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     Father Allan Fenix
Father Allan Fenix is an American Catholic diocesan priest currently serving in his native land, the Philippines.  His work first appeared on RNJ in 2007, and we're delighted to welcome him back after a 5 year hiatus. In 2012, he published his first book, a collection of some of his best reflections appearing on RNJ and also titled, A Few Minutes with Father. Father Allan has a global following and a down to earth perspective on the challenges we all face as Catholic Christians.  He is a veteran SWL and an avid DX'er.



 A Few Minutes with Father: 2022

  Meditations on Our Life as Catholic Christians

By Father Allan Fenix

THE LIGHT

...the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1: 5).

I do not know how many of you have ever experienced living in the dark. I grew up in a very rural area before there was an electrical service, and I know how it is to live in the dark.

I saw how townsfolk had to shell out their hard earned money just to buy a small amount of kerosene gas to tide their families through the darkness of the night. Many ate their dinners and retired early to save on their gas.

Our parents operated a convenience store. We were able to afford two units of petromax, which I saw our father light before the darkness of the night set in. One was hung at the storefront, and the other at the back, by the kitchen.

With nowhere to go in the darkness, I saw how people would congregate by our petromax-lighted storefront to share stories and wait until the gas ran out to end the day.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race. (John 1: 1-4).

Living in that rural town back then, I saw how people would literally stop in their steps when they heard the six o'clock evening Angelus church bells. On Sundays, they would listen patiently as our parish priest delivered a half hour homily.

Living in that rural area, I saw the fear in the hearts of people towards the strong presence of communist rebels in the peripheries. I often heard them say how their livelihoods are affected and disrupted. There was this fear that, perhaps, one day we'll all wake up under a different form of government, as harsh as what our neighboring countries go through.

Gratefulness is in my heart that, while our parents were able to afford to send us off to learn how to read, write and pray in a Catholic school in the city, and that light came to our town when the electrical service started to operate. People now lived in the light. No longer were they wallowing in the darkness as they did before. People started to have other options in life. They started to own basic household appliances like electric fans, refrigerators, and televisions.

On my part, my siblings and I were thankful to be able to understand what we were reading and to be able to write what was in our minds. No longer were we living in the darkness of our ignorance.

A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. (John 1: 6-10).

The light, Jesus Christ, has already come. Someone, perhaps teacher, priest, or catechist brought him to us. We need to accept him wholeheartedly. However, we cannot blame people who continue and persist with their own beliefs. While many have already gathered up their act, moved on and live much better lives, there are those who continue to live in the darkness at the periphery of refusing and rejecting anything. No society, no church community, no family, no school is perfect. However, we do as much as we can to better what has served us. Day by day we work on it, hoping that a better outcome will arrive at the end of the day.

But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God. (John 1: 12).

There is no point in resisting. When we accept, we receive more than we lose. Because, as it says in John 1: 14, “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth.” And, further on, John testified to him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, 'The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me'”. From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1: 15- 17).

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


BRING HOME THE BACON

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. (Matthew 1: 18-19).

There was a fairy tale like story about a young girl from the countryside who was impregnated and abandoned by her irresponsible boyfriend. Disowned by her own family and trying to avoid the stigma, she left their village and went to a nearby city.

In the city, working as a dishwasher, she met someone who accepted her life entirely. They stayed with his family and she was accepted by them as well.

Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her... When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. (Matthew 1: 20, 24).

Joseph did what the idiomatic expression “bring home the bacon” says. He did not only earn and achieve success in life, but he literally brought home the “BACON:” the BABY CONCEIVED through the Holy Spirit. The BACON – the Baby Conceived – is Jesus who will save his people from their sins. Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means, "God is with us." Do we also bring home the BACON, Jesus, the BABY CONCEIVED by the Holy Spirit? If not Jesus, what we are bringing homed with us is a BAD CON.

The BAD CONS are the negative energies we absorb from our workplace, the school, the marketplace, the playground, the friends we're around. We are the same and, perhaps, like the worst person, who left and went back home again in the late afternoon or evening. We are like a withered flower, drained of its positive energy.

Are you bringing home the BACON? Jesus, the BABY CONCEIVED by the Holy Spirit? Or the BAD CON, the negative energies that cause more desolation than consolations in us and in the others around us at home?

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


THE JESUS DOSE

This is the penultimate medical mission. Whereas medical missions organized by numerous cause-oriented groups are focused only on the distribution of almost expiring medicines, minor operations, tooth extractions, for Jesus, it is holistic. It is the healing of the entirety of the human person:

"Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them." (Matthew 11: 4-5).

Health is the primary concern nowadays. Can we really put our trust in our modern medicines? For reasons of lifestyle or genetics, it is ironic that the more and newer medicines we are taking nowadays, the sicker we also get. Many of us have been through and seen hospital wards, and have seen the numerous sick patients seeking cures and healing. Many are dying now, not on the fields of battle, in freak accidents, or through natural calamities, but in sickness and diseases.

When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples to him with this question, Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?" (Matthew 11: 23).

It is because of this that more we need even more of the Jesus dose. It might take some time, but we can go directly to him for cure and healing. We no longer need the prescription of a medical professional for a very powerful drug to solve our health problems. The Jesus dose alone suffices. As Isaiah 35: 5-6, 10 says it:

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing... Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing , crowned with everlasting joy; they will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee.

And that is the penultimate medical mission: the Jesus dose.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


DIVINE MECHANICS

Universally, the sacred host we receive during Holy Communion is in a circle shape. Have you ever asked yourself why is it soWhy not a square, a triangle, or in any other shapeWhy a circle host

The answer is the english word GOD itself.

The word God is a three-letter word. These three letters comprise the three parts which completes a host.

To illustrate

G - Side 1

D - Side 2

O - Lock

Putting the letters G and D side by side with each other forms the circle shape = GD.

Then finally, inserting the letter O, the lock, completes the entire circle.= O

The letters G and D is now encircled by the letter O.

This is why the sacred host we receive during Holy Communion is universally shaped as a round circle.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


STAY AWAKE!

In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. (Matthew 24: 37-41).

Back in the days when the only available weekend entertainment after school was the movies. The censorship was not that strict (unlike nowadays), and, as long as I had the money to buy a ticket, I was able to watch all kind of movies, particularly those dealing with terror and violence: not knowing that many of these were instilling fear in my heart.

So, when talk and stories about the end of the world, due to nuclear war, and extreme natural calamities, became so prevalent in those days, I felt afraid and sad that everything would come to an end, just exactly as I saw it in the movies. I won't see my parents, my siblings, my classmates, my friends, or my town-mates anymore: everyone that I hold dear in my life.

After the movies, the next place we went before the start of class days was the church. Again, most of the readings I heard were from the Book of Revelation, and they concerned eschatological matters like death, the end of the world, judgment and the Kingdom of God: the end times. It was just like what I saw so vividly in the movies.

My pillow is soaked; my bed is dripping wet from my tears. My enemies have caused me such sorrow that my eyes are worn out from crying. Go away, you wicked people, because the Lord has heard my cries. (Psalms 6: 6-10).

As a little child, with my limited comprehension about matters of the world, I was thrown into a mixture of dilemma and fear. Where and to whom will I run to when even the church was talking about it?

Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come. (Matthew 24: 42-44).

At last, I discovered that we are all in the same boat! And we share the same anxiety and fear about the coming days. Like it says in John 16: 33: “'I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.'”

Fr. Allan S. Fenix 


TABLOID FODDER

By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” (Luke 21: 19).

Born in a typhoon-belt area, where typhoons pass by all throughout the year, and located along the Pacific ring of fire, where earthquakes are far too common, we are used to natural calamities happening here and there. Being survivors is in our DNA. After a calamity, we, as a people, are up fighting in the arena of life once again. For me, it is “By your perseverance and resilience you will secure your lives.” We make do.

However, late one night, bright lightning and loud thunder woke me up from my sleep. From my bed, looking out the window at the play of lights and sounds, I don't know why I felt so afraid down to my bones. It seemed to sound so different from previous thunder and lightning occurring in the daytime hours, which I had previously experienced in my life.

Going further on. We want to feel good, not bad. We want to be happy, not sad. We wish only positive things, not negative. But what about this passage?

See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, “I am he,” and “The time has come.” Do not follow them! When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end. Nations will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.” (Luke 21: 8 -11).

Just as we are about to reach the summit of the present liturgical year, we are confronted with something uncomfortable. I told myself that we get enough of these uncomfortable things from the ever-present media. That's why I found it hard to reflect well on the second to the last Sunday of the present liturgical year. We came to church to uplift ourselves and not drag ourselves down. Do we want another tragedy? For me, the scenarios being painted were like the doomsday movies and melodramas that I had watched in the past. It was like fodder for the tabloids.

Another thing, we grew up valuing our own families. Our families are our true home. It is where we run to when we get lost, so we can recover in its warmth. But what if you will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will even put some of you to death:

You will be hated by all because of my name.” (Luke 21: 16-17).

I remember something I overheard one day: “I thought it only happens in the movies! It is happening right within our family. We siblings are fighting and killing each other over the small inheritance that our parents left us!”

All that you see here will end. “The days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.” (Luke 21: 6).

If we refuse to be on guard, our greediness and selfishness will overwhelm and eat us. It will really be the end of it all.

All along, we have been talking about nothing but somber things. I do not wish you a bad or sad day. Just remember that it is by your perseverance and (as I added), your resilience, that you will secure your lives.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


THE LAST AND THE FIRST

So the last will be first, and the first will be last. (Matthew 20: 16).

The times are getting exciting. However, it seems that the scriptural passage I used is not very apt for the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe Sunday – a happy day for all of us faithful.

I highlighted the words: “last” and “first” to express that Christ the King Sunday takes place on the last Sunday of the liturgical year, and right before the first Sunday of another one. It caps the entire run of the long liturgical year, Year C, and, at the same time, it is coming right next to the First Sunday of Advent, Year A, the start of another liturgical year in our lives.

The Solemnity of Christ the King Sunday fills me with great curiosity. Like a hinge, it sits at the cusp of the tail and the head of two liturgical years. Originally, it was solely a Roman Catholic feast, celebrated on the last Sunday of October, but now, it is observed by Christians of all denominations, as a way to recognize and honor Jesus Christ as the “King of kings.”

With the aim to remind the increasingly secular world of the importance of God and his teachings, it was initiated in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. For him, Jesus Christ is the eternal ruler of the world. The good pope saw the ill effects of the rapid encroachment of secularism, manifested in such human systems as fascism, communism and consumerism in the modern world, and thus counteracted it with the Solemnity of Christ the King Sunday, to remind people that Jesus Christ is really the genuine ruler of mankind.

The Solemnity grounds the human race back on earth in recognition of God and the benevolence of Christ. It is a firm anchor among the swirling tide of ideologies fomenting a Godless society.

Why an image of a king? What is there in a king? In general, the role of a good king is:

1. The ability to bring order into our lives.

2. Unify the people.

3. Convey the truth.

4. Protect the people from harm.

5. Do what is best for them.

Jesus Christ exemplified all these traits of a good king, as he fulfilled them in his own life and compels his followers to also live proper lives.

Jumping now to Mount Calvary on that Good Friday:

One of the criminals who was hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us! But the other responded, and rebuking him, said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our crimes; but this man has done nothing wrong. And he was saying, “Jesus , remember me when You come into Your Kingdom: And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23: 42-43).

We need to train ourselves to look for signs of Jesus' reign. His real identity can be seen only by the humble. The good thief saw things as they were. He knew his own sinfulness. He recognized Jesus' character. He asked for little, yet was rewarded for his honesty. Humility brings a true perspective and is the ground for meeting God. Pray for humility.

From all these, we now see that Jesus Christ has eternal authority, as opposed to these Godless ideologies, which only offer temporal and fleeting liberation.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


CHILDREN OF GOD

Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. (Luke 20: 34-36).

Just a few days ago, during the All Souls' Day, we, as a community, flocked to the cemeteries where our departed loved ones were. We offered flowers, candles, and food to our grandparents, parents and other deceased family members.

Reflecting on the example given by the Sadducees, about the woman who outlived seven husbands, I reached the conclusion that she must have been a very strong person to be able to do so. We have heard many stories of widows who also soon die following their husbands' deaths. It is because they cannot bear the heartaches, the loneliness, the sadness and everything else that comes with losing someone very significant to their lives. That's why I was able to say that the widow who outlived seven husbands must be a very strong person.

That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called, 'Lord, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive." (Luke 20: 37-38).

I once overheard someone, upon seeing the crucified Christ hanging on a cross, asked why we Catholics praise someone who is dead. I answered that our God died for us so that we might have life. He is not dead but alive for us. He is just taking a rest from his tiredness after giving us our lives back.

Along with all the heartaches, the loneliness, sadness and discontentment it brings us, the world offers us nothing but death; death and more deaths. There is only one who remains alive, for he is life itself. He is God. He gives us hope. For he is life, life and more life, he, himself especially in the Holy Eucharist that is ever with us on this planet Earth.

