And isn’t that what summer vacation is designed to give us? This is some kind of break-time
for us. But that is definitely NOT a break-away from the Lord. There is no such thing as time-out from the Lord! This is why even when we travel or go on vacation we can always find time for God! We even have announcements on how to locate the nearest church and when masses are celebrated. Now what excuses can we make not to participate in Sunday worship?

Our Eucharistic celebrations are vital to us. We know that the Mass offers us opportunities for our spiritual growth. And to many of us the mass has become a routine part of our lives. It means so much to us. But then that does not always happen all the time. We go to church and we have babies crying, readers falter, homilists cease to inspire; and other kinds of disruptions which can prevent us from fully participating in the celebrations. And to some going to church is more of a fulfillment of an obligation. We have lost that sense of wonder; we have lost the mystery. The miracle of Communion feeds neither our hearts nor our souls because we have lost our sense of awe.

We are being fed and nourished by the Bread of Life. Our Lord shares Himself to us and He becomes present to us in some very personal ways. And now we have to remind ourselves that having fed by the Bread of Life we have to share our gifts and treasures with our families and communities.

Jesus – the Bread of Life – supplies us with the food we need for our life’s journey.
He sustains us during those moments when we feel tired and worn out.

Rev. Fr. Reynaldo A. Domagas

This reflections on the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time appears in the Sunday Bulletin of Our Lady of Victory Church, Manhattan, New York- August 12, 2012.

Two elderly gentlemen from a retirement center were sitting on a bench when one turns to the other and says: “Jim, I’m 83 years old now, anad I’m just full of aches and pains. I know you are about my age. How do you feel?” Jim says, “I feel just like a newborn baby.” “Really? Like a newborn baby?” asked his surprised friend. “Yeah! No hair, no teeth, and I think I just wet my pants.”

Nowadays, we are very conscious of what we eat. We try our best to eat only the food that are healthy and nutritious. This is because we want to avoid illness, and prolong our life. We all want to remain young. We even wish for a food that will make us live forever. But is this possible?

This Sunday, the third in the series of five Sundays, Jesus is telling us that he is not just giving us material food, like the manna in the desert and the bread that he multiplied. Rather, he says that he is the bread himself: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.” Is it possible to live forever? In the sacrament of the Eucharist, yes, it is possible: “Whoever eats this bread will live forever.” And this bread is the body of Jesus himself: “The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

In our time, there are people who insist on the idea of the Eucharist only as a community meal. Pope Benedict XVI objects to this kind of understanding. In his book “The Feast of Faith” he said: “It is not enough to describe the Eucharist as the community meal. It cost the Lord his life, and only at this price can we enjoy the gift of the Resurrection” (p. 150). The Eucharist is more than just a meal. It is the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary being made present to us in the here and now. It is his body and blood that we partake.

Consider what St. Francis de Sales said: “Exercise your ordinary imagination, picturing the Savior to yourself in his sacred humanity as if he were beside you just as we are wont to think of our friends, and imagine that we see or hear them at our side. But when the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar is there, then this Presence is no longer imaginary, but most real; and the sacred species are but a veil from behind which the present Savior beholds and considers us, although we cannot see him as he is.”

In view of this, let me point out this all-important truth: the Eucharist is a very sacred celebration, more than we ever imagine. Perhaps, owing to the simplicity and ordinariness of the entire celebration, many have fallen into the temptation of not giving enough reverence and honor to this infinitely sublime sacrament. We see this all the time: people coming very late into the celebration; cell phones ringing even during the solemn consecration; ladies dressed indecently and provocatively; and many others just cannot stop talking to one another during the Mass. These do not just express our lack of reverence for the sacredness of the celebration, but they also distract other people and hinder them from giving God a meaningful worship.

And perhaps also due to the mistaken belief that the Eucharist is only a meal, many of us take it in the literal sense: it’s just a meal! So, we approach Communion too casually: we form a line and take Communion in the hand. But the danger here is that, without serious effort to really understand what we are doing, we may easily fall into some unfortunate associations. Getting into a line could evoke the image of people in a fast food restaurant as they line up to get their burgers and fries. And eating with the hands may also connote that the food we are eating is of less value. We use our hands when eat quick snacks such as hotdogs and burgers while walking on the streets, but not when we are seated in a fancy restaurant eating first-class steak!

