TRUE BREAD

Today’s 1^st reading reminds of this sickly old man who told me that he has seen Jesus. He said that he had been through tough periods in his life and those were the times that he believed he had seen Him. At that time I never thought that I could hear something like that from him since he said that he was raised as a kid not to believe in God but since he was nearing the end stage of his earthly life it was very consoling to know that he started to have thoughts about Jesus. What made this occurrence even more special was the fact that today's 1st reading was the same message I imparted to him. Another thing I am reminded of is the EWTN show entitled “The Journey Home” They featured former Protestant ministers (Anglican, Presbyterian and Lutheran) who converted and became Catholic priests. It was indeed a privilege to hear them talking about the Catholic faith. Fr. Ray Ryland said that just a few days after he was ordained as a Catholic priest he shouted out loud that he is ready to die. I was also very happy to know that one of the priests they featured was Fr. Dwight Longenecker who happened to be the author of a book I read and loved so much. Hearing him talk on television and having read his book gave me an additional joy having known this priest and author of the Living Rosary book which has touched and moved me to a deeper understanding of how to meditate when praying the rosary considering the fact that he used to be a former Protestant minister who has now embraced the Catholic faith. I felt the enormous love and mercy of God for them as they made a distinct stand to embrace God’s love in return in the light of the Catholic faith. Our God is a perfect and precise God. No hit and miss and trial and error kind of thing. I am continuously amazed at how God speaks to us in a very specific way. Unless we relate our life to the scriptures and really transform us to the likeness of Jesus then everything that we learn will be for nothing. As we come to believe in what we've heard, learned and witnessed about God, today's 1st reading poses the same challenge to fulfill the scripture passage in our lives. I believe that there is indeed nothing more that God could have done for us which He has not done. The greatest mystery ever known to man is the mystery of God revealed in the flesh. Jesus was conceived for 9 months in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary and became man. We are invited to contemplate on these great and beautiful truths. There is no other name other than Jesus unto which we are to be saved. The revelation and manifestation of God who became man must be shown in us and cause an awakening in the personal level. Those who were present in the Nativity of our Lord and gazed at Infant Jesus in swaddling clothes in a manger have definitely experienced a personal awakening. Especially the eyes of the magi or the well known scholars and scientists at that time, they saw a baby lying in the straw but were able to grasp what their senses failed to fathom. They offered gifts and went down on their knees to pay homage to a God in the form of an innocent baby. They saw God and heaven here on earth and thus paved the way also for man to be with God in heaven. The faith of the Magi is the first fruits of the belief of the Gentiles. So that God will be known not only to Judea and the Jews but to the Gentiles as well. God came to save not just a few or the chosen people but He came to save us all. No one is excluded. No other love is greater than the love that God has for each one of us. If only we are fully aware of this then we will all be compelled to share this great love. Let us always be reminded of this so that our thought, word and action resounds this truth. Amen. Hallelujah!

1 John 4:7-10

7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. 8 Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love...the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. 10 In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.