As limited beings as we are, with our own individual experience with heartaches, loneliness, sadness, discontentment, it is but human desire to propagate our human species, thinking that it is the solution to all of that; a means to attain happiness. However, as we all know by now, it all ends once again in heartaches, loneliness, sadness, discontentment; in death, death and more deaths.

All we need to have is God; God and only Him. He is our life. That's why those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. (Luke 20: 35-36).

God, Himself, suffices. He is our strength and our life.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix 


SPIRITUAL AGGRANDIZEMENT

Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. (Luke 19: 2-4).

About a month ago, while we were having the biggest of our regional Marian celebrations, something like what happened with the crowd and Zacchaeus was glaringly obvious during the Traslacion (transfer) of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Penafrancia, from the Penafrancia parish to the Metropolitan Cathedral for the traditional 9- day novenario.

In expressing our fervent religious devotion, is there a definite physical distance required? Is there a difference in the grace received by those who came very near and those who were just standing by the roadside, or waiting up in a tree, silently praying the rosary and waving a handkerchief? The pandemic is on the way out and we are going back to being our usual, normal, unruly selves. Is that why what happened in our streets took place during the aforementioned procession of our INA (Mother)?

For a year or two, our Penafrancia celebration was so silent and subdued. Many just stayed home, staring out the window with their candles when the motorcade passed by.

Now, the usual unruly, drunken crowd came in droves, as though storm troopers attacking their enemy. They wanted to get close, and came ever nearer. During the procession, I was in front, walking with the Knights of the Altar, and holding the ciriales (processional candlesticks), when I saw, with my own eyes, how the mob of drunken devotees met us head on, and jumped at us, while trying to grab hold of the standarte (banner) located between the ciriales.

What can the poor Knights of the Altar do against this drunken, unruly crowd? And, at the back of the procession, an even more drunken and unruly crowd was overpowering the hundreds of police and military personnel charged to guard the Divino Rostro (Holy Face), and our INA.

...[he] was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way.

With their theatrics and antics, the drunken, unruly crowd blocked sincere devotees from seeing the Holy Face of Jesus, and our Mother, who was passing by. There were devotees going up on higher grounds, even climbing trees, just to clearly see the Holy Face of Jesus and INA.

When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." And he came down quickly and received him, with joy. (Luke 19: 5-6).

At the end of the day, who do you think Jesus and our INA went home with? With those in the drunken and unruly crowds, or with the sincere devotees by the roadside, waiting or climbing up in trees, while praying the rosary silently and waving their handkerchiefs?

When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner." But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,"Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over. (Luke 19: 7-8).

Whether we are like Zacchaeus or the drunken and unruly crowd, we are all sinners. All of us carry a heavy weight on our shoulders. We are all guilty of something. But remember Wisdom 11: 1-2 and 26-12:

But you spare all things, because they are yours, O Lord and lover of souls, for your imperishable spirit is in all things! Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little, warn them and remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O Lord !

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


REASON OVER INSTINCT

And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. (Matthew 18: 9).

On several occasions, I have overheard people saying that it would be better for them to just stay home rather than go to church. According to them, they sin more in church than at home. Their eyes keep on roaming and looking around. They cannot stand to see persons they know, who fool around on weekdays, but on Sundays are like sheep; like lambs serving and attending mass. They have judgmental eyes that label them as hypocrites.

With this, I also recalled the days of the horse-drawn carriages, or the calesas, going around our city streets back then. The eyes of the horses were shielded with cut-out rubber patches, to not only protect them from the glare of the sun, but to keep their focus on the road. With their eyes shielded, they won't get distracted by the things around them.

Why? Who is in our churches? It's the sinners. The saints are already up there in heaven. They are all “long gone.” There are no more saints left inside our churches, but only the sinners, who stand like the tax collector who “...stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.'"(Luke 18: 13).

The people I mentioned earlier are like the Pharisees:

The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity – greedy, dishonest, and even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.' (Luke 18: 11-12).

How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye; when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Luke 6: 42).

We are not brutes ruled merely by instincts. So much so that it needs those cut out rubbers to cover its eyes to avoid distractions around. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. (Psalm 32: 9).

We are gifted, rational humans. We have control of our senses. Reason is our great connection to civilization. Once we lose it, it is all downhill from there. We will be like the brutes, who are at the mercy of their instincts.

Reason must rule over instinct, but reason must also be at the service of instinct. Instinct is placed in the proper order of things because of reason, “... for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18: 14).

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


BE A PRAYER

Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? (Luke 18: 7).

Don't just pray but be a prayer.

Many people expect a lot from us priests about prayer. Having gone through a number of years in the seminary, they see us as more knowledgeable, and even experts, on all things about praying.

Honestly, we priests are not superhuman when it comes to praying. We are also going through it one step at a time, day by day. I, for one, am having a hard and difficult time with it. Except for our spiritual giants, who have really made it and were certified so by the Church, no one can claim an expertise in the field of praying. Everyone is a mere amateur, just doing it for the love of it. Just being a prayer.

As in any other enterprise, the business of prayer is very tricky. Personally, I am almost done with it. I have long ago almost given up on it. My experience is that of going through a vicious cycle –repetitively doing something hoping to get a better result than the previous one. It is like a gambler who keeps on betting hoping to win more when, in the end, he is losing a lot more and going bankrupt.

There are many desperate “pray-ers,” who went to great lengths, and exhausted their vast fortunes, to offer mass intentions, give donations, even going on far and expensive pilgrimages. There are those who even employ prayer traffickers, who buzz around church premises, and who for an specified amount, promise to do an expeditious novena prayer for their critical intentions, just to get their prayers answered.

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, a thousand years are like a day. (2 Peter 3:8).

After all of this, when nothing positive comes of it, they will be told to be patient and wait. It is not yet the time.

God is time. He owns it. Humans subdivided it into calendar years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds.

We really have to be patient and wait, wait and wait, because PRAYER is being Patient for the Response Awaiting You in Every Rosary.

Brothers and sisters, don't just pray but be prayers of the Rosary. Because praying the Rosary teaches us to be Patient for the Response Awaiting You, the pray-er, in Every Rosary.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


GRATEFULNESS

And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. (Luke 17: 15-16).

I often heard that to be grateful is to be happy. If we are not, we won't be happy. Perhaps, that's the main reason why there are a lot of thanksgiving intentions being offered by parishioners. Big or small, each of them have their own story of gratitude.

Reflecting on my gratitude, I felt so overwhelmed. I do not know where to start. It seemed so broad to me. So, what I did was to ruminate on the word GRATEFULNESS. For me, this word encapsulates what I'm thankful for.

GRatefulness. From head to toe, we were GIVEN and GRANTED a lot by God; too much to be counted and thought of. We will spend almost the whole day and time just going through it and we will not yet even finish and see the end of it.

grATEfulness. Amidst all of these, let us just begin by being thankful for what we ATE today. Minimally, we eat thrice a day- the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We might have to work hard for the food we put on our table . But, the inspiration and strength to do so all came from God. Remember, without him, we can do nothing.

grateFULness. We really have to be thankful. What we ate gives us the FUEL. The strength to work hard for our next meal and pay for all the fuels we need in our day to day life from the gas for our transportation, energy to put on the lights, the stove, the fan, the air conditioner, the floor polisher, the washing machine..... and to pay all the rest of our utility bills.

In the Our Father, it says: “Give us this day our daily bread.”

gratefulNESS. We have to be thankful for the fuel to strengthen us and tackle the NEXT SECONDS and SEGMENTS of our lives. One day at a time. The whole day has in itself enough trouble. Be thankful for the life to go on to the next second, minute, hour, day... week, month...year...

Just for today, be thankful. Be grateful. Be happy. As Matthew 6: 34 says, Today has enough trouble of its own.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


SEANCE

When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. (Luke 16: 22-23).

Teaching about the eternal reward which awaits us all in heaven, many vehemently blamed the church for the poverty in the world. They said the poor became too lazy to work to better themselves, since there is a heavenly reward in the after life. The image made of the poor was Lazarus lying at his door covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. (Luke 16: 20-21).

And he cried out, “Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.” Abraham replied, “My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. (Luke 16: 24-25).

More so, the church seems to put the rich in a bad light. When, in fact, most of its benefactors and benefactresses for its construction projects and all, are like the rich man dressed in purple garments and fine linen, who dined sumptuously each day. (Luke 16: 19).

Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours. (Luke 16: 26)

I remember the time when I first learned how to swim in a river. The next thing that I had to learn to do was to jump off into the water from a raised rock. I was so afraid to do it. I told my friends that I would like first to know what was there at the bottom of that deep river. They keep on encouraging me to just jump off as I will not reach the bottom of the river anyway, but immediately float back to the surface. I did it and floated back to the surface. It was all water I felt under my feet.

He said, 'Then I beg you, father, send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment. But, Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.' He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' Then Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.' (Luke 16: 27- 31).

I remember a medium who conducted seances, who offered to our mother that, for a price, he would facilitate it so our departed father could talk directly to her. I said that our father, and all the rest, are already resting in peace. No need to disturb them. More so, our father when he was still alive was very silent and uncommunicative. A person of few words. He and mother seldom talked to each other. I told him that we would just pray the rosary for all of them and read some scripture passages. For sure, they will appreciate it more and be forever at peace wherever they are.

Just keep on praying. The numbers and repetitions of our prayers, novenas and other forms of devotion are our heavenly investment account that will pay off with great interest at the end of our lives. Amen.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


FAITHDOZER

I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. (Luke 16: 9).

Nowadays, when almost everything we need is already available and provided for us, do we still appreciate creativity and resourcefulness?

Yes, of course! We admire very creative and resourceful persons: McGyvers who can make do with anything that is available on hand. Their can-do attitude always finds a way to get over various challenges blocking their paths.

This is faith in action, as they don't simply give up but just keep on going on. They are the ones referred to in Matthew 21: 21:

Jesus replied , “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.

Faith, which many of us lack, moves mountains. First and foremost, we have faith by virtue of the sacrament of Baptism we received . But, If we find it hard to activate and get motivated, we say we lack faith. Where can we start? We have to start somewhere.

So, how do we manage the 24 hours that are gifted to us each day?

Remember, there is a time for everything:

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3: 1-9).

If we can only start on this very first step. One at a time, step after step, soon you will be the person who is trustworthy in very small matters, who is also trustworthy in great ones, rather than the person who is dishonest in very small matters, and who is also dishonest in great ones:

So, if therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? Luke 16: 10-12

If the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step, this is the first step to having a faithdozer, a faith McGyver, which can go through almost anything in its path. It is not hard nor difficult, but only if we are courageous enough to take the first step, the second, third, fourth....

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


A GOD AND HIS ANGELS (WHO ONLY KNOW HOW TO COUNT UP TO ONE!)

A big religious procession was recently held in our place. While looking at all the throngs of people processing by, a funny question came to mind: “What kind of a God can keep each of them deep in his thoughts?”

A person working in a correctional facility shared that they, as a routine, have to do a thrice a day roll call, morning, afternoon and evening, among the inmates to ensure that everyone is accounted for.

A mother with several children also shared that , with all the day's concerns in her hands, sometimes she hardly knew whether all of her children had already taken their meals.

In the seminary before, our Prefect of Discipline would also often do a surprise attendance check of seminarians, usually during our community activities, like prayers and meals, to know whether anyone left the place without his permission.

Isaiah 43: 1 says, “But now, this is what the Lord says – he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel; “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”

We are not a lost cause. We properly belong to someone who calls us, not by a number nor a generic term, He calls us by our own baptismal name. A name which is uniquely ours alone. We might have thousands of namesakes, but that particular name is particularly ours. Our God focuses on us ONE by ONE. Not in a blanket kind of way – nameless and impersonal.

We are a people of celebrations. Because our God loves it. He has found us all of these opportunities to celebrate. He is God, the Good Shepherd...

...who would leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it. And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, “Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.” (Luke 15: 4-7).

Our God is not like a prison warden who just keeps on counting inmates on his watch so that he has a perfect count report at the end of the day. Nor is he like a seminary Prefect of Discipline, who has his eyes wide open to ensure that all formandis are following the schedule by heart. And, more so, he is unlike the distracted mother of several children who cannot keep track of the whereabouts of each child.

Our God is like a woman, who, having ten coins and losing one would light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it. And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, “Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.” (Luke 15: 8-9).

I am not blaspheming, but Our God and his angels, in all their absolute power and with all of their attributes, know only how to count up to ONE. Yes, only ONE:

There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety nine righteous people who have no need of repentance and that there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents. (Luke 15: 7, 10).

Are you glad that our God can only count up to ONE? Yes, He knows only me and you, individually and personally, and not in a massive and impersonal manner. No point in being envious and jealous of others, then, as each of us is personally the apple of his eye.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


CROSS FEAT

Do you and how much do you love your own family? I am sure all of us will respond in the affirmative 101%.

