TABLE OF CONTENTS

IN
THIS
ISSUE

EDITORIAL
Editor: Juan Miguel Tolentino
STAFF
Layout: Russel Trinidad
Editorial Assistant: Emman Magararu
Admin: Cecile Galotera
Production: Rose Inocencio Lolit Orlanda

ORIGIN STORIES

HOW TO CATCH A FISHERMAN

THE NUMBER FORTY

EVEN THE DEVIL QUOTES THE BIBLE

WHEN THE OLD TESTAMENT MEETS

THE NEW TESTAMENT

12

THE PROMISE OF THE TRANSFIGURATION

13

WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN

TO (BAD?) PEOPLE?

16

FIG TREES AND LAST SECOND CHANCES

17

A LONG WAY OFF:

THE STORY OF A MODERN PRODIGAL SON

19

The Return of the Lost Son

20

THE 7TH COMMANDMENT,

THEN AND NOW

23

OF SINS AND SINNERS

24

NOT EVERYONE LOVES A PARADE

27

THE TRIUMPH BEFORE THE PASSION

THE NIGHT IS OVER, THE LIGHT IS ALREADY
SHINING
A LOVE THAT SEES THROUGH
THE DARKNESS

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30
31

ORIGIN STORIES
February 7, 2016

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Luke 5:1-11
(All characters, images, stories are
properties of Marvel Comics)

ony Stark, codenamed Iron Man, deals

with a drinking problem.
Bruce Banner, codenamed the Hulk, has
severe anger management issues.
Thor Odinson rebels recklessly against his
distant father Odin.
Clint Barton, codenamed Hawkeye, is an
orphan and a former thief.
Steve Rogers, codenamed Captain America,
struggles with fitting in a society he no longer
recognizes.
Natasha Romanov, codenamed Black
Widow, was forced to be a killer before she
was rescued and reformed.
In the end, these broken and imperfect
people overcame their weaknesses and went
out to help people as heroes - as avengers.

eter was a traitor to Jesus during the night of

His passion, denying three times that he knew
Him.
James and Andrew were simple fishermen.
Thomas was a doubter, who wasnt even willing to
believe in Jesus resurrection unless he saw it with
his own eyes.
Saul was a persecutor of Christians, and was
responsible for killing Stephen the martyr.
Matthew was a tax collector, a job that was
notorious during the time for its corruption.
Most of the apostles were uneducated. They did
not have formal theological training. Others lived
morally dubious lives.
In the end, these broken and imperfect people
overcame their weaknesses and went out to
follow Jesus, to help people as heroes - as apostles.

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HOW TO CATCH A
FISHERMAN

ight before Jesus arrived at the lake (4: 4244), He was being followed by a lot of people.
In fact, He went to a deserted place to rest
somewhere away from the crowds.
However, the crowds still followed Him, and so
He went to preach at their synagogues, and now, at
the lakeside.
While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus
and listening to the word of God, He was
standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
Lake Gennesaret is designated by the other
gospel writers as the Sea of Galilee or Tiberias. In
the Old Testament, it is called the Chinneroth.
While He was hanging out by the lake, Jesus
watched the fishermen putting away their fishing
implements. They were done with their work, and
they were about to go home.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake;
the fishermen had disembarked and were
washing their nets. Getting into one of the
boats, the one belonging to Simon, He
asked him to put out a short distance from
the shore. Then He sat down and taught the
crowds from the boat.
However, He asked one of the fishermen,
Simon, to let Him borrow his boat. The crowd must

have been too big for Him to speak to them while

standing on the shore, and He thought that they
could hear Him speak better if He was at a bit of a
distance from them. Simon obliged Him, and Jesus
taught the crowds from the boat.
******
After He was done speaking, the crowds must
have gone home. Maybe they must have stayed
for a little while longer, waiting for an encore.
Nevertheless, Jesus ignored the crowds for
the most part and talked with the kindhearted
fishermen who let Him borrow the boat.
However, His first words to Simon, one of the
fishermen, were somewhat odd:
He said to Simon, Put out into deep water
and lower your nets for a catch.
Simon and his companions were tired. They
have worked all night trying to catch fish, and
ended up with nothing to show for their troubles.
Moreover, the fishermen had disembarked and
were washing their nets. They were done for the
day.
They really did not want to go back out to the
sea and lower their nets again just because Jesus
said so, especially after a very disappointing day.
Growing up in a fishing community, I also

remember that most fishermen usually go out to

sea to fish at night. Fish are easier to catch with
nets at nighttime. During daytime, they are more
easily scared, and so they are harder to catch. Now,
Jesus was telling them to go out and fish, during
the most inauspicious time of the day to do so.
In Simons reply, we somewhat hear a bit of
annoyance, even condescension.
Here was a great man, a prophet. They
respected Him. However, He was also a carpenter.
What did He know about fishing better than them,
who had been at this job for most of their life?
Simon said:
Simon said in reply, Master, we have
worked hard all night and have caught
nothing, but at your command I will lower
the nets.
In the end, Simon relented and did what Jesus
told him to do, but he wasnt too happy about
it. Optimism may lead us to assume that Simon
instantaneously took faith in Jesus words and
trusted Him enough to do exactly as He said, but
maybe thats naivet.
Considering how tired he and his companions
were, a more honest guess about Simons
motivation for His obedience might have been a bit
of pride.
Maybe He followed Jesus request just to humor
Him. Maybe he was expecting to fail again, and so
to somewhat tell Jesus, I told you so.
Regardless of the sincerity of his motivations,
Simon did what He asked of him, went out to sea a
second time, and lowered his nets.
Thats when the miracle happened.
******
When they had done this, they caught

a great number of fish and their nets were

tearing. They signaled to their partners
in the other boat to come to help them.
They came and filled both boats so that
they were in danger of sinking.
Consider how overwhelming the miracle must
have been for Simon and the other fishermen.
For simple fisher-folk, that must have been so
awesome. For Simon, James and John, that must
have been an undeniable sign that Jesus was
not just one of the many itinerant preachers and
wannabe messiahs of the time.
Jesus was the real deal.
When Simon saw this, he fell at the knees
of Jesus and said, Depart from me, Lord,
for I am a sinful man. For astonishment
at the catch of fish they had made seized
him and all those with him, and likewise
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who
were partners of Simon.
At the beginning of the gospel story Simon
addresses Jesus as Epistates, or Master. The
term is reserved as an honorific for tutors and
teachers.
Maybe Simon and his companions have heard of
Jesus before, and recognized that the man before
them is a good guy, one of the prophets who has
been going around town, preaching.
True, this guy Jesus may be better than the
other guys, performing miracles. They might have
heard of the rumors about Him. Maybe He was the
long-awaited Messiah!
They might have heard of the other miracles
that Jesus did in other places. They might
have believed in them, or maybe not. Their
priority at the moment was their job. The life

of a workingman rarely has time for reflection.

Considering this, we can assume that Simon
and his companions might have taken Jesus for
granted, and not realized at the time who He really
is.
Whatever the case may have been, Simon knew
that this person was not just an ordinary person,
and addressed Him as Master.
Simon must not have expected how much Jesus
would change his and his companions lives that
day, but he certainly had a bit of an idea.
******
After the fishermen experienced Jesus miracle
firsthand, Simon addressed Him as Kyrios, or
Lord. In fact, he said:
Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O
Lord!
Simon admitted that he was a sinful man.
This confession did not come out of nowhere.
Simon realized that he and his companions were
in the presence of something out of this world,
something extraordinary, something divine.
In the face of this awesome thing, Simon
acknowledged his own unworthiness. He admitted
that they were not good enough for the honor to
be in the presence of the Lord.
What made Simon change His mind about
Jesus?
The miracle of the fish was an incontrovertible
piece of evidence that Jesus is the Messiah. Simon
might not have verbalized it by then - his Messianic
confession will come later (Luke 9: 20) - but at this
point, he and his companions were aware of Jesus
identity enough to call Him not just Master (or

Teacher), but Lord.

