What will be my own commitment to end injustice?

21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

August 25, 3013
Gospel (Lk 13:22-3)

Jesus passed through towns and villages,
teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.
Someone asked him,
“Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
He answered them,
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough.
After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door,
then will you stand outside knocking and saying,
‘Lord, open the door for us.’
He will say to you in reply,
‘I do not know where you are from.
And you will say,
‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’
Then he will say to you,
‘I do not know where you are from.
Depart from me, all you evildoers!’
And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth
when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
and all the prophets in the kingdom of God
and you yourselves cast out.
And people will come from the east and the west
and from the north and the south
and will recline at table in the kingdom of God.
For behold, some are last who will be first,
and some are first who will be last.”

REFLECTION: 

After some years of exposure in my ministry, especially the years that I spent in our parish in TONDO, MANILA, I cannot help to ignore the impending issue regarding the PORK BARREL SCAM.  It blasted my brain to think about all this wasted money in BILLIONS.  And thanks to Mrs. Janet Napoles who mastermind and systematically executed the stealing of our national fund. 

Every day, millions of Filipino works so hard so that they will have something to bring for their family. Thousands of them are homeless not counting those who are living in shanties in the squatter areas all over the country.  How many are left without a job. All of them are too busy to look for what they can share for every day meal, so busy that they don’t even know that their money in the government are siphoned to these few bastard who doesn’t even think about the poor but on how they can steal the money in our government so that they can satisfy their own greed.  

The long existence of poverty in our country is a sign of decayed system within our government. Janet Napoles may well be poster or a face of this of this Pork barrel scam, but behind that face is massive corruption in our government.  All of the Presidents, after Marcos, promised to end poverty but to no avail.  The problem I guess is not the program, but the system that allow corruption in our government. The current President adapts the slogan of “Matuwid na Daan”, but barely gives an effort to dismantle the culture of corruption plague almost all of government agencies.

As COA and BIR gradually bare even more astounding value of properties owned by Napoles, the more I become restless.  Something has to be done. I cannot do it myself but certainly WE can do it together. Do we let ourselves be passive of what is happening in our society today?  As Christians, we are responsible not only with ourselves but also with our “neighbor”.  Let us not pretend to be “blind” of what is happening but let us take side with the poor and challenge the structure that exploit the poor. I invite you, to be present in Luneta this coming August 26 as a sign of solidarity to end all of the corruption in our government. Let us remains steadfast what is happening in our government and hopeful that one day, the poor my experience relief in their struggles.

Our Gospel today speaks about entering the narrow gate of heaven.  The door policy will be determined our fidelity to God’s Word and how we uphold the Truth in our life. Upholding the Truth means also upholding Justice.  My dear brothers and sisters let not remain silence of what we see in our society today. Let us join our hand in building the “Matuwid na Daan” in our society. Pope Francis shared with the youth, (after his visit in one of the notorious shantytown in Brazil) that each one of us must make a personal commitment to end injustice in our society. 

Let us then ask ourselves: What will be my own commitment to end injustice? Mangyari nawa..

 

GIVE UP

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION

August 11, 2013

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not be afraid any longer, little flock,
for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.
Sell your belongings and give alms.
Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out,
an inexhaustible treasure in heaven
that no thief can reach nor moth destroy.
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

“Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.
And should he come in the second or third watch
and find them prepared in this way,
blessed are those servants.
Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,
the Son of Man will come.”

Then Peter said,
“Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?”
And the Lord replied,
“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward
whom the master will put in charge of his servants
to distribute the food allowance at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so.
Truly, I say to you, the master will put the servant
in charge of all his property.
But if that servant says to himself,
‘My master is delayed in coming,’
and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants,
to eat and drink and get drunk,
then that servant’s master will come
on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour
and will punish the servant severely
and assign him a place with the unfaithful.
That servant who knew his master’s will
but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will
shall be beaten severely;
and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will
but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating
shall be beaten only lightly.
Much will be required of the person entrusted with much,
and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

REFLECTION

In last Sundays Gospel, we heard about the parable of the “rich fool” who is successful in his own business and build his own security on the material possession. Upon making his own plans, death intervenes and renders all of his wealth useless. God is clearly giving us the message not to rely on material things but to build our riches towards God.