I had the chance to talk with some seminarians about the reasons they went out of the seminary. A number of them shared that they were extremely discouraged when, one time, they asked permission but were denied to go home to attend the funeral mass of a grandparent. The formator went as far as asking the question, “If you go home, will you bring your grandparent back to life?”

The seminarian was so devastated. He could not take the rejection of not being allowed to attend the funeral mass of his grandparent. It turned out that the formator was just testing the seminarian to see how far he would go in following Matthew 8: 22:

Then he said to another man, “Follow me”. The man replied, Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You, however, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

As far as I can remember, it was a seminary policy that seminarians were only permitted to go home and attend the funeral mass of their immediate relatives, like a parent or sibling. That's why, during those times, I really prayed hard that nothing fatal happened to my parents or siblings. It is so devastating to lose a loved one.

One time, I encountered a person who, due to his strong cultural influence, decided not to belong to any organized religion, particularly Catholicism, as he was against its teaching, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14: 25).

Do you? And how much do you love your own family? What if I present to you the passage of Luke 14: 25 to which Jesus himself says, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14: 25-25).

How will you respond or react now? Which one for you is more valuable and carries the greater deal of weight?

In recent years, aside from the additional two years of senior high school and free public college education in the countryside, vocation directors have a hard time filling up seminaries or houses of formation because almost all the younger generations had a hard time being parted with their gadgets, which have become such a big part and parcel of their lives.

Of course, anything that distracts one in the formation is not allowed. Rarely anyone now would wish to put themselves amidst a life full of rules and regulations, and one of which is being parted from one's beloved gadget.

This is the cross feat which almost everyone of us are failing in.

And someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why are you asking me about what is good? There is only one who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments. Then he said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and mother.”

The young man said to him, All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking? Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will will have treasure in heaven. Then COME, FOLLOW ME.” When the young man heard this, he went away in sorrow, because he had great wealth. (Matthew 19: 16-22).

This is the cross feat. What is our greatest wealth which we just can't do without? Remember, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6: 21).

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


FORM A LINE AND WAIT FOR YOUR TURN

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. (Luke 14: 1).

When I started to reflect on the preceding passage, I remembered in the past when, after attending a mass, we would go to eat some ice cream at a nearby restaurant. While waiting for our order, we noticed some barefooted street children in their dirty torn clothes staring at us through the windows of the restaurant. Our aunt, who was with us, told us that we would buy something for them on our way out. However, when our ice cream arrived, the staff immediately shooed them away.

Up to this day, I keep on wondering if those street children whom we encountered at that restaurant, staring at us and begging, ever had a better turn in their lives and, thus, were now able to bring their own families to eat ice cream at that restaurant.

He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the place of honor at the table. When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, 'Give your place to this man,' and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. (Luke 14: 7-10).

In our movie going days, when there was nothing else to do on weekends, I would notice the empty front seats close by the wide screen. Most would usually choose the middle seats, as it was not too near nor to far from the widescreen.

Now, as a priest, I observe that we seem to carry this movie going habit over into our church habit. Many of the early bird parishioners seat themselves from the middle to the last pews. Some even choose to endure to stand at the back, rather than braving the walk to the still empty and available front pews. So, overcrowding occurs when latecomers arrive while the mass is already underway. Then, during the distribution of communion, parishioners would all rush to the front, without even forming a proper line, to receive the Holy Eucharist. With all the hurrying and jostling, the scene is similar to the distribution of relief goods during calamities. Many of us already have forgotten the basic thing we learned in kindergarten: to form a line and wait for your turn.

Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place, so that when the host comes to you he may say, ' My friend, move up to a higher position.' Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.' (Luke 14: 10-11).

Life is all about what we learned on our first day in Kindergarten: forming a line and waiting for our turn. We do this in our elementary grades, high school, college, higher learning, work, family life; we do this until we reach senility, and up until when we breathe our last. Even when we die.

Continuing my reflection on forming a line and waiting for our turn:

Then he said to the host who invited him, “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14: 12-14).

Jesus is teaching us that in forming a line, the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind must come first, while our friends, brothers, relatives and neighbors can must wait for their turn. Everybody will be served anyway.

In her own little way, our aunt, who was with us that day we ate ice cream in the restaurant after church, did it by expressing her intention and teaching us children what we should do for the street children staring at us through the windows. Even though, in the end, they were shooed away by the staff.

Our large family, in our own little way, shared whatever food we could still scrounge from our table with a homeless person, who usually stayed in front of our store waiting for any help we might provide.

How about you? What little thing have you done to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind into your lives?

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


THE BRAVES

After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, 'Lord, open the door for us'. He will say to you in reply, 'I do not know where you are from' ... and there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out. (Luke 13: 25, 28).

Reflecting on this passage, I remember an incident we had in the seminary when some of us were locked out of our classroom. Between classes, we have short breaks while waiting for the next class. While doing so outside the classroom by the garden, we lost track of the time. By the time we got back and were about to enter our classroom, the doors were already locked. We were locked out for being late to class. And so, we were absent from class that day. It was so humiliating being locked out of our own classroom while all of our other classmates were having class without us.

I also experienced this kind of humiliating feeling once when I was sick, confined in the infirmary, and looking out the window. I saw the entire seminary community celebrating the Holy Eucharist and praying without me. Whether due to sickness or a fault of our own, it is so difficult to go through isolation from the rest of the community or family. Of course, we would wish to be a part of their happiness, celebrations and, as well, sufferings and hardships.

Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He answered them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.” (Luke 13: 23-24).

The narrow gate is the door to the confessional room. When we commit a particular sin, we not only cut our relationship with God but with the community, the Body of Christ, as well. To seek pardon for our sins and be reinstated in that divine relationship, we need to do it through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, inside the confessional room. The priest, the proper minister of the sacrament and representing the church, the community, the Body of Christ, through the formula of the absolution recited, orally pardons and reinstates our broken relationship with God and his Church.

We are all sinners. However, how many of us are brave enough to approach, open and enter the narrow door of the confessional room? Are we strong enough to have the courage and energy to squeeze open the door knob to the confessional room and celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation with God?

Be brave enough and join “...the people coming from the east and the west and from the north and the south... [that] will recline at table in the Kingdom of God. (Luke 13: 29).

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


FIRE and RAIN

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” (Luke 12: 49).

This passage is so timely. It comes up at a time when it is at the height of summer in some parts of the world, where occurrences of heat waves, forest fires, and droughts are common due to extreme temperatures. On the other hand, there are also places experiencing strong rains and floods.

Even in our case, living in a tropical country, we also go through humidity and warmth all throughout the year. To help dissipate it, taking a bath twice a day has become a habit. This is our own small way of coping to make things bearable in our lives. A fan is no longer enough. Nor the humble electric fan. We now need strong air conditioners.

Jesus, then, is the culprit responsible for all of these heat waves, forest fires, droughts, landslides and floods due to strong rains. And added to it are all the lives and property destroyed by volcanic-related earthquakes and eruptions.

Mother nature is God and he is the instigator of all these inconveniences and sufferings in our lives. Let us make a formal complaint and bring him to trial and, perhaps, punishment!

There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! (Luke 12: 50).

Jesus, through all these natural events occurring in our surroundings, is constantly reminding us of our own baptism, which we received when we were still infants, and which many have already forgotten.

In the sacrament of baptism, there is the presence of WATER and FIRE. These are the external reminders of Jesus coming into our lives.

It is a great pity that for many of us, that we have already forgotten where we came from. We have already forgotten the baptismal promises that we made, through our god parents, when we were baptized as infants (and which we renew annually on Easter Sundays – to believe in a One God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and reject the deceptions of the devil in our lives.

Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. (Luke 12: 51).

In many ways, all of us have been enchanted by the evil one. We were convinced and deceived into believing that we already found HEAVEN on earth. This is not yet the ONE. This is just a foretaste of the true heaven to come.

In pain and suffering, through the destructive and fatal incidents occurring all around us, God is shouting at us to separate ourselves from the evil one. We have to make division with him by going back to the sacraments – to Confession and the Holy Eucharist.

When we are powered by the sacraments, we are away from and divided from the evil one. All of the heat waves, forest fires, droughts, floods, and volcanic earthquakes and eruptions will only stop when all of us have surrendered ourselves to the sacraments – to God.

COME ONE! COME ALL!

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


MUCH AND MORE

Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still MORE will be demanded of the person entrusted with MORE. (Luke 12: 48).

In my other reflection, I concluded that MORE means MARY OFFERING the ROSARY, the Redeemer, for ETERNITY and not Materialism Obstructing our Resolve for Eternity.

We have been entrusted with much and much MORE. In life, we have seen how a lot of people did not even take good care of the single life that was entrusted and gifted to us.

Just look at how many are wasting away in the streets, in prison both physically and psychologically. There are those who, due to some factors, are dependent for their care on others. And, there were even those who couldn't take it anymore and just took their own lives.

We have been entrusted with much MORE. Just daily taking good care of the life we have is already a big business enterprise. How do we take good care of it?

Aside from providing the proper rest, nutrition and hygiene, we have to feed it with study and prayer. We need to find our own time to study. Studying is not only for those who are still in school, but for all of us still seeking how to improve and sustain this life. And, of course, more prayer .

We have to feed our life with a lot of prayers. If we do so, our energy tank will be full for the whole day's challenge. This will be the only way by which we can be of service to others. An empty tank has nothing to give.

We have to do this. If not, we will be inundated with MORE, which is MATERIALISM OBSTRUCTING our RESOLVE for ETERNITY.

We will be reliant on objects. On what satisfies us for the moment. On instant gratification. We will be bogged down. We will have a lot of clutter in our lives.

For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. (Luke 12: 34).

Our treasure should be with the other MORE who is Mary Offering the Rosary, the Redeemer, for Eternity.

Indeed, this is the MORE we need. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come into our lives.

Fr. Allan Fenix


MARY OFFERING the ROSARY for ETERNITY

Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions.” (Luke 12: 15).

Nowadays, many things in the past which we considered as luxuries and prohibitive to a lot of us, like air conditioning, high definition television sets, washing machines, refrigerators, motorcycles and automobiles, and other gadgets, have already become a necessity and are even so affordable for everyone.

Our market is flooded with the availability of just about any products that one can think of, there is the assurance of next day delivery, and the payment system is so convenient.

Cash is king! Everyone is in a feeding frenzy to find it so as to possess the latest product being offered on the market. And, there is never enough of it. We want MORE, MORE and MORE!

Greed now is being justified as a necessity; a hobby; a recreation.

With our desire for MORE, we become impatient with the humble electric fans not giving us the cool air we want. So, we look forward to having air conditioning.

Our life is now so stressful that the old television set in the corner cannot satisfy anymore the entertainment escape we so long for at the end of the day.

We gradually learn to abhor hard work so that we don't have anymore time to even wash our laundry by hand .

People are living farther and farther away from the downtown areas for cheaper housing and rent. It is now justified to have our own motorcycles and automobiles to bring us to school and work. Life now has become so busy that we barely see and talk to each other.

So, we need the latest gadget model. We need MORE, MORE and MORE to save more of our precious time, and to make our lives more convenient, but we also forgot the most significant thing of all.

Like the rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest:

He asked himself, “What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?” And he said, “This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, 'Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!' But God said to him, “You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?” Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God. (Luke 12: 16- 21).

Our lives are now full of clutter. People purchase religious icons, rosaries, miraculous medals and request them to be blessed, not for any devotional purposes, but as amulets to help them attract more fortune, luck, and riches. Just take a look at our practice of putting rosaries on the handlebars and rear-view mirrors of our motorcycles and automobiles. Putting miraculous medals in the cornerstones of our houses to make it firm against earthquakes and natural calamities. But, the question is, do we ever use it to pray? Do we still even find time to pray?

Our lives have become so busy and stressful in our desire and quest for MORE, MORE and MORE and we don't have time anymore to stop, reflect and pray. We are bogged down by “Materialism Obstructing our Resolve for Eternity.”

We have to make up our mind. The desire and quest for MORE, MORE and MORE, or is it rather, “MARY OFFERING the ROSARY, the Redeemer, for ETERNITY?”

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


GOD MANIFESTING HIMSELF TO US

Lately, three simple things happened, which might just appear trivial and coincidental. However, seeing and finding God acting in these small things uplifted me a lot.

And I tell you, ask and you will receive. For everyone who asks, receives. (Luke 11: 9-10).

One time, I was in my room feeling alone and down. I was complaining about why God never answered my petition prayers to Him, when suddenly the phone rang. The moment I accepted the call, the first thing I heard was my name and it was my mother, who seldom calls and who had unexpectedly called me that day. I am sure it was God consoling me through the call of my mother.