Do not be afraid; from now on you will be
catching men.
******
Despite them being simple fisherfolk, Jesus
believed in them. They were humble workers, who
might have not had the resources and the time
to have a proper religious education. They were
fishermen.
If Jesus were to pick members of His core team
to accompany Him in His mission to preach the
word of God, dont you think Hed want to have,
well, better companions?
Maybe He could have asked one of the priests
or the politicians during the time to be His
followers. These are the people who have power
and authority during the time, and it would have
been easier for Him to get His message out if He
went through the established channels.
Jesus assembled quite a motley band of
disciples, didnt He? Simon, James and John,
fishermen, were the first of what would be twelve.
The other apostles followed Jesus soon afterwards.
These are unexceptional people. When Jesus
went to them, they were not leaders, or prophets,
or teachers, or priests. They were just ordinary
guys. These are people who you might just pass by
on the street without thinking twice.
Nevertheless, Jesus called these people to
be His disciples. He called these simple, weak,
damaged people to be His partners, His friends.
They might not have been the best of people.
They were not the most powerful, nor the most
intelligent, nor the most experienced people

around. They certainly acknowledged this when

they said that they were unworthy before Jesus.
However, Jesus told them, Do not be afraid.
I trust in you. I know you are capable of so much
more.
******
How did Simon and his companions respond to
this?
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him.
Without hesitation, they left everything and
followed Him.
A similar story to the calling of the apostles can
be found in the Old Testament (1 Kings 19-21),
where the prophet Elijah called Elisha to follow
Him.
When the young man Elisha was tending his
field, Elijah came along, looking for the one that
God would choose as his companion, his successor.
When Elijah saw Elisha, he put his mantle over
him. The mantle is traditionally symbolic (Numbers
20: 28), practically a challenge to Elisha on whether
he will accept the responsibilities of a servant of
God.
How did Elisha respond?
Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah.
Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, he
said, and then I will come with you.
It was that straightforward. No complications.
Elisha has known for a while then that Elijah was
a prophet of God. He himself was devout to God.
Therefore, when an opportunity arose wherein
he could serve as an apprentice to him, he took it
without much hesitation. In fact, he was excited

about it:
He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered
them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook
the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate.
Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his
servant.
When Elisha recognized Elijahs call, he said:
Let me go tell my parents and Ill follow you.
In a heartbeat, he was ready to leave everything
behind to do Gods work. In fact, he sacrificed the
oxen that were pulling his plow, and gave the plow
away.
******
Notice how Jesus led Simon and the others to
follow Him. He said, From now on you will be
catching men.
Not, will you? Not, can you? No. It is, you
will be.
It is a bold statement of fact. Jesus did not
doubt that Simon and his companions will make
the right choice.
Yes, you will be catching men. Yes, you will be
following Me.
To follow Jesus is to leave everything behind.
Maybe not literally, as with leaving our jobs and
our families to preach in faraway places, but maybe
just to leave our attachment with our comfort zone
behind as we follow Jesus.
To follow Jesus is to recognize His glory, to
acknowledge our unworthiness, and to accept
our privilege to accompany Him (or maybe more
accurately, to be accompanied by Him) in the
divine mission of heaven on earth.

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THE NUMBER
FORTY

esus spent forty days in the desert. The number forty is very significant and symbolic in the
Scriptures, usually interpreted to mean a period
of trial. In fact, the number appears 148 times in the
Bible.
In Genesis 7: 12, God made it rain for forty days
and nights until the earth was completely flooded.
This was to punish the earth of its wickedness.
In the first chapter of Deuteronomy, God said that
the generation of Israelites who left Egypt in the
Exodus will not enter the Promised Land. Thus,
they will be punished by wandering through the
wilderness for forty years.
In Exodus 34: 28, Moses spent forty days on
Mount Sinai (Exodus 34: 28). In fact, even before
that, Moses lived forty years in Egypt and forty years
in the desert before God chose him to lead the
Israelites out of slavery.
In 1 Kings 19: 48, Elijah took forty days to travel
to Mount Horeb, and then afterwards went forty
days without food or water there, similar to what
Jesus does in this Sundays gospel.
******
Jesus embodied the fulfillment of Gods chosen
people. In fact, even His fasting in the desert is the
fulfillment of the yet imperfect experiences of Moses
and Elijah, the primary representatives of Israel.
When Moses went through his forty-day fast, it

February14, 2016
1st Sunday of Lent
Luke 4: 1-13

was in Gods presence.

Elijah went through his fast in the wilderness
alone.
However, with Jesus, it was under relentless
temptation from the devil.
Why were Moses, Elijah and Jesus made to endure hunger and temptation in the wilderness? They
were all about to go out for their respective missions
- Moses as the leader of Israel out of Egypt, Elijah as
the reformer of Israel in its moment of corruption,
Jesus as the redeemer of all mankind.
Their mettle was tested in the first battle, and so
they won their wars.

EVEN THE DEVIL

QUOTES THE BIBLE

ts a common misconception. Jesus did

not actually say the above quote, William
Shakespeare did. In fact, in his work
The Merchant of Venice (during the third scene of
the first act), the character Antonio says:
The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
He continues:
An evil soul producing holy witness is like a
villain with a smiling cheek, a goodly apple rotten
at the heart. O, what a goodly outside falsehood
hath!
Even the devil quotes the Bible. That is
certainly what happens in the gospel story, when
Jesus was tempted by the devil.
******
During their confrontation in the desert, Jesus

did not eat for forty days.

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from
the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the
desert for forty days, to be tempted by the
devil. He ate nothing during those days, and
when they were over he was hungry.
Imagine not eating anything for forty days. He
must have been famished, to the point that the
rocks in the desert must have looked like loaves
of bread. Hey, when youre hungry, random stuff
around you begin to look like food. It happens.
In fact, the stones in the desert of Jeshimmon
where Jesus was tempted were described by
historians to be about 8-10 inches in diameter,
round, and sun-baked brown.
Dont tell me that description doesnt make you
think of newly cooked bread, fresh from the oven,

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ready to be eaten. Yum.

In His hunger, it must have not taken much
imagination for Jesus to see those stones and
bread. That was when the devil struck.
The devil said to him, If you are the Son of
God, command this stone to become bread.
If you think about it, whats the harm? Its just
a little thing. Its not like the devil is tempting him
with a banquet. Its just one stone, one piece of
bread. Hes not even tempting Jesus to commit
gluttony. Its just bread, not an eat-all-you-can
unlimited-rice bottomless-iced-tea buffet.
Hunger is okay. Its necessary. Its a biological
function. Its our bodies way of telling us that we
need to replenish ourselves with food. Its no big
deal.
Its okay to eat. Its okay to want to eat.
Moreover, the devil was technically right.
Jesus is the Son of God. Would His Father want
Him to go hungry?
Nevertheless, behind this seemingly
innocuous dare is a more insidious intent.
Lets take note that the devil did not get a

piece of bread himself and waved it in front of Jesus,

tempting Him with its smell or eating it in front of Him
exaggeratedly. The devil was more cunning than that.
Instead, he told him to command a stone to
become bread.
Jesus certainly had the power to do so. He can turn
water into wine, and He did so in the wedding of Cana
(John 2). He can multiply loaves and fish, and He did
so more than once to feed many people (Matthew 14,
Luke 9).
Jesus is not just an ordinary person. He is the Son
of God. He has powers.
The devil dares Jesus to use His powers for Himself.
In the above examples when Jesus performed miracles
with food, it was not to feed Himself but others.
Moreover, the devil is saying that the only reason
for anyone to trust God is because He is an automatic
teller machine, a benevolent deity whose only
purpose in ones life is to provide for ones every need.
He is saying that the only reason for anyone to be
happy is to be satisfied in ones physical hunger, to be
given material possessions.
The devil is implying that God has abandoned

Jesus because He let Him go hungry.

