“Striving Together to Revere All Life”
January 19, 2014
The 2nd Sunday of the Christian
Season of Epiphany
=and=
Feast of Our
Lord and Giver of Life
Genesis
1:26-28/Psalm 10/Romans 8:35-39/Matthew 18:1-15
His Excellency
The Most Reverend Ariel Cornelio P.
Santos D.D.
Auxiliary Bishop and Locum Tenens
of the
Archdiocese of Manila
the
National Church in the Philippines
and the
Territorial Church of Asia
International Communion of the
Charismatic Episcopal Church
Today, we celebrate the Feast of Our Lord and Giver of Life.
He is the Giver, the Author, the Source and the Sustainer of Life. We
proclaim today the sanctity, the sacredness of the life that came from God.
From the Old Testament reading, the very first book of the Bible,
we already see emphasized and proclaimed: human life is sacred. God's breath,
His very breath, His very life was breathed into man. No other created
being received this. Everything else was created. Everything else from
matter, from soil, from the earth was spoken into existence. Only man has
the spirit of God breathed into Him. Think about that! We have the
breath of God in us. We can hear the very heartbeat of God right in us.
It is a privilege and an honor and such an elevation which shouldn’t cause us to be arrogant but to be confident of the truth of our creation. The reason God breathed into man, into us, and created us in His very image and likeness was so that we could be God’s representative on earth and His steward and His manager. This is so that man could manage the earth in the Name of God. Man was given such ability and the very life and spirit of God.
Man is both of the earth and the heaven because he was taken from
the earth. At the same time, he is the only creature that is of heaven by
virtue of the breath of God breathed into him. He is of heaven and of the
earth at the same time making him the link between heaven and earth, spiritual
and material. See the uniqueness of man; the privilege, the honor
that man received. Sadly, we forget this. We have departed from this and
we have forgotten the source of our life, the source of this Spirit that was
breathed into us. We have forgotten and departed from the image of
the very God who breathed this life into us. Because of this, we
have become ignorant and have gone after idols.
An idol is anything that takes the place of God. An idol is
anything that we think we should pattern our lives after because we think that
they are our image and likeness. The truth is that only God is
that. We replace Him with anything at all – stone, wood, even living
creatures including man. We have celebrities, movie actors, the powerful,
the rich and the famous, the politicians, the physically good-looking. We
have made them our models and we have seen them as good images forgetting our
perfect image in whose image and likeness we were created. This is
because of the lack of knowledge of the truth of our creation. This makes
us vulnerable to the same deception Eve fell into. The lie that was
told Eve was that, “Eat of this. This is for your own good.”
The culture of death, divorce, materialism, love of self are
packaged and made to look good to us. The fruit was appealing to the
eyes, and Eve bit into it and gave some to Adam and they were deceived.
They looked like they are good for us, but the truth is that they only bring
guilt, anxiety, turmoil, and separation from God which we don't want.
Falling into this temptation makes us take a pro-choice stance.
Pro-choice is not just about abortion or family planning. This is just the symptom. Pro-choice is doing what we want according to our pleasure, our convenience, our ease and our wanting to be free from responsibility and authority. In the book of Judges there are two sentences that best describe the times. In those days, there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Sadly, today, it has become worse. Today, everyone does even what is not right in their own eyes. People know what they do is wrong and they still do it. It is for ease, for pleasure, for convenience, for wanting to be free from responsibility and authority. They think when they do those things, they benefit them.
When Jesus rebuked the disobedient, He told them, “Why do you call
Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I command you to do.” Why do your own
thing and what you choose to do? This is because you are pro-choice. It
doesn’t matter what authority says, “I am going to do what I want to do.
I choose to do what is right in my own eyes. Even if it is not right, as
long as I think it benefits me, I am going to do it. I choose to do
it.” This is pro-choice.
Several years ago, I was in the house of Archbishop Hines and
Patriarch Adler was there to give Archbishop Hines instructions. The
Patriarch said, “I want you to go with me to Africa. Let us teach
together. They need your expertise.” He talked about how Africa
needs the teachings of the bishops. He told the Archbishop, “You
pray about it.” Archbishop Hines said, “Why would I pray about it?
You told me to go. I am under your authority so I am going.”