I remember what happened to St. Mary Magdalene on the first day of the week, when she came to the tomb early in the morning while it was still dark and saw the stone removed from the tomb. Jesus said to her, “Woman , why are you weeping? “Whom are you looking for?” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. (John 20: 1, 15-16).

Seek and you will find. The one who seeks, finds.

At another time again, I was praying before the Sacred Heart altar, asking for a sign as to whether it really heard my prayers, when suddenly I heard the short and sudden sound of a cricket chirping outside the window. I got amused by the incident. I told myself, “Why of all things! A cricket suddenly chirping at that time when I was praying before the Sacred Heart altar!”

Knock and the door will be opened to you. To the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Reflecting on the above passage, I remember the Lord appearing to Abraham by the terebinth of Mamre, as he sat in the entrance of his tent, while the day was growing hot. Looking up, Abraham saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them; and bowing to the ground, he said: “Sir, if I may ask you this favor, please do not go on past your servant.” (Genesis 18: 1-3).

One time, I was again in my room bored when the intercom rang telling me that someone wished to see me. When I went down, it turned out to be three parishioners from a former assignment whom I had not seen for a long time. They were THREE! After the brief drop by, I saw the three of them as the Holy Trinity -- the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They broke the chain of boredom and monotony I had been feeling lately and on that day.

Then, I started to pray: Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins, as we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us. And do not subject us to the final test. (Luke 11: 2-4).

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


LDR

Ambulant vendors, who used to go around shouting loudly about their wares on foot and on bicycles, are now being silenced. A recorded voice from their cheaply-bought megaphones repeatedly blares about their products, as they go around town. Now, on their tri-mobiles.

Silence is really precious that it is now kept and saved. Nowadays, people rarely speak to and with each other. We now have the technology and apps to do it conveniently for us. Let it do its work for us, then.

In our quest to be efficient, even the practice of our faith is likewise heavily affected. We are being silenced.

From the ringing of the church bells, the recitation of the Angelus, the liturgical music, the praying of the rosary, the novenas, the Eucharistic Adoration and down to the celebration of the Holy Mass itself, everything is already played, recorded or live streamed.

So, who still needs to get up from their easy chairs to brave pollution and heavy traffic when everything is just being spoon-fed to us? We are no longer making noise. We are no longer reciting, speaking, or singing. We are just being kept silent with all these new technologies.

The only thing that cannot be prerecorded, replayed and copied is the presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, as it all shouts genuineness and Real Presence and not virtual. The Real Presence is just too deafening to be ignored. It cannot be silenced.

The real presence in the Holy Eucharist cannot be a LDR (Long Distance Relationship), as what is being done nowadays with many of our human relationships, but, rather, it can only be a LDR - a “Living Devoted Relationship.”

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


LISTENING and DOING

Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.”

In reflecting on this passage, I remember the many “Marthas” I saw in our village masses. Village chapels have multipurpose functions. Some use it as the stockroom for their agricultural products. As an extra classroom. A medical center. An evacuation place. A homeless shelter. Even stray dogs just come and go.

Usually, a day before the scheduled mass, the Marthas, or those in charge, will be very busy cleaning the chapel, putting on curtains and table mantles, and wiping the pews. Then there are looking for mass sponsors, coordinating the sound system, and furnishing the snacks for the visiting priest and his companions.

Even during the day of the mass, they are seldom seen, as they just keep on going to and fro, still coordinating things, as something will always be lacking and wanting, and won't be seen during the preparation. These Marthas in our villages are very admirable. They are the movers and shakers. It seems that without them nothing would be accomplished in our village religious activities.

Nowadays, with all the various concerns vying for our precious attention, we are taught to multitask- doing a number of activities at the same time. However, it was found out that doing so divides our attention. We think that we are accomplishing a lot in a very short period of time when, in fact, there is the strong tendency to be haphazard as we lose focus. There is even the risk of double work: doing something all over again.

She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak... There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her. (Luke 10: 39, 42).

Work smart, not hard. I remember a bad experience of mine in the past when I received a failing grade on an exam. In my excitement to get it over with, I immediately answered and accomplished everything upon receiving the test paper, and without listening and reading the proper instructions from the teacher. The Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. The novenas. In our prayers, there is also the great tendency in us to be so talkative so as to accomplish a lot. However, in doing so,we fail to be silent and just listen to God.

No wonder so many of our Perpetual Adoration Chapels, which used to be so popular in the past, are fast closing their doors and disappearing in our parishes, as no one wants to be silent and listen anymore. Instead, we like to be active and talkative so as to seemingly accomplish a lot in a very short time. When was the last time we had a silent exposition of the Holy Eucharist in our parishes and institutions?

We wish not to be bored and sleepy. So, we incorporate a lot of things from playing meditative music, singing, praying the rosary, spiritual readings.

You are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. To sit beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


PROFESSIONAL VERSUS AMATEUR

And who is my neighbor?”

A couple, who were petitioned by their married child to come and live with them in another country, eventually decided to go back home, realizing how much lonelier they had become when they could not even see who their neighbors were.

Their neighbors minded their own business. The streets were empty. People just kept to themselves. The most that they could do to relate to them was with a wave of a hand and cliche greetings like a “Hi!,” “Hello!,” or “Have a good day!”

During months and years living there, they did not form any good neighborly relationships. Their immune systems weakened. They became sickly. They started to miss their old neighborhood. And thus, they decided to go back home.

A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, 'Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.'” (Luke 10: 30-35).

This is the case of a professional and an amateur neighbor. A certified professional, like the priest or Levite, are bound by their job descriptions. Sometimes their titles act as cordon sanitaires, fencing, tying and walling them up away from the people who they must serve. Certified professionals are into specializations, so that they can just say; 'It's not my job!' or 'Its for the next guy!'

On the other hand, there are the amateur neighbors like the Samaritan who do something just for the love of it without lots of kudos. Our reaching out to help our neighbors should not carry with it any brand or labels. It should be pure and simple help. Otherwise, with all the considerations we keep on harboring, we will not be able to deliver the kind of help that is needed.

There are people around us who do this. They say that their religion is the natural one. They do not profess to belong to any organized, big name religions. However, they just silently help however, whenever, and with whatever they can. The true neighbor is the one who helps with mercy, and not due to a sense of duty and obligation.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


LAMBS AMONG WOLVES

Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. (Luke 10: 3-4).

There was a couple who, during their courtship period, would often be seen coming together to church to attend the mass. It was their weekly routine.

When they got married they still came together for the mass during the early part of their marriage. However, time came when it was only the other partner, coming together with the children to church. The other partner already had some other, more interesting things to do besides going to mass on Sunday. In time, when the children all grew up and went away, it was just the wife who was consistently coming to church for the mass.

Then, the time came when one day when both of them showed up in church for the mass, but it was for a funeral mass for the other partner. At last, both of them came to do their usual activity when they were still in their courtship period, and early on in their marriage, but now one was already inside a coffin.

Life used to be very simple. Very light. We would go to the movies on weekends and after school, and to church for the mass on Sundays. Nowadays, there are just about a thousand and one things that cross our paths to distract us.

The children in our neighborhood who we grew up with, and who we used to go together to church with by walking on a sunny Sunday, were all gone. Except on very special occasions, none of them were coming to church together with their growing up families. They had already found some other more interesting things to do.

Is the mass only for children? Is the mass merely for the simple? For the lambs? For those who have no money bags, no sacks, no sandals and have no one to greet them along the way?

Is there a point in our lives when we become “too good” for church? Have we stopped coming because it is no longer our priority? We have found some other, more interesting things to do? These are the wolves that take us far away from God.

No wonder, in the story that I related above, that after a long time both partners, husband and wife, at last came together to church. But it was for the funeral mass of the other one inside a coffin. And it was the wolves in their lives that had finally devoured him.

As children, I, and I'm sure most of us, were brought up to be in church on Sunday. Let us be like lambs. Let us go back to that habit. Because the times keep on changing, and the simple things we learned as children will give us the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm us. We need no money bag, no sack, no sandals nor to greet anyone along the way. Just show up and be in church on Sunday.

Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven. (Luke 10: 20).

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


MYOPIA vs HYPEROPIA

...foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” (Luke 9: 58).

In the past, to enter the seminary, I remember asking our grandmother for the amount of P 150 (US $3.00), telling her that I was going on a 3-day holy retreat, which was actually the 3-day seminary orientation period. After a month, I received a letter, together with all the needed requirements, saying that I was accepted for the opening school year. Thus began a very long journey.

And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father. “...I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” (Luke 9: 59, 61).

In our time, with all the ongoing research and development, our gadgets have become part and parcel of our lives. We allow ourselves to get distracted big time. I see motorists staring at them while on the road driving. I have had the experience of seeing communicants, when receiving the Holy Eucharist by hand, dropping the host on the floor because they were holding dearly in their hands their expensive and bulky gadgets. They let the consecrated host drop on the floor, but not their gadgets. Members of the mourning family are busy with their gadgets during the funeral masses of their dead loved ones.

Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God... No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 9: 60, 62).

Is it now more difficult to follow Jesus than in the past?

Nowadays, many still would like to follow Jesus, but they want more time to finish their Tik-Tok videos, their online games, and vlogs. There was even a gruesome incident in which a student committed suicide when he was prohibited from using his gadget due to failing grades. There are those who steal other people's gadgets due to enviousness.

We have allowed ourselves to get addicted and attached to the point that our view of life has become myopic. All we see is just what is in front of us. We have become addicted to the mundane, the earthbound and the temporary – something that perishes.

As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” (Luke 9: 57).

Hyperopia” is being far sighted. Seeing the longer view, the permanent, the transcendent, and the heavenly. This is the challenging part, and it is just getting more exciting by the day.

As Peter replied:

Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (John 6: 68-69).

Fr. Allan S Fenix


TRUSTING AND RUSTING IN GOD

I read the following inscription on a dollar bill: “In God We Trust.” Yes, we need to trust in God and stick with him until we rust – die.

Have you heard about the smallest seedling that can grow into the biggest tree even without being exposed to the sun nor watered? How about the magic flour that with just a little amount, a few granules at best, makes bread enough to feed a hundred or even thousands?

Each of these mass productions I have related is made possible not because they were "Made in China," which has now become synonymous with anything made available at a cheap price, but because they were all "Made in Christ:" made through Him, made with Him, and made in Him.

They replied, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people.” Now the men there numbered about five thousand. Then he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty.” They did so and made them all sit down. Then taking the five loaves and two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets. (Luke 9:13-17).

Groups of about fifty... made them all sit down... Then taking the five loaves and two fish, and looking up to heaven, said the blessing over them, broke them, gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd... All ate and were satisfied.

All the rubrics of this miracle happened inside the mass. In the mass, we stand, we sit, we kneel...There is the offertory. The offering of gifts. The consecration. The distribution of communion. In the mass, there is a mass production of graces. More than enough for each and everyone including our sick loved ones left at home.

Yes, we really need to trust and rust in God, for your father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:8).

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


SHARP AS A HARPOON

I went through some difficulties reflecting on something as abstract and formless as the Holy Spirit. However, as I persisted, the words that kept on forming in my imagination were “sharp” and “harpoon”. Yes, the Holy Spirit comes to me as sharp as a harpoon.

Remember the whale movie, Moby Dick?

Two incidents:

As soon as Jesus was baptized he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. (Matthew 3: 16).

The Holy Spirit is so sharp that it opened heaven:

Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them . And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2: 2-3).

The Holy Spirit as a mighty rushing wind and flames of fire.

Every time a new school year opens, the first thing listed in the program are the masses of the Holy Spirit. Education and the Holy Spirit are very much interrelated. John 16: 12-13 says it succinctly:

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”

Our mind, our natural power, must be sharp to pierce the darkness of ignorance. Knowledge burns through us, as we travel into the light. To make it realistic and concrete, knowledge is like a sharp harpoon, spearing the largest fish in the sea.

As I asked earlier, remember the whale movie, Moby Dick?

The Holy Spirit is sharp as a harpoon. So much so that when Jesus let out a loud cry, and breathed his last, “...the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” (Mark 15: 37-38).

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


BEDRAGGLED

Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me. (John 14:24).

When I started to reflect on this scripture, the image of a person who used to sit waiting for food to be handed to him, when our parents used to operate a convenience store, came up in my mind.

This person, in a word, looked “bedraggled” – wet, limp, soiled, as if from being dragged through mud. He might be likened to the ones we see, from time to time, on the streets we call “taong grasa” (which means “oiled person”). They do not have a bed to lay their heads on, their clothes are like rags, and their minds are loose.

Can the Word of God be considered bedraggled? The Word of God just sitting by waiting to be read, eaten, appreciated? Is it only a prop? A display gathering dust? A bygone symbolic nuptial offering?

Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. (John 14: 23).

As I continued in my reflection, the lyrics of a popular song started playing in my mind:

Talk in everlasting words.

And dedicate them all to me.

And I will give you all my life.

I'm here If you should call to me.