Later on, Jesus will be tempted to entertain
the possibility that God has abandoned Him as
He faced His impending death in Gethsemane
(Matthew 26: 36-46).
Jesus answered him, It is written, One
does not live by bread alone.
Jesus tells the devil that trusting God is more
than trusting Him to provide for ones needs. He
tells him that being happy is more than having a
full stomach, more than having a lot of money or
material stuff.
In the Old Testament (Exodus 16), the
Israelites were going hungry in the desert. Then
God gave them food, in the form of manna.
God told them to get what they needed
for the day and nothing more. However, some
people were knuckleheaded and collected more
manna anyway.
What happened? When they woke up and
checked their extra manna, they found that it
was rotten and full of maggots.
What was Gods point in all of this?
God is not saying that being prudent and

10

saving up for tomorrow is bad. Hes telling us,

Trust Me, I will provide.
Jesus had more than enough power to
transform one measly stone into a piece of bread.
However, he chose not to. He trusted His Father a
lot more than that.
******
Then the devil took him up and showed him all
the kingdoms of the world in a single instant.
The devil said to Him, I shall give to You all this
power and their glory; for it has been handed
over to me, and I may give it to whomever I
wish. All this will be Yours, if You worship me.
The same pattern continues in the succeeding
temptations.
In the second temptation, the devil quotes
Psalm 91: 11-12.
He offers Jesus the kingdoms of the world, if
only He will worship Him. The devil offers Jesus a
shortcut to power and influence, an escape from
His painful redemptive mission which ends in His
death.
Jesus said to him in reply, It is written: You
shall worship the Lord, your God, and Him alone
shall you serve.
Jesus tells the devil, That power and glory is
not yours to give. Its My Fathers, and He is the
only one worth worshipping.
Then the devil led Him to Jerusalem, made
Him stand on the parapet of the temple, and
said to Him, If You are the Son of God, throw
Yourself down from here, for it is written:
He will command His angels concerning you,
to guard You, and: With their hands they will
support You, lest You dash your foot against a
stone.
In the third temptation, the devil dares Jesus to
jump off the top of the temple, reasoning that if He
really is the Son of God, His Father wont let Him
come to harm.
Jesus said to him in reply, It also says, You
shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.
******
Jesus was human too.
We tend to forget that in the midst of all
the miracles, of all the healings, of all the
transfigurations and resurrections.
Jesus was human too. He was tempted too.
When Jesus talks about striving to be a good
person and resisting temptation, He knows what
Hes talking about.
In his letter to the Hebrews (4: 15), Paul said,
We do not have a high priest who is unable to
sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one

who in every respect has been tested as we are,

yet without sin.
Jesus was human too. He was tempted too.
He felt every minute detail of the same pain and
confusion and indecision that we go through
when we get tempted too.
However, He did not give in.
******
Even the devil quotes the Bible.
Nevertheless, Jesus beat him at his own
game. In refuting the devil, Jesus also quotes
the Bible. In fact, everything that Jesus retorts
to the devil can be found in Deuteronomy 6-8,
the Old Testament account of Israels exile in the
wilderness.
While the devil twists the Word of God by
adding and subtracting from it or quoting from
it out of context, Jesus yanks them back to their
point, to their intended message, to their proper
context.

Even the devil quotes the Bible.

Does it mean that we shouldnt trust the Bible
at all? No, not at all.
2 Timothy 3: 16 reminds us that all scripture is
given by inspiration of God. Not just a few choice
passages, not just the parts we quote to prove our
point.
Memorizing the Bible verbatim is not proof that
one is a good person. Yeah, you may have got your
Biblical references down pat. You may pepper your
dialogue with a Bible verse every now and then.
Thats cool. Thats actually awesome.
However, if your intention is to cite Scripture to
rub into peoples faces that youre right and theyre
wrong, or maybe to actually use biased excerpts
from Scripture to rationalize your own hypocritical
argument, then youre missing the point of the
Word of God.
Even the devil quotes the Bible.
Be careful that you dont misuse it.

11

WHEN THE OLD TESTAMENT

MEETS THE NEW TESTAMENT

February21, 2016
2nd Sunday of Lent
Luke 9: 28-36

uring the transfiguration, there were two

prominent Old Testament figures who
appeared with Jesus - Moses and Elijah.
While (Jesus) was praying, His face changed
in appearance and His clothing became
dazzling white.
And behold, two men were conversing with
Him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory
and spoke of his exodus that He was going to
accomplish in Jerusalem.
Who were Moses and Elijah, and why were
they important enough to be present in the
transfiguration?
Moses and Elijah were practically the
representatives of the Old Testament. Moses
founded the nation of Israel, and Elijah reformed
it afterwards. Moses established the law as God
commanded, and Elijah called Israel back to the
law along with the prophets.
Moreover, Moses and Elijah both had
experiences that prefigure that of Jesus
transfiguration.
******
Jesus transfiguration happened in a mountain.
Similarly, Moses and Elijah received their
messages from God in mountains.
Moses received the stone tablets where God
wrote the ten commandments on Mount Sinai
(Exodus 20: 1-17). Meanwhile, Elijah heard the
voice of God on Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19: 12).
Moreover, Jesus was transformed into an
otherworldly form in the mountain, just like
Moses and Elijah were.
Moses himself was transfigured (albeit to
a lesser degree) in Mount Sinai (Exodus 35:
29-35). When Moses came down from the
mountain after talking with God, his face became
luminous.

12

Even in his death, Moses was in Gods presence.

In fact, it was God Himself who buried him
(Deuteronomy 34: 6).
Meanwhile, Elijah himself did not die an earthly
death, but instead was taken up to heaven in a
fiery chariot (2 Kings 2: 11).
The transfigurations of Moses and Elijah
happened because they were in the presence
of God. God is so powerful that to just even be
in His presence, to see Him face to face is to be
transfigured, to be transformed into the best you
can be.
In the transfiguration, Jesus was attended to
by Moses and Elijah, signifying that He is greater
than both of them. The transfiguration was a sign
of Jesus fulfillment of the law and the prophets,
of Jesus reinterpretation of them into their
ultimate significance - the coming of the kingdom
of God.
******
During His transfiguration, the disciples saw
Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah about His
journey, His departure, His exodus to Jerusalem.
Moses and Elijah were there for Jesus before
His exodus. Moses himself led the Israelites in
their exodus to the promised land, and Elijah led
the Israelites in their exodus back to God from
their rebellion against Him.
Exodus can also be translated as exodon or
death.
In this case, Jesus is certainly going on a journey
to death, from the beginning of His public
ministry in Galilee until His crucifixion and death
in Jerusalem.
During the transfiguration, Jesus revealed His
fulfillment of the old covenant that Moses and
Elijah represented. Jesus is the new covenant, the
new testament.
During the transfiguration, Jesus revealed
His divine identity. He also foreshadowed His
impending human suffering and death, and
finally, His eventual fulfillment of the promise of
His transfiguration:
We dont have to worry because God always
endures.

THE PROMISE OF THE

TRANSFIGURATION

eter must have been very confused about Jesus.

During that time, people were speculating
about the identity of Jesus. Some were saying
that He was Elijah or Moses reincarnated. In fact, the
Old Testament foretold that these two prophets will
appear again when the Messiah comes.
Malachi 4: 5 is one of the more explicit
prophecies, saying, Behold, I (the Lord) am going to
send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the
great and terrible day of the Lord.
However, when Jesus asked Peter that one time,
he answered: You are the Messiah.
Peter believed that Jesus was the Messiah. He
believed that this son of a carpenter, this simple man
from Nazareth (not even a major city but a remote
corner of Israel) was not just another great prophet
or teacher, but is indeed the prophesied Savior.
How did Peter come to this conclusion?
Jesus was a simple man. However, He wasnt
all ordinary either. He taught with authority, with
conviction that what He is saying is the actual word
of God. Moreover, He supported His words with
actions, with miracles - healing people of physical
ailments, exorcising demons, among others.
Jesus was a simple man. However, He was also an

extraordinary man of God. Peter was pretty sure at

this point that Jesus is the Messiah of prophecy, and
so he confessed his faith in Him.
Peter told Jesus, You are the Messiah. We
believe you are the one who will come to save us.
However, how did Jesus reply?
(I) must suffer many things and be rejected by
the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and
(I) must be killed (Luke 9: 22).
Peter must have thought - Is this guy really the
Messiah? Was I wrong in believing in Him? I thought
He was going to be the all-powerful savior that God
promised. Why is He telling us that Hes going to die?
******
It was with this confusion that Peter, John and
James went with Jesus to a mountain:
About eight days after (Peter) said (his
messianic confession), (Jesus) took Peter, John,
and James and went up the mountain to pray.
The three apostles Peter, John and James were
somewhat Jesus core team. In fact, they were the
only companions of Jesus during three of the most
important incidents of His ministry.
The first time was when they went with Jesus
when He triumphantly raised the daughter of the