Against this sad backdrop, St. Paul insisted that we need to seriously “discern” the Body of Christ: “Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and the blood of the Lord…For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself (1 Cor 11:27, 29). So, when we come forward to receive Communion, we should prepare our minds and our hearts. It is not any ordinary food in front of us. We form a line as in procession to meet the Lord. We keep our hands joined together and out of the pockets. As the person in front of us receives Communion, we genuflect or at least, make a profound bow that includes not only our head but our upper body as well. Better still, as a sign of our faith in the Real Presence of Christ, we ought to remember that kneeling down is the most appropriate position in receiving Holy Communion. Pope Benedict XVI wrote thus: “To bend the knee is to bend our strength before the living God…The man who learns to believe learns also to kneel, and a faith or a liturgy no longer familiar with kneeling would be sick at the core.” (“Spirit of the Liturgy”, p. 191, 194).

Furthermore, the universal practice in the Church is to receive Communion on the tongue, and Pope Benedict XVI even prefers it. (cf. “Pope Prefers Communion on the Tongue”-6/26/2008; “Communion in the Hand Should be Revised, Vatican Official Says” – 02/01/2008 at www.catholicnewsagency.com). As St. Thomas Aquinas said, “Out of reverence towards this sacrament, nothing touches it but what is consecrated.” (S.T.,VIII,Q.82, Art.13).

Communion in the hand, however, has been allowed in our country by way of indult. (The Dictionary of Canon Law defines indults as “quasi-privileges, which the legislator benevolently grants for a time, either outside the law or contrary to the law.”) Should we opt for this manner, we have to do it properly. We place our left hand over the right in a form of a cross – making a “throne” for the Lord. We must not grab the host from the priest or minister – we are supposed to receive it on open palm. When we hear “The Body of Christ”, we respond with firm conviction: “Amen.” That is the only correct response, which means, “Yes, I believe!” Then we step on the side, and while still facing the altar, reverently take the host with our right hand and put it on our tongue. Only then can we walk away. We make sure no particle of the host is left on our hand.

If we cannot do all these properly, it is safer to receive Communion on the tongue. And of course, do not forget that we have to observe the Eucharistic fast of one hour prior to Communion, and if we are in the state of mortal sin, sacramental confession is definitely and always necessary. After Communion, please remember that the Lord Jesus is in us. He is sacramentally but truly present in our body as in a tabernacle. This is the perfect time to silently adore and talk to Him. He is saying to us: I am the living bread that came down from heaven. You will have eternal life with me.” Amen!

Fr. Mike Lagrimas

Santa Lucia Church

J.P. Rizal Street, Bgy. Sta. Lucia

Novaliches, Quezon City 1117

Source: http://manilastandardtoday.com/www2/2012/07/30/how-far-will-the-president-go-to-test-the-church/

In the biggest international conference ever held, some 50,000 delegates representing 190 countries in Rio de Janeiro last month, and under the leadership of the Holy See, the G-77, and some G-20 countries, delivered the most stunning blow against the war on population being waged by the world’s neo-Malthusians, eugenicists and racial supremacists in the name of reproductive health.

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, otherwise known as the Earth Summit, deleted the term “reproductive rights” from the outcome document after it was shown that it was nothing but a code word for “abortion,” as openly admitted by the U.S. State Department.

It was a global victory for plain common sense.

In most of the First World, beginning with Russia, Japan, and Western Europe, the real emergency today is the ageing and shrinking population, known as the “demographic winter” and caused by falling fertility and birth rates. Contraception, sterilization, abortion and the introduction of same-sex “marriage,” now championed by many governments, are directly responsible for this.

UN forecasts predict that by 2050 there will be more seniors (65 years old and above) than younger people around the world, with the possible exception of some African countries and perhaps the Philippines, if they are able to escape the sustained attack of the global population controllers.

Not even the Muslim countries have been spared. Recent demographic studies using data from the United Nations Population Division and appearing in the June 1 issue of Policy Review, show that 48 of the 49 Muslim-majority countries and territories have undergone steep fertility decline over the past three decades.

Many governments now agree that “depopulation” is the next global crisis. This was pointed out during the Russian government-supported Demographic Summit in Moscow on June 29-30, 2011, and the sixth World Congress of Families in Madrid on May 25-27, 2012.