During this season of the Epiphany, we witnessed the three wise men pay homage to a baby in a manger. We are also invited to focus on adoring Jesus who is God, King and Savior. What the wise and the unlearned alike sought and found in the stable is the encompassing light of heaven. Herod was so afraid that Jesus will take away his earthly kingdom without realizing that He gives away the heavenly kingdom. We continue to hope and pray against all odds as days of the New Year roll by amidst all the negative speculations, we must be firm in our belief that God will make a way. The psalm reading should inspire us even more because it is a confirmation of God's abiding presence in our thoughts, feelings, sight and hearing. There are times when it is easier for us to just be angry and fight back but the psalm reading tells us otherwise. We should experience peace in the midst of all the problems and concerns that beset us knowing that we have a God who knows, hears and sees all. Jesus Christ our Lord entered into this world as a helpless little infant like we all did. Thus every single day, hour, minute and second of our life should constantly remind us that He is our Savior. We pray that as we earnestly celebrate this season the coming of the Lord who took this humbling form of an infant may we prostrate ourselves too in homage in adoration to God. We have no reason to fear knowing that we have a God who saves. No matter how difficult things may seem to be if we will just persevere in prayer then nothing can ever withhold the blessings that God has promised us. We must always develop a kind of surrender and dependence on the Lord that is total and be confident that He is our Savior. God is our stronghold and our defender. His strength and power is beyond all telling. In Him alone should we trust and depend. There is really no room for doubt and this confidence should lead us to only one resounding cry to God alone. If we allow God then we would discover and find a source of inspiration that could arouse a lot of good thoughts in our mind and heart.  A talk entitled, “Life is worth living” delivered by Bishop Fulton Sheen in EWTN served as an inspiration which we could all benefit from. He was sharing about his childhood and was describing how he used to argue with her mom whenever he was asked to run an errand at a time while he was busy playing. And her mom would always reason out, “What difference does it make if you’re running around the backyard or running an errand for me?” He said he would always end up unable to answer her mom. It was only recently when he found the answer upon reading what Thomas Aquinas said, The difference between work and play is that, work is for a purpose while play is not. It relieves a tension. He further shared about St. John the Evangelist who was seen playing with his disciple and was questioned for his behavior. To stress his point, he asked that person to shoot arrows and asked if he loved it. The person said yes so he asked him to keep on doing the same thing non stop. But the person reasoned that he would end up tired. He was able to get his message across that when we get tired it has to be relieved by play.  He called God as the Workman and quoted this beautiful statement. “I was with the Workman playing with him all through the day.” Where does play come in when we work? Love is free without any obligation. In the divine order these 2 things go together, work and play. Greek philosopher, Plato even pictured God holding the universe with His hands playing with it. The Workman is playing and swinging the world. He said that according to a famous writer, when giving a serious discourse you have to play but never completely distract the discourse. Even Shakespeare from his book “Taming of the Shrew” said, Have we any play to distract us from this terrible hour? These 2 elements work and play, tragic and comic are important in life. Why does life have a serious side? It is because we have freedom which implies responsibility. We have the liberty to open doors and close others. Life is great to be alive. There’s joy in it if we get the true concept of life. Who best describes this combination of life, tragic and the comic? Comedians? Is it Jack Benny? He said he represents the victim of being the butt of the joke and the laughing stock of Billy Graham’s jokes. He depicts the tragic side of it. How about the comic? He chose Bob Hope whom he said is on top of everything. He always have something to laugh about and represents the comic side. Who depicts both sides? The clown, a man who combines within himself. He has the laugh and the tears. There is sadness in the clown but there is also humor. He said that there is no specific group who can claim to be the clown because  he depicts all the contradictions of human life. He could be the butt of the joke but does the same to others. Why do we like the clown? It is a picture of what we are. Dignified and yet we make fools of ourselves, proud and frustrated and glory in our wealth and yet impulsive. He mentioned Charlie Chaplain as an example.  A clown could be appearing in green pastures, makes us ridiculous and laugh at ourselves. Scriptures have it that God laughed, too. He laughs at the atheist, those who say God is dead. He is laughing at finite men trying to be infinite, poor man trying to be rich, and carbon copy who calls himself to be the original. The clown reveals both sides of the tragic and comic. Hedonists and pessimists. He urges us to see life as a whole. Tears and laughter. But in the end we have to really make the serious side or work side matter. As an ending statement he said, “What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul? There was a commentary about Bishop Fulton Sheen and what catches my attention most is what was said of him  in relation to the  responsorial psalm which says that he is a man loved by all peoples of faith. God is constantly assuring us of His great love for us. He never fails in reminding us of His enormous and endless love that is displayed throughout the world. Which reminds me of another incident of this old lady close to my heart who confided of some plans she is considering acting upon. I was just so surprised when I found myself brave enough to advise her though she’s much older than I am to be patient about her situation and not take actions without giving it much thought and praying to God for it. I know I have said this to her several times already and still continue to remain unwavering in my position with regards to that matter but then again the choice is all up to her. I just left her with this words of wisdom that was impressed to me to say to her, that the end will never justify the means and it would always help to put God first in everything we do and He will do exactly what is stated in today’s psalm. Has there ever been a time when we look back at our past and realize what it meant to us today? It is surely good to do this and would help us better understand what path we are headed for in this life. There is a need too, to look back at our life's time line most especially during the times that we can never forget for the rest of our life, the dramatic and significant events that happened which will remain forever etched in our memories. Which reminds me again of what happened a long time ago in the Philippines when my son, Jude was still very small and we were strolling in Megamall and before I knew it Jude is gone and nowhere to be found. I guess what happened was Jude panicked when he realized that I wasn't by his side and ran outside the Alexis watch store where we both were, without realizing that I didn't really leave him and was still with him inside that small store. As a mother my first reaction should have been panic and fear but I couldn't understand why I have the calmness and peace in my heart although we were really alarmed and were already looking for him intently.  The unexplainable feeling of serenity in my heart came from the assurance from God that was playing at the back of my mind that everything will be alright. We were able to find him at once with an old couple already carrying him. There is really nothing to fear although things at the moment demand or compel us to be afraid. Instead of running outside the security of God's love when our limited or disturbed vision hinders us from seeing God, we should always seek God who is always by our side and never really leave us. We can not deny that God constantly communicates to us in many different ways. He knows our limitations and would speak to us in the language that we can comprehend. He is never amiss in reaching out to us in countless ways that we may run out of excuses not to draw near and be able to speak to God and listen to His messages. In fact several experiences in the past inspired me to start a devotion to always pray whenever I can for the poor souls in purgatory and the souls of my dearly departed relatives, friends and even those I have no relation whatsoever but just happened to know them briefly and in passing. Our God is infinite and powerful. He is able to make all things possible. We just have to entrust everything and everyone to God in prayer, let go and let God. Let us trust God’s judgment in everything and we can be rest assured that nothing is outside His Divine Will and Providence. No matter how unstable and unsecure things are in this world we can always look forward to the time that God promises us in today's psalm. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 72:1-2, 3-4, 7-8