13

synagogue official Jairus from the dead (Mark 5:

21-43). The last time was when they went with Jesus
when He heartbreakingly anticipated His impending
agony and death at the garden of Gethsemane
(Matthew 26: 36-46).
In between these two incidents, Peter, James and
John went with Jesus to the mountain where He was
transfigured.
When Jesus brought the little girl back to life,
He showed Peter that He has power over death.
However, in Gethsemane, Peter saw Him seemingly
powerless (in fact helpless) over death, indeed even
begging His Father to spare Him from it.
When Jesus was transfigured, He gave Peter a
preview of His divinity - in fact, of His resurrection.
During these times, Jesus tries to show Peter the
mystery of His life. Even though He has power over
death (exemplified in Jairus home), He chose to
forego that power and go through agony and death
(anticipated in Gethsemane).
Jesus reminds us that death is not the end.
Even though He will choose not to use His power
in the face of His death at the cross, His death will
not be His defeat. In fact, it will be His greatest
victory.
While He was praying His face changed in
appearance and His clothing became dazzling
white.
The word that Matthew and Mark used to

14

describe Jesus transfiguration is metamorphothe,

the word from which our term metamorphosis is
derived.
In Greek mythology, the term is used to describe
how the Olympian gods took human form in order
to interact with humans, similar to what Zeus and
Hermes did in the story of Baucis and Philemon.
However, what Jesus did in the gospel story
was the reverse. In that moment, Jesus cast off His
human form and showed His disciples a glimpse of
His real form, of His divine identity.
The transfiguration gave Peter, James and John
something to hold on to. No matter how dark the
future may bring, they are assured with the fact
that the Son of God would always be with them.
They may not have realized it fully at the time, but
the transfiguration is their exclusive peek at the
resurrection.
*****
Peter and his companions had been overcome by
sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw His
glory and the two men standing with him.
As they were about to part from Him, Peter said
to Jesus, Master, it is good that we are here; let
us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses,
and one for Elijah. But he did not know what he
was saying.
What would you do if God appeared in front of
you?

Maybe you would be rendered speechless.

Maybe, like Peter, you would stammer seemingly
nonsensical words to fill the silence.
Peter offered to build three tents (or booths) in
the mountain, just like those used during the Festival
of Tabernacles. The festival commemorates how God
protected the Israelites during the time when they
were in the wilderness (Leviticus 23: 39-43).
Maybe Peter just said the first thing that came to
His mind. However, Peter may be on to something
more than what He originally meant. He may have
not realized it then, but his remark says a lot about
us, about how we consider the moments of light and
dark in our own lives.
Peter wanted to build tents and stay for a while
longer at the mountaintop. He saw the power and
the glory of Christ, and he wanted that awesome
moment to last forever. He did not want to come
back down yet from the mountain, to come back to
the mundane reality of everyday life, in fact back to
the predictions of Jesus about His own death and
suffering and that of everyone who wished to follow
Him.
Compared to the transfiguration, the rest of
Peters life must have seemed pale in comparison by
then.
However, if Peter had convinced Jesus to stay
in the mountain, He would not have had been able
to fulfill His mission. If they stayed stuck in the
transfiguration, they would have not gone through
the passion and the death - which doesnt sound too
bad, but it would mean that they would not be able
to experience the resurrection later on.

The resurrection is the ultimate fulfillment of the

transfiguration. The latter is just a glimpse of the
former, and we would be foolish to be content with a
mere glimpse just because the path to the real thing
is difficult.
******
While he was still speaking, a cloud came
and cast a shadow over them, and they became
frightened when they entered the cloud. Then
from the cloud came a voice that said, This is my
chosen Son; listen to Him.
The voice of God is heard in this story for the first
time in the gospel since the baptism. The Greek word
used in the above excerpt is eklelegmenos, which
means called out.
Jesus was singled out by God. There were two
other figures from heaven, Moses and Elijah, who
were with Him. However, the voice of God pointed
out Jesus, singling Him out as someone who is
greater than Moses and Elijah, in fact greater than
the Old Testament.
The voice of God revealed to the disciples who
Jesus really is.
The voice answered the same question that Peter
answered. Jesus asked Peter, Who do you think am
I? Who am I to you?, and Peter replied, You are the
Messiah.
Here, the voice of God affirms Peters belief. God
says, This is my Son.
Jesus is the Son of God, and the transfiguration is
the glimpse of His resurrection.
The transfiguration wasnt false hope. It was a
statement of fact, a promise of truth.

15

WHY DO BAD
THINGS
HAPPEN TO
(BAD?) PEOPLE?
February28, 2016
3rd Sunday of Lent
Luke 13:1-9

uring the Roman occupation of Israel, Pontius

Pilate was the governor of Judea. He was known
for his particularly harsh actions against the
perceived enemies of the empire.
Moreover, he was also known for his disrespect of
the religious practices and holy places of the Roman
occupied territories, which accounted for the peoples
hate towards the governor.
The historian Josephus recounts two other times
in his books about the Jewish Wars, especially his
Antiquities.
Once, Pilate massacred the participants of a religious
Samaritan gathering on Mount Gerizim, possibly
because of an overreaching application of public
disturbance regulations.
Another time, Pilate killed Jews who dared to speak
and organize against him when he forcibly seized temple
treasury money to build an aqueduct in Jerusalem.
At that time some people who were present there
told (Jesus) about the Galileans whose blood Pilate
had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.
In the gospel story, Jesus hears of a similar incident,
when Pilate murdered some Jews from Galilee while
they were worshipping in the temple. Possibly, those
Jews were part of the Zealots, or any one of the many
Jewish rebel groups during the time.
With Pilates infamous insensitivity towards religion,
it was not surprising that he chose to stage his massacre
in the place where the Jews would have had their
defenses down - in the temple.
In fact, to add insult to their deaths, Pilate had the
blood of the Galileans mingled with the blood of their
sacrifices, their ritual animal offerings to God in the
temple.
Eighteen people (were) killed when the tower at
Siloam fell on them
Jesus also knew of the tragic misfortune at Siloam
which led to eighteen deaths. Siloam was the section of
the wall of Jerusalem at the south east.
However, at that time, people were asking Jesus
(rather tactlessly) - did those people deserve to die?
Were they sinners, and thats why God punished them?

16

Dont bad things happen only to bad people?

******
It was a trick question.
At that time, it was fairly well known that Jesus was
journeying to Jerusalem. Now, if He said that the Jews
were unfairly killed by Pilate, He would have arrested by
the Romans for daring to accuse a Roman governor of
illegal activities.
The Jewish leaders would have wanted an excuse to
have Jesus arrested and gotten out of the way, since by
that time Jesus was beginning to have a cult following
which criticized the Jewish religious (and political)
establishment.
However, if He defended Pilate (which was unlikely)
or even just ignored the issue, the Jews would have
turned against Him in anger for daring to side with the
Roman tyrants.
In the end, as He always did, Jesus sidestepped all
the unnecessarily complicated backstory and went right
to the point that He knew the people needed to know.
He said to them in reply, Do you think that (they)
suffered in this way they were greater sinners than
all (others)? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not
repent, you will all perish as they did!
In the first case, the Galileans died because of the
premeditated actions of a man. In the second case, the
people at Siloam died because of an accident.
In both cases, Jesus is challenging the notion that
bad things happen only to bad people. Bad things
happen - thats it. They happen to bad people, good
people, everyone.
Moreover, Jesus takes their questions assertion, in
which the misfortune of those people was because of
their sin, into its logical conclusion:
If those people died because they were sinful, then
what about you? Youre all sinners too, right? And if
youre sinners, and sinners deserve to die, what do you
do now?
Well, you should repent.
Whoa. Thats somewhat of a harsh lesson.
In the succeeding parable of the fig tree, Jesus tells
us how God helps us in our repentance, by giving us last
second chances yet and yet again.