The Moscow Declaration issued at the end of the summit noted that “42 percent of all humankind live in countries where even simple replacement of old generations is not taking place. The destructive process of swift drop of fertility and birth rates has swept all the continents on our planet. In the nearest historical period, the negative demographic trends can bring about extinction of whole peoples, destruction of States, and disappearance of unique cultures and civilizations.”

The Declaration called on “the government of all nations and on international institutions to develop immediately a pro-family demographic policy and to adopt a special international pro-family strategy and action plan aimed at consolidating family and marriage, protecting human life from conception to natural death, increasing the birth rate, and averting the menace of depopulation.”

The Declaration called for an end to “State interference in the private life of the family under the pretext of so-called ‘family planning,’ ‘protection of the rights of the child,’ and ‘gender equality.’ We consider it inadmissible to continue to policy of birth control, which is one of the greatest threats to the survival of humankind and a means of incursive discrimination against the family,” the document said.

For its part, the Madrid Declaration of May 27, 2012 affirmed that “our societies need more people, not fewer,” and that “human aging and depopulation is the true demographic danger facing the earth in this century.”

It further declared that “lasting solutions to human problems, including the current economic crisis, rise out of families and small communities,” and “cannot be imposed by bureaucratic or judicial fiat. Nor can they be coerced by outside force.”

The Philippines has a robust population of not less than 95 million, growing at 1.9 percent per annum. At least eight million work overseas, contributing at least $18 billion to the national economy every year. The fertility rate stands at 2.3, which means the average Filipino woman is capable of bearing 2.3 children during her reproductive years.

This is a valuable resource that is no longer available to so many other countries. In Japan, the Philippines’ No. 1 trading partner, investor and source of Official Development Assistance, Deputy Prime Minister Katsuya Okada told Vice President Jejomar C. Binay during their talks in Tokyo on July 17 that their two countries need to complement each other because the Philippines has something which Japan no longer has, namely its “young labor.”

The median age in Japan is 45 years, while it is 22.7 yeas in the Philippines. Provided the Philippines invests properly in its population, and does not throw away its demographic dividend, it will become one of the strongest Asian economies in less than 40 years, predict the economic forecasters.

However, the country’s politicians could still throw away this demographic advantage. After their defeat in Rio, the global population controllers have redoubled their efforts to reduce the population of developing counties. In London, US billionaire Melinda Gates, together with the UK Department for International Development, organized a family planning summit where she raised $4.6 billion to fund population control programs against poor women in developing countries.

Part of that money could end up funding RH activities in the Philippines, not excluding the campaign to enact the population control cum reproductive health (RH) bill. There could be no shortage of NGO- or political takers either.

The House of Representatives has decided to cut short the floor debates on the RH bill and ram it through for immediate passage, after President Benigno S. Aquino III said in this July 23 State of the Nation Address: “We are ending the backlogs in the education sector, but the potential for shortages remains as our student population continues to increase. Perhaps Responsible Parenthood can help address this.”

Responsible parenthood, properly understood, is not controversial at all. Article XV, Section 3 (1) of the Constitution provides, “The State shall defend the right of spouses to found a family in accordance with their religious convictions and the demands of responsible parenthood.” But it is not for the State to prescribe, regulate or supervise.

Responsible parenthood normally refers to “an attitude toward parenthood—not separated from the practice of virtue—that encompasses God’s plan for marriage and family…” It may be exercised “either by the mature and generous decision to raise a large family, or by the decision, made for grave motives, and with respect for the moral law, to avoid a new birth for the time being and for an indeterminate period.”

This is well explained in Humanae Vitae, a 1968 encyclical by Pope Paul VI, which condemns contraception and sterilization as “intrinsically evil.” The encyclical marked its 44th anniversary on July 25, the same day the House leadership decided to fast track the RH bill.

Anti-RH advocates like to point out that Paul VI’s prophetic warnings about the ill effects of contraception have all come to pass. True to his warning, contraception has led to widespread conjugal infidelity and a general lowering of morality; men have ceased respecting women in their totality and have begun treating them as mere instruments of selfish enjoyment rather than as cherished partners; the widespread acceptance of contraception by couples has encouraged unscrupulous governments to intrude into the sanctity and privacy of families.