Words, words, words... Sometimes, they are spelled and used correctly. Sometimes, they are misspelled by the text generator and used wrongly.

In what shape does the Word of God exist?

In science, we learned that matter is anything that has weight and occupies space.

Yes, the Word of God is matter. It matters a lot. It exists in three different ways:

1. Solid. As it is found written in the sacred scriptures, it is read in the Bible and lived in our lives.

2. Liquid. When it is the content of our conversations. Or shared orally. Or is seen written on the walls and ceilings of our public transports, or on signs, streamers, billboards, or in the movies.

3. Gas. When the Word of God is broadcast on air. Live-streamed online, or use in blogs and vlogs.

The Word of God is not only matter but truly a mater, the Latin word for mother; one who gives birth. The Word of God is a mother who gives off seeds which, when they fall on fertile soil, produce a crop that is thirty, sixty and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! “He who has ears, let him hear.” (Matthew 13:8).

We cannot afford to let the Word of God get bedraggled. For it has its proper home in us, in our minds, in our hearts, in our hands, and in our feet.

Jesus said to his disciples: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name – he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. (John 14: 15, 25-26).

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


PRAY AND FLY

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. (Luke 24: 50-51).

There is a popular song that says: I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch the sky. I think about it every night and day. Spread my wings and fly away.

As a child, I used to watch a lot of futuristic movies about outer space, space ships, and unidentified flying objects. At one time, I dreamed of being a pilot myself, flying my own plane to the highest heights, and seeing the earth from that different perspective. However, I got discouraged when I saw a TV news report about a student pilot perishing when his plane crashed and burned up in a fireball on the tarmac while having his test flight.

Nowadays, whenever I have the opportunity to go on an international flight, I make it a point to sit by the window and, in those cottony clouds, I relive the moment when Jesus was taken up to heaven. Up, up and away!

And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. (Luke 24: 49).

Clothed with power from on high.” If we have agoraphobia, or fear of heights, why not pray? Praying is akin to being in a supersonic vehicle. Because it takes us to great new heights that we have never been to before. Using our minds and hearts, we will be one on one, face to face in an encounter with the supernatural – God.

After the utter exhilaration we experienced at the Easter resurrection of our Lord Jesus, and after the celebrations of the Solemnities of Pentecost, the Most Holy Trinity, and the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, we are now gradually touching back down to the ground in the Ordinary Season.

...and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (Luke 24:47).

Twenty-one Sundays of the Ordinary Season lead up to Christ the King Sunday, and the end of another liturgical calendar reminds us always of two things.

Repentance. Remember the words spoken to us as the blessed ashes were imposed on our foreheads: “Repent and believe in the gospel.” This was also the Advent message: the voice of one crying in the wilderness:

Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted. And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight . And the rough places smooth.” (Isaiah 40: 30-34).

Forgiveness of sins would be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. It's the great jubilee once again. Then shall you cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall he make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.

And yet shall shallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a juniper unto you; and he shall return every man unto his possession, and he shall return every man unto his family. (Leviticus 25: 9-10).

We don't need any platform nor scaffolding, crutches, or mind-altering drugs for take off, all we need is to pray and we will fly with Jesus to great heights!

Up, up and away!

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


BENEDICAMUS DOMINO (Let us bless the Lord)

Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” (John 14:23).

I remember our grandmother, who would usually ask on a day to day basis come nighttime, if those of us already at home knew whether the other members of the household were safely home. I would often see her sitting in a chair by the main door, keeping vigil waiting for everyone. Then, when everyone was in, she would finally put on the wooden beam to lock the door.

I remember being taught to pray to my guardian angel before and upon waking up from sleep. In my innocence, I even asked how many “Our Fathers”, “Hail Marie's” and “Glory Be's” would satisfy my guardian angel. I also remember that, back in the seminary, seminarians would usually respond with a “Deo Gratias” (Thanks be to God) upon rising up, when the assigned timer would announce “Benedicamus Domino” (Let us bless the Lord).

Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me. (John 14:24).

At the start of my reflection, I related those stories, as we were being challenged to live out the 7 Spiritual Works of Mercy in a world full of sinners, ignoramuses, doubters, the sorrowful, those on the wrong side of life, offenders and the living and dead, all needing prayers. And finally, we are to bring them all home to the Father.

The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. (John 14:26).

The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, being a spirit, is infused in us when we sinners remind and instruct each other. We easily forget, or take for granted, many things. Sometimes, there is the tendency in us to just keep on presuming. It is so humbling to be reminded and instructed.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. (John 14:27).

Life is full of insecurities. Along the way, we lose many precious things in our lives. Even with our faith, we are, in the same way, beset with all doubtfulness and sorrows. We need to carry each other through it all on our shoulders.

You heard me tell you, “I am going away and I will come back to you.” If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. (John 14:28).

Please be patient with me. God is not yet finish with me. Imperfect as we are, we all need patience and forgiveness.

At the end of the day, as we go home and go to our rooms, we again pray to our guardian angels, to the Holy Spirit, the living and the dead, to grant us a peaceful rest so that tomorrow we can all say once again “Benedicamus Domino” (Let us bless the Lord).

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


QUANTITY VS. QUALITY

I give you a new commandment: love one another... (John 13:34).

Just as most of us have a very short attention span, we also have short memory banks. We are too preoccupied with many concerns that we easily forget. That's why we have to be constantly reminded of the many important things in our day to day lives like paying our taxes properly, voting wisely, registering our automobiles, renewing our licenses.

And this is so timely, as the national and local elections have just ended, and we are being reminded to love one another as Jesus loved us.

In our catechism, we learned that our primary mission in this life is to know, love and serve God, our creator. And so, win or lose, we are again being reminded to start getting to know, love and serve our neighbors (and constituents), and not just in terms of using and gaining from them for our own ends:

"How much? Can you please give me a good price? I'll give you a tip!"

In the world to know, to love and to serve is quantified. It comes with a price tag. We like to know rich influential persons so we can social climb. The pricier an item is, the more it represents the amount of love and serving we feel.

It is even distorted. To know, to love and to serve is equated with the pleasure of the senses. Some even abuse it to the extreme. Knowing, loving and serving is primarily motivated by ulterior motives.

Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13: 34-35).

Just a few weeks ago, on Good Friday, Jesus Christ, through the wood of his cross, showed us how he knew, loved and served us totally and without any reservation. He knows, loves and serves the people of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Coming back to us, now that the elections are over, win or lose, the acid test for the authenticity of our knowing, loving and serving is if, like Jesus on the cross, we continue on knowing, loving and serving our neighbors and constituents unconditionally.

If we follow this divine blue print, "Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once." (John 13: 31-32).

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


OMNI

Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10: 27).

Our parents, who operated a small convenience store, would usually take turns eating their meals. Our father ate first and our mother followed, then the help.

On summer vacations, which provided the only lengthy span of time in which we could all be together, we siblings would also usually choose to either eat with our father or our mother. I noticed how large our family really was when I overheard our mother, who was preoccupied with the store and the kitchen, say that she did not really know whether all of her children had eaten.

Do we really know how to listen to the voice of God? Does he really know each one of us? Is it God whom we follow?

It's election time and we have posters of candidates prominently plastered in every corner of our community and, as well, on the television and online. Even on T-shirts and fans. These are ways to let voters see and know who they are.

There are many voters who really don't know who to vote for, or about the individual issues they are an advocate for. On the day of voting, face to face with a ballot to fill up, many merely rely on name and face recall. Some do a guessing game or just do whatever comes to mind. Some do it haphazardly.

So, the candidate, who has invested much on posters, banners, television, online ads and other campaign paraphernalia, has the greatest probability of gaining a lot of votes and, if fortunate enough, wins the position. It's actually just a big popularity game.

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one. (John 10: 28-29).

Is this also true of God with us, his children? With the billions of us existing on this planet, can he keep up with each one of us personally?

Is there a possibility of going unnoticed, “flying under the radar,” like when our mother says that she does not even know whether all of her children had already eaten their meals? How about those people who die unexpectedly and tragically?

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father's hand. (John 10: 28).

God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. Being omnipotent (all-powerful), he is in total control of himself and his creation. Being omniscient (all-knowing), he is the ultimate determiner of truth and falsity. He is the truth. Being omnipresent, he is everywhere. His power and knowledge extend to all parts of his creation. God is our good shepherd who is powerful, knows us, and is present beside each one of us.

With God, it's a one on one – a “man to man” thing. One Master Near an Individual. “Omni.”

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


I AM GOING FISHING

So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.”

The appearance of Jesus to the seven disciples was the gospel reading on the First Week of Easter Friday, a week after Good Friday, to show how close the heart of Jesus is to this certain group of people – the fisher-folk. John the Apostle, the disciple with whom he entrusted Mary, his mother, was there.

Talking about fisher-folk: We read and hear in the news about those fisher-folk who cannot catch anything, as the places where they used to fish are now guarded by a foreign power asserting their sovereignty over it. There are also those who employ illegal means like dynamite and electronic shock to get the most possible number of fish.

Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. (John 21:3).

In schools and families, one does not hear anybody proudly saying that when they grow up, they would wish to be simple fisher-folk. Maybe for some, in the absence of any options to survive and help support their needy families, they instead chose fishing as a lifetime livelihood.

Small-time fishing, as a livelihood, occupies the lowest rung of the social ladder. However, Jesus chose from among them his first disciples. He chose the least to teach those who have the most financially, academically and socially.

Fishing, as a livelihood, does not have a lot of formal training. No classroom instruction is required. No standard testing certification or accreditation is needed, just a lot of hands on training. Fishing is also a lifestyle. One has to live it. Working at odd hours in all weather conditions; lacking sleep. The sea hardens and strengthens them.

Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.

It is to these hardy and strong characters, the simple fisher-folk, with which Jesus entrusted the land based mission of feeding and tending his lambs and sheep.

When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea.

Furthermore, fishing, as in many other forms of livelihood, does not require any uniforms so as individuals may be differentiated and recognized.

The lambs and sheep sitting in the pews, do we give respect to the sacredness of a place? Many go to church not properly dressed and playing with their mobile phones. Going to church nowadays seemed like going for a walk in the mall or park. Many are just wearing short pants and slippers, but sport high-end brand mobile phones, which are sometimes, even often times, a source of distraction for others. There were even times during communion by hand when they dropped the blessed hosts on the floor. All because their hands are holding on to their high-end brand mobile phones.

Jesus said to them, “Come have breakfast.” And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they realized it was the Lord. Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish. (John 21:12-13).

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


A LIFE IN HIS NAME

A Life in his name. When I read, “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, 'Peace be with you,' I remembered a similar situation we just had during the recent pandemic, wherein everyone was told to stay indoors, avoid group gatherings, and wear a mask or else incur a penalty. Death seemed to be at our doorsteps. We were also in fear like the disciples.

Now, we are in the middle of a hot summer and almost everyone wants to be outdoors. It seems as though the pandemic, all of a sudden, is over. The prices of gasoline maybe at an all-time high, nevertheless our roads are busy all throughout the day, with motorists in droves coming and going to cooler destinations.

It is also at this time of the year when a number of drowning incidents have occurred, and the question that I often hear from bereaved families is, “Father, where is now our loved one?” Feeling pressured whenever I hear that question, I also say the answer to myself, “If only I could say to your dead loved one, in Jesus name, arise.” For the bereaved families, who lose a loved one unexpectedly, they also pray how they wish that he or she was still alive.

For the disciples of Jesus, everything that transpired that Good Friday seemed but a bad dream. A snafu. And, although they were already told to be prepared for it, they didn't have the proper time to even think on what was the right thing to do. So, they just melted and run away. Their formation together with their master did not sufficiently “kick in” at the very crucial time of his passion.

When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. (John 20:20).

A Life in his name. It was a big surprise for them to see him resurrected and alive except for Thomas, who wanted to see more physical validations. Thomas is like the bereaved families who lose a loved one and who would also like to know where their loved one is in the great beyond. They want some assurances.

A Life in his name. My only answer is that all of our dead loved ones, whether they died naturally or otherwise, are now at peace in the nailed hands and pierced side of Jesus Christ.

Let our only apt response be, “My Lord and my God!” We will be blessed if we have not seen, yet believe. We believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief we may have a Life in his name.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


LIFE OVER DEATH

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. (John 20: 1).

Are you a morning or evening person? Just as there are some who stay up, sleep in and wake up much later in the day, there are also those who are already in bed and up early in the morning just like Mary of Magdala who discovered something.

Going further on this line of reflection and following on the quote which says, “the early bird catches the worm,” there are some event organizers who prepare some items as giveaways for early registrants. The early registrants are the “early birds” who are in the place first and will get what they want. Mary of Magdala was an early bird and got what she was looking for – the resurrected Jesus .

With the great scoop she discovered, “...she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, 'They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him.'" (John 20: 2).

And, just like a lot of our media outfits check out this kind of breaking news, so Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. One thing about Mary of Magdala; she merely relayed what she discovered in the tomb. However, the two disciples were more into details:

They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first. He bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. (John 20: 3-8).

