Thursday, September 26, 2013
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
26th Sunday in OT (C) - Disconnection
26th SUNDAY IN
ORDINARY TIME
Luke
16:19-31
September
29, 2013
“There was a rich man who dressed in purple
garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with
sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from
the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.
When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom
of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he
was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his
side. And he cried out, ‘Father
Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water
and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’ Abraham replied, ‘My child, remember that you
received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received
what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.
Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to
prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or
from your side to ours.’ He said, ‘Then I beg you,
father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too
come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them
listen to them.’ He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone
from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the
prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the
dead.’”
REFLECTION: “Disconnection”
When
I was in high school, our Science teacher asked us to do a group project to be
submitted a week after. Our group agreed to do the project at the house of one
of our classmates. It happened that my group mates were the top guns of our class.
So, I thought to myself that they could already finish the project even without
my help. I decided not to go there and told them that my mother asked me for an
errand. I lied. I did not really carry any errand but I only played chess at
the city park on the day of our work. I saw our project during the submission
day and it was, indeed, perfectly done. My group mates were very happy with the
outcome of their work and, of course, with the excellent grade given to our
group. I joined them with their celebration. But behind every smile and
laughter, pain of guilt was piercing my heart. I felt unworthy of the
accomplishment of our group. It gave me a kind of feeling of isolation,
uneasiness. It was as if there was a great “chasm” that separates me from their
merriment.
The
story of the rich man in our Gospel today is about his suffering, a suffering
from great isolation, his deep longing for somebody who could help him ease the
pain of loneliness, somebody who could at least give him a drop of water to
quench his “thirst” for a companion. But no one could come near him because of
the great chasm that separates him away from his father Abraham and Lazarus and
to the rest of his loved ones. He was all alone. His situation apparently tells
us that pain must be so intense that he thought immediately of his brothers. He
was hoping that they may not experience the same fate by begging God to send
Lazarus to warn them. Yet God rejected his request. Instead, he totally cut off
all his means of communication.
It
is the feeling of being taken for granted that really hurts the most especially
if it is done to you by someone really close to you, someone whom you really
expect to be caring for you and loving you. In our story, the fact that Lazarus
was able to pick up the crumbs under the table of the rich man suggests that he
must be one of the rich man’s relatives, friends or maybe servants, somebody
whom he knows personally. Thus, the closeness of Lazarus and the rich man, in
terms of distance and relationship, added more to the pain that tormented
Lazarus in his earthly life. Apparently, the rich man is guilty of sin of
omission; a sin that is committed by not doing what is ought to be done,
basically good acts towards our brethren, to ourselves and to God. In the case
of the rich man, he deprived Lazarus (not to be confused with Lazarus, the brother
of Martha and Mary) of his basic needs in life; food, water, shelter, medicines,
etc. Rather than extending his arms, he turned his back away from him, treating
Lazarus as if he does not exist. At that very point, he deliberately cut off
his connection to him. He gave up his obligations towards him and totally
neglected him. He might have thought that by doing so, by denying his
existence, Lazarus would never become a burden to him anymore. But he was
wrong. Little did he know that after his earthly life, he will find himself all
alone, separated from everyone. Now, his suffering is even worse than what
Lazarus experienced during his earthly life.
We always
isolate ourselves from God, from others, every time we commit sin. We isolate
ourselves by failing to express our charity to our needy brethren. We isolate
ourselves every time we fail to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the
homeless, visit a sick person, a prisoner, bury the dead; when we do not
correct others of their faults and teach them of good things to be done, when
we do not pray for others for the conversion of our fellow sinners, when we
fail to love our brothers and sisters, especially our poor brethren.
We
create our own “chasm” that isolates us from others and from God, the source of
our life and happiness, by not doing our part in realizing the plan of God for
all of us, by being selfish and self-centered. We have to overcome this
isolation by being generous and charitable to other. Let us act now and start
building connections with all humanity by doing good things at all times.
ABOUT THE SHARER:
SEM. EMIL D. VALEZA, O.P. is member of the Dominican Clerical
Fraternity of the Philippines. He is a Theology IV student of the University of
Santo Tomas the Archdiocese of Caceres.