R: Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

...He shall defend the afflicted among the people, save the children of the poor. (R) 7 Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace,

Today’s gospel speaks of the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. Just as Bishop Fulton Sheen was emphasizing in his talk that there is a need to see and live both sides of life. As there is a tragic and comic side to it, Jesus in today’s gospel also did the same thing. He attended to not only the spiritual need of the people but also their physical needs. If we sometimes feel that we are in a pitiful situation and nothing good is happening to us, we better think twice before we wallow up in self pity and depression. More than the miracle of feeding the five thousand, God is telling us to focus more on His compassionate heart that nourishes us physically and spiritually as well because only Jesus can satisfy us. We have a God who will not only satisfy one aspect of our life but all of it. In today's gospel, the vast crowd who followed Jesus in a deserted place despite of being late was not disappointed. It gives us the assurance that God will always rescue us and work for the good. Neither will he abandon or forsake us for He knows what we need even before we ask it. So no matter what our situations may seem to appear, whether we feel like we've been abandoned in a deserted place and things are running late, we should always trust God to give us everything we need and have been praying for. We are also invited to look at the beautiful truths contained in the gospel. We are presently in this season between the Epiphany and the baptism of our Lord and we might want to ask why the gospel for today is about the multiplication of the loaves. This is the only miracle that appears in all four gospels. The others appear only in 3 or less. We can gain insight and a deeper faith in God by focusing on these words, Bethlehem, manger and star. Bethlehem in Hebrew means “House of Bread”. Jesus is laid in a manger, and the root word mange means to much, chew or gnaw. The 3 wise men were led to Jesus by following a star. The star could represent the tabernacle lamp which is the guiding light that houses the Holy Eucharist. They would benefit us to contemplate on these things in relation to the gospel today. Jesus always mentions in the gospel that He is the True Bread who came down from heaven. John 6:33-35, “For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." So they said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” John 6:48-56, “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;  this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. We need to consume His True and abiding Presence. He teaches us to adore Him, Christ the Lord just as the shepherds did with the angels and the Magi on bended knees. Let us adore Him as well. Though we see and taste the bread and wine, it is no longer bread and wine but the Body & Blood of Christ. The Lord transforms what lies before us. The scriptures especially in John 6 are very clear so as not to judge it as a mere sign and symbol. Everybody left Him except the apostles because it is a very hard teaching and they could not accept it. It can’t be apprehended by the 5 senses but by faith. We must not doubt if it is true we just have to rely on the words of our Savior who is Himself the Truth. St. Cyril of Alexandria said that we have already been instructed in words and filled with unshakeable faith. Furthermore he said, “What our senses fail to fathom, let us grasp through faith’s consent.” We must not find it difficult to believe of Christ’s true presence in the Holy Eucharist as we believe that God is on earth as He is heaven. Let us not contradict God’s words and allow it to prevail over our reason and senses. It will be very meritorious to our souls if we hold on to His words because it will not lead us astray nor will it deceive us. Jesus declared it to be His True Body & Blood so who would dare question it. We need to be strong in faith that upon the blessing of the bread the very nature is changed so that what looks like bread is truly the Body of Christ. If we believe the Word made flesh and dwelt among us and created the world from nothing why can’t we believe that He can cause His own Body & Blood as in transubstantiation, to be present from something already existing as in the bread and wine. What a gift we have in the Holy Eucharist, the True Bread from heaven. Amen. Hallelujah!

Mark 6:34-44

When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things...his disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already very late. Dismiss them so that they can go to the surrounding farms and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” ...“Give them some food yourselves.”...taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to [his] disciples to set before the people; he also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments and what was left of the fish. Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand men.