In today’s Gospel, we continue to reflect the concern about the future security. This reality is also very relevant in our society today. These worries about the “future” plague the well-to-do, while the poor families are concern only with what they can bring on their table.  At the beginning of our Gospel today, Jesus tells his disciples to sell all their possession and help those who are in need.  This gives us an idea that the intended listener of St Luke is compose of the rich and poor alike.  He is challenging the community that the well being comes not from amassing more and more good but reallocation of material good as an expression of social justice.

 I find it very disturbing last week reading an article about the top list of Filipino billionaires.  Their numbers are not even a fraction of the total population of our country.  It is nice to hear that some of these names share their fortune in a form of donation.  But for Christ, alms-giving is not simply doling out what is in excess.  It is suppose to be a reallocation of the material possession according to the law of justice.  We need to give up those things that pull our hearts and minds away from God. Possessions, the inclination to abuse any power we might have, our reliance on having enough time to turn things around before the end comes. We need face the reality that in our world today there is still the large gap between the rich and the poor. We can only change this reality if we heed in Gods commandment.

In the second part of our Gospel today, it talks about alertness and preparedness.  This establishes a firm basis for one’s security in lieu of the competition to accumulate material thing.  The parable of the faithful servant gives us a model on how to live as responsible stewards. When the master returns, he wants to find his servants busy to achieve our responsibilities without grumbling, and without abusing anybody or anything, and having a special care for those in need.  Let us not focus on what we have but rather on how we use our possession for the promotion of the kingdom. As Christian, the reason for our existence is not to get rich with material possession but for the perfection of life.  If we do not take precautions to know what is morally right and live accordingly, then the thief will find an easy way to enter into our hearts and steal our real treasure.

Bro. Giovanni Zuccolo -Father of the Canossian Oratorio

For almost 65 years, except for brief periods in which, as Superior General, he had to leave Venice, Bro Giovanni was always present in the Oratorio, gradually taking on more responsibilities; always with the same style of attention and care for everyone, children, young people and adults. He was concerned that the Oratorio should be for everyone a healthy place of human education and above all Christian formation, using the same instruments that he had learned from the first Fathers and the tradition of San Giobbe, such as daily catechism, taught above all as a “story” of Jesus’ life and Passion, theatre or puppet show.

Then, there is his lesson of “fraternity”. Bro. Giovanni was strongly attached to his vocation as a Brother; even reluctant, as witnesses confirm, to go to the sanctuary or to wear the cotta to serve Mass. As a Brother, he loved the community and knew how to dedicate himself to it, creating a serene atmosphere with his presence, thanks even to his characteristic humor, like a good Venetian. Without many theoretical lessons about his vocation as a Brother, his life was the clearest witness that a consecrated “Brother” can fully realize himself in his dedication to God and to the Work of charity, be a builder of the community, even though carrying heavy responsibilities of government, a catechetical formator of boys and young people and a guide for adults.


Once again, Bro. Giovanni is giving us a lesson on “humility”. Many are the events that underline this virtue. The event is well known in which, after having been literally insulted by another Brother who did not accept his decision, he calmly turned to the Brother saying he was right, but without changing the responsible decision taken according to his conscience.

Cardinal Pietro La Fontaine, who held him in high esteem insistently proposed to him to be ordained priest. Bro. Giovanni, though taking seriously into consideration the reasons given by the Patriarch, without hesitation refused, affirming that he wanted to remain what he was and, that is, a simple Canossian Brother.