Thus proving the statement he made before the Jews, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” (John 2: 19).

Now, going back to being either a morning or an evening person, we have to remember this, and do this, understanding the present time! The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

For Mary of Magdala, Simon Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved, with what they witnessed at the empty tomb – the triumph of life over death their lives were never the same again. They now had put on the armor of light to be witnesses of LIFE over DEATH.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


FUN MASS

If there is a Youth Mass, and a Children's Mass, is there also a Fun Mass?

Upon seeing the handwritten Mass Schedule on the bulletin board, which was written this way: “9:00 A.M. – FUN Mass,” a parishioner asked if there is a FUN Mass, is there also a SAD Mass?

To shorten the word “funeral,” the secretary would usually write the shortcut “FUN.” However, that day she missed putting a period after the word “FUN” to complete it.

To the question of the parishioner, my answer is: “No! There is neither a 'Fun' nor a 'Sad' Mass. There is only a 'Happy' Mass, because Jesus Christ is alive!

Alleluia!

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


THEY DIVIDED HIS GARMENTS BY CASTING LOTS

In the final scene of Bonnie and Clyde, after the criminal couple died when the police strafed their getaway vehicle, the people alongside the road, the bystanders who had merely heard of their criminal exploits on the news, crowded around their bloodied corpses, retrieving any personal effects they could grab, like a button, a hat, or a belt. That scene sprang into my imagination when I read:

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” They divided his garments by casting lots. (Luke 22:34).

In the same way, and featured in the news from time to time, are stories about the ordinary personal effects of long gone celebrities fetching thousands, and even millions, of dollars at auction compliments of their die-hard fans.

These are the usual images that come to me when I think of how they came up with the idea of dividing his garments by casting lots. They seemed to indicate that, though Jesus Christ could not be equated with any celebrities that came around during his time, he had already attained a certain level of notoriority among the people. He had gotten hold of their attention. So much so that they did what the modern equivalent of the die-hard fans of dead celebrities do with whatever personal effects they have left behind, for they also cast lots by bidding at auctions.

I am pretty sure that, quality and price wise, the garments that Jesus Christ had on his way to Calvary were nothing in the eyes of the fashion conscious people watching all of the events transpiring that day. So, what made them decide to do what they did? They were convinced that the person whom they crucifed between the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left, was Someone.

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” (Luke 22:34). He has a Father who can forgive the sins of many. We all have our own fathers. But, how many of them can dispense forgiveness because we did not know what we were doing?

The people stood by and watched; the rulers, meanwhile, sneered at him and said, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God.” (Luke 22:35).

He saved others. Nowadays, we often read in the news about people getting rewarded with medals or plaques for saving someone from drowning, from a vehicular accident, or a wounded comrade in war. That's the same feeling that the rulers, soldiers and the unrepentant criminal had when they said, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God.” They were confident that he was able to take good care of himself.

And, finally, even the repentant criminal was rewarded when he said, “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise...” (Luke 22: 42-43).

People, whatever their religious persuasions may be, deep within their hearts, are in agreement that our lives consist not only of our presence here in this material world, but that there is the everlasting life that we all have to go to at the end of our lives. And the only person who can give it is Jesus Christ.

Now, who won and who got the pieces of his garments?

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


DEAD PROJECT

In school, I learned the idiomatic expression, “To kill two birds with one stone,” which means to complete, achieve or take care of two tasks at the same time or with a singular series of actions.

I have a dead project which I wish to share with you. In a nearby cemetery, lie our maternal grandfather, grandmother and our mother's two younger siblings – an uncle and an aunt – all in one single plot of land. Whenever I have time, I will go visit them, pray the rosary, and wipe their headstones with a rug.

One time, while I was doing the usual routine visit, an idea popped in my mind that instead of putting flowers which wither and fade anyway over their headstones, as the others around us were doing, why not use the empty wine bottles we have around the house?

In a way, I had an ulterior motive in doing it. I would wished to “bribe” the souls of my dead loved ones. So, I filled up four stray, empty wine bottles I found just laying around the house with water, and put one of them over each one of their headstones.

Unless someone removes it, these four, used-to-be empty wine bottles now filled up with water, will not wither and fade, but will endure the elements for a long time. Why fill them up with water? Jesus himself said, “But whoever drinks the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4: 14).

Doing this, I killed two birds with one stone. I not only recycled those empty wine bottles sitting around the house, but also, hopefully, pleased the souls of my dead loved ones enough to grant me all my petitionary prayers. I am confident that it will come to fruition. As Philippians 4: 9 says, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or have seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


WHERE IS GOD?

Then the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. 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?”

Reading the above passage, I remembered a grisly scene which I wished I had never seen. It was while watching a 24- hour news network channel. The image stayed with me. It reverberated in my memory, bringing me sleepless nights. The clip, taken by a hidden camera, showed a packed sports stadium where a fully-shrouded woman, sitting on the ground in the middle of the field, was shot point-blank in he head with an automatic rifle by a person clad in black and showing no qualms of conscience. The scene was very strong. What had the woman done to deserve such a fate?

It was good for the woman in the gospel, caught in the very act of committing adultery, that Jesus was there to defend and free her from a similar sentence to what I saw in that grisly news clip. He did this with his remark, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7).

Jesus employed a very effective verbal assault and repulsed them. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. (John 8: 9).

But where was Jesus when thousands, and even millions, of nameless and faceless, innocent people lost their lives for being caught in the middle of the whims of the so-called powers-that-be? Has God abandoned and forgotten them?

Again, I remembered a childhood war movie I had seen titled, Three Years without God. People caught in the middle of a seemingly never ending conflict were asking as to where God was in the middle of their sufferings and deaths experiences. Why was he so silent? Did he pull the plug on them? Can we dismiss the issue by just telling them that it was a means of purification? Go and try telling that to a bereaved family who has just lost a loved one in a very senseless manner.

So he was left alone with the woman before him.” Whether with our health or with our lives, when we have already exhausted all ways and means and yet it's the same dismal negative results over and over again. When it is as though there's no way out for us anymore, when we are at the end of our rope, when it is as though God is playing deaf and mute to all our cries and pleas, the best thing that we can do is to kneel down and pray. In prayer we will be left alone with God. It's between us and him. Let God just take over.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


A MIRACLE OR JUST A COINCIDENCE?

Recently, a parishioner approached and told me about her plan of disposing by burying old icons with missing parts like an arm, an eye, peeling paint, or damaged areas. I suggested to her that instead of doing that, why not pass them on to me? I will continue taking good care of them.

In the past, I also picked up and adopted an icon, in similar condition, of the Holy Family I found by the church premises. I cleaned it and put it in my room. My room did not have any sacramentals installed in it.

I started to regularly pray the rosary in front of it. Touched and hugged it whenever I feel any desolations in my life and, I was sure, with the consolations I received, that it was working.

On the day that the icons were brought to me in a large paper bag, they were in the condition that was earlier on described to me. Some parts were missing, the paint was peeling here and there, and the appearance was disheveled

I decided to bring one of them, the icon of the Sto. Nino (the Infant of Prague) home. Ordinarily, no one lives at our home permanently. It is just locked. So, I talked with the icon of the Sto. Nino, and asked him to look after it while all of us are away.

One of the lingering issues we have at home was that of water, as with a water pump or none, it does not climb up to the third floor.

The gospel reading for that day was from Luke 5:1-7:

There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. In these lay large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.”

I am a person of little faith. Was it a miracle or just mere coincidence when, one early morning, I happened to pass by our house to check around, and to my great surprised, upon opening the door, I heard the loud gushing sound of water coming down from the third floor. My initial reaction was that someone had broken into our property. I do not live in our house. So, I do not know the whereabouts of everything.

I got scared and immediately biked and woke up our caretaker living a few streets away. When I related to him what I just discovered at home, he told me that he had gone there as early as four o clock, and had opened the gate valve to test the water pressure. Was it a mere coincidence that the water pressure that time was much stronger, now that we are ramping up to the hot dry season? Or really a miracle from the Sto. Nino?

Oh God, please help me strengthen my faith in you. I know you went up our house and filled our water tank with water. You stirred it and it gush forth down to shower our family with graces from your bounty.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


FOUR-GIVES

In the past, and even nowadays, to help potential customers conveniently pay for certain merchandise, enterprising persons devised the installment system, which was aptly called, “Two-gives, three-gives, four-gives.”

Just as many of us dread going to our dental and medical appointments, so also do we dread approaching the Sacrament of Reconciliation. To help lessen that feeling, the parable of the Prodigal Son is usually used in penitentiary services to prepare people for the activity. Let us go through it in small chunks: in “four-gives.”

Just like the younger son in the parable:

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. When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need... (Luke 15: 13-14).

    We were also given a lot in life. It is a lot but limited which, most of the time, gets misused.

In the past, when I first heard this parable, I thought the younger son was lacking in economics, which is the allocation of limited resources. The younger son had poor financial management skills. So, this taught and pushed me to save money a lot. I do not want to be in dire need, going as far as eating the food meant for the pigs. However, later, I learned that the message was far-ranging. I must not waste my time, talent or treasure.

Life is one big gamble. We win some, but lose a lot. Our bounty depends on the amount we bet. The younger son definitely put up a big bet and, as often is the case, he lost big time.

Have you already experienced hunger pangs in a foreign land where you do not know anyone? How many of us have hit bottom or the hard wall? What can we do to get out of the rut?

The younger son's one great skill was praying. As children, we play a lot but as adults we learned to pray, and learned of prayer's importance in our lives. The following realizations occurred:

Coming to his senses he thought, “How many of my father's hired workers have more than enough 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.'” (Luke 15:17-19).

This was the fruit of his prayers: his prayers were answered. It was a Grace that he was able to think of it that way and not in a worse way and manner.

The younger son bet again and, thanks be to God, this time he won! He hit the big time. So he got up and went back to his father. 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...

But his father ordered the 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.” (Luke 15: 20-24).

We should never stop showing up. Never stop betting. One day we are going to get what we have been betting on for such a long time.

Now the older son... became angry 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.” 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.” (Luke 15: 25-32).

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is far-reaching and ranging. It reaches everyone. The final statement of the father is so touching. When we confess and get absolved, the grace we receive does not solely go to us, but also to the persons around us at the house, in school or at work. This is what the Sacrament of Reconciliation gives us.

Lesson learned. If we think in one big chunk, it is so difficult. But, if we break it down into small bits and pieces, it will be a breeze – and all so easy to be forgiven by way of the four-gives.

Fr. Allan Fenix


REPENT OR NOT

I overheard someone say, "Repent or not repent, we will all perish anyway. Remember, none of us will get out of here alive."

In light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, when a lot of motorist checkpoints were set up within the boundaries of every area, I saw a lot of trucks with the inscription boldly painted, as if shouting, on the front of their hoods: PERISHABLE. DO NOT DELAY.

These were food trucks delivering either much-needed relief goods in quarantined places, or fresh produce to supermarkets being rapidly depleted of its supply due to the panic buying which ensued.

Reflecting further on these events happening around here, John 1: 23 came to mind: John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.'” In which, I also correlated it with the Archimedean and the Geometrical law of straight lines - the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

This is the simple and obvious power of straight lines. Anything we want in life is subject to this said law. To find the shortest way to our goal, we have to know two coordinates: “Point A,” where we are currently, and “Point B,” where we want to go.

So in Luke 13, verses 3 and 5 it says: “By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will perish as they did!”

We no longer just heard: “Repent and believe the gospel,” just like we heard it on Ash Wednesday, as the blessed ashes were imposed on our foreheads. There was already the great sense of urgency- Repent or else you will perish.

It is now vitally an “either/or” choice. There is no longer a need for more delaying tactics for we might perish like the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them. (Luke 13: 1, 4).

Or, in our recent days, the numerous drug-related summary executions which happened in our country over the last several years, and the innumerable deaths that visited us with the COVID- 19 pandemic. Then, also, the war raging in Ukraine.

Now, going back to last Ash Wednesday, when blessed ashes were imposed on our foreheads, I imagined that the ashes on our foreheads formed the following inscription: PERISHABLE. DO NOT DELAY.

This is our straight line. We are the perishable, fresh produce which is delicately perishable. We must not delay or else we will be like the fig tree that the owner told 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?” To which the gardener suggested a simple straight line to saving it. He 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.” (Luke 13: 7-8).

Repent or not repent, we will perish anyway. But it's best to perish repenting than to perish without repenting.

Fr. Allan Fenix


HOBNOB

As I reflect on the Transfiguration of Jesus, my mind keeps getting distracted by the prefix “trans.”

In recent days, with the rise and growing assertion of the so-called LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, Queer) communities, the prefix “trans” has been understood to mean “transgender,” which refers and relates to people whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with their birth sex.