The Pope, however, had failed to predict that widespread abortion, which follows universal contraception, would kill more unborn children than all the fatalities in all the wars ever waged by man since war began.

.

No government enacts a law to divide the nation. Thus far, the RH bill has already deeply divided the nation. But the administration appears hell-bent on enacting this highly divisive measure. What exactly is the rationale? The ultimate game plan? Even the highly prestigious Wall Street Journal worries it could derail the country’s economic takeoff.

The RH bill has been promoted as a health measure, but it is in fact nothing but a population control measure. It prescribes birth control as an essential requirement and component of marriage, which is a natural human institution not designed nor instituted by the State. It also prescribes the compulsory sex education of children by the State.

In theory, the bill leaves to the individual the choice of method or means to use, but it prescribes birth control as something all must practice, under pain of certain penalties. Opponents of the bill liken it to the reproductive laws imposed by communist regimes on their populations or by totalitarian regimes like the Nazis on their helpless captives.

So patent and non-debatable is the constitutional offense. Sec. 12 of Article II of the Constitution provides: “The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception. The natural and primary right and duty of parents in the rearing of the youth for civic efficiency and the development of moral character shall receive the support of the Government.”

Under this provision, the State is the constitutional protector of conception, just as parents are the primary educators of their children. As such, the State cannot be a party to any program of contraception. The RH bill, on the other hand, makes the State the first provider of contraception and sterilization——-the first and ultimate preventer of conception. It also makes the State the primary educator of children.

To the country’s Roman Catholics, the bill is an undisguised anti-Catholic measure. It savages an important doctrine of their faith, and then requires them to provide the tax money to fund the program that would attack their faith. The bill is arrogantly telling Catholics not to learn their faith from their Church but to learn it from Congress instead.

It is religious persecution pure and simple, a perversion of Church-State relationship, and the victim is not a small religious minority but rather the overwhelming majority of 95 million Filipinos.

P-Noy has been told not to fear the Catholics. The bishops issue no fatwas, and there are no suicide bombers among the laity, they are not even armed like some Muslim Filipinos. Neither are they as politically organized as some powerful politico-religious sect, which votes as a bloc during elections. “There is no such thing as a Catholic vote,” P-Noy has been told.

Indeed, in a predominantly Catholic country where almost everyone running for office is a baptized (even if lapsed) Catholic, people do not vote as “Catholics.” But should the Aquino government ever enact a law that attacks a doctrine of the Catholic faith, as surely as the sun rises in the East, there will be a Catholic response. It could be a Catholic vote, a Catholic protest, or maybe even a Catholic revolt. No one can say, but there will be a Catholic response.

In February 1986, a post-election statement by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), questioning Marcos’s continued stay in office after the flawed snap presidential elections, provided the “moral basis” for the EDSA revolt that ultimately installed P-Noy’s mother, Cory Aquino, as revolutionary president. It seems only fair to hope that P-Noy has not forgotten his own history, and that not all the encouragement of his foreign patrons will prompt him to tempt Providence.
fstatad@gmail.com

We hear how the prophet Jeremiah thunders against Israel’s careless leaders (the king, some priests and some court prophets) because they have shown no concern for the poor. St. Paul introduces Jesus as the shepherd of both the Jews and the Gentiles and explains how Jesus, the good shepherd, reconciled all of us with His Father by offering himself on the cross. Paul also speaks about reconciliation between the Jews and the Gentiles, brought about by Jesus. The gospel presents Jesus as the good shepherd fulfilling God’s promise given through his prophet Jeremiah in the first reading. Here we see Jesus attending to his weary apostles, who have just returned from their first preaching mission, while at the same time expressing his concern for the people who were liked to a sheep without a shepherd.

We need the grace of God to enable us to become good shepherds. Our Christian life is a continuous passage from the presence of God to the presence of people and back again. We need God and we need each other. And through our prayer-life we communicate with God. We need to get away from our busy lives to attend to our prayers and devotions. And this also includes allowing God the opportunity to speak to us and recharge us with spiritual energy and strength. We receive strength from God to do our share as shepherds by constantly uniting ourselves to Him through our prayers and in our participation and involvement in our Christian communities.

Christ has shown us His love and compassion. His heart is overflowing with mercy and kindness. We must also display the same compassion of Jesus by meeting the social and material needs of others by our works of charity as individual Christians and as a parish community.