KEYWORDS:
Ordinary Time, Cycle C, OP Domfrat, Guilt, Suffering, Isolation, Longing, Loneliness, Parable, Sin,
Love
Monday, September 23, 2013
iLUMEN: Sharing the Light of Faith
iLUMEN: Sharing the Light of Faith
is a video catechism project of the
Institute of Preaching, Office for Social Communication
with the Dominican Family Commission on Social Communication
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
25th Sunday in OT (C) - Riches to Heaven
25th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Luke 16:10-13
September 22, 2013
GOSPEL READING: Application of the Parable of the Parable of the Dishonest Steward
The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also
trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small
matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who
will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will
give you what is yours? No servant can serve two
masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to
one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
REFLECTION: Riches to Heaven
It is a nice story to hear whenever a taxi driver or janitor would return
a large sum of money left by a customer. That money could help them change the
status of their life, but they chose to be an honest man. Some stories would
irritate our ears. We hear scandals over public funds used by corrupt
individuals. Nowadays, money can easily turn into an object of temptation. Will
we uphold good virtues or shall we give in to greed? Our Lord reminds us of
this fact. He said, “Man cannot serve
both mammon and God.” The riches of this earth are entrusted to man from
the very beginning. God entrusted to Adam the stewardship of this earth, and
gave Adam the privilege of naming the plants and animals. The worldly treasures
should be seen as means to build treasures in heaven.
Our Lord calls us to gain spiritual wealth through the earthly goods. In
the recent calamities, people are encouraged to help those who are affected by
the typhoons. Some cook meals, others gather clean clothes, and some would
volunteer to help in the distribution of these relief goods. Imagine how many
people could be helped if a person shares. If companies would truly embrace
corporate responsibility, how many uplifting projects can be organized for the
needy? The spirit of true charity overpowers the wickedness of money. Money
becomes an instrument to show our care for others, which is the essence of
Christian brotherhood – to love one another. Our Lord tells us to detach
ourselves from the material wealth, because it enslaves us in greed and hardens
our hearts.
As ordinary people, lay Christians were privileged to manage our
financial resources. God entrusted to us riches, and gave us freedom to utilize
our resources. Our freedom enables us to make decision about the material
things we possess. That freedom should also move us to become more responsible
in our actions. We should realize that our actions have consequences. When
treasures and money are involved two virtues always pop in my mind: temperance
and charity. The virtue of temperance is not just about controlling our
emotions, but having mastery over our whims and pleasures. Large amount of
money might lure us to buy things we don’t need, and to buy luxurious items.
Similarly, in the Parable of the Unfaithful Steward, he wasted the
master’s goods. Pope Francis said that whenever wasting food is like stealing
from the table of the poor.[1] We
might fall in the trap of consumerism, but through the virtue of temperance we
would control our expenditures and acquire only what is necessary. We would
gain mastery of ourselves and we will learn how to weigh the value of material
things. Our moderation will have deeper meaning whenever we mortify our urge of
buying and offer it to something greater.
They say Christians have charitable hearts which make them distinct in
the early years of Christianity. I believe that Our Lord truly inspired them to
be generous to one another. One of my friends said that it is not evil to
aspire greater wealth. She said, “Be
hopeful and keep on dreaming, don’t you see how much good you could do if you
have great wealth.” It gave me another perspective of money and material
wealth. Yes, some people go astray when they have huge wealth and become greedy,
too. But as long as our heart follows God’s voice, material wealth will become
a passport to heaven. We are always reminded by Our Lord to serve God and not
the mammon, and we should always adhere to that. If we had all the resources in
the world, won’t we ask God, the Creator of universe to guide us? God knows
everything, and God has the perfect knowledge of creating good in this world. He
will certainly love to hear your voice. We must seek His advice with our
decisions. God will not only guide us, but He will help us to become detached
from the worldly goods. He will stretch out our arms to become charitable.
Hence, we would never be a slave of money, but a servant of God who is willing
to share his material possessions for the good of the many.
ABOUT THE SHARER:
MS. ANNA GEFRELIZ PEÑARANDA is a graduate of
Bachelor of Library and Information Science at the University of Santo Tomas. She
is currently the librarian of the Philippine Dominican Center of Institutional
Studies.
