Triumph of the Cross, Triumph of Love... Sept. 14

An interesting question raised in our Christology class goes like this: "what if Jesus died another way, like lethal injection or decapitation or electrocution? Would we honor the electric chair or sword or the syringe used to kill him?" An amusing and thought provoking question indeed!

I guess the main question is: Is it the cross or the man hanging on it that is the object of our worship? Certainly, the man Jesus, or rather, the God-man, Jesus Christ, who hangs on the cross is the object of our worship. It is he who gives the wood of the cross its significance as the instrument of salvation. It's certainly weird to imagine venerating a syringe or a sword, but these are all hypothetical thoughts precisely because it is not what actually happened in history.

The triumph of the cross, in the end, is the triumph of love... a love that was not afraid of death. It is this love that we remember on this feast and on every Good Friday when we venerate the cross and say, "We adore you O Christ, and we bless you, becuase by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world!"

DANCING WITH THE WAVES, IN THE DARKNESS AND THE DEPTHS (Thurs, 22nd wk, Lk 5:1-11)

Today’s gospel made me wonder why Jesus chose fishermen to be among disciples?
Could it be because they were men who were not afraid of waves, of darkness and of depths. Jesus must have known that his ministry which he would later on entrust to these men would mean sailing through rough seas. If a fisherman wants a big catch, he has to put out into the deep, and he has to do it at night. And there in the deep, in the darkness, he encounters the waves that will challenge his capacity to maneuver his boat.

The life of a priest, as we know, is no different from a fisherman’s. If a parish priest wants a big catch, he may not stay in his kumbento, in the centro, among the CWLs or KofCs. He has to go to the barrios, 12 rivers and 7 mountains away from the poblacion, passing by Muslim or NPA settlements. But when he arrives there, he finds 20 people: 10 children, 5 mothers, 2 alagads, 2 sacristans and himself; 30 pesos halad, but with 3 upo, 4 kalabasa, 2 basket mais. He introduces livelihood programs, successful on the first year, but because of conflicts among the lay leaders, it fails on the second year. He tries again, to no avail. He repeatedly asks for a parochial vicar. When his request is finally granted, he is given a retired priest who could take only the first of 6 Sunday Masses. There’s the darkness of frustration. The depths of loneliness? the barrio parish is 200 kilometers from the city, no cell site, the old priest is asleep by 7pm. And there amidst the darkness and depths come the overwhelming waves of temptations: to get a kitten (?) to play with on cold nights. Anyway, “people understand; the Lord is merciful.” So we are no longer surprised, but are deeply saddened when priests, within 5 years after ordination, esp if they are our alumni, are sent to Assist program and Bob Garon. But we are also inspired by diocesan/ parish priests who, like our boatman, could navigate through the waves, the darkness and deep sea of priestly ministry with calm and confidence. (Some of them right here with us.) And we wonder what their secret is.

I asked the boatman, “Bakit parang wala lang sa ‘yo kahit anlaki ng mga alon, andilim na ng paligid at anlalim na ng dagat?” He said, “Bata pa ako, sanay na ako sa dagat. Pinag-aralan ko na noon pa kung paano makisayaw sa mga alon, magsagwan sa dilim at sumisid sa kailaliman.” What about you brothers, future fishers of men, are you learning (or are you willing to learn), in this little ocean called SJVTS, to dance with the waves, to paddle through the darkness and swim through depths?


Disturb us, Lord


Disturb us, Lord when we are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord,
when, with the abundance of things we possess,
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
and having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity;
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

attributed - sir francis drake -1577