Making Friends With The Lord Jesus

The question about the advent of the Kingdom of God pops up today in the Gospel. Jesus reveals that the Kingdom cannot be observed. Neither can it be announced. The reason is that such a kingdom has already come. It is Jesus Himself. Such a kingdom is the union of God and Man in the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Listen now to the homily to find out more about this special kingdom.

We learn several things from the gospel today. First, we need to recognize that we are limited and acknowledge it. Second, after realizing we need something —like the lepers in today's gospel —we go to the one who can help us. Hence, we pray to God also and ask for help from others. Third, we are not the source of our gifts. We have only been recipients. Fourth, we need to thank that Source of all Gifts. This is why gratitude is a good sign of genuine humility.

Today, we read in the gospel about an aspect of the relationship between master and servant. Jesus points out that the servant is such and is asked to be of service to his master. His services are part of the agreement or contract. It is expected that he honors that accord. When he accomplishes his commitment, then he is a good servant. Otherwise, he would be typically classified as being out of order and may be terminated from his office. However, when he does what he is employed to do, then all is well and good. The servant does not have to be praised since he is only doing what he was hired to do. By justice that is the case. By another perspective like charity, thanks can be given to him. But since we do owe the master, and for the purposes of the gospel, we owe God everything. He expects absolutely all of our service capacity. God does not have to thank us.

We celebrate today the Anniversary of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. This temple is described as the Mother of all the churches in Rome and in the World because it is the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome. Just like any diocese anywhere in the world, it has a bishop whose seat or cathedral is the principal church of the territory. The Lord is portrayed in the gospel today cleansing the temple of Jerusalem of the cheating vendors of animals sold for the different types of sacrifices done par for the course in the temple. It was Passover, the principal feast of the Jews, so there were many people visiting the Temple. They were jam-packed in the outer area of the church called the court of the Gentiles. There were gathered there these usurers and collectors of payments, unfairly charging exorbitant fees for the sacrificial victims. Jesus flushed them out with a whip of cords, and so the temple authorities demanded from Jesus the authority to do so. The Lord spoke of that sign that was the temple of his Body, which will be destroyed and raised on the third day.

The gospel today tells us about a corrupt steward who his master fired. He cheated him. So, he wondered what he would do without a job. He thought about it long and hard. He decided to ensure his safety by undoing the unfair business he conducted with his master's clients. He corrected the unfair terms with which he conducted himself with them. Our Lord described that steward as prudent. Prudence helps us make the right decisions and act on them. This is how we can become trustworthy.

The Lord teaches us about the virtue of prudence today. We need to learn this well especially in those who are government officials or our politicians who have defrauded the people of their hard-earned money. They have not extended the services they were supposed to perform by virtue of their office. The Filipinos are clamoring louder and louder for accountability. Part of accountability is for the culprits to own up to their misdeeds, restore what they stole, and serve a penalty. We need to think carefully to avoid committing a crime, and if we do take part in criminal activities, we need to consider how to set things right. This is prudence. And prudence includes putting into practice what has been decided.

Jesus reveals to us today the joy in heaven over the repentance of a sinner. He employs the imagery of a shepherd who has a hundred sheep. One of them gets lost. He describes the shepherd leaving the 99, in search of the lost one. What joy he has when he finds it. The same thing happens in the realm of God and man. We are the sheep and each of us experiences being lost somehow and sometimes. The gratifying revelation Jesus makes is that God searches for you all the time, just like that shepherd. When He finds us to return to the fold, He is very happy, in the same analogous manner as the shepherd finding the lost sheep.

self-surrender to God will happy to us in forms similar to martyrdoms of old. However, the Lord seeks us to prove our absolute allegiance to Him in small things like in our attitudes to living according to our prayer schedule, that we smile even when we all the reason to explode in angry frustration and taking the pinpricks of ordinary life with hopeful demeanor, etc.