And lastly, there is his lesson of “piety”, of his hidden but deep life of union with the Lord. From the tradition of the first Fathers he learned to spend and savor long hours in the morning, evening or night, in prayer, in the cold and humid choir stalls of the friars. Though daily surrounded by the boys in the Oratorio, to those whom he met, he gave the impression of being constantly immersed in prayer. Even his lips, always moving because he was saying brief prayers, learnt from his teachers, gave the impression of a man who became prayer. And prayer became his constant work during the last years of his life, when strength did not allow him to remain any longer in the Oratorio.  In 1958, when he was almost eighty-four years old, Bro. Giovanni participated in the General Chapter of Asolo; he looked like a patriarch in the midst of his sons. He was asked by them to say something and, with a trembling but inflamed and energetic voice, gave us his spiritual will: “Çerchemo i fioi; curèmo i fioi; educhèmo i fioi, amèmo i fioi!”. In his usual Venetian dialect, with a tone of petition, he summarized the very mission of the Institute: that mission lived till then and which the Institute would never abandon, if it wanted to be faithful to its vocation and charism.

Fr. Angelo Pasa - Father of the Canossian Seminary

On August 2, 1881, a child was born to a poor couple named Giuseppe and Maria Luigia Corso at Fonzazo, a relatively small town near Feltre, Italy. The young boy who was baptized on the following day as Giovanni Maria, who later grew up to become a pious, spirit-filled Fr. Angelo Pasa, a visionary with zeal for God, a reformer and a pioneer. He was raised in a traditional catholic environment. The zeal of God was nourished by his mother and by his uncle Fr. Pietro Corso. He excelled in studies, especially in singing, drawing, and gymnastics. In 1898, young Giovanni Maria passed his schooling in grammar at Vicenza.

On October 26, 1898, his uncle Fr. Pietro noticed in the young boy his deep desire to become a Minister of God and took him to Padua Seminary to meet the rector. On acceptance, his uncle not only became his benefactor but also his tutor. Despite of difficulties, young Giovanni Maria pursued his vocation for Priesthood. After completion of his Theological studies in Padua, he was ordained as a Priest on June 17, 1905 at the Cathedral in Padua. After his ordination, he was given various responsibilities such as teacher in Italian, Latin, and Mathematics in Thiene; teacher of Religion and Mathematics in Padua Seminary; rector of Fabriano Seminary; and later he was appointed Administrator of the Curia at the Diocese of Padua. In his capacity as the Administrator, he was strict and fair but at the same time humble in carrying out his responsibilities. On the departure of the Bishop of Padua in 1923 as a Curator of St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome, Fr Giovanni Maria was in contention for being the next Bishop, but God’s plan was different.

It was during this time he was seriously considering the project of his life, that of being a Canossian. A project conceived during his stay with his uncle in Fabriano. On several occasions he thought of joining the Canossian Institute at St. Job in Venice. As providence would have it, the turning point came about for Fr. Giovanni Maria as well as for the Canossian Institute on October 14, 1923 when he met Bro. Giovanni Zuccolo on his visit to the Canossian Institute.

 After much discernment, two years after the encounter with Bro. Giovanni Zuccolo, on October 31, 1925, Fr. Giovanni Maria joined the Institute. On December 6, 1925, he took the Canossian habit and was named as Angelo. Later after a year of Novitiate, he made his first profession on December 19, 1926. He carried out his apostolate with all humility and simplicity at St. Job’s even though prior to holding high position as a priest. On request of Bro. Giovanni Zuccolo, he made a research and documentary of the Institute who paved way for reform as it helped in later years to get from the Sacred Congregation of Religious the clerical nature of the Institute.

 Two years after his entrance, a Seminary School that trained youth who wished to become Brothers and Priests was opened at Conselve with him as the Director. The newsletter “Il Fglietto” was published in December 1931 as a promotion material for the Seminar