I used that example as a principle and told people this. Can
you imagine that if you are a father and you told your son, “Your room is a
mess. Clean it!” and your spiritual son says, “Well, let me pray
about it. Let me confirm that command came from God,” isn’t that
ridiculous? If we have a spirit of pro-choice and because we are too lazy
or we don’t want our hands messed up or we don’t want to sweat and have an easy
life, we would rather go on Facebook or play Candy Crush or do our own thing
because to us it is fun, easier. We don’t understand the abuse of those
things actually hurt us. It is healthier for us, more for our benefit if
number one, we obey our spiritual father; two, if we get our blood
flowing and our muscles moving, it will be better for us because that is
actually for our life; it is productive for us.
Pro-choice is against life. We choose to do according
to our own understanding and according to our own selfish ends. We are
not a Church that is pro-life. We are a pro-life Church.
Everything we do is and should be for life. If we are just a Church that
is pro-life, that is just an opinion, a stand or a vote. Everything
we are – our essence – is about the promotion, the upholding, and the enriching
of life. This is who our Church is. This is what our Church
is. It is not a position; it is a vocation. It is not an opinion; it is
commitment to life. As such, we are to take a stand against the culture
of death and the killing of the innocent and the helpless.
Read Psalm 10 especially at this time in our nation and make that
it your prayer so that God would hear and act in protection of the innocent and
the helpless and correct this culture of murder and killing of the innocent.
Pro-life is not only against abortion either. Abortion and
family planning are just symptoms. Pro-life is deeper than that. It
is doing whatever it takes to give and to sustain life, but life primarily and
particularly of others first. Like Jesus said in the gospel,
this is what makes you great in the kingdom of God. You would
humble yourself and regard others as more important than you. Own
convenience, ease, comfort, pleasure and even our justifiable rights take a
backseat. Being pro-life involves sacrifice even if we have reasonable and
justifiable rights.
One time, the disciples came from missionary journeys. Jesus sent them out and they came back with good reports, and Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall down from heaven like lightning.” This is because the disciples conquered. These disciples were tired and Jesus told them, “Come away to a lonely place by yourselves and get some rest and refreshing.” This did not happen for thousands of people followed them and then, Jesus had compassion on them and the poor disciples – tired, hungry, and thirsty – had to put the people first.
One time, the disciples came from missionary journeys. Jesus sent them out and they came back with good reports, and Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall down from heaven like lightning.” This is because the disciples conquered. These disciples were tired and Jesus told them, “Come away to a lonely place by yourselves and get some rest and refreshing.” This did not happen for thousands of people followed them and then, Jesus had compassion on them and the poor disciples – tired, hungry, and thirsty – had to put the people first.
Evening came and the disciples thought, “Now, we can get the rest
and refreshment.” One of them came to Jesus and said, “It is getting
late. Why don’t you send them away so that we can get that rest that we
have been wanting. After all, we are entitled to it. We obeyed your
command and You said Yourself, ‘You need to rest. You need a day-off.’”
Jesus said, “The people are hungry.” Not only will the disciples not get
their rest, but their lunch by now was cold – the five loaves and two fish –
and was to be divided among at least to them. Even the lunch was
threatened.
Jesus said, “This is the bad news. You are not going to get
that rest right now. We need to feed the people. This is the worst
news: give me your five loaves and two fish.” It turned out
that it was not the worst news but one of the best news they have ever
heard. They gave probably like the way we give our offerings –
reluctantly – for we won’t let go of it. The disciples gave what
they had. Because they were pro-life of others first, they gave of what they
were entitled to. They denied themselves and fed the five thousand.
Their own comfort take a backseat.
I once had a leader in the Church. He gave me an
excuse. I thought he was babying himself because if you have the flu or
the “trangkaso,” it is one of the most abused words in our vocabulary in
both English and Tagalog. I actually don’t understand what it is
because if I have colds or something, it doesn’t stop me. I go to work; I
go to school – no problem. Some people would take a week off or a month
off because of a sneeze in a day.
I thought this leader was babying himself because he had not come
to work for one week. So I ask, “What is the deal?” He said, “I
have the flu.” I said, “You have been resting for all this time. It
is time for you to get back to Ministry.” He said, “Well, all life is
sacred. I have to take care of this life.” I said, “Yes, I agree
that all life is sacred but it is not just one’s own, but all life
is sacred. So you being a leader in Church, a minister, must think of the many
others instead of just one which happens to be your own.”
