kontra tiyempo

Haggai 1: 1-8

Naranasan mo na ba ito?

Kahit anong laki na ng sweldo, mas lalong lumalaki ang mga gastusin.
Kahit anong pagsusumikap mag ipon, mas lalong lumalaki ang butas ang bulsa.
Kaya kahit anong kain, di mabusog busog kasi nag iisip na naman kung saan bubunot ng susunod na pambili.
Kaya kahit anong baluktot, malamig pa din kasi nararamdaman mo mas lalong umiiksi ang kumot.
Ang resulta? Mas pagod at bugnutin at lalong sumasama ang loob kasi ang pakiramdam, ng magbigayan ng malas sa mundo, ikaw ang sinwerte makatanggap ng sandamukal.

Ano ang dapat gawin pag kinakapos?
Pag pakiramdam eh kulang lagi ang lahat?
Pag pakiramdam eh kapos lagi ang biyaya?

Magbigay.
Kahit ibig sabihin kunti na lang ang natitira.
Kahit ibig sabihin wala ng matitira.

Karamihan kasi nagsasabi, magbibigay ako pag may pera na ako.
Pag nanalo ako sa lotto.
Pag sinwerte na ako.
Pumuti na ang uwak, di pa rin makapagbigay.
Kasi ang pagbabahagi ay di nakadepende sa swerte.
Di nakadepende sa pangako.
Nakadepende sa kung anong meron ka.
Kung ano ang kaya mong ibigay.
Ngayon.

Sa ating pananampalataya, common sense ito.
Pero sabi nga, kung ano pa ang pinaka common, siya pa ang bibihirang gamitin…

Kung gusto mo makatanggap ng ngiti, magbigay ka ng ngiti.
Kung gusto mo makatanggap ng sampal, magbigay ka ng sampal.

Ang pangangaral na ito ay di para palaguin ang bulsa ng iba.
Ang pangangaral na ito ay para palawakin ang puso natin.
Kaya tayo nagbibigay para maipakita natin na ang pinakamahalagang bahagi sa atin ay ang puso, di ang bulsa.
Kaya tayo nagbabahagi para gayahin ang halimbawa ng ating panginoon sa krus.
Nagbigay di lamang kung anong meron siya, kundi higit sa lahat, ng buong buhay niya.

newspaper boy

“Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there. And as for those who do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.” Luke 9: 1-6

The gospel is obvious, Jesus instructs his disciples, if a town does not welcome you, do not spend your energy trying to convince them otherwise.

If you are a missionary and you are not welcome, leave.
If you are a salesman and no one buys, leave.

Unless of course you want to be a martyr, that is a different story altogether.
Unless of course you want to go broke, that is a different matter.

There will be other towns, homes, communities who will be more than willing to accept you.
As one preacher said, do not waste your time with goats but with sheep, not with resistant people but with receptive people.

As a story goes, a young man of 16 got a summer job selling newspaper subscriptions.
The company gave him a list of names to call up for sales.
He learned from his random calls that people most likely to buy subscriptions were those who were undergoing key transitions in life - newly married or new in town.
So what he did was get a public-records list from the state of Texas and proceeded to make $18,000 in one summer by targeting the right market.
The young man did not waste his time convincing hesitant and resistant people to buy subscriptions.
Instead he called up people who are more than willing to listen to his sales pitch.
That boy grew up to be Michael Dell, founder and owner of Dell Computers, worth billions of dollars.

For some people, selling newspapers seem more like a pastime than a serious business.
For most of us, “selling” God seem more like a hobby than making a living.

write positive

May isang suki ako.

Di siya parokyano pero ang sipag niya pumunta sa akin para kumonsulta.
Halos linggo-linggo.
Counseling. Advice-giving.
Palagi daw kasi siyang nagkakasakit.
Negative thinker daw kasi siya.

Noong una, nagkamali ako nang tanungin ko kung ano ang mga negative thoughts na iyon.
Aysusme.
Ubod ng dami.
Talo pa litanya ng mga santo.
Aminin ko na, I lost count when she reached negative thought # 50.
Di ko alam kung umabot kami ng isang daan, pero malapit na magshort circuit at mag hang ang utak ko.

Noon una nakikinig lang ako.
Natutuwa kasi ako.
Ngayon lang ako nakakita ng isang tao na kayang sabihin sa iyo ang lahat ng negative thoughts ng walang puknat.
Kayang irecite ng walang tigil, kung meron man, para habulin lang ang hininga. Tapos, ratsada na naman.

