We Can Be Saints, Too!

This is a tribute to San Lorenzo Ruiz, the Phil's one and only (officially canonized) saint. While Japan, China and other non-Christian countries already have countless of martyrs, the Philippines, the only Xtian country in Asia, has only 1.

San Lorenzo Ruiz was a lay man; he was not a priest or a religious. Hence, he is one like most of many Filipino, a lay man who has a family, but was nevertheless active in Church activities. But while we only 1 officially canonized saint, don’t we have hundreds, perhaps thousands of un-official/ un-canonized saints...like Mothers praying fervently each day for your perseverance, or your lola and/ or lola who wake up much earlier than our 5 AM rising time to walk to the Church amidst the dark and cold early morning to attend Mass! Or of the kaabags and katekistas who serve your parishes gratis, without any pay! And you can multiply the examples…

If only for this, many of our lay people, more than our own selves, qualify to be called saints for they meet Lawrence Cunningham’s definition of a saint “one who is so grasped by a religious vision that it becomes central to his or her life, in a way that radically changes the person and leads others to glimpse the value of that vision.”

Onthis feast of San Lorenzo Ruiz and companion martyrs, this is our call! This is our…challenge!

Is This All There Is For Me?

"Is this all there is for me?" is the question we ask when what we receive is less than what we think we should receive. Perhaps a compliment, or a word of praise, or a pat on the back, or an applause, or a bonus. The frustration is greater and the grumbling louder when we look over the shoulder of our neighbor and discover that this guy next to us who spent less hours and energy and talent (of which we think we have more, hmm, perhaps we do!) received the same, and worse, more praise or appreciation or bonus than we did. In effect, what should have been a happy occasion of receiving from the bounty of the Master becomes a recitation of a litany of complaints and gripings against, not the injustice of the Master, but His generosity.

This is the drama of this Sunday's Parable of the Hired Tenants. The question addressed to those who complained is for us, too, "Are you jealous that I am generous?" May this Sunday be truly the Lord's Day, a day of resting in and counting of (if we can) the blessings of the all-generous Lord, whose ways may be strange, but never unjust.

The Cross is the Cure

The "cross" is usually used as a metaphor for a problem. For example, a wife will say, "My husband is my cross." Or a student, "Physics and Trigo are my crosses." However, the readings for this Sunday, the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross, show us that the Cross is not the problem. On the contrary, it the solution, it is the cure.

In the first reading, the bronze serpent mounted on the pole is the cure for the impatient Israelites who were bitten by the snakes. The serpent on the pole is a type of Jesus who would later be fixed on the Cross. When we look at the cross, we see an ever patient God who bears with all our grumblings and murmurings and complaints, many of them too petty to even mention.

As we gaze on the Cross on the feast of its exaltation, may we realize more deeply its healing power in our lives, especially for our impatience, our pettiness, our lack of faith.

We adore you, O Christ and we bless you, because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.