It is a spirit of pro-choice. I just wanted to make the
leader see that all life is sacred. It is not one, our
own, because we can assert our own lives as sacred, but we must think of others
first. The Collect for today echoes the Prayer of St. Francis.
Instead of my comfort it is, “May I be more sensitive to those needing comfort
because I have something to give.” The prayer says, “Where there is
hatred, let me sow love. Where there is darkness, let me sow light.”
I maybe in need or so I think, but let me put them first.
What usually happens, if not all the time, is that your need is met right after
you meet another’s need.
This is being pro-life. The Prayer of St. Francis is, in
summary, “Lord, make me pro-life instead of pro-choice and not focus on my own
needs.” In the Season of Epiphany, we are challenged to manifest
that we are for life and we are to manifest the sanctity and the sacredness of
all life. Jesus came for the enrichment of this life that we might have
life and might have it more abundantly.
Genesis 3 is the story of the fall of man. What happened was
that Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden and God said, “Let us guard the
tree of life.” So they did with angels with flaming swords. “Lest
man take and eat of the fruit of it and live forever.” Let us guard
the Garden and the tree of life so that man would not be able to take and eat
and live forever of the fruit of the tree of life. This is a mystery that
was once hidden but now revealed; now made available. The mystery is Christ
Himself.
Listen to the words of Christ, “Take, eat and live
forever.” We were forbidden before; now, it is revealed; it is made
available. Before, we could not take and eat and live forever. Now, we
are told, “Take, eat of My body. Partake of My life and live
forever.” We are given access now to the Tree of Life. Don’t
belittle the Eucharist. When you come forward, don’t just eat. It
is not a meal; it is not lunch or an appetizer for lunch. It is partaking
of life. “Take, eat, live forever.” We now have access to the Tree
of Life and we can live forever.
The benefit of our life, of our partaking of this life is
commensurate or proportional. It depends upon our response to God’s
command. I teach Algebra and a simple output is equal to Rate divided by
Time. Distance is equal to Speed/Time. Time is constant. This
is God's love – constant. If our rate and response is higher and you
divide it by time, the output is bigger. The benefit is bigger.
God’s input is constant. He cannot change. His love never changes.
He does not give more today than yesterday. He is constant. He is
good in everything, but this depends on our response. The benefit depends
on our response. This is variable; it changes.
Therefore, as a response, we are to give life. We are
not to be afraid to give life because we will never run out. When the
disciples gave the five loaves and two fish, they ate more and they had more
leftovers. Jesus said in the gospel of John, “I have authority to lay My
life down and I have authority to take it up again. This I received from
My Father." God took us from the dust, the ashes, the mire and
breathed life into us. This made us able to rise from the ashes and above
everything that is of the earth and in the world! This we received from the
Father because of that breath, of that life.
Romans 8 says that we overwhelmingly conquer! Which is why St.
Paul proclaims, “Don’t be afraid of anything.” Neither death, as we
understand separation from God, cannot separate us from the love of God.
Death has no more dominion over us. In Christ, we die no more. Neither life,
whatever it brings, can separate us from the love of God, in Christ. Nor
things present, nor things to come. Why are we afraid of the future? Why
are we so anxious of the future? Things to come cannot separate us from
the love of Christ. No use worrying. No any other created thing
including the devil, our enemies, our problems, which we create many times,
even ourselves, can’t separate us from the love of God. No one is beyond
the reach of the love of God. Nothing can separate us from the love and the
life of God.
The life of God in you is scared. Revere the sanctity of it; we
must be childlike. The child exhibits trust, openness, eagerness to
learn, innocence and a pure outlook in life. He has no anxiety; only
faith knowing that his parents love him and will take care of him no matter
what. They will do everything in their power.
If we have God for our Father, He is able. He can do
anything. He can make sure that we are taken care of. A child knows
that nothing can separate him from the love of his father. He knows that
his life is sacred and precious in the eyes of His father.
This is the way it is in the kingdom of life. This is the way it is in the kingdom of our God.
LET
US CONTINUE OUR REFLECTION
WITH
CARDINAL OF
HOLY MOTHER CHURCH
AND
VENERABLE PRIMATE
OF
THE PHILIPPINES
THROUGH
THROUGH
THE WORD EXPOSED
ISAIAH 35:1-10
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