Rev. Fr. Reynaldo A. Domagas
(Reflections on the readings for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time. This is published in the parish bulletin of Our Lady of Victory Church, New York, July 22, 2012)

Fishers of Men

Mark 6:7-13

Jesus established his Church on the foundation of the twelve apostles. In the Gospel this
Sunday, Jesus sends out the Twelve on a mission and gave them specific instructions. We
would naturally expect that since Jesus is thinking of a worldwide organization that is to last
for the rest of time, he would choose the best and most capable men of the world. To our
surprise, we realize that these were mostly rugged and unlettered fishermen of Galilee led
by Simon, son of John. What do we expect from fishermen, anyway?

Some time ago, I got hold of a book by Robert Fulghum entitled “All I Really Need to Know
I Learned in Kindergarten.” If we can learn something from kindergarten, definitely we can
learn more from fishermen. And Jesus, in his divine wisdom, knew this all too well.

When it comes to the proclamation of the Gospel, there are five important lessons we can
learn from fishermen. Just remember the letters P-E-R-T-H, the name of a city in Western
Australia: PERTH.

P stands for the virtue of patience. A fisherman cannot force or hurry the fish. He waits
patiently for the fish to come. God has His own appointed time to touch the hearts and
minds of people. A preacher of God’s word must learn to be patient. He has no way of
knowing what is going on in people’s minds and hearts. He just has to continue preaching,
and God, in His appointed time, will be the one to touch and lead them to conversion.

E is for environment. The fisherman must know when and where to find the fish. He has
to be in the proper environment: the right fishing area, the proper tide and time of the day
or night, as well as the lunar condition. The Good News must be preached at the right
time and place. It is foolish to preach inside the noisy train or bus, nor in a disco joint or
nightclub. It is also absurd to preach to people who are sleepy or in a hurry. There are
proper places, times and occasions conducive for preaching God’s word, which can be
more productive and meaningful. And if the people in a certain locality do not welcome
God’s messenger, he just have to “shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them”
and move on to the next village.

R stands for resolve, or courage and determination. Fishing is not only difficult but also
hazardous. The sea, with its unpredictable waves and winds, can be very dangerous. Jesus
gave this warning to his disciples when he sent them on mission: “Behold, I am sending
you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves” (Mt
10:16). Preaching God’s Word is also hazardous. There are many enemies of God out there
who will try to destroy the messenger in order to stifle the message. But the messenger,
like the fisherman, must continue with firm courage and resolve to deliver God’s message
even in the midst of the turbulent waves and winds of the opposition. St. Paul gives this
encouragement: “If God is with us, who can be against us?” The virtue of trust in God is
truly necessary. That is why Jesus instructed the Twelve “to take nothing for the journey” so
that they will not rely on what they have but have full trust in the power and grace of God.

T is for the right technique or the skill to catch fish. He must know what equipment to
use: hook and line, traps or nets. And he should also know how to use them properly and

effectively. Jesus used parables and common everyday examples, which people could
easily relate to, and this was very effective. If he is around today, he would surely use the
modern tools of mass media as well as the effective techniques in communications and
public speaking.

H stands for the virtue of humility. The fisherman must remain always invisible to the fish.
Otherwise, they will not come near. Such is the case in preaching. The central focus should
always be Jesus and his message, and the preacher must remain invisible. He is to attract
people to Christ, and not to himself. Ultimately, he has to realize that it is God who is doing
the work; he is only His instrument. The entire ministry of St. John the Baptist is based
on this virtue, and he concluded: “He must increase, while I must decrease” (Jn 3:30). A
narcissistic preacher who always blows his own horn will surely drive people away.

There is one final note. I was born and grew up in an island town. Our house is just a few
meters from the sea. At night, especially when there is no moonlight, the sea is littered with
lights coming from the boats of fishermen. Such a beautiful sight to behold indeed! What
attracts fish most effectively is light. The best time to catch fish is during moonless nights.
When it is dark, the fisherman uses a gas lamp on his boat. And the fish just come near the
boat because of the light. It then becomes easy for the fisherman to catch them.

This is what Jesus is telling us: “You are the light of the world.” The best way to become
fishers of men is to reflect the light of Christ. The way to be effective proclaimers of the word
of God is by our good examples. We must live the teachings of Christ. We ourselves should
be the living Gospel in the world. As Pope Paul VI rightly noted, “modern man listens more
willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they
are witnesses”.

