andthe prophets make up the OldTestaments and Jesus is thefulfillment of the Old Covenant.But what is their conversation allabout. There is no mention of it intoday’s Gospel of Mark. However,Luke tells us that it is about Jesus e’simminent suffering and death inJerusalem. So it is about the purposeand meaning of his coming into thisworld which is to fulfill what the lawand the prophets all have for told.In the middle of their conversationthe voice of the father in heaven isheard saying: “This is my own belovedThe Transfiguration ____________ of JesusSTEVE C. FERNANDEZ, ReflectionsSon. Listen to Him.” At his baptismat the Jordan the same words wereheard in heaven just after he had comeout of the water. At the wedding ofCana practically the same words wereuttered by Mary to the people aroundwhen there was no longer wine: “ Dowhatever, He tells you.”Yes, we must learn to listen to him.We have to as our Lord is the Wordincarnate, the Word made fleshaccording to St. John the Evangelistand being such is the completeexpression of the Father. We ought toin light of the prevailing culture ofdeath and moral decay whichpermeates our society. A life which isnot in accord with His words whichmirror the Father’s will is withoutdirection and meaning. His wordslead us to the road of peace, harmony,goodwill, holiness, and life. The Bibleis God’s love letter for us His childrento read and follow or live.Indeed it takes faith to listen if not tofollow Christ. Faith is leads to listeningor following. Because of their faith inChrist, the brothers James and Johnfollowed Him when He called themto come after him, leaving behindtheir occupation which could be thesource of their security.Abraham was a man of great faith,following what God had asked of Himdespite the difficulties involved. He wasasked to leave his land and so his oldand pagan ways behind for an unknownplace. Yes, he heeded His call and thishe did out of his unquestioningfaithfulness to Him.In another acid test, God asked him tooffer his son as a holocaust at Mt.Muriah. Without any second thoughtsAbraham did what he had been askedto do. But just as he was about toslaughter his son, God’s messenger hadcome to stop him. Considering whathe had done,Abraham came to beknown as the Father of Faith.Moreover, at the transfiguration scene,Peter is so overwhelmed by the blissfulmoment he is relishing that he togetherwith the rest wants to stay for good.That is why he proposes setting up threetents-one each for Moses, Elijah, andJesus. But the Lord turns him downfor they have to go down yet to finishtheir work ahead of them. Theres noturning back on the road to calvary.The Lord brings the three up themountain to prepare them for hiscrucifixion, suffering, and death tocome. He wants them to have a tasteor a glimpse of his glory, Jesus fullyknows that the hard and painfulmoments He will go through will onlycrush their spirits to smitherines. Thedisciples as His followers will beexperiencing the same fate. The Lordis telling them that this glory is thereward that awaits Him at the end ifonly hes is faithful to His mission. Yes,there is no shortcutting the struggle forlife and suffering must come first andthen resurrection, not the other wayaround, or else it is like putting the horsebefore the cart.All this meant to give the disciples a shotin the arms-to five them courage andstrength when the sailing gets rough fortheir master and themselves. At leastthey have some bright moments to lookback on to pump them up in the hardtimes ahead.This mountaintop event is also for usChristians. Trials, hardships, problems,and crosses come our way. They arethe means by which we can attain theglory of heaven. A Christian isinseparable from the shadow of thecross. We must be willing to sacrificeor suffer and remain faithful to Godbecause we have something to hope forin the end. When we are in bad anddifficult times or making sacrifices doingHis will, just remember Christ whosuffered and was glorifies.Let us not be Christians by convenience,choosing only what is easy and pleasantand avoing what is difficult and painful.Let us follow Christ and be like Him. Lifeon earth is just short and so is oursuffering but the glory of heaven is withoutend. According to St. Paul, our sufferingis nothing compared to the glory whichwill be revealed to us in the end.God will give us the grace of strength, thatwill see us through the difficult and tryingmoments of our life let alone the crucibleof discipleship. Let us just focus ourattention on the glory of heaven to come,living our life not for today but for thefuture. What matters is not today buttomorrow. Our suffering here has an endbut the glory of heaven is forever.Marso 8- 14, 20095
Page 3: Palaagyan ____________ Sa Pagpadayo
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