The keys to the Kingdom

+ RWS 770 August 27, 2017, 21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel: Matthew 16: 13-20

“…I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven…”

Going to heaven

By Bishop Precioso D. Cantillas, SDB, DD

      Among the words Jesus spoke to Peter were about the “keys to the kingdom of heaven”, which could bring us to understand man’s need to go to heaven and what is necessary to get there. The human being is created by God to enjoy His life and love for all eternity. When man, through a choice he makes, turns away from God through sin—a disobedience to the Creator’s will—he continues to long for the life and happiness in heaven. Through God’s mercy and love, man could go back to heaven through Jesus, with Him and in Him. Anyone who wishes to go to heaven, has to unite himself with Jesus, and in the means and manner that Jesus has established. The means for man’s salvation, for man’s going to heaven have been entrusted by Jesus to Peter and the Church established on him.

      One’s union with Christ through the Church and the Sacraments needs to be lived every day in one’s life. Being united with Christ is done not only through the spiritual acts of prayer, praise and worship of God in designated sacred places, like churches, altars and sanctuaries; one can and should be united with Jesus in his daily works and activities. Jesus’ life on earth—his work/mission of proclaiming the truths and teachings of God’s kingdom, his works of curing the sick and other services for the hungry and the poor, the suffering and death He went through in obedience to the will of the Father—brought Him the resurrection and the glory with the Father in heaven.  This daily life and work of Jesus is also the pattern with which anyone united with Him goes through his daily life, which will also earn for him the rewards of heaven.

The keys to the Kingdom

By Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS

      You may have noticed that during Holy Week procession, the statue of St. Peter comes with a rooster and a bunch of keys usually hanging from his belt.  The rooster is there to remind us of his denial—the cock crowed three times, remember?  And the keys—symbolic of his being the gatekeeper.  It is said that in the olden days, when one desires to see the king, a servant who holds the key opens the palace door, and then assists the guest in reaching the king’s court. Now, with so many interpretations of the “keys to… heaven”, it’s okay I guess to add one more that anyone can easily understand.

      In addition to what the bishop has stated above are practical “keys”, such as Faith—faith in “servant” who can lead us to His kingdom, and in the teachings of the Church Jesus Himself established.  Next, Hope—that which we hold on to when we seem to be lost and burdened, when things do not go the way we want them to; hope that our King will hear our pleas.  Then, Love—love as the main reason for our existence, the only value that will give us a foretaste of heaven on earth and will assure us of eternal life.  There are many other “keys”, such as  simplicity, temperance, fortitude, patience, etc. but as the scriptures say, “the greatest of these is love”.  It is because of love that God gave us life, and the knowledge that God loves us empowers us to pass love on to others, and by so doing—being the channels of Jesus’s love to mankind—the very same love will open His Kingdom’s gate for us, and see us through to an eternity of love with God.   

'Woman, great is your faith!'

+ RWS 769, August 20, 2017, 20^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28

Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be done for you as you wish.”

Having great faith

By Bishop Precioso D. Cantillas, SDB, DD

      Having a great faith does not only drive away doubts in our minds and hearts which could make our life and work uncertain, but, it also makes us feel secure about our being, gives us the sense of power and makes us efficient and effective in every act we do. Faith, essentially, is being certain of something not on the grounds of one’s reason and comprehension of the thing believed, but on the authority of someone acknowledged as superior to the believer.  Faith, they say, is like a leap in the dark, a decision to act when there are no reasonable arguments for it other than the assurance of an authority. Having faith does not diminish the value and dignity of the human reason, rather, it provides the person with a higher level of truth and reality that would somehow complete and perfect human reasoning. In simple words, faith is like what the woman in the gospel did, sure and insistent that Jesus would cure her sick daughter.

      Anyone could have a great faith. He/she needs to accept the truth and fact that God is the Lord, and we are simply His creatures; that this loving God wants to save everyone from total destruction. What one needs to do is simply call on God, accept Him as Lord of his life and trust in His words and worship and serve Him in love. This is done concretely by becoming a faithful member in the Church that God has established on earth through Jesus and His apostles and the Sacraments offered by this Church. Moreover, the believer lives and acts in accordance with the life and teaching of Jesus and His Church in his daily works and activities, assuring him of salvation.

Faith’s reward

By Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS

      One of the reasons Mrs. Perfidia works so hard is she wants to buy a new car.  “Samahan mo ng tamang dasal para mas madali mong makuha ang gusto mo,” said her close friend, Mrs. Aviar, a bible-believing matron who seems to have found the perfect formula for making God listen to her prayers.  Mrs. A added that Mrs. P should “have faith” and describe what she is praying for—if it’s a car, state the exact color (not just “blue” but sky blue, cobalt blue, electric blue, whatever), the brand and model, etc.—and then “claim it”, as if it’s already hers.

      If it’s the way to get what we want, why must we drag in God into the picture, equating prayer with talking to a car salesman?  What kind of faith is that which goads us on to merely acquiring things to satisfy ourselves?  Even atheists or car thieves can get the car of their dreams without “praying” for it and “claiming” it. 

      The faith of the woman described in today’s gospel story is different—first, she asks not for a luxury item but for healing; second, she asks not for herself but for another person; third, she perseveres even when our Lord seems deaf to her pleas.  Sometimes, in our ignorance, we lose our faith when God doesn’t give us what we are asking for.  But faith is tested precisely by the unavailability of the thing or the state asked for.  When we continue to believe in God, in His goodness and love for us despite His deafness and neglect of us—that is faith.  And always, it is rewarded in ways we never imagine we could ever be blessed with.  

