THE CROSS

Today’s 1st reading speaks of God promising to Abraham that he’ll be a father of multitude. For the Jews he is the physical father and has an influence greater than anybody in the history of the world. For 75 years he was a pagan and worshipped the god of Mesopotamia and had not yet met God. When he met God he was transformed for all the nations of the world. It is ironic for him to be called that name for he has no children yet. His name was changed from Abram to Abraham and exactly what his name means, father of all nations. Abraham was promised that his descendants will be so great just like looking at the stars and not be able to count them. When God gave this promise, he was 99 years old  and Sarah was 90. All he did was trust God. It’s not hard to believe in a God who brought everything out of nothing. Are we going to trust or not? In Gen 18, Abraham was visited by the Lord’s angels. He exercises hospitality to them whereas Sarah laughed to herself when she heard that she’s going to bear a child at her age. And the Lord said to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh? God wants us to trust Him. There are times in our lives when we doubt the promise of God. Or worse, we sometimes laugh at the promises of God. We can be astonished and say how marvelous it is but we shouldn’t laugh. God made this promise and He will fulfill it. We can see that after God made a covenant with Abraham in Gen 15:12, As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram, and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him.  This is a foreshadowing of someone who fell into deep darkness in Good Friday.  Abraham went into deep darkness as this deep sleep descended to Jesus on Good Friday. A soldier pierced His side from which flowed blood and water that fills the world, washes our sins and gives new life thus in the dark sleep a new humanity was born. We, the people of Christ belong to that humanity, a people of hope. There is no doubt that God is able to fulfill His promise thus it is imperative that we keep our part of the covenant, no matter how deep a darkness we may be going through. In doing so we sometimes have to go through our own Good Fridays in order to yield to God's will in our lives, be full of hope and thus become very blessed just like our father Abraham. (Psalm 112:4, Light shines through the darkness for the upright; gracious, compassionate, and righteous)  Abraham is the 1st recipient of God's revelation of Himself to mankind. He is considered as one of the Patriarchs to whom God chose to establish his covenant. Salvation history tells us of God's faithful love and continues to restore and bring back the broken relationship of God and man. It was through Abraham's total surrender to God's will to offer his son Isaac that he foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus  as the Lamb of God. It is true that God started to reveal Himself to us through Abraham and the ultimate revelation was in Jesus His only begotten Son. The victimhood of Jesus to conquer evil not by slaying evil but by allowing Himself to be killed is the height of God's love. It should always be a treasure embedded in our hearts.  The cross is not just a sacrifice but God's expression of His desire for love, relationship and a covenant with His people. There are many qualities of the covenant in order to better understand this relationship with God it is indeed good to look into the Book of Hosea because there are 3 qualities unique only to Hosea which I learned from our bible study through the courtesy of Fr. Tony Astudillo. Hosea's style is a parable of married love to describe Yahweh's relationship with His people. Hosea is a proponent of Yahwism. It is a doctrine of repetitious reminder (pesher) to the Jews that Yahweh has been the only savior of the chosen people in their history. The formula of Yahwism:"I am Yahweh who brought you out of Egypt." This evolved into what is later called "Salvation Theology", the covenant, which could be expressed as God after having created man and fallen into sin asked, "What am I going to do with my creation?  Hosea's prophecy was based on this. Yahwist tradition is the source and the beginning and God continues to sustain and nourish His people, the people of God who were set apart, chosen and privileged. As in this bible saying, "Hear ye O Israel, I am your God and there is no other God than Me." Hosea addresses the disorder in the kind of worship being offered to God. They have forsaken Yahweh in both rituals and moral life and did not follow what is expressed in the covenant, the decalogue (10 commandments) and the following 3 qualities of a covenant:

1. Fidelity is best described as a covenanted union which is best depicted in the image of marriage union: showing Yahweh and Israel as husband and wife. (Hos. 1-3) In this regard, infidelity to the covenant is best shown thru the images of sexual perversions and the breaking of the marriage vows. (Hos 4:14)Like Hosea's love to his unfaithful wife, Yahweh's fidelity to the union remains in spite of Israel's unfaithfulness. During that time there was presence of the worship to the pagan god Baal which contaminated the worship of God's people to Yahweh. Baal was believed by pagans as a god that gives fertility and fruitfulness.  This contamination resulted to impure rites of worshipping. Eventually the Jews no longer became a pure race and was even evident in the presence of several other races, the Samaritan as one. But more than the impurity of the race is the unfaithfulness manifested in the empty rituals and sexual perversion shown in adulterous and unfaithful relationships.