Incidentally, Perth is the capital city of Western Australia. It is famous for its ancient port,
Freemantle, the home of many ships and fishing boats. It is also known worldwide as the
City of Lights. Let us become shining lights through our Christian lives, and then we will be
effective fishers of men and beloved disciples of the Lord.

Fr. Mike Lagrimas

Santa Lucia Parish
J.P. Rizal Street, Bgy. Sta. Lucia
Novaliches, Quezon City 1117

Jesus accepts us as we are. We turn to him for healing in our lives. As Christians we believe that Jesus continues to heal us through his instruments in the medical profession like doctors, nurses and medical technicians. Hence when we go to a doctor, be sure to offer a prayer to Christ The Divine Healer so that we may choose the right doctor who makes the correct diagnosis and prescribes the correct treatment and the right medicine. Let us not forget the truth that over and above and beyond the ability and skill of the greatest human healer, Christ still works wonders of healing. Let us also thank God for the great gift of health and use it for helping those who are sick.

We are all called to become healers. When a friend or family members become terminally ill, the skill of the doctors and their advanced medical tools often become powerless. What the patient needs in such a situation is our care, concern and prayerful presence, enabling them to experience through us the love, compassion and mercy of Jesus. We do our share of Christ’s healing mission by visiting the sick, by praying for their healing, by boosting their morale by our loving presence, words of encouragement and inspiration.

Henri Nouwen wrote a book entitled “The Wounded Healer”. Let us remember that in the midst of our wounded-ness we can touch the lives of other people and can also bring healing. Our Lord Jesus showed us how.

Fr. Reynaldo A. Domagas
(*Reflections on the readings for the 13th Sunday. The article is published in the Sunday Bulletin of Our Lady of Victory Church, New York City – July 1, 2012.)

Mark 5:21-43

Here is a story I gathered from the Internet. This happened during a graduation ceremony
on May 20, 2001 at the Washington Community High School, in Washington, Illinois. (cf.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/sneeze.asp).

“They walked in tandem, each of the ninety-two students filing into the already crowded
auditorium. With their rich maroon gowns flowing … and the traditional caps, they looked
almost as grown up as they felt. Dads swallowed hard behind broad smiles, and Moms
freely brushed away tears.

This graduating class would NOT pray during the commencements – not by choice, but
because of a recent court ruling prohibiting it. The principal and several students were
careful to stay within the guidelines allowed by the ruling. They gave inspirational and
challenging speeches, but no one mentioned divine guidance and no one asked for
blessings on the graduates or their families. The speeches were nice, but they were
routine…..until that final speech that received a standing ovation.

A solitary student walked proudly to the microphone. He stood still and silent for just
a moment, and then, it happened. All 92 students, every single one of them, suddenly
SNEEZED!! The student on stage simply looked at the audience and said, “GOD BLESS
YOU, each and every one of you!” And he walked off stage. The audience exploded into
applause. This graduating class had found a unique way to invoke God’s blessing on their
future with or without the court’s approval.”

For me, this is the best valedictory speech: “God bless you!”

Nowadays, we see various systematic and concerted efforts from secular society to erase
God from the lives of the people. Secular governments all over the world, the United States
for one, are becoming more and more bold in their attempts to put God away from public
life and curtail religious freedom. It is a blatant and deliberate attempt to take away the
Christian faith from us. We have to be very vigilant. Faith is a gift from God, and it could be
totally lost. Losing our faith is very disastrous to our soul.

In our relationship with God, there are three theological virtues: Faith, Hope and Love. St.
Paul said that these are the three things that last. And the greatest among them is love. St.
Thomas Aquinas added some qualification to that statement. He said that in the order of
dignity, it is true that love is the greatest. But how can we love God when we do not know
Him? There is a philosophical principle in Latin: “Nil volitum, nisi praecognitum.” Nothing
is desired unless it is known beforehand. It is faith that helps us to know God. And we can
love God only if we know Him. So, in the order of knowledge, faith comes first. Losing our
faith, therefore, means to lose our means to know God, making it impossible to love Him.

The Gospel this Sunday gives us the story about two miracles done by Jesus: the healing of
a woman who was hemorrhaging for twelve years, and the raising back to life of a twelve-
year old girl, the daughter of Jairus.