'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'

+ RWS 768 August 13, 2017, 19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel: Matthew 14:22-33
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Having doubts

By Bishop Precioso D. Cantillas, SDB, DD

            Having doubts is one of the common experiences we humans go through, which we try to drive out of our life. We feel we are not standing on solid ground when we are in doubt. We feel paralyzed not knowing what to do when our mind and reason seem clouded with uncertainties. Such human situation could put our life in danger, and our work unclear. We, therefore, need to diminish, or remove completely any tinge of doubt also in our daily life and work.

            Jesus told Peter, who entertained some doubt about his safety even when the Lord “stretched his hand and caught Peter” to have faith—faith in Him! Jesus would tell each human being to believe in Him and be saved from all kinds of evil. Believing in Jesus does not happen and should not be done only once in our lifetime. Having faith in the Lord involves every moment of our existence when we consciously accept that all of what we are depends on His power, and that we do every act, like our daily tasks and works, for Him and because of Him. We work as if our Boss is the Lord, doing our task with everything we’ve got, in order to please Him. Believing in Jesus is like seeing Him in our home, in the workplace, in every person we live and work with, and in every event in our daily life. This attitude of believing and the virtue and habit of faith displaces any doubt which disturbs us in the performance of our work and in maintaining a good relationship with others. After all, Jesus is always ready to save you and me.

Ditch your doubts 

By Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS

      Today’s gospel is particularly empowering.  It teaches us the value of believing like children.  My mother (deceased) loved to tell and retell an incident that happened when I was not quite two years old.  She was in the garden when she saw me clambering on the window sill on the second floor.  Nearing panic mode, she cried to me, “Jump!  Jump!”, stretching her arms up to catch me.  She said I managed to sit on the sill and hold on to the post (our ancestral house was of Spanish architecture, with “barandillas” and a central post for the very wide windows), and was getting ready to jump into her arms when an older brother grabbed me from behind in time.

      I think this little story best illustrates a child’s doubt-free state of mind.  A child simply obeys what the voice of authority commands for she is too innocent to worry.  An adult reasons and tends to have doubts—What if I can’t?  What if it hurts?  What if I look like a fool?—and so hesitates in spite of prodding from the divine.

      It would be a pity to live a life of doubt, always haunted by fears, bitterness, failures, and painful memories that have steadily robbed us of the ability to trust in ourselves.  Like Peter who started to sink the moment he feared the winds, we, too, can sink into negativity if we do not learn to live in the presence of God, to believe in His love, to ditch our doubts, to forgive and move on.

Transfiguring our planet

+ RWS 767 August 6, 2017,  The Transfiguration of the Lord

Gospel: Matthew 17: 1-9

And he was transfigured before them…”Rise and do not be afraid.”…

The Transfiguration 
By Bishop Precioso D. Cantillas, SDB, DD

Jesus showed three of His apostles His glory as the Son of God. His transfiguration did not only fill His human followers with a glimpse of His divinity, but also gave them, and every human being for that matter, an assurance of the beauty and greatness of a life hereafter with God, the giver of life. The transfiguration of Jesus gave Peter and his companions a greater dimension of their life and work following Jesus as their Lord. For every believer, life on earth and everything one does could be valued in relation to the “hidden glory” that can only be seen with the eyes of faith and experienced with the love, worship and service of the Lord.

      Human work and activity then are valuable not only in terms of the material and economic considerations; they can acquire additional value and an eternal one at that, when the worker and his life and activities are united and joined to the person and life of Jesus, the Messiah. What is consoling about this is that God himself is the one who offers such kind of life. It was Jesus who brought Peter and his companions to a preview of the divine glory. It is Jesus who continually invites every human person to believe in Him and allow Him to bring the person to His life and glory. The person needs only to think, feel and do with Jesus. In Him and through Him. One’s daily life and work would be transfigured from merely physical, material and economic entities to something more meaningful, highly valuable, and spiritually nourishing experiences here on earth. Every worker then has the daily opportunity to re-live the wonderful experience of Jesus’ Transfiguration.

Transfigure our planet

By Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS

      When I imagine the transfiguration of Jesus—in dazzling white robe, floating in mid-air, flanked by prophets Elijah and Moses, with the apostles cowering in fear on the ground—I am awed.  And I wonder how this mystery strikes Jesus’ followers today, especially the young people, the millennials.

      One day I was in the mall killing time before watching a movie, some splendid piano playing caught my ear—it was coming from the game zone.   Curious, I entered, looking for the genius at the keyboard, but I found neither piano nor genius—the music was but part of a game a young man was intent on playing.  I hung around the room watching the various players, eager to see what excitement young people would pay good money for.  Their zeal amazed me; they were totally absorbed in a world densely populated by superheroes and supervillains, zombies, mythical gods and demi-gods, aliens, and enhanced humans—all with unli powers battling one another for supremacy.  Where would our Lord’s transfiguration fit in that violent world—or in the hearts of those who see fictitious superheroes as saviors of the universe?  If the transfiguration suddenly popped up the screens, would they recognize the Lord or just be annoyed that a guy in a blinding white gown and two old men are interrupting their game?

      Let’s face it: Jesus cannot vie for the young’s attention in cyberworld where spectacle after spectacle distracts from real life.  Faithful followers of Jesus offer themselves entirely to the Lord; in turn, they are unwittingly transformed as witnesses to the reality of Jesus, a reality that can transfigure our planet in a way no superhero or demi-god can.