FIG TREES AND LAST

SECOND CHANCES

n the gospel story, Jesus heard of two terrible

incidents - the death of some Galileans because
of Pontius Pilate, and the death of some people
in Siloam because of a faulty tower. He was then
asked, Did those people deserve to die?
Despite the heavy political undertones of the
question, Jesus focused on its more personal
implications - the personal need for repentance.
Jesus illustrated His point in the parable of the fig
tree:
There once was a person who had a fig tree
planted in his orchard.
When he came in search of fruit on it but found
none, he said to the gardener, For three years now
I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but
have found none. So cut it down. Why should it
exhaust the soil?
The gardener said to him in reply, Sir, leave it
for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground

around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the

future. If not you can cut it down.
Why was the owner of the fig tree frustrated with
it?
The tree did not bear fruit, even after three years.
The specific number of years that Jesus mentioned
may have been intentional. The duration of Jesus
public ministry was three years. During those three
years, Jesus has been preaching about the kingdom
of God, but most people still did not listen to Him.
They were given the knowledge and the
opportunity to respond to it, but they remained
close-minded and hard-hearted. They were given
chance after chance to be better people, but still
they refused to do what they were supposed to do bear fruit.
Instead of just mentioning just any other kind of
tree, Jesus specified what He was referring to in
His parable - a fig tree. To paraphrase His previous

17

parable, we shouldnt expect to find rotten fruit from

good trees, and good fruit from rotten trees. We
shouldnt expect to find figs from thorns or grapes
from brambles.
We all have our own ways to be good persons.
Some of us may be called to be priests or nuns,
teachers or students, parents or children,
businessmen or laborers. In whatever vocation
we may be called to right now, we are asked to
bear fruit, to be the best we can be in whatever
opportunity life may be giving us, in whatever
capacity we can do.
******
There is one thing about Jesus parable that gives
us hope, despite its seemingly pessimistic tone:
It is open-ended.
The parable doesnt end with the tree being cut
down at last. It ends with the gardener vouching for
the tree.
The gardener tells the owner, leave it for this year
also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and
fertilize it. The gardener has not given up on the

18

tree yet.
The parable is open-ended. Jesus does not tell us
what happens to the fig tree. The story is not over
yet - we can choose our own ending.
What will happen to us? Will we bear fruit in time?
Will we repent in time?
There is still the looming deadline, the warning
that we will all be judged by God at the end of our
lives. The gardener assures the owner that he will
tend to the tree. However, if its still stubborn and
refuses to bear fruit, he tells him, you can cut it
down.
In the end, what will happen to us will not depend
on our own capabilities.
Or if we are good enough to bear fruit by
ourselves. It will depend on whether we are open to
let Jesus help us grow.
Every day that we live, God keeps on giving us
second chances.
Take that chance before your last second chance
passes you by, before its too late.

A LONG WAY OFF:

March6, 2016

The Story of a Modern Prodigal Son

he timeless story we hear in todays gospel that of a son who forces his father to give him
his share of his inheritance, who runs away to
live an independent and sinful life and who, in the end,
repents and returns to his family still- remains relevant
and compelling.
The movie A Long Way Off is a 2014 inspirational
drama film by Michael Davis and John Errington. It is a
good example of how movies have tried to reinterpret
the archetypes of the prodigal son parable for the
modern audience.
The film revolved around the story of Jake (portrayed
by Jason Burkey). Jake has become tired working for
his father, Mr. Abraham (portrayed by John Diehl),
in the farm. Bored out of his mind, Jake asked for his
inheritance. His father unexpectedly agreed, signed
the pay check - and suddenly, Jake had his money. The
young man then rushes off to the big city to find more
opportunities.
Jake gambled his fate in the big city. He met Laura in
a bar and befriended her. She then taught him how to
get along with other investors. In time, his small profits
suddenly grew, and he became a rich and successful
person.
Now that he had the money, he did the things he
had always thought he wanted to do once he made it
big - going to bars frequently to drink and womanize,
not knowing the risks and consequences of what he was
doing.
Unsurprisingly, because of his wastefulness and
reckless spending, Jakes profit went down, and he was
unable to pay one of his investors, Frank. In a twist,
Frank turned out to be the boyfriend of his friend Laura,
who also betrayed him and left him alone when he
didnt know what to do.
Frank hunted for Jake everywhere. Because he
cannot pay his debt, Jake experienced eating from other
peoples garbage and leftovers. Because he had to evade
Frank, he had to literally take shelter in pig pens.
After he realized what he had done, he returned
home. He thought, if his father wont accept him again
as his son, he would still be better off working for him.
He walked home, scared of how his father would
accept him. However, instead of facing him with even
the slightest indication of anger, his father saw him, ran
towards him and hugged him.

4th Sunday of Lent

Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32

Crying, he told his father that he had lost everything,

and apologized for everything that he had done. Instead
of telling him, I told you so, his father reassured him,
Youre my son, and you will always be. His father
unconditionally loved Jake, who lost his way and started
to rearrange himself to become a better person.
The movie adapts the traditional parable and
transposes its themes into a modern day society setting.
It is vicarious proof that even in the present, the lessons
of the prodigal son are still relevant today.
Why do many young people nowadays become
unwilling parents despite their youth and inexperience?
Barring the possibility of abuse and neglect, most
teenagers tend to disobey their parents and do
whatever they want without thinking of the risk.
Why do many people die of illnesses caused by
substance abuse and other vices? Most of us dont listen
to the incessant warnings of the governments health
professionals, as well as the authority figures in our lives,
about the dangers of abusing cigarettes, alcohol and
drugs.
Why do many people end up without decent work,
or worse, without any work? Of course, the effects of
the inherent inequalities of opportunity in our society,
as well as other external factors, must be considered.
However, if we are really honest with ourselves, we have
to admit that to some extent, our present situation may
be due to our irresponsibility during the times when
we had the opportunity to learn the skills we can use
later in our lives. Maybe we failed to study hard enough.
Maybe we let ourselves be addicted to computer
games, social media and other activities that waste our
time (when overdone).
We all make mistakes. However, sadly, only few of us
are able to recognize our sins, repent for our own faults
and rebuild ourselves again.
It is during times like this that the Lord, as our Father,
helps us when we are lost and find it difficult to find our
way back from the faults that we have made. He asks us
to believe and take faith in Him. Once we find our way
back to Him and approach Him with a humble apology
and a sincere promise for atonement and change,
He will be there to give us a warm hug. Just like Mr.
Abraham to his son Jake, the Lord will tell us, Youre my
son, you will always be.

19

The Return of the

Lost Son

he term lost can be interpreted to simply

mean being literally unable to find ones
way back to familiar ground, or being alone
apart from your company. However, it can also have
a deeper meaning, such as losing someone precious
in your life, losing your path in life or losing yourself
to temptations.
The theme of being lost is somewhat common in
Jesus parables - the parable of the lost sheep (Luke
15: 3-7), the parable of the lost coin (Luke 15: 8-10),
and todays gospel, the parable of the lost (prodigal)
son.
The story of the prodigal son is probably one of
the most famous parables Jesus taught. It is also the
longest one, having 22 verses.
A man had two sons, and the younger son said
to his father, Father, give me the share of your
estate that should come to me. So the father
divided the property between them.
After a few days, the younger son collected all
his belongings and set off to a distant country
where he squandered his inheritance on a life of
dissipation.
There is nothing more degrading to a parent,