As we approach the end of the current liturgical year, the Church prepares us with such messages to remind us about being prepared for the end, be it for the end of the world or the end of our lives. We do not know when, but what is most certain is that it will happen at a time we do not know or expect. She reviews us today in the gospel of the mass that Heaven is our proper place, our home and our final destination. That is the case, at least in theory. However, through the story the Lord narrates--where he compares heaven to a dinner in the kingdom of God, invitations to that feast, excuses not to make it to the party, the Lord wants his party hall be filled--he warns us about the obstacles in the way that this longing to make it to the feast is waylaid.

The lesson today is about rectitude of intention. The Lord points out the danger in doing good. Such a pitfall happens when we secretly or not so secretly do good expecting the other party to do good to us in return. This may be the minimum to expect in normal and ordinary interpersonalr elationships. But the Lord encourages us to correct that so that we only expect the reward the Lord will give us at the end of our lives. When the good we do to others do not get recognized or requited, we surely are in the right in claiming unfairness. However, Jesus cautions us because such injustice is good for our purification. All the glory to God alone!

The Gospel today tells us about the compassion Jesus felt for a woman who was a widow and presently weeping, while bringing her only son to be buried. The poor widow grieved over losing her only means of supporting herself in that society. Women did not work to earn. They largely depended on the men in their lives. Jesus then resurrected her son and gave him to his mom. This example of compassion should be translated to our need to be compassionate for the holy souls in purgatory. They are suffering tremendously. But the Church today aims for emptying Purgatory so that everyone goes to heaven. We can hasten their transfer to join the Blessed Trinity by praying for them and offering various suffrages. One good way that is available these days to us is that of earning a plenary indulgence and applying it to souls in Purgatory.

Today we celebrate All Saints' Day. We recognize all of them in Heaven, acknowledging the great multitude of them who are unknown to us. We praise God's work in them. The gospel reminds us of the beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. Lucky are those saints, since they practiced the values on that list. Although they went through what others may refer to as pitiable traits and experiences, such as poverty of spirit, meekness, grief, persecution, etc, they were assured by the Lord that their reward will be great in Heaven.

We need to learn how to think and exercise our intelligence and come to a correctly reasoned out conclusion and decide what to do and to do it. We gather all the premises regarding the issue and ask for help or advice from knowledgeable people to guide us in the process. The issue the Lord brings up in the gospel today is what is to do on the Sabbath. His listeners were paralyzed in committing themselves to a stand in reply Jesus' question. It all boiled down to being simple and straightforward in concluding that it was fine to do on the Sabbath good actions to help the others.

Jesus proceeds to Jerusalem, where he will be condemned to death. He is forthright in doing his part to save us. Each of us needs to contribute our share to the process of salvation. Objectively, Jesus has already saved us, but we still need to go along with it personally. He cannot save those who are unwilling to be saved.

The Lord replies to that question by posing a challenge. We need to strive to enter the narrow gate. That is how we can get into heaven. We need to exert effort. We need to struggle to enter that narrow opening.

Jesus spent the entire night praying about what he would do the next day, i.e., choosing his closest collaborators to be called apostles. That was going to be a significant move for the continuity of what he was doing in the Church he was setting up.

The Lord taught the Pharisee who insisted that people who are sick should not come to be cured on the Sabbath. He corrected that view by curing the woman on the Sabbath. He proved His teaching by performing the miracle. Thus, it is not bad to do good on the Sabbath.

The publican prayed for God's mercy, with humility accepting his state as a sinner. The Pharisee prayed differently by comparing his accomplishments with those of the publican. He justified himself. But in God's eyes, he displeased God. He was pleased with the humble publican.

The gospel clearly calls us to repent from our personal sins, and not to compare our better fortunes with the misfortunes of others. Before God we will need to account for our personal sins, and thus, we need to repent of them now.

The Lord uses an analogy to illustrate our ability to predict the weather by paying attention to signs in nature. If we can do that, then why are we so complicated in reading the Lord and His holy Will? The problem is that we muddle the matter because of our lack of better dispositions in finding out what God wishes.