There are two things we need to mention. First is the detail on the number twelve. This
number represents the twelve tribes of Israel, the basis for the establishment of the Church

founded on the twelve apostles. In other words, these miracles done to these individuals
were symbolic of God’s saving work in the Church. The second is the preeminent role
of faith in the miraculous events. The woman touched the garment of Jesus, uttering to
herself: “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” And in the second instance, Jesus made
sure Jairus had faith in him: “Do not be afraid. Just have faith.”

It is faith that moves the hand of God to do wondrous deeds. It is not the other way around.
Some people think that for them to have faith, they need to witness a miracle. “To see is
to believe”, they say. That is wrong. As the Gospels clearly illustrate, one has to have faith
first, and this faith will produce miracles: “Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of
a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move.’
Nothing will be impossible for you” (Mt 17:20).

Let us, therefore, examine our faith. Every Sunday at Mass we recite the Creed. It contains
all the most important and fundamental truths of our faith revealed to us by God. If we
believe in something, which is contrary to any of these truths, we are committing sin against
faith. It is truly important to know and study the doctrines of our faith as taught to us by
the Church. Knowing them, we must also adhere and hold on to them with firm belief and
conviction. And secondly, trusting more in one’s self, in other persons and things rather than
in God is definitely wrong. Trusting in our own intelligence and powers, or relying solely on
money or in other persons, totally disregarding God’s providence, are sins against faith. We
must trust in God over and above everything in this world.

We are truly blessed and fortunate that, despite our unworthiness, God granted us the
gift of faith. We are duty bound to protect and defend it, and to make sure it is nurtured
through study and prayer. And most importantly, God expects us to share our faith with
others. The more we share it, the stronger it becomes. In fact, these days call for a “new
evangelization.” Pope Benedict XVI explained that, “the term ‘new evangelization’ recalls
the need of a new way of evangelizing… in order to convince modern persons, who are
often distracted and insensitive. That is why the new evangelization must find ways to make
the proclamation of salvation more effective, the salvation without which life is contradictory
and lacking in what is essential.” (Address to members of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New

Evangelization, May 30, 2011).

As followers of Christ, it is our duty and our mission to share and spread our faith and
thereby fulfill his command: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every
creature” (Mk 16:15).

Fr. Mike Lagrimas
Santa Lucia Parish
J.P. Rizal Street, Bgy. Sta. Lucia
Novaliches, Quezon City 1117

Luke 1:57-66, 80

A man died and appeared at the pearly gates. St. Peter met him and asked, “Have you ever done anything that will entitle you to a heavenly reward?” “Well,” the man replied, “I think I remember one good thing I did. Once, on my way home late at night, passing through an isolated alley, I chanced upon a group of drug addicts. They were molesting a young woman. I approached them and ordered them to leave her alone, but they just ignored me. So, I came up to their leader, and grabbed his neck, smacked him on the face, kicked his groin, and pushed him down on the ground. Then I screamed at all the rest, ‘Now, get lost, you bastards! Don’t ever show your faces again here!’”
St. Peter was impressed. “That’s amazing! When did this happen?” “Just a few minutes ago.”

The feasts of saints are usually celebrated on the day of their death, which is their birth into eternal life. In the calendar of the Catholic Church, there are only three feasts of birthdays: Christmas (the birth of Jesus Christ), September 8 (the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary) and June 24 (the birth of St. John the Baptist). This clearly illustrates the great importance and vital role of John the Baptist in God’s plan of salvation. Jesus affirms this when he praised him: “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John” (Lk 7:28).

What made St. John the Baptist great in the eyes of Jesus? In a nutshell, we can say that his greatness is based on his faithful fulfillment of his role as the precursor of the Messiah. He manifested this in three main qualities that are readily seen in his life.

The first is his humility. This virtue is not only about being lowly and unassuming, but also being truthful. When asked by the people who he is, he honestly replied: “I am not the Messiah. I am only the voice crying out in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord!’ I am not even worthy to unfasten his sandal straps. He must increase and I must decrease.” In short, he clearly illustrated that humility and truthfulness always go together. And anybody who has these virtues is indeed great. This is clear in the example of God. He is the Absolute Truth, and He “emptied himself and took the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men” (cf. Phil 2:6-11). Hence, John’s greatness lies in his humility, “for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Mt 23:12).