20

especially a father, than if your child demands for his

or her share of your estate while youre still alive. But
here, we see the father not hesitating, not even for a
bit, to grant his sons selfish and insensitive request.
Why did he do what his son wanted? Probably,
the father knew that his son, having the recklessness
and limited perspective of his youth, simply wants
to enjoy his life to the fullest, not thinking of the
consequences. Maybe the father wanted him to
learn from his mistakes firsthand.
The younger son, who already got his share of
the inheritance, clearly wanted to live on his own.
He wanted to leave his family because he craved
independence. He wanted to live without being
bothered and scolded by his father or his brother.
Who knows - maybe he wanted to prove to
himself that he was capable enough to live alone
without the help of his family. Maybe he wanted to
prove that he was his own man now.
However, we see the opposite happening in the
gospel.
Instead of saving up and using his share of
the inheritance for more important things, he
squandered it on drinking too much with what he

called friends. The only important thing to him

during that time was to have fun and to do whatever
he wanted.
When he had freely spent everything, a severe
famine struck that country, and he found himself
in dire need.
So he hired himself out to one of the local
citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the
swine.
And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which
the swine fed, but nobody gave him any.
At this point, maybe it is not surprising that
when his money and luck ran out, a great famine
happened. The people he once called friends,
his drinking buddies and everyone else whom he
befriended as a rich bachelor all left him behind.
Now that he had nothing, hes no use for them now,
wasnt he?
Out of desperation from his poverty and hunger,
he learned to survive the hard way. In fact, he had
no choice in the end but to work on a farm with
the swine. Because of the severe famine, he had no
choice but to eat leftovers and foods meant for the
pigs.
Coming to his senses he thought, How many
of my fathers hired workers have more than
enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from
hunger.
I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say
to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven
and against you. I no longer deserve to be called
your son; treat me as you would treat one of
your hired workers.
By this point, the young man was ready to
acknowledge that he was sorry.
However, we have to consider - was the young
man really repentant? A cynical reader of this story
will consider that the young man was somewhat
rehearsing what he was going to say to his father.
Was he searching for the right words of apology
that would bring him back to his fathers good
graces? Was he apologizing merely because the
alternative was him being adamant and remaining in
poverty? As he said: How many of my fathers hired
workers have more than enough food to eat, but
here am I, dying from hunger.
However, we have to give him the benefit of
doubt. Maybe at this point, he really had come to
his senses and realized the folly of his ways.
So he got up and went back to his father.
His repentance here is acknowledging that he was
at fault. His decision to go back to his father despite
the risk that he would not take him back as his child
can be seen as admirable. Despite his shame over his

mistakes, he was brave enough to face his father and

attempt reconciliation.
In fact, he was willing to work as his fathers
hired worker to prove his worth to him again. He
was not expecting to be accepted immediately upon
his return. He acknowledged that he would have to
work to deserve even a modicum of forgiveness from
his grievous betrayal of his fathers love.
Now, how did his father respond to his prodigal
sons return?
While he was still a long way off, his father
caught sight of him, and was filled with
compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him
and kissed him.
His father embraced and kissed him. Just pause
and think for a moment about that.
His father, whom he had disrespected by
demanding his inheritance while he was still alive,
whom he had run away from in order to get away
from his concern which he considered as nagging,
welcomed him back with an embrace and a kiss.
His son said to him, Father, I have sinned
against heaven and against you; I no longer
deserve to be called your son.
But his father ordered his servants, Quickly
bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a
ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take
the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us
celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine
was dead, and has come to life again; he was
lost, and has been found.
Then the celebration began.
A parallel to this is the parable of the lost sheep.
In this story that Jesus told the Pharisees, a man had
a hundred sheep and lost one. He was ready to leave
the ninety-nine behind to find the lost one. When he
finally found the lost sheep, he put it in his shoulder,
went home, and rejoiced.
Jesus said that there would be more rejoicing
in heaven over one sinner who repents than over

21

ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to

repent.
Just like the shepherd that found the lost sheep
and rejoices, the father also calls for a celebration for
the return of his son.
To him, he was not the ungrateful son who came
back home with his tail between his legs. To him, he
was not the fool to whom he can now say, I told you
so. To him, he was the son whom he believed was
dead and now had come back to life.
Now the older son had been out in the field
and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he
heard the sound of music and dancing. He called
one of the servants and asked what this might
mean.
The servant said to him, Your brother has
returned and your father has slaughtered the
fattened calf because he has him back safe and
sound.
He became angry, and when he refused to enter
the house, his father came out and pleaded with
him.
He said to his father in reply, Look, all these
years I served you and not once did I disobey
your orders; yet you never gave me even a young
goat to feast on with my friends.
But when your son returns who swallowed up
your property with prostitutes, for him you
slaughter the fattened calf.
Understandably, the older brother was jealous.
What would you have felt in that situation? Your
brother runs away and squanders your familys
money while you stay at home and remain

22

loyal to your father, and when the irresponsible

brother comes back, he is the one greeted with a
celebration?
Wont you think that that is a little bit unfair?
He said to him, My son, you are here with me
always; everything I have is yours.
But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because
your brother was dead and has come to life
again; he was lost and has been found.
His father explains that his love for the prodigal
son does not in any way diminish his love for his
responsible son. However, he asks him to recognize
the beautiful thing that has happened that day - his
wayward brother has found his way back. That is a
wonderful thing that does not warrant vindictiveness
or jealousy, but instead happiness and celebration.
Like the father, we too should accept, forgive
and give a second chance to the people who sinned
against us.
It would be so much easier for us to be like the
elder brother, always measuring up our good deeds
against others mistakes. However, Gods love for us
is something that goes beyond what we deserve. If
Gods love is utterly dependent on what we do and
who we are, then we are hopeless. However, despite
all the times when we run away from him and betray
His love, God waits for us to return with open arms.
The parables of the lost show us how joyful and
merciful our God is to those who wholeheartedly
admit their sins and faults and who sincerely want to
change himself to become better persons.
The Lord, like the shepherd and the father, wont
give up on us until we are found again.

THE 7TH COMMANDMENT,

THEN AND NOW

istory might as well be a late-night

television show for all the times prominent
figures broke the seventh commandment.
Julius Caesar had an affair with Servilia, the
mother of Brutus. Brutus turned out to be one of
Caesars assassins. However, his most controversial
affair is with Cleopatra, an affair that bore an
illegitimate child, Caesarion. The affair was more
scandalous since it involved a Roman man cheating
with an Egyptian woman - and both of them heads
of state!
Napoleon first committed adultery with a Parisian
prostitute. It was followed by one of his seniors
in the military named Josephine, who had been a
widow for almost six years and had two children.
From then on, Napoleon had had affairs with many
other women including an actress, an opera singer,
and many more married women.
Perhaps one of the most controversial affairs of
all time is between former US President Bill Clinton
and twenty-two-year-old White House staff member
Monica Lewinsky. The affair was discovered through
a recorded telephone conversation which led to
the presidents impeachment trial. On top of his
adultery case, he was also found guilty of perjury and
obstruction of justice.
Thou shall not commit adultery. It is a fairly
simple and straightforward commandment.
During biblical times and even until today,
adultery has been considered as one of the
major issues and gossip topics even in Christian
communities.
In the Old Testament, the ten commandments
give the explicit and fairly unambiguous
commandment regarding the loyalty of married

March13, 2016
5th Sunday of Lent
John 8: 1-11

couples. To break it is to commit a mortal sin. In fact,

back then, disobedience of this commandment is
considered such a disgrace that it can lead to social
discrimination and unacceptance.
Adultery is a complicated issue. Our popular
culture has conditioned us to consider it easy to
blame the third party, the home wrecker. However,
we also have to consider the married person who
cheated on his or her partner.
In the end, it is all about hating the sin and loving
the sinner, condemning the wrongdoing and helping
the wrongdoer do right this time. Blame is only
necessary for us to know our responsibilities and
to know where to begin in our atonement for our
mistakes.
We are all human. We all commit sins. We are all
prone to temptations. No one is in the position to
discriminate, hate or judge anyone.
This is not to say that adulterers are justified,
and the only problem is our attitude towards them.
We are not supposed to make excuses for them,
but instead encouraged to help them face the
responsibility they have to redeem themselves.
When we are at fault, we must find ways to
redeem ourselves and get back to right path. Better
yet, if we see other people who struggle to redeem
themselves and who get discouraged because of the
negativity thrown at them by other people who do
not believe that they can do it, we must do what we
can to help.
After all, the Lord said to the woman who was
caught in the act of adultery:
Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on
do not sin anymore.

23

OF SINS AND SINNERS

here are three types of adultery mentioned

in the Bible.
The first and maybe most obvious form
is actual sexual adultery.
The second kind of adultery is what is referred
to as the lust of the eyes. Jesus once said,
Whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has
already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Jesus takes the immorality of physical infidelity and
extends it to our intentions, to the way that we think.
The last kind of adultery may be called spiritual
adultery - unfaithfulness to God and other people
through idolatry, covetousness and apostasy.
Adultery is not just betraying our love for our spouse
for another man or woman. It is also betraying our
love for God and for material things and other nontangible but nonetheless selfish reasons.
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman
who had been caught in adultery and made her
stand in the middle.