The Transfiguration of Jesus has nothing to do with this at all. It happened while he 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. (Luke 9:29-31).

As I continued reflecting, the word “hobnob” sprung to mind. There are some people who love to hobnob with the rich, famous and powerful. To associate familiarly with them is somewhat akin to sharing in their richness, popularity and, of course, power.

In the Transfiguration of Jesus, we find Peter, John and James hobnobbing, not only with Jesus, but with Moses and Elijah as well. They represented the long history of the law and the long line of the prophets, respectively.

The reaction of Peter summarized it all. He likes it, and wants to continue the hobnobbing. No wonder he made such a very inviting suggestion. 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.” Luke 9:32-33

We can hobnob with God by imitating what Jesus did:

While he 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. Luke 9:29-30

We are at our best when we are praying. When we pray, we put our best foot forward ,which means to embark on an undertaking with as much effort and determination as possible. When we pray, we show ourselves in the best or most positive way possible. It is no wonder that we will have both external and internal transformation.

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.” (Luke 9:34-35).

As prayer is a two way communication, when we hobnob with God in prayer, audibly and inaudibly, he is also talking to us. God is talking to us! This is the absolute and ultimate form of hobnobbing.

When we hobnob with God in prayer, like in the Transfiguration of Jesus, we will also share in his holiness, power, glory and everything that is in Him without exception.

After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen. (Luke 9:36)

For sure, while we will be reduced to silence, we can still afford to share it with everyone we encounter after coming down from this, our own mountain of prayer.

Fr. Allan Fenix


DUST DEVIL

I was able to watch a documentary video about human remains being found in the desert. It was found out that people coming from some third world countries, with the objective of finding a “kingdom” where they might be free from their extreme destitution, brave and risk everything by illegally crossing the desert without knowing full well what awaits them there.

We Filipinos don't have an ordinary experience of the desert. Reflecting on the passage:

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. (Luke 4: 1).

I took me sometime to let it sink in. I came to understand why Jesus got hungry in that place, as the desert is a dry, often sandy region of little rainfall and sparse vegetation. I once had the opportunity to actually experience what it was to be in the desert, when we drove across two desert states. It was a long, monotonous drive, traversing a vast expanse of sand, stones, and saguaro cactus.

I was awakened from my reverie when the person I was with pointed to a tower of swirling sand called a dust devil. It was my first time hearing that term, so, at the first opportunity, I looked up what it was about.

Dust devils can produce radio noise and electrical fields greater than 10,000 volts per meter . They pick up small dirt and dust particles, and, as the particles swirl around, they become electrically charged through contact or “frictional” charging. With this formation of a dust devil occurring in the desert, I rightly concluded that the devil must really be in that place.

Jesus encountered three kinds of temptation in the desert.

    1. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." Jesus answered him, “It is written, One does not live by bread alone.” (Luke 4: 3-4).

Jesus outwitted the devil. To eat bread in a desert setting is a dry feeding. One will get more hot and thirsty. One needs water like what he offered the woman at the well. Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him it will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4: 13-14).

2. Then he 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.” Jesus said to him in reply, “It is written: You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.” (Luke 4: 5-8).

Jesus reminds us of the first commandment: “I am the Lord your God: You shall not have strange gods before me.”

Going back to the story of the documentary video I watched earlier, I cannot blame those people, who risk everything not knowing full well what awaited them in illegally crossing the desert, only to end up dry and dead on the desert floor. Their minds were “drugged” with the belief that the “kingdom” up north is the cure for their extreme destitution.

3. Then he 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.'” Jesus said to him in reply, “It also says, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”

There are many people who engage in death defying sports and stunts. One of them was this individual who decided to make his birthday a very memorable one by skydiving.

Unfortunately during the dive, both his and the guide's parachute did not deploy. That was indeed a very memorable birthday. A once in a lifetime experience. He was among the 21, or .0007 percent, fatalities that occur out of 3 million annual jumps.

Our lives are too precious to engage in such death defying activities. It is gambling with death; with the devil. God did not create us to endanger our lives. More so, we shall not put the Lord, our God, to the test.

When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time. Luke 4:13

We humans have small memory banks. These three temptations – these three “dust devils” cited above – will keep on occurring again and again in our lives until we are filled with the Holy Spirit.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


HALITOSIS

A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thorn bushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles. (Luke 6:43-44).

Among the vital organs of the human body, which one of them can be replaced? The eye, the teeth, the kidney, the skin, but what about the heart?

Yes, recently in the news there was a story about the successful heart of a pig transplant operation to a human. There was no mention in the article whether after the procedure the recipient started acting or speaking differently from what he used to. His family was just overjoyed and thankful that their once very sick loved one can still be with them for a much longer time.

Happy Hearts' Day/Month! Among the vital organs of the human body, it is only the heart that worldwide has a whole day and, even a month, dedicated to it. In fact, we just celebrated Valentine's Day, which directly refers to the heart, as it is the celebration of love among lovers. So, we greet each other on that day, “Happy Hearts' Day!” while putting our hands on our left chest where our heart is. On other days, do we also greet each other, "Happy Kidney, Spleen, Pancreas Liver, Intestines, or Appendix Day?"

In physiology, we learned that the heart is far reaching, as it pumps blood and oxygen to all parts of the body to bring health and life.

So,in the study of philosophy, just as the object of the will is the good. And so also, only truth and goodness is the rightful content of the heart. It is its proper fuel. Any other such as lies, hate, anger and the like, will bring havoc among our other vital organs. That's why we have the so-called liver cirrhosis, burst pancreas, colon cancer, and kidney diseases.

I even read that one of the causes of halitosis or bad breathe is not only poor dental hygiene caused by rotting teeth or dietary intake, but also it is a symptom of an internal organ illness. Something is corrupting and has gone wrong within the internal organs. The breath proves it.

A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45).

Fr. Allan Fenix


PLIERS

It was my day off and decided to spend part of the day just looking around in a nearby Chinese-owned shopping center that sold all kinds of cheap merchandise.

While walking the aisle of the construction supply section, I happened to stop by a bunch of pliers beautifully made, and displayed with a price tag that was less than half of that of a similar pair. Looking at, and handling some of them, I recalled what had just happened recently.

We all have heard and read about work-related accidental deaths. However, this time, it hit somewhat close to home, as it was a person related to someone I know.

This person worked as a troubleshooter for the local electric cooperative. He was always in demand and sought after whenever and wherever there was an electrical issue.

One day, on what was also his day off, he was called to fix someone's electrical line. To make the long story short, everything was already up and running. However, everything ended when, without his PPE (Personal Protective Equipment – his gloves), he climbed back up the post to retrieve his old familiar pair of pliers, which he noticed still hanging intact on a live wire where he had left them. Imagine the thousands of watts of electrical voltage that entered through his body through that pair of pliers with its frayed rubber handle.

Going back to that Chinese-owned shopping center selling all kinds of cheap goods, as I held and played with that pair of pliers, I kept on thinking about whether the person in a very faraway land who helped manufacture this pair of pliers ever knew that they would bring light and better lives to thousands and even millions of people.

On the other hand, did it ever enter his mind, that the pair of pliers, in a matter of seconds, can snuff off the life of someone, the breadwinner, the father of growing family?

Now that pair of pliers involved in the accident, after they are retrieved, washed and sanitized, will be put out by the corner and, eventually, will get sold in a second hand store.

Will the next owner, the excited buyer finding a cheap bargain, ever know their grim history? That, many times, it gave light and better lives to thousands, and even millions, of people and, at another time, kilowatts of electrical voltage passed through it to snuff out the life of someone, the breadwinner, the father of a growing family.

The pair of pliers, which used to belong to the departed person, are long gone and all that the deeply bereaved family has are his memories of that day that was supposed to be his day off.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


MAYHEM

The word “mayhem,” which means the crime of willfully maiming or crippling a person or the infliction of wanton destruction, sprung to mind when I reflected on the Lucan gospel chapter 66, verses 27 through 38, regarding the love of enemies.

It is mayhem when a person strikes you on the cheek, a person takes your cloak, a person takes what is yours. Mayhem has a negative connotation. However “may hem,” a two-word simple phrase that means “may,” an auxiliary word indicating possibility or expressing a fervent wish, and “hem,” a smooth, even edge on a piece of cloth made by folding the salvage edge under and stitching it down. It is positive.

Do to others as you would have them do to you. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Jesus was may-hemming when he said to his disciples; To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you, offer the other cheek as well, do not withhold your tunic, give to everyone who asks of you, lend expecting nothing back.

Jesus was may-hemming when he said; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.

Again, “mayhem” is negative as it causes death, division and disunity, while may hem is positive as it promotes life, love and harmony. As John 17:21 aptly said it: “...that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

Fr. Allan Fenix


WORKING OVERLY EXCESSIVE

We have a saying in our local dialect that when translated into English roughly means, “A dog which is always full tends to be often asleep.” I am not a pet person. However, someone explained to me that to keep them up on their toes, alert and on guard, normally a dog should be fed only once a day. Otherwise, it will often be on its stomach fast asleep which defeats the very purpose of having a dog to guard the life and property of its owner.

Reflecting on the Sermon on the Plain found in Luke 6: 20-26, I felt somewhat anxious and guilty:

Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your names as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.

Having attended a conventional school teaching the standard curriculum system, I learned the following: Study well and finish school. Get a good, high-paying job. Earn the money to raise a future family of your own, and be able to buy the basic necessities of life – a house, food on the table, education for your children, clothes, medicines and, perhaps, a little extra for entertainment, travel and investment.

The educational system that our generation went through prepared us for all the material eventualities of life, and for when the time would come when we would be out there in society. Our parents also fully agreed to all this.

If in our own case we receive consolation, are filled up, happy and merry and are well spoken of, then our schools have achieved their objectives. And our parents are happy that they have received their money's worth – we are the return on their investment.

Who wants to be in grief? Who wants to be hungry and famished? Who wants to live a sad life? Who wants to be stigmatized? A faith that encourages these will be very unpopular. It won't prosper. Our educational system and our parents prepared us for a life where we can find comfort and convenience. No parents would wish grief, hunger, sadness, or a bad reputation to grip their children.

However, like the dog in our story, we need to live the meaning of the word “enough,” which means “...sufficient and adequate to meet a need or satisfy a desire.”

The human person by nature is “non-satisfied” – he is not satisfied. There is a very strong tendency in us to let greed reign. To exceed the normal range or dosage. It is no wonder that there are many who die early and young of this overdose, overeating, over drinking and flaunting excessive riches to the point of being targets for the bad elements of society.

We need to relearn “enough” in our lives or else we will fall in the pit called “woe:” Working Overly Excessive – which destroys and kills lives.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


THE CALL

In Kindergarten, I learned the following song: “Row, row, row your boat. Gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily. Life is but a dream.”

How many among us love to go boating? I do. When I lived at a coastal village, I would usually run, then row myself a short distance out to sea in the afternoons aboard my rubber boat, where I lie down and just enjoy the scenery. I could feel the lolling of the waves, see the sight of the mountain ranges, watch the slow flying home of birds in formation, and watch parishioners from afar: the view from the sea.

What is a boat? It is a relatively small, usually open water craft. Each of us has his own boat. This boat acts as an allegorical figure to mirror the kind of lives we are living now.

In Luke 5: 1-11, regarding the call of Simon the Fisherman, we saw four kinds of boats. Which ones are we?

A. He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. (Luke 5: 2).

Our lives are a retreat in survival mode. Sidelined and on a maintenance level. Maybe our lives right now are in dry dock, and we are undergoing detailing and repair. We all have just gone through a lot. Maybe, for some, experiencing more negatives than positives. While a lot have lost their employment or are just working from home, to be alongside the lake with the fishermen disembarked and washing their nets does not mean giving up but, rather, we are just gathering steam and strength to wait on for the right opportunity to pounce upon life again. “Wait until the dust storm of this pandemic settles down and we will be on the sea again.”

B. 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. (Luke 5: 3).

This is already good. We are going and getting somewhere. We might be doing something small but significant nevertheless.

The impact of what we are doing right now is not found in the quantity of it but rather in the quality with which we are performing it.

As St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said: “There are no great things. Only small things done with great love. And there's where one will find happiness.”

C. Keep on working and your work will teach you. This was what happened in Luke 5: 4-7. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon said in reply, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.” 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.

We often hear the phrases: “Practice makes perfect, trial and error, try and try until one dies” so often that they become merely cliches to us. However, there is a golden truth to all of them – we must never stop. Keep on sailing and lowering one's nets for the great catch.

D. When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him. (Luke 5: 11).

Same thing with Simon Peter. When Simon Peter 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, (Luke 5: 8-9).

We came face to face with our weaknesses and limitations and we feel unworthy of God's mercy and compassion for us. We have to totally empty ourselves out to let him come and occupy our lives .

Row, row, row your boat. Gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily. Life is about a CALL.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


TO PASS AND GO AWAY

In my reflection regarding Jesus' rejection experience at Nazareth, when the people in the synagogue heard what he told them, they were filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. (Luke 4: 28-30).