Another quality that St. John displayed is his fidelity to his mission. From the beginning of his life, he is already aware of his mission, and he fulfilled it by faithfully pointing to the Messiah: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” (Jn 1:29). He went about preaching a baptism of repentance: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Mt 3:2).  He even boldly challenged the Jewish authorities: “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Mt 3:8). The people readily believed and followed him because he represents the true image of a prophet – “John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey” (Mt 3:4). In short, in every moment of his life, he lived what he preached.

His third quality is his indomitable courage for the truth. This is because he knows fully well that charity and truth can never be separated. As Pope Benedict XVI tells us in Caritas in Veritate, “Truth without charity is empty, and charity without truth is blind.” Corollary to this, we can aptly say that telling the truth, no matter how painful it is to the recipient and no matter how hazardous it is to the messenger, is an act of profound charity.

This is where the example of St. John the Baptist is presented as an inspiring challenge to all of us. The reason why peace in the world is so elusive is because the truth is not proclaimed in full. In this age when we are now being ruled by what Pope Benedict XVI described as the “dictatorship of relativism”, heralds of the Gospel of Jesus must have the conviction and courage to proclaim the Absolute Truth. For as Jesus proclaimed, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (Jn 8:32).

The truth cannot be compromised. It has to be proclaimed and defended, even at the price of sacrifice and death. St. John shows us how to be a true herald of truth that leads to freedom. He fearlessly condemned the incestuous and adulterous relationship of King Herod with Herodias, his brother’s wife. He did this not to spite the king, but out of genuine charity, that is, to lead him back to the road of decency and righteousness. This, however, led to his imprisonment and martyrdom. The world needs prophets like St. John the Baptist.

It is truly sad that many prophets of the present time prefer to give only “safe” and “nice” homilies, wanting to please the crowd rather than proclaim the hard and absolute truths of the Gospel. This is the reason for the unabated and rampant spread of errors, immorality and evil in our present society. Pope Pius X condemned such behavior more than a century ago. “In our time more than ever before, the chief strength of the wicked, lies in the cowardice and weakness of good men… All the strength of Satan’s reign is due to the easy-going weakness of Catholics. Oh! if I might ask the Divine Redeemer, as the prophet Zechariah did in spirit: What are those wounds in the midst of Thy hands? The answer would not be doubtful: With these was I wounded in the house of them that loved Me. I was wounded by My friends, who did nothing to defend Me, and who, on every occasion, made themselves the accomplices of My adversaries. And this reproach can be leveled at the weak and timid Catholics of all countries” (Beatification of St. Joan of Arc, Dec. 13, 1908).

God invites us all to holiness and greatness. Let the example of St. John the Baptist urge us to respond eagerly to this call. The times we are in call for heroes and martyrs, not in the sense of shedding blood, but in courageous and consistent witness to the evangelical principles of truth, justice and moral righteousness. Like St. John the Baptist, let us become the voice in this modern wilderness proclaiming the message of conversion and hope: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!”

Fr. Mike Lagrimas

Santa Lucia Parish

J.P. Rizal Street, Bgy. Sta. Lucia

Novaliches, Quezon City 1117

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All three readings peak of a covenant. The covenant proclaimed by Moses established a certain relationship between Yahweh and the Israelites. He was their God and they were his people. At the Last Supper Jesus announced a new covenant, a new relationship between God and his people. It would depend not on law but on love, because it would depend on the blood that he would shed out of love for us. In our celebration of Mass when we break the bread and eat it, we share his body that was broken. When we drink of the cup, we share his blood that was poured out for us. We are reminded of how much He loves us, and we are inspired to return that love.

These days there are talks and discussions regarding the amount of foods and drinks that we take. There is so much junk food that can lead us to obesity and unhealthy eating habits. How about feasting on the Body and Blood of Christ? Let us continually take part in the Eucharist and be nourished by the love of God. This is our spiritual food and our sustenance for our life’s journey.
Our Lord gives us His own Body and Blood so we can also share ourselves with each other.

Rev. Fr. Reynaldo A. Domagas
(*Reflections of the Readings for Feast of Corpus Christi – published in the Sunday Bulletin of Our Lady of Victory Church, New York City, June 2012)