KEYWORDS:
Ordinary
Time, Cycle C, OP Institutions, Corruption, Greed, Charity, Love, Wealth,
Money, Temperance, Generosity
Finding God in Contemplative Attentiveness
by
Sister Eppie Brasil, OP
When was the last time have you experienced
being kissed by the breeze? If you have never felt that, come to RICA! Yes, I
mean it. But you have to be quiet and be still to notice and to experience.
That is the only way to become aware that you are being kissed by the breeze.
St John of the Cross, the great Carmelite
Mystic (1542-1591), experienced so much beauty and so much suffering, too. He
never separated the two. He called it loving attention or attencion amorosa. When we are attentive to what we do, what we
say, where we are going, what we are hearing, tasting, feeling… we join the
mystical and poetic way of life. I had the wonderful opportunity to sit in the
place where St. John of the Cross wrote his beautiful poems in Segovia, Spain.
I saw what he saw on that lovely spring day. I also felt the surging of joy
within as I watched the sun rise in the hills in the hazy morning fog. The snow-capped
mountain lets me breathe the crisp air of the morning. I was transported
through time, when I sat, where he sat in the mountain ledge, feeling the soft
breeze caressing my face. It was indeed an experience that made me realize I
can find God in contemplative attentiveness.
Contemplation is described in the book, The Cloud of Unknowing, a 14th century treatise as: "The awareness of God, known and loved at the
core of one’s being.” When we seek this awareness, every moment is an
experience of God found in tears and in laughter, in joy and in sorrow, in
beauty and in the ugly. We accept them all as part of God’s creation and divine
plan.
As we face all the megatrends in our century, trends like urbanization
(the need to live in the urban areas) and mobilization (the need to be always on
the go), we are called ever more deeply to respond to the call to be mystics in
the world today. The great theologian, Karl
Rahner (1904-1984) writes that with the breakdown of cultural Christianity in
the West, "the devout Christian of the future will either be a
'mystic', one who has experienced something, or he will
cease to be anything at all."
Jesus has gifted us with His presence. He is risen from the dead. Jesus is alive! Jesus invites His disciples to
touch Him, see Him, and feel Him; to
listen to His words, “Peace be with you”!
He showed them how He enjoyed the taste of baked fish! In a word, he sanctified
the senses. He is alive. He invites us to be alive, too!!! To see, smell, hear,
taste, feel. To be aware, alert, attentive, alive! This is what contemplative attentiveness
means. Be alive. Notice, look, observe, experience. Taste and see, how good our God is.
As I walk around Regina RICA, I am filled with awe by the gifts of
color I see, sounds I hear, different aromas of herbs and flowers I smell. (That
includes the smell of horse, carabao, duck, chicken and sheep dung); I delight
in the green and blue neck feathers of the peacocks, the black belly of the
sheep, the sheer energy of our Labrador, Sam and Carla. Contemplative
attentiveness is very simple. It is accepting the heat and the cold, the
comfort and discomfort, the music and the noise, the big tree and the small
shrub, the concrete building and the nipa hut… just stay still, pause awhile
and discover the blessing of being attentive to the gift of the now.
Our Lady on top of the hill, (tawag ng mga tao sa kanya “ ang malaking
Virgen sa taas ng bundok”) shows us how to be attentive and how to be a
contemplative. Mary kept and pondered all things in her heart. Be still, be!
The gift of AWARENESS will teach us contemplative attentiveness.
It is a new way of living where we seek to:
A
ccept our dark side, dark moments, dark moods
W
aste time for God
A
llow events to happen, God has plans for us
R
enew our dedication to a new way of living
E
xperience God in the ordinary as well as in extraordinary events
N
urture our spirit, the society, our self, the soil
E
nter in loving relationships
S
eek solitude
S
pend time in silence
___________________
About the Sharer
Sister Eppie Brasil, OP is a prayer companion. She teaches contemplation as a
way of life. She is the founder of the Dominican Sisters of Regina Rosarii and Regina RICA
in Tanay Rizal.
Keywords: OP Sisters, Contemplation, Silence, Still, Awareness, Mystic
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)