Noong kalaunan, syempre, di na nakakatuwa.
Pati ako nabibigatan na.
Kaya change strategy.
Pinabili ko siya ng notebook at ballpen.
Pagkita namin, pinalista ko lahat ng negative thoughts niya.
Mabilis siyang nagsulat.
Halos mangalahati ang notebook.
Mukhang bibili agad ulit.
Mukhang yayaman ang National Bookstore dahil sa kanya.
Part naman yun ng strategy.
Di yung payamanin ang National Bookstore.
Kundi ang palistahin siya.

Next step.
Listahin lahat ng positive thoughts, mga blessings.
Nag-isip siya.
Tumingin sa akin.
Tumingin sa malayo.
Nag-isip ulit.
Tumingin sa notebook.
Nag-isip ulit.
Nagsulat.
Matagal tagal din ang binuno para mapuno ang kalahating page.
Pinagpawisan pa nga.

No wonder nagkakasakit.
Comfort zone na niya ang negativity.
Ewan ko lang kung aalis siya dun, desisyon nya yun.
Pero sana makatulong ang advice ko na magsulat
At mamulat sa kagandahan ng buhay.

swerte o malas

Sino ba ang mga taong swerte?
Ang tumama sa lotto?
Mas malaki pa raw ang tsansa mo na tamaan ng kidlat kesa manalo sa lotto.
In short, mas malaki ang tsansa mo na malasin kesa swertehin.
Pero, ito ba talaga ang swerte at malas na pinanghahawakan natin bilang Kristiyano?

Pag mabait ka raw, lalapitan ka ng swerte.
Pag masungit ka, lalapitan ka ng malas.

Subukan mo.

Maglakad ka sa bayan at ngitian ang makakasalubong.
Babalik saiyo ang ngiti na iyon at malamang may bago kang kaibigan.
Mag-ikot kang nakasimangot at nagsasalubong ang kilay, malamang iiwasan ka ng mga tao.

May mga taong ubod ng swerte, di dahil pinanganak na swerte kundi dahil nagdesisyon sila na maging maswerte - matulungin, mapagbigay, mapagmahal.

Minsan nga lang, malupit din magbiro ang tadhana.
Ngumiti ka, iismiran ka. Magpakabait ka, gugulangan ka. Swertehin ka, kakainggitan ka.
Pero di ibig sabihin nun, titigil na sa pag ngiti, sa pagiging mabait.
Ang isang malas ay di pagpapahiwatig na tayo ay ubod ng malas dahil may pagkakataon na siswertehin din.
Ang pagkatalo sa laro ay di paghuhudyat na tumigil na sa paglalaro sapagkat may mga panahon ding mananalo.
Ang pagkabigo sa pag-ibig ay di pagpaparamdam na huwag ng magmahal sapagkat pinapanghawakan natin na may isang tao tayong matatagpuan na ang pusong tumitibok ay para lamang sa atin.

Totoo, ang swerte ng buhay ay nasa palad ng ating kamay, kung magsipag lang tayo na magbahagi at magtiyaga na umibig.

windows of opportunities

Prosperity theology.
Abundance mentality.

Im sure some of us may have encountered these things if not in writings then in preaching or much better in real life.

It simply says, there is so much blessings, talent, wealth, ideas in the world that there is everything for everyone. And more.

Think about Gandhi. Bill Gates. Steve Jobs. Einstein. Mother Teresa. Pope John Paul II. People who inspire you.

Think about Facebook. Youtube. Twitter. Microsoft. Apple. Google. Ideas that captured your imagination.

Think about songs that you still hum to, books that you will never tire of quoting.
Why then is there so much poverty?

Because the proponents of these mindset argues that it’s all in the frame of mind and way of life.
If you think and believe that the world can only offer as much and thus you will only work as much then you will really reap what you sow.
If you will be afraid to enter through a window when a door closes then you will not be rewarded with the treasure that awaits you at the other end.

Proponents argue further that not only should you enter a window when a door closes but enter the countless windows because there really are limitless opportunities that are yours for the entering.

And the free thing available nowadays is an idea created by your mind that can generate billions, if money is your concern, or an idea that can inspire people to be the change they want, if activism is your forte.

The whole world is ours for the taking, that we may offer it back to God, if only we will allow our life’s dream, mind’s imagination, and heart’s passion to be big enough to contain the world.

May we never despair if a door closes, instead may we overcome our fears and find the strength not just to enter a window that opens but to enter all the windows of opportunities made available to us by God’s grace.

Is God Gay?

"The Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us. Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and wonders; and He has brought us to... this land flowing with milk and honey." Deut. 26:5-9


"Faggot!!!"