Because of the growth in number of students, on October 31, 1929 another house was opened in Feltre. He remained in Feltre for 12 years as a director, administrator, provider for his students, teacher, tutor, writer, doctor, nurse, prefect, and assistant. During this time, he gave his help to Bro. Giovanni Zuccolo in directing the Institute as it was expanding considerably. It was during this time that he felt that it was necessary to require the Congregation to conform to the Canon Law, hence he was requested by Bro. Giovanni Zocculo to ask the Vatican tor an Apostolic Visit to the Institute. The most remarkable results of the Apostolic Visit were the erection of the Novitiate in Castelli. On May 8, 1938, a formal decree of approval of the Congregation as a Religious Institute of Diocesan Right and acceptance of perpetual profession of ten Brothers and approval of the constitutions were given. During the first General Chapter that was held on September 1946, Fr. Angelo was elected as Superior General of the Congregation. Many foundations were opened, formation houses were organized, and a mission in India was explored. The approval of the Institute as a Pontifical Right was issued on December 29, 1949.

Fr. Angelo’s presence was fundamental to the Congregation during the years of crisis and brought new vitality and life to see the future with hope and confidence. On July 7, 1958, he passed away surrounded by the Superiors of the communities so as to express the gratitude of the whole Congregation, among them Bro. Giovanni Zuccolo. For us Canossian Sons of Charity, Fr. Angelo Pasa is not only a reformer but also a co-founder and remains a model to be followed.

St. Josephine Bakhita – Universal Sister

“Yet at this point a question arises: in what does this hope consist which, as hope, is “redemption”? The essence of the answer is given in the phrase from the Letter to the Ephesians quoted above: the Ephesians, before their encounter with Christ, were without hope because they were “without God in the world”. To come to know God—the true God—means to receive hope. We who have always lived with the Christian concept of God, and have grown accustomed to it, have almost ceased to notice that we possess the hope that ensues from a real encounter with this God. The example of a saint of our time can to some degree help us understand what it means to have a real encounter with this God for the first time. I am thinking of the African Josephine Bakhita, canonized by Pope John Paul II.

She was born around 1869—she herself did not know the precise date—in Darfur in Sudan. At the age of nine, she was kidnapped by slave-traders, beaten till she bled, and sold five times in the slave-markets of Sudan. Eventually she found herself working as a slave for the mother and the wife of a general, and there she was flogged every day till she bled; as a result of this she bore 144 scars throughout her life. Finally, in 1882, she was bought by an Italian merchant for the Italian consul Callisto Legnani, who returned to Italy as the Mahdists advanced.

Here, after the terrifying “masters” who had owned her up to that point, Bakhita came to know a totally different kind of “master”—in Venetian dialect, which she was now learning, she used the name “paron” for the living God, the God of Jesus Christ. Up to that time she had known only masters who despised and maltreated her, or at best considered her a useful slave. Now, however, she heard that there is a “paron” above all masters, the Lord of all lords, and that this Lord is good, goodness in person. She came to know that this Lord even knew her, that he had created her—that he actually loved her. She too was loved, and by none other than the supreme “Paron”, before whom all other masters are themselves no more than lowly servants. She was known and loved and she was awaited. What is more, this master had himself accepted the destiny of being flogged and now he was waiting for her “at the Father's right hand”. Now she had “hope” —no longer simply the modest hope of finding masters who would be less cruel, but the great hope: “I am definitively loved and whatever happens to me—I am awaited by this Love. And so my life is good.” Through the knowledge of this hope she was “redeemed”, no longer a slave, but a free child of God. She understood what Paul meant when he reminded the Ephesians that previously they were without hope and without God in the world—without hope because without God. Hence, when she was about to be taken back to Sudan, Bakhita refused; she did not wish to be separated again from her “Paron”. On 9 January 1890, she was baptized and confirmed and received her first Holy Communion from the hands of the Patriarch of Venice. On 8 December 1896, in Verona, she took her vows in the Congregation of the Canossian Sisters and from that time onwards, besides her work in the sacristy and in the porter's lodge at the convent, she made several journeys round Italy in order to promote the missions: the liberation that she had received through her encounter with the God of Jesus Christ, she felt she had to extend, it had to be handed on to others, to the greatest possible number of people. The hope born in her which had “redeemed” her she could not keep to herself; this hope had to reach many, to reach everybody.”
“SPE SALVI facti sumus” #3. Pope Benedict XVI.