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Jesus was preaching to the crowds when an

adulteress was taken to Him. It is interesting to note
that the adulteress was not just brought in front of
Jesus but was in fact made to stand in the middle
of the crowd.
In effect, the scribes and the Pharisees were
already setting the woman up for discrimination and
shame. They put her in the middle to call everyones
attention to her and her disgrace.
They said to him, Teacher, this woman was
caught in the very act of committing adultery.
Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone
such women. So what do You say?
They said this to test Him, so that they could have
some charge to bring against Him.
Adultery has always been a controversial issue.
Now the scribes and the Pharisees asked Jesus
to render judgment on the woman who committed
adultery. However, their motivation for doing so was
less of a sincere longing to know the right thing to

do and more of a malicious desire to reinforce their

holier-than-thou beliefs.
In fact, the Gospel explicitly states that they asked
Jesus to test Him, so that they could have some
charge to bring against Him.
The question was a trap, and Jesus knew it.
According to Old Testament law, the woman
should be stoned to death.
Stoning to death or lapidation is a form of
capital punishment for people who commit sins such
as adultery. It is as horrible as you imagine it to be - a
group of people, usually those in the defendants
own community, throwing stones at him or her until
he or she dies.
The rules regarding lapidation further tell us of
the horror of this form of punishment.
For example, the size of the stones that the
executioners had to use should not be too large for
the subject not to die too easily, but not too small for
the subject not to feel any pain.
Moreover, the stone throwers also had to aim male victims were stoned near their waists, while
female victims were stoned near their chest.
Other biblical figure have died from stoning due
to accusations of different crimes.
Achan was punished for stealing silver and gold
from Babylon (Joshua 7).
Adoniram was punished for forcing Israelites

into forced labor (1 Kings 12:18). In fact, all of the

Israelites took part in throwing stones at him.
Paul the apostle himself was stoned at Lystra by
the Jews in Antioch and Iconium.
Some of these people were guilty, while others
were not. However, their guilt does not lessen the
awfulness of the way they were punished.
Jesus bent down and began to write on the
ground with his finger.
This is a particularly weird part of the story. For a
while, Jesus did not respond to the question posed
to Him. Instead, He ignored the people - the priests,
the crowds, even the adulteress - and wrote on the
ground with His finger.
Maybe He was gathering his thoughts to
formulate His response with care. He knew that
almost any answer He could give could be twisted
against Him. Therefore, He would not have wanted
to reply immediately.
Maybe He was letting the question hang in the air
for a while, for the priests to think about for a while
about their motivations for asking.
However, the people were insistent to get an
answer from Jesus, and so they continued pestering
Him. Until finally:
He straightened up and said to them, Let the
one among you who is without sin be the first to
throw a stone at her.

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The scribes, the Pharisees and the crowds

asked Jesus about the womans sin. However, Jesus
turned the question back at them. What about
their sin? They might not have been adulterers and
adulteresses, but Jesus told them
Again He bent down and wrote on the ground.
And in response, they went away one by one,
beginning with the elders. So he was left alone
with the woman before him.
Following the awkward silence, the crowds went
away one by one.
They realized that every one of them was guilty of
sin. They realized that they were not in the position
to judge others (even the scribes and the Pharisees).
They realized that judging the womans sin would
mean judging themselves of their own sin.
Then Jesus straightened up and said to
her, Woman, where are they? Has no one
condemned you?
She replied, No one, sir. Then Jesus said,
Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on
do not sin anymore.
Who are we to judge? Even Jesus did not
condemn the woman and gave her a second chance
to rebuild herself to change for the better.

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Jesus did not tell the woman that her adultery

is justified. He is not telling us that adultery is okay
- in fact, it has been and will always be a mortal sin.
However, he is telling us that sin does not warrant
immediate condemnation and punishment.
He is helping her get back on her feet and try to
be a better person.
He is giving her a second chance.
If Jesus, who is the most sinless of us all, did not
throw stones at sinner, who are we to do so? As
brothers and sisters in faith, what we can do for our
brethren who sin is to help them acknowledge their
sin, try to understand their situation, and offer help
for them to recover from their fall.
We are all sinners, and we are responsible for
each others journey back to grace.
Adultery is wrong. Any sort of sin is wrong.
We are justified in our righteous anger against
it. However, the challenge for us is to distinguish
between the sin and the sinner.
In the face of sin, maybe the right thing to do is
what Jesus did - to recognize our own failings, put
down the stone of judgment and condemnation, and
try to help each other.
Maybe the right thing to do is to hate the sin, love
the sinner.

NOT EVERYONE LOVES A

PARADE

arades are almost commonplace in

Philippine culture.
A town fiesta in the Philippines is seldom
considered complete without a parade, usually
accompanied with a marching band. The Panagbenga
festival in the Baguio features large floats decorated
with beautiful flowers. The Sinulog festival in Cebu
highlights street dancers carrying Sto. Nino images.
The Higantes parade in Angono, as the name
suggests, showcases giant figures.
Even during the Metro Manila Film Festival, we
even have parades featuring actors on colorful and
creatively designed floats to promote local films.
When we talk about parades, we talk about
excess - large and striking floats, colorful banners
and tarpaulins, loud music, costumed people and
outlandish characters, all of which compete to be
noticed by the crowd. A parade is like a moveable
visual feast on the streets.
Of course, the whole point of a parade is to grab

March20, 2016
Palm Sunday (Procession)
Luke 19: 28-40

the attention of everyone and to hold it for as long as

possible. Parades cannot be subtle but have to be big
and loud. They always try to engage the spectators to
be moved to action. They are always public; they are
always aimed to go beyond themselves.
However, not everyone loves a parade.
For some people, the jubilant music of
celebration may be riotous noise of rebellion.
Not everyone love having something new,
something subversive that could challenge their way
of thinking and living.
In fact, parades may make some people nervous,
especially those who hold authority in the status
quo, those who might lose their power if people
accept the new parade and march them out of their
positions.
Not everyone loves a parade. In our Gospel for
today, we have such a parade that not everyone
loved just because it revealed uncomfortable truths
about them who were challenged by it.

27

THE TRIUMPH BEFORE

THE PASSION

fter He had said this, He went on ahead,

going up to Jerusalem. When He had
come near Bethphage and Bethany, at
the place called Mount of Olives, He sent two of
his disciples, saying:
Go into the village ahead of you, and as you
enter it you will find tied there a colt that has
never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If
anyone asks you, Why are you untying it?, just
say this: The Lord needs it.
Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing
their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.
In this Sundays Gospel, we recall Jesus parade
and entrance into Jerusalem. He organizes his own
parade into the city that is destined to kill him. It is
puzzling to go voluntarily to the place where your
innocence wont matter, but it is even more puzzling
to enter the place of execution in the midst of song
and acclamation.
In his Gospel, Luke portrays Jesus as having
foreknowledge of his journey to the Father. He
knows Gods will and is faithful and obedient to
God. Here, Jesus is shown to be in control of events
as He organizes His own parade to the place of His
eventual execution.
One could very well ask, where did the disciples
get the colt and could they get it just like that
without asking permission from its owner? The thing
is we should remember that not all who accepted
Jesus message literally followed the wandering Jesus
in his journeys. There were disciples or sympathizers

28

who continued their ordinary forms of living while

applying Jesus message in their daily lives and giving
Him support. We can presume that Jesus could count
on disciples residing in and around Jerusalem for
hospitality like the owner of the colt.
Perhaps it could also be said that Jesus
mysterious instructions about getting the ass implies
His foreknowledge or messianic authority.
The disciples are told to go and fetch the required
colt and when they bring it back they cover its back
with some of their clothes for a makeshift saddle.
The fact that no one has ever sat on this colt shows
how Jesus presence is something completely new in
history.
In the Greek version of the Old Testament,
Zechariah 9: 9 specifies a new colt. Behind this
event is the prophetic oracle of Zechariah: Rejoice
heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter
Jerusalem! See, your king shall come to you: a just
savior is He, meek and riding on a donkey (Zech.
9:9).
Only Matthew makes a specific reference to this
passage, which gives us important context into Lukes
mention of Jesus ride in his story (19: 38, 42).
Riding on a donkey was actually a symbol of
peace, as it opposes the traditional image of kings
riding into war on horses. Jesus entering Jerusalem
on a donkey shows the kind of kingship Jesus is
exercising.
As he rode along, people kept spreading their
cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching

RE

the path down from the Mount of Olives, the

whole multitude of the disciples began to praise
God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of
power that they had seen, saying:
Blessed is the king who comes in the name
of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the
highest heaven!
As the procession moves on, the people throw
their cloaks on the ground- an early version of
putting out the red carpet to welcome important
persons.
The disciples take an active part in the event and
get into to the spirit of things by praising God at the
top of their voices. Their words of praise are similar
to those of the choirs of angels at the birth of Jesus
(2:14) which emphasize that the prophecy made
then has now been fulfilled.
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to
Him, Teacher, order Your disciples to stop. He
answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the
stones would shout out.
The uproar of praise and prayer was essential
to the parade. However, there remained spectators
who were unmoved by what was happening.
The Pharisees suggested that the loud public
acclamation be stopped as the demonstration had
messianic overtones. They thought that Jesus
disciples have overstepped their bounds, making
claims for Him that He would not make for Himself.
Nonetheless, at that moment, Jesus is not in the
mood for controlled enthusiasm. Before, He had
silenced such acclaim about His identity (4:41; 5:14)
- at the least, royal, at the most, divine. However, we
note that, He now defends His disciples against the
criticism of the leaders.