That scathing remark will not just stop the insulted person on his tracks but anyone who hears it as well.

It is as if the scarlet letter F is not just forcefully sewn in one's garment but hotly branded in one's head at gunpoint as well.

It is as if it is a sin to be one. To be raised as one. To be born one.

This is not to take lightly and even set aside one's actions that are considered sinful.

This is about one's orientation, about one's personhood.

This is is to take up the rights of the marginalized.

And this is about God taking the side of the oppressed.

Some gay pride promoters desire that those who take their side are really on their side, in a very deep ontological level, in short, gay. Or else, one will be under suspicion, that one's stand is being used only for one's motives, political or otherwise.

And yet, that would be looking at things at a very superficial level, and one would miss the point actually. If a person respects you as a person, defends your rights as a human being, and sees you through God's eyes, do you ask him/her if he/she prefers chocolates or burgers? Would you rather be grateful and respect that person as well for the unconditional love that wells up from one's compassionate heart?

This may be seen as a revolutionary statement, a radical move, and not a few may contend that I may be reading too much on what was written.

And I hope to put it further.

In scriptures, we hold that God not only takes the side of the poor, he walks the extra mile - he puts himself in their place. And in the parable of the sheep and the goats (Mt. 25:31-46), our salvation then depends on how we treat the poorest and the most afflicted for who we dignify or degrade is not just the person but God himself.

May we then be the heart of God today, and may each of us, in our loving relationships, be blessed with the peace that the world cannot give.

"For, if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever." Jer. 7:5-7

less is more

Parish Hosting of the Visit of the Diocesan Youth Cross
5th Asian Youth Day Preparations

The theme of the 5th YAsia Fiesta is taken from the gospel of John, the multiplication of the 2 fishes and 5 loaves of bread.

In the story, multitudes were following Jesus. They were seeking something, they must have been looking all their lives and now they believed that it is Jesus who can satisfy their desire, their thirst, their hunger.

Today, there are still many who are seeking, especially the young people. Many try to fill one’s time with schedules and one’s space with people and things. Some try to find answers in gadgets and material belongings. Others seek answers through friends and endless parties. A few tried the painful and confusing path of just trying to ask the right questions. A few discovers that speeding up one’s life will not really deliver what one has been waiting for.

I think that these seeking is fueled by the sincere desire to discover the meaning of one’s life, of one’s place in the world. The hesitation though to embrace the sole answer that stares us in the face everyday, the presence of Christ in the cross, stems from the distrust of the truth that it is in giving up everything that we will be filled and blessed. There is the distrust in one’s capacity to be generous. Many grasp, even grab for more, ending up with the feeling that no matter how one works hard for a year’s wage, it will still not suffice for one’s needs and wants let alone for others. There is that discomforting distrust in the gospel truth that 2 fishes and 5 loaves freely offered from one’s heart and hands is more than enough, it is all that the Lord needs.

We have the mistaken notion that when God asks us to offer all that we are, we have to have more in order to offer more when in fact we already have what God desires - our heart. We often think less of ourselves, of who we are when in fact, all we have to do is to wholeheartedly offer the 2 fishes and 5 loaves of our broken lives to God, that we may be broken and shared, that with the Lord, we may feed the hungry multitudes with who we are not just with what we have.

One of the youth's closing songs captured the message perfectly...

"Nothing in this world can satisfy me
Jesus, You alone can fill me up
I could gain the world and all it's treasures
But all those things would never be enough

It is Your love, it is Your goodness
It is Your kindness and compassion
That fills me up inside
It is Your grace, Your tender mercies
It is Your presence in my life
That satisfies..."

in satan's name

“Wherever two or there are gathered in my name, there am I with them.”

We all know Jesus said this.

I also want to say that satan can also quote this.

Whenever two or three are gathered not to revel in each other’s company but to connive, to thwart the slow irruption of goodness take root in our broken and crucified lives, there is satan who enjoys such company .

Whenever two or three are gathered not to lick and heal the wounds of word wars and broken hearts but to let the hurts fester in order for vengeance to be inflicted with even greater damage, there is satan who delights in such pain.

When we gather as friends, families, communities, in whose name do we gather?

that which does not kill us

Feast of the Triumph of the Cross

While reading the inspiring story of Hellen Keller, I am reminded of the quote “the cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek” by Joseph Campbell. We have fears in our lives and one of our greatest fears is that of the unknown. It is said that many would choose to enter a tiger’s lair rather than enter a dark cave. But it is in the dark caves of our lives that we find our treasures.