I admire so much what Jesus did: he passed through the midst of them and went away. As I continued to reflect on this, it occurred to me that there were three instances in the life of Jesus when I wished he had been able to, again, just pass through the midst of them and go away.

  1. Jesus' temptation in the wilderness:

    Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

    Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

    Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

    Jesus answered him,“It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

    Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “If you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

    Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

  2. The agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane:

    My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death... Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed. “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will , but as you will. He went away a second time and prayed. “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done. (Matthew 26: 38-39, 42).

  3. Jesus' crucifixion:

    And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” - which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15: 24).

Good for Jesus! He is God with superhuman strength and intelligence. How about us? How we wish to also do what Jesus did when we are heavily and strongly tempted; to also do as he did and pass through the midst of them and go away. But, the thing is, in our weaknesses, in our confusions, in our dilemma, in our limitations, we have the tendency to just stay put and dwell on it. To stay put is to remain where one is or is placed. In a way, to stay put is good if it is to stay put in the state of grace. To bask in God's love and mercy. To be at peace that we are under the mantle of God's protection against sickness and failures. However, what usually happens is that we stay put with the temptations until we notice too late that we have already succumbed to it. We are already staying put with the sins that brought it about.

We tend to “enjoy” and stay put where we find ourselves. The answer now to our predicament is found in Matthew 26: 41: “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

We have to learn from Jesus how to pass through the midst and go away. Because to dwell and stay put will lead us to dwell and say, “Pooh!”*

Fr. Allan S. Fenix

* An interjection used to express disgust at a bad smell – in our case, SIN.


URN

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. "Take away the stone," he said. (John 11:38-39).

I recently went to a cemetery to bless the cremated remains of someone before they were interred underground.

Along the way to the gravesite, passing the rows of mausoleums, niches, and tombstones, I immediately noticed how full to the brim the cemetery was already. Just a few years back, I can clearly recall that it was still spacious and empty.

Where will we bury our dead loved one's tomorrow? Or, to put it more bluntly, where will they bury us in the coming days? What if we come up with a vertical cemetery?

Nowadays, with the onset of the pandemic, cremation has suddenly become in vogue. Bereaved families would usually receive back their dead loved ones in an urn.

What is an urn? It is a tall vase, usually with a stem and a base, especially one used for holding the ashes of a cremated person.

Connected to its teaching on the resurrection from the dead in the last days, the Church used to be against cremation. However, with the recent theological developments and exigencies, it has already allowed cremation among the faithful.

The recent pandemic has greatly impacted our lifestyles. Like many who are working from home, shopping online, or taking food deliveries. What about the burial of our dead loved ones?

Without transgressing any cultures or religious beliefs, with the cremated remains of a dead loved one in an urn, we can just take it home and place beside our altar. Aside from not taking too much space, we can always remember that person whenever the whole family kneels down before the altar to pray the rosary.

An urn, in the modern language of the texting generation, means U (you) R (are) N (nearby). With the cremated remains of our dead loved ones in an urn sitting by besides our home altars, it means that in life and death we will never be far away from each other. Because U (you ) R ( are ) N ( nearby ).

"I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die, and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11: 25-26).

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


SEE THE BUS!

Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received. (Luke 1: 1-4).

We are just in the Third Sunday in the Ordinary Time and everything still smells fresh and new – still in the honeymoon stage. Even in many schools around our area, they have just started their second academic semester and usually on the first day of classes individual course instructors give out their syllabus.

What is a syllabus?

It is an outline of the subjects in a course of study or teaching. It is a course roadmap to what and which route the class will go through for the remainder of the semester, until they achieve their course objectives.

Did you remember to make your usual list of New Year's resolutions? Why do they “fizzle out” completely merely by the second or third month of the year? It is because we fail to put in black and white our specific strategies on how we will tackle and achieve our individual objectives.

The Lucan gospel for this Sunday gives us the syllabicated Galilean ministry syllabus of Jesus Christ:

    1.The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. The Beatitudes spoke much about being poor:

    Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now for you will laugh.

    The poor are those who recognized their own spiritual poverty, their need for God. The poor in spirit are those who mourn over their sin, recognizing that they have no righteousness of their own, and they can only depend upon God and his grace towards them.

    2. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives:

    The spirit of the Lord God hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and the opening of the prison to those that are bound. (Isaiah 61: 1).

    The liberty that Jesus had in mind was neither political , nor financial, but rather spiritual. Humanity was in bondage to sin, and Jesus came to provide freedom from the constraints of sin. In philosophy, liberty involves free will. It entails the responsible use of freedom under the rule of law without depriving anyone of their freedom.

    3. ...and recovery of sight to the blind:

    Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

    Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

    Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

    So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

    What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

    The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

    Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. (Mark 10: 46-52).

    Being blind is to be spiritually lost. It does not mean that the blind themselves were spiritually lost, but that they were unable to see as someone who is spiritually lost is unable to see the Truth.

    4. ...to let the oppressed go free:

    He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God. (Proverbs 14: 31.)

    To be oppressed is typically under someone else's control or rule. They are taken advantage of and treated in a harsh or cruel way and so it is seen as the exercise of authority or power over another person or people, and using them for their own purpose in a burdensome, cruel, and unjust manner. The people have no control of their own lives and have no freedom, as they are living in a state of bondage.

    5. ...and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord:

    To proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord refers to the Jubilee year in the Hebrew tradition whereby debts would be remitted, lands restored to their original owners, and the liberation of slaves. A jubilee is a special anniversary celebration of God's intent that the Israelites should remain free from slavery for all time – and so with all of us.

We just went through the syllabicated Galilean ministry syllabus of Jesus Christ. The word “Syllabus" seems to rhyme with the simple phrase "See the bus! Yes, the syllabus is the bus, the mass transport, that will take us to where we should all go for the remainder of this great liturgical year – up until we reach Christ the King Sunday again. And beyond!

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


FLAVORED WATER

He shall dwell on the heights, his stronghold shall be the rocky fastness, his food and drink in steady supply. (Isaiah 3: 16).

In the Philippine countrysides, during the pre-pandemic period, one could normally witness the following scenes:

Wakes for the dead would be held as festive celebrations lasting for days on end and, even weeks sometimes, primarily sustained by a lot of card games and gambling on the side, food readily available, blaring sing-along music and, of course, the flowing free cheap liquor to lubricate the endless conversations. This would ensure that everyone would stay put until the wee hours of the night and guaranteed that most, if not everyone, would be drunk by the break of dawn – and the mission was usually accomplished! When everybody was happy, no one would ever complain that the food and drinks were wanting.

This cultural practice goes on the same way with our marriages as well, where almost the entire village is invited and seemingly all are helping themselves.

To avoid embarassment and losing face, the contracting parties and their families would go as far as taking out a big loan, or pawning or selling something very valuable to buy the food and drinks needed to fuel the days-long celebration. This would be good enough if the prepared food and drinks were in excess but what if, as most often happens, the uninvited as well as the invited show up together?

But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 4: 14).

In many scriptural circumstances, Jesus used water to symbolize himself, the life everlasting.

Water is life. In our daily lives, specially for us living in a very temperate region, it is a very important commodity that we are often reminded to have handy to avoid dehydration and system collapse. However, there are also people who don't want to drink just plain water. For them, it is bland. Tasteless. Uninteresting. They want something for their taste buds. A favorful flavor. Water is life and if we have faith, it would be favorably favored by it.

Just like Mary said to the servers at the wedding in Cana, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water. ” So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “ Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter. ” So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from – although the servers who had drawn the water knew – the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one: but you have kept the good wine until now.” (John 2: 5-10).

Having life as well as faith is as if we are drinking the best mixed flavored water of all. And with this, it is a mission accomplished for us and everybody is happy!

Fr. Allan Fenix


ARE YOU ALREADY THE ONE?

There was a story of a woman who dreamed of marrying the ideal and perfect man of her dreams. She rejected series of suitors, as they did not fit the ideal and perfect man of her dreams. In short, there being no ideal and perfect man of her dreams coming, she eventually became a spinster for life.

There was also the story of a man with multiple partners. Every few years, he kept on changing partners, as he was looking for the ideal and perfect woman of his dreams. In time, he grew frustrated and bitter with life. All because he could not find the ideal and perfect partner of his dreams.

Is he already the ONE? The people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah? (Luke 3: 15).

In terms of quality and even of quantity, sometimes, and most often in our impatience, there is a very strong tendency in us to just settle for what is less; the lesser and more mediocre choice.

Is he already the ONE?

The people cannot be blamed if they thought that John the Baptist was already the Messiah. It is understandable. With our very limited range of understanding of things around us, we often become too impatient. In their case, they had been also waiting for eons for the oft repeated promise of the coming of the Messiah. And, at long last, someone is already there in front of them, acting the part, just as it had been narrated to them for generations. The people were saying to John the Baptist that maybe you will do. You are good enough for us.

However in all admirable humility, John answered them all saying, “I am baptizing you with water (this is all I have!) but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (He is better than me! He has with him TWO better ones - the Holy Spirit and fire!).

And to top it all off, three very wonderful things happened. After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying:

1. Heaven was opened...

2. ...and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.

3. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son: with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21-22).

John the Baptist was admirably humble to accept that he was not the ONE. Instead, he pointed us to the perfect, ideal and divine ONE, who is Jesus. For him the heavens opened, the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove, and with a voice coming from heaven all heard, “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.”

And so no one had to ask him, Are you already the ONE?

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


RIGHT OVER

He said to them in reply, “Give them some food yourselves.” But they said to him, “Are we to buy two hundred days wages worth of food and give it to them to eat?” (Mark 6: 37).

There are some of us who abhor eating reheated leftover food. On my way to church, I passed by a still unopened box of cake with a ribbon on top sitting prettily on a garbage bin, while I saw many young urchins and indigenous people running around begging for food.

At this early part of the year, I am sure that, for most of us, if we try to go through our refrigerators and cabinets at home, we will find that they still contain the leftover food items we have had since Christmas and New Years.

We live in a time of abundance and, in celebration of the easing down of the pandemic restrictions, we celebrated and prepared a lot of food.

I read that globally, one in four individuals feels hunger pangs on a daily basis. Among us here attending the holy mass or reading my reflection, who among us went through hunger pangs in the last few days, weeks, months or years?

None. I am pretty sure of that.

Even psychologically, just the sight of the cornucopia of food waiting for us on the table is enough to make us feel sated or even lose our appetites.

There were even some among us, or persons we know, who were hospitalized and must remember again to reach out for their medicines, needed for hypertension or hypoglycemia from consuming the rich in sugar, salty and oily delicacies of the season.

The miracle of the multiplication of the five loaves and two fish which fed five thousand men reminds us of Luke 3: 10, When the crowds asked John the Baptist, “What should we do?” He said to them in reply, “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.”

Food will not rot, nor pass its expiration date, when it is shared. Instead, it multiplies and reaches around to everyone. And no food will be leftover because many will be right over.

Fr. Allan S. Fenix


OVERJOYED AT SEEING THE STAR

They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. (Matthew 2: 10-11).

As I kept on reflecting on the three gifts that the Magi had offered to the child Jesus, questions started creeping up in my mind: So what eventually happened to the gold, frankincense and myrrh?

In their haste to escape Herod, who was looking to kill the child, could it have fallen by the wayside, left somewhere, entrusted to someone. Was it used to finance his public ministry? Was the myrrh ever retrieved for his eventual burial? May I please hear from anyone who might know?

Reflecting further on, could the gold, frankincense and myrrh from the Magi have found its way to our doorsteps, our lives, to us right here and now?

Today is just the second day of a newly God-given year in our lives. It is golden to find ourselves in Church, together with our family members, not only to take selfie pictures by the manger besides the altar, but to attend and receive Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

We also remember this day to pray for the living and dead members of our family.

As it is still a holiday and there is no need to be in a hurry to be anywhere and somewhere, as a family we go home and eat together whatever leftovers are still on our tables and as we talk, talk and talk.

Talk is cheap. There is no price on talking. In the process of our exchanges with each other, unknowingly, we are instructing the ignorant, counseling the doubtful, admonishing, bearing wrongs patiently, forgiving offenses willingly, and comforting the afflicted. These are all the “golden nuggets” that the Magi had given to the baby Jesus that have found their ways into our lives.

As an alternative activity, we can also spend the day outdoors, feeding the hungry as well as giving drink to the thirsty, sharing whatever we have with the naked and weary travelers, visiting sick relatives and those imprisoned, and, a bit out of season, visiting the cemetery of our departed loved ones.

Again, these are the bits and nuggets of the frankincense and myrrh that the Magi gifted the baby Jesus that have found their way into our lives.

As Isaiah 60: 1, 5 says it:

Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you....Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow, for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you, the wealth of nations shall be brought to you.

Father Allan S. Fenix