 

2. Loving Compassion- "I desire loving compassion and not sacrifice..."(Hos 6:6) Hesed is Hebrew for loving kindness. Hesed is the center of this love. Hesed is not quid pro quo. It is true devotion (both mind and heart) to the covenant partner. A sign of faithful love to His own people. True covenant partner has pity (rhm) Rhm true meaning is lost in English translation. Rhm is not just a sorrowful compassion but more of the attitude a mother has to her child. Like rehem or womb. The covenant is characteristic in all the prophets. In Isaiah it has mentioned, "Can a mother forget her child and even if she forgets, God will never forget." The cross before the time of Jesus used to stand for death. It is abhored and detested by people. Fr. Tony before proceeding with his talk asked who would like to become a victim and as expected nobody raised a hand. When God became man, He embraced victimhood when he willingly died on the cross. During the ancient times or even in the book of Revelation in the bible the dragon stands for evil and is even symbolic of the serpent in Genesis. When Jesus came He did not slay the dragon but instead allowed the dragon to slay Him by dying on the cross which is rehem and Hesed. Of course Jesus rose from the dead with power on the 3rd day.  The Latin word sacrificere means to make sacred or holy. It is God's business to make man holy which is symbolized by the cross. Fr. Tony continued by saying that there are actually 8 days of creation. The 7 days as recorded in the bible and each day of our life as 8th day. God continues to create but with man as co-creator. Since it was man who made the mess in creation by giving in to sin, each day is an invitation to us to cooperate with God in making this world a better place.

3. Knowledge of God- the most important among 3 qualities. Personal knowledge/relationship of God and His attributes. (Hos 5:4) There is no true "Hesed" without knowledge which is wisdom or true intelligence as not only the world sees and knows of but is interwoven with life experiences. Knowledge here is more of deep spousal knowledge akin to marital union of 2 individuals becoming one. True union of no secrets, shared joy and sorrows as well as oneness of both bodies and souls. Love making (not sex) is a good example of this. (Gen 2:24 "That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.") Even Jesus in Mk 2:19-20 compared Himself to a bridegroom. In Ephesians 5: 23-24 Jesus compares His eternal love for the Church as the love of a husband for his wife. See also Lk 1:34 when Mary said,"I have no knowledge of a man." and Jer.1:5 "...before I formed you in the womb, I knew you." This knowledge is encompassing and strives to reach the height and depth of God's unfathomable love.

Book of Genesis 17:1.9-10.15-22.

This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you that you must keep: every male among you shall be circumcised.” God further said to Abraham: “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai; her name shall be Sarah. I will bless her, and I will give you a son by her. Him also will I bless; he shall give rise to nations, and rulers of peoples shall issue from him.” Abraham prostrated himself and laughed as he said to himself, "Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Or can Sarah give birth at ninety?" Then Abraham said to God, "Let but Ishmael live on by your favor!" God replied: "Nevertheless, your wife Sarah is to bear you a son, and you shall call him Isaac. I will maintain my covenant with him as an everlasting pact, to be his God and the God of his descendants after him...