It was the time for the proclamation of Jesus full

identity and mission. Ready or not, Gods plan must
be revealed now, and if even the stones need to be
tapped into service to do it, so be it.
The parade leads Jesus, as it leads us today, into
the time of Jesus passion and eventual death. The
parade began outside Jerusalem and leads to the
cross, as we will hear in the Gospel reading of the
Passion.
In the Passion, we will hear of another kind of
parade - a somber and grim parade, where Jesus
is without His disciples and friends, where His
attendants are brutal torturers, where the crowds
are screaming out for the same Man they hailed King
to be crucified like a common criminal.
Perhaps we are being challenged by Gods Word:
Will we join the parade that Jesus started? We
know that following Jesus leads to Jerusalem, to
Calvary.
Will we just become like some of the onlookers
watching unmoved and feeling indifferent? Or will
we knowingly walk with Jesus, through the adulation
and the condemnation, through the joy and the pain,
even through heaven and hell?
Today the Gospel asks us, as followers of Jesus, to
be part of the parade. The Gospel dares us to be the
parade, to proclaim that our love for Jesus matters
through our words and actions. The Gospel dares us
to show our care and our gratitude, to live according
to our belief that we mattered so much to Jesus that
He faced Jerusalem and gave His life so that we may
have fullness of life.
So let us now begin our march, for we know that
no one and nothing can rain on Jesus parade.

29

THE NIGHT IS OVER,

THE LIGHT IS ALREADY
SHINING.

here is a very old story about a rabbi who

gathered his students together early one
morning. It was still dark, and the students
were confused to the purpose of the gathering.
The rabbi told them to pay attention because he
had a very important question to ask them. The
question was this:
How could one tell when the night had ended
and the day was beginning?
One of the students answered, Perhaps it is
when you see an animal from far away and can
already tell if it is a dog or a sheep?
No, answered the rabbi.
Another student tried and said, Could it be
when you look at a tree in the distance and can tell
whether it is a fig tree or a peach tree?
No, answered the rabbi.
After everyone had exhausted their guesses, the
students demanded, Well then, Rabbi. What is the
answer? When can we tell the end of night and the
return of day?
The rabbi said, It is when you look on the face of
any person and see that she is your sister or he is
your brother. If you cannot do this, then no matter
what time it is, it will always be night.
The Easter story begins very early in the morning

30

March27, 2016
Easter Sunday
John 20: 1-9

of the first day of the week when it was still dark,

as we heard in Johns Gospel account. The reference
to dawn on the day after the Sabbath is common in
Jewish tradition. However, the evangelists addition
of the detail about the darkness might have been to
emphasize the symbolism of light in the Gospel.
For John the Evangelist, the Easter story is
expressed most sublimely in the light of the new life
in Christ. In fact, in his first letter (2: 8-9), John tells
us that the night is over and the real light is already
shining. Moreover, he adds that anyone who hates
his brother is still in the dark.
Easter is a celebration of the victory of light over
darkness. The light of the resurrected Jesus is the
light that shines into all our prejudices, all our selfrighteousness, and dares us to change.
This light is perfection, and it burns away
extraneous, everything unnecessary to our journey
to perfection in God.
This light is hope. This light is faith. This light is
love.
This light defeated what has been the ultimate end
- death. This light conquered the end of life itself,
and gave us hope for a life after the end of this one.
In this light, how can we believe that anyone or
anything is beyond salvation?

A LOVE THAT SEES

THROUGH THE DARKNESS

arly on Sunday morning, while it was still

dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb
and saw that the stone had been taken
away from the entrance. She went running to
Peter and the other disciple whom the Lord
loved, and told them, They have taken the Lord
from the tomb, and we dont know where they
have put him!
Then Peter and the other disciple went to the
tomb. The two of them were running, but the
other disciple run faster than Peter and reached
the tomb first. He bent over and saw the linen
cloths, but he did not go in.
Behind him came Simon Peter, and he went
straight into the tomb. He saw the lined cloths
lying there and the cloth which had been around
Jesus head. It was not lying with the linen cloths
but was rolled up by itself.
Then the other disciple, who had reached the
tomb first, also went in; he saw and believed.
(They still did not understand the scripture which
said that he must rise from death.) Then the
disciples went back home.

Easter began in the dark and began in the tomb.

The story starts with Mary Magdalene who upon
reaching the tomb, sees that the stone is rolled away,
and interprets this to mean that the body must have
been stolen.
Her reaction is a natural one. The cover of Jesus
tomb has been removed, and of course an ordinary
persons immediate conclusion would be a grave
robbery. In time, she would believe.
However, Marys initial doubts and
misunderstanding shows that faith is not something
that we achieve all at once. Even the best of us
struggled, and yet they believed.
When Peter and the anonymous disciple hear
Marys story, they immediately start running for the
tomb - one we could perhaps call the Easter jog.
The other unnamed disciple runs faster than
Peter, reaches the tomb first, looks in to see the
cloths lying on the ground, and then waits for Peter.
In the next verses, the burial clothes are found,
and they are in order, which would hardly be so if
somebody had taken the body.
(These cloths are intentionally similar to those

31

of Lazarus in Chapter 11 who came out of the grave

still wrapped in his. Here John is telling us that
the Resurrection of Christ is different from what
happened to Lazarus.)
And so Peter goes in and sees the cloths, but he
says nothing. The Gospel does not say what he thinks
or feels. The climax of the story is when the disciple
whom the Lord loves goes in and sees the same
evidence; the minimal evidence if you wish, yet he
believes.
Peter sees more than discarded cloths; he sees
with the eyes of faith what this means. His is a love
that sees through the darkness.
One of the peculiar or unique marks of Johns
Gospel is the special love between Jesus and this
anonymous other disciple, who is also called the
Beloved Disciple.
This unnamed disciple is presented as the ideal
follower of Jesus. The Beloved Disciple is the one
who is closest to him in the Last Supper, and the one
who stands at the foot of the cross when Jesus dies.
In running to the tomb that Easter morning, the
intensity of the Beloved Disciples love for the Lord
gets him there first, and the sensitivity and greatness
of his love make him the first to believe in the

32

Resurrection.
Later, in the Gospel of John, when Jesus stands
unrecognized on the shore of Lake Tiberias, it is this
Beloved Disciple who informs Peter: It is the Lord.
His love gets him there first. The greatness of his
love enables him to always recognize the Lord. And
such is the power of love!
We are then challenged to look into the quality
of our eyes of faith and hope that is anchored in our
love for the Lord. So that we too, like the Beloved
Disciple, will be able to see Gods light and life
through the darkness of difficulties and hardships.
In celebrating Easter, we are rejoicing in the light of
God in Jesus that not even the gloomiest night can
overcome.
We celebrate because God raised Jesus from
the dead. His dignity is restored and He extends this
victory to all of us. We praise God for the faith that
always challenges us to see more in others because
we love God.
This is because of our Easter faith that we can
answer the question of the old rabbi - we can tell
that the night is gone and day has finally come when
we can look at the face of our brother or sister and
see the Risen Jesus, the Messiah.