“When Hellen Keller was born on June 27, 1880, she was like any other normal baby. Her parents, landowners in post Civil War Alabama were very proud of her. In their eyes, she was after all their intelligent child who could speak “How do you do?” at 6 months old.

However, that started to change after she contracted scarlet fever at 19 months in February 1882. When she was rescued from the brink of death, little Hellen could no longer respond to the dinner bell rings or flashes of her mother’s hand in front of her eyes. It thus became apparent that her illness has left her to be blind and deaf. And as she became further withdrawn into her own silent world, she began to lose her speech as well. Losing her ability to communicate with her parents reduced Hellen Keller to a state of frustration and anger. She became a difficult child, throwing dishes and lamps on the floor, yelling and throwing tantrums. That behaviour gradually worsened as her parents became too soft hearted and refused to discipline her.

Relatives thought she should be sent to a mental institution. Despite her relatives’ claims, Hellen Keller displayed abilities that seemed to suggest that she was sound. By the time she was 5, she could use more than 60 customized hand gestures to communicate meanings of “Mother”, “Father” etc. Believing that her child could be educated, her mother brought Hellen to Alexander Graham Bell on the advice from a specialist doctor. Alexander was working with the deaf at that time. It was through his contacts that a private tutor was eventually engaged to coach Helen.

She was none other than Anne Sullivan. At that time, Anne Sullivan had just graduated from the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston and the offer to be Hellen’s private tutor was like rain in the drought as she had been trying to find work for a long time. Suffering from poor eyesight herself, Anne saw in Hellen what others couldn’t. To her, she was like just any other girl. Anne tried to control Hellen’s bad behaviour and correct her table manners. Instead of allowing her to grab food with her bare hands off other people’s plates, she would train her to eat with a fork sitting down. She would also make her brush her own hair. Those attempts often led to more protests and tantrums from the young girl, causing Anne to lose her 2 front teeth in the first week. At the same time, Anne was teaching Helen finger spelling by writing individual letters onto the girl’s hand. Although Helen could repeat these hand movements, she didn’t really understood what those meant.

One fine day in April 5, 1887, all that changed. Anne led Hellen down the path to the well house, held her hand under a running water pump and wrote the words w-a-t-e-r on her palms. As the cool stream gushed against her hands, Hellen felt a sudden awareness as the mystery of language unveiled in her new founded consciousness. Anne was immediately asked to spell the name of the pump and many other objects Hellen touched in the path, including her own name. By the end of the day, Helen had already learned 30 new words. 3 months later, she picked up 300. As Anne and Hellen’s bond grew, friends, family and even neighbours were greatly astonished at the change in that young lady, calling it a “miracle”. It was not long before news of her accomplishments spread across the country that she got to visit many famous personalities such as Alexander Graham Bell (again) and president Grover Cleveland. By the time she was 12, Hellen was world famous, with renowned people such as England’s Queen Victoria, Mark Twain, Queen Olga of Greece etc openly declaring their admiration for the young lady’s spirit. By 1890, she was living at Perkins Institute, being taught by Anne and spending several winters. During her stay there, she learned ferociously and picked up knowledge not only pertaining to her own language but also in Greek, French and Latin. She also aspired to attend college and intentionally did her high school education in Cambridge so that she could be physically near her dream school, Radcliffe, the sister college to Harvard. Despite her disabilities, Hellen dared herself to take up a lot of adventures such as horse riding, cycling, swimming and even camping that any other able bodied person would take up. She expressed controversial political thoughts in her essays, went up to the vaudeville stage to demonstrate her first understanding of the word ‘water’ and answer questions fielded by the audience on her struggles, with Anne acting as her interpreter.

In 1918, after she moved to Forest Hills in New York, Helen started on her extensive fund raising campaigns for the American Foundation for the Blind using her new home as a base. In the process she traveled around the world, visiting many famous personalities such as the Emperor of Japan, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill etc, effectively helping to raise public awareness on the issues faced by the disabled. Anne died in 1936. To commemorate the death of her friend, Hellen started to work on Anne’s biography, only to lose it to a fire in 1946 when it was almost completed. She rewrote it again and in 1955, published “Teacher : Anne Sullivan Macy”. On June 1, 1968, after Hellen died peacefully in her sleep, she was buried next to Anne at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.”

Hellen Keller had a most frightful dark cave in life, one she would not have entered if given the choice, but since it was the lot given her in life, she chose to play with the hand dealt her and because of that she won, even with odds stacked against her, giving her the treasure that many of us also seek and desire: self-actualization.