One of the purposes of marriage is for procreation. When we enter into it we should be open to having children and the responsibilities that go with it. This is the reason why when people petition for marriage annulment cases the tribunal look for 3 things, 1. whether it’s defective consent there was defective diriment impediment or a defective form. When you have a formal marriage annulment case usually it’s a defective consent. In such case the direction of the tribunal would like to know whether the spouse has an intention against children. There are 4 goods of marriage and one of those goods is to have children. The openness to children is one of the essential parts of marriage. If a party chooses marriage and somehow chooses in some way to avoid having children to frustrate the marital act to exclude children from inception through to end then that’s an invalid marriage. It’s a  great starting point for the tribunal to investigate. This is a canonical opinion from a canon lawyer and to find out whether the marriage is invalid or valid there is a need to petition a tribunal where a person resides.   It is a very challenging task and we need to know how to really walk in God's ways in order to live a happy and favored life. There is only one thing needed and that is to follow the ways of the Lord. Whenever we come to a point in our lives when we encounter trials and difficulties and standing up firm in our faith in God seems to be an impossibility then all the more should we remain faithful and true to God. The psalm reading tells us exactly why. This fear being spoken of in today's psalm is the holy fear of the Lord and is different from other kinds of fear that we know. It's more of the kind of fear that is coupled with respect and is the beginning of wisdom as written in Proverbs 1:7. We have to be perfectly aware of this and strive to maintain it within ourselves so as not to lose sight of this aspect of God's Holiness. Over the years, the olive has been the symbol of peace, wisdom, glory, fertility, power and pureness. The olive tree and olives are mentioned over 30 times in the Bible, in both the New and Old Testaments. It is one of the first plants mentioned in the Bible, and one of the most significant. For example, it was an olive leaf that a dove brought back to Noah to demonstrate that the flood was over. The Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem is mentioned several times. Olive oil has long been considered sacred; it was used to anoint kings and athletes in ancient Greece. It was burnt in the sacred lamps of temples as well as being the "eternal flame" of the original Olympic Games. Victors in these games were crowned with its leaves. Today, it is still used in many religious ceremonies. Today's psalm mentions and compares children to olive plants. We have always been awed by such great affection a mother has for her child. We've seen a lot of things throughout time that attest to this. I am a mother myself and I have done things beyond my capacity because of how much I love my children.  This love of mothers for their brood grows into something very special which explains why they are referred to or likened to olive plants around the table. Let us hope and pray that the Lord will continue to look after our families. No matter how difficult this year is, for our families we have to be confident in God's assurance in today's Psalm reading. If we truly believe that we have an Extraordinary and Awesome God then we, too must be willing to take on the challenge of doing something out of the ordinary and really get out of our way to live out what God calls us to do. Nothing is ever wasted for it has always been proven throughout all generations that those who follow and obey the Lord will surely be blessed not only today but all the days of our lives. We really have to always start with the basics, keep it simple and really get down with the real stuff. We've got to take things one step at a time. We know for a fact that we humans have a tendency to make things complicated.  We know exactly why. It is because we want to make excuses, create our own rules and get away with it. God tries to make it as simple as possible for us but we just don't want it His way because we've got to have it our own way. That's when the problem starts. It is always easier said than done but we've got to take God's word for it. I like the writing on the shirts of my son, Jude and these young people when they attended the YFC (Youth for Christ) Youth Camp. It says, "It's not about me, it's all about God." It's right on target and what it is all about. For in the end and to top it all, it will all come down to us as a blessing and favor from God. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalms 128(127):1-2.3.4-5.

R: See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.

1 Blessed are you who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways! 2 For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork; happy shall you be, and favored. (R) 3 Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the recesses of your home; your children like olive plants around your table...may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.

                                              

There is really no doubt to the power of God as shown in today's gospel for all He had to do was to wish it. God wishes all of us to be happy and we should no longer doubt God's great love for us as shown in His fidelity, loving compassion and our response should be no other than to seek and find it personally for ourselves without others forcing us to it to have true knowledge of who our God really is. In a way mortal sin could also be equated to leprosy although it does not rot the flesh as leprosy does but it rots the soul. The faith of the leper in today's gospel is certainly commendable and worthy of praise. He practiced and exercised his faith at all cost. Just in case we don't know or forget, lepers during the time of Jesus are considered outcasts and never allowed to be seen in public. He defied all these, braved through it, stood forward and was rewarded. Amen. Hallelujah!

Matthew 8:1-4

When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I will do it. Be made clean.” His leprosy was cleansed immediately.