I recall the quote “If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars” by Rabindranath Tagore. Instead of running away from dark caves and heavy crosses, why not try to enter and embrace them? Yes, we may be filled with fear and trembling, but may we also hold on to the grace of awe and fascination for therein lies the promise of the greatest treasure - the Light to guide us, the One who will save us. Instead of sulking and crying because we may feel that life is so unfair, let us not let our tears get in the way of beholding Him who holds us in the palm of His crucified hands.

It is true what the world, through Friedrich Nietzsche, tells us that, “that which does not kill us makes us stronger.” It is even more true what we affirm with our faith that, that which kills us will make us the strongest. It is in embracing the cross, in dying to ourselves, that we find the greatest treasure, He who gives life.

Powdered Christian

24th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year B


“The Russian comedian Yakov Smirnoff, when he first came to the United States, was not prepared for the incredible variety of instant products available in American grocery stores. He says, "On my first shopping trip, I saw powdered milk- you just add water, and you get milk. Then I saw powdered orange juice - you just add water, and you get orange juice. And then I saw baby powder, and I thought to myself, “What a country! You just add water, and you get a baby!"

Smirnoff is joking, of course, but when it comes to Christian transformation, many of us believe that there is such a thing as powdered Christian! Just add water and you get a disciple. That by going to Mass once, or praying or reading the bible when the fancy hits us, we will be instantly changed. Unfortunately, there is no such powder and disciples of Jesus Christ are not instantly born. Mature Christians are slowly raised through many trials, suffering, and temptations. A study has found that only 11 percent of churchgoing teenagers have a well-developed faith, rising to only 32 percent for churchgoing adults. Why? Many of us have to overcome our wrong belief of instant change in our lives. For a tree to become strong and mature, the seed has to fall to the ground and die and slowly take root and grow its trunk and branches to weather any storm, for us to become strong and mature Christians, we have to die to ourselves and slowly grow in the art of living, suffering, and even dying.

If we want to grow spiritually - to know Jesus more clearly, to love Him more dearly, to follow Him more closely and ultimately, to be like Him, to be Christlike, we have to beg God for that grace: to be brave and patient in the slow process of growing.

We have to remind ourselves, spiritual maturity is not automatic, growth does not happen instantly. It is a process and there are no shortcuts. It takes discipline and the going will be tough. But we have 12 men to show us the way, persons who took Jesus seriously. That is why we call them disciples, people who journeyed with Jesus through thick and thin.

To be an athlete, one must develop healthy habits if one desires to excel. So it is when one desires to be a Christian. We must develop Christlike habits.

Let me share with you a wonderful theory - the 21 Day Habit Theory.

"Dr Maxwell Maltz wrote the bestseller Psycho-Cybernetics. Originally a plastic surgeon, Maltz noticed that it took 21 days for amputees to cease feeling phantom sensations in the amputated limb. From further observations he found it took 21 days to create a new habit. Since then the '21 Day Habit Theory' has become an accepted part of self-help programs.
Brain circuits take engrams (memory traces), and produce neuroconnections and neuropathways only if they are bombarded for 21 days in a row. This means that our brain does not accept new data for a change of habit unless it is repeated each day for 21 days (without missing a day)."

With this in mind, I would like to invite everyone to seriously follow Christ by developing Christlike habits, by first of all, getting to know Jesus and falling in love with Him, and one way of doing this is by reading the Bible everyday. Let us make this a daily habit - bible reading and praying.

What I am proposing is a very simple plan for I would not want to burden you so please, when you go home, do not attempt to read the bible for 2 hours a day, not even for an hour a day. It is the equivalent of demanding a first time jogger to run 10 kilometers straight.

In the 24 hours we have in a day, where we probably spend 6-8 hours of that sleeping, another 6-8 hours for working, 2 hours for eating and resting, the rest for our personal interests, I would just like to invite you to read the bible for 7 minutes. Why 7 minutes? Because 5 minutes may be too short, and 10 minutes may be too long. 7 minutes a day, everyday, not 5 days out of 7, not 6 days out of 7 but 7 out of 7. Call it your daily 7-up! Out of the 24 hours a day, just allot 7 minutes. Out of the 168 hours a week, just allot 49 minutes. And if you will be able to read the bible 7 minutes a day for 7 days, in 3 weeks, you get t o develop a Christlike habit - reading the scriptures.

We can start with what we have heard today, the Gospel of Mark. Read, do not stop to study, to analyze, rather, enjoy reading, enjoy meeting a friend, whether an old one or a new acquaintance. Jesus would be very happy to set a date with you, no matter how short it may be, for it is a lot better than nothing.

Happy reading! And I know and trust, God will reward us with many more habits, that in the end we will have the most important Christ habit - loving.