Blindness

Blindness is defined as the state of being sightless. A blind individual is unable to see. In a strict sense the word "blindness" denotes the inability of a person to distinguish darkness from bright light in either eye. (definition from www.medicinenet.com)

When Jesus healed the blind man from birth, He answered the blind belief of the people and inadvertently exposed the other kind of blindness among the Jewish religious authorities of that time.

The disciples asked Jesus if it was the blind man's fault or his parent's sin that caused his infirmity. But the Lord dismissed both old beliefs and emphasized that it is in accordance to God' plan so that "the works of God might be made visible through him". He then proceeded to heal the man.

The man, subsequently brought to the Pharisees, testified before them how he was healed. But the Pharisees, blinded by their lofty pride and position in the community has rejected the miracle by accusing Jesus a sinner for not keeping the Sabbath and the blind man for false declaration that he was born blind. Except for a few, Jesus has always been a threat to their self-righteousness and tightly-held-yet-misplaced authority that they failed to see the very fulfilment of the prophecies that their ancestors have foretold. They failed to recognize and understand His preaching and miracles of love right in front of their eyes!

In our present times, the world has also offered us a lot of blinding lights to spend our lives. There is fame. There is money. There is power. The endless pursuits of these vanities have sadly side-stepped a lot of people's true purpose and calling in life which is to love God and love others.

Hopefully, in this time of Lent, may we unplug ourselves from the temporal blindness offered by the world and set our sight towards a more meaningful and worthwhile lives. May we distinguish the Lord's light in whatever life-situation we are into and avoid the alluring darkness that can make us blind.

'Di nalalayo sa 'yo ang tunay na mundo

Marami sa ami'y nabubuhay nang tulad mo

'Di makita, 'di madinig, minsa'y nauutal

Patungo sa hinahangad na buhay na banal.

-Freddie Aguilar

God bless. 

Face Our Fears

“But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” – Matthew 17:7

We all know that fear is a natural feeling to be afraid or worried of (something or someone), or to expect or worry about (something bad or unpleasant). We fear pain and accident, sickness and death and unemployment or lose of good financial standing. We are afraid of bad people who can cause undue physical, psychological, social and even spiritual harm to us or our loved ones.

But it is somewhat quizzical to note that during the Lord’s transfiguration on the high mountain (Matthew 17:1-9), the three witnessing disciples – James, Peter and John, were prostrated in fear after hearing God the Father’s voice. It happened just as Peter, feeling good that they are seeing Moses and Elijah conversing with Jesus after “His face shone like the sun and His clothes became white as light”, was proposing to build up tents for them to stay there.

So can fear come out even from something good?

I believe so.

And as far as I can remember, I have been guilty of this a couple of times.

Graduating in college was good, nevertheless I was worried how fast I can find work. Finding work was good, yet I was anxious how I will be compensated and how to fit into the workplace. Getting promoted was good, but I was uneasy if I was up to the task. Receiving my first job offer abroad was good, however I was troubled how I would adapt to the different culture and weather.

The presence of fear despite the good things in our life exposes the lack or little faith in us.

So what is the antidote for our littleness of faith?

We must let Jesus come to us and be genuinely touched by His words that He is the potter and we are clay in His loving hand (Jeremiah 17:7). He will always mould us into something unique, great and wonderful. A potted clay must still undergo the swirling, twirling and trimming during shape formation, the drying and heating during hardening and glazing or painting for the final stage. Only after the culmination of our lives will we (and others) be able to completely view and appreciate how beautiful He always meant us to be.

There will often be a what-is-next-fear in our lives but if we truly seek and cling to our Lord’s promise, we can do rise up to face our fears.   

God bless.

Me, Myself and I

With the advent of the internet age, the social world has been abuzz with a new mythology that is spelled with an “e” instead of a “y”. Indeed, we have come to live in a time when most social network sites promotes adherence to the I’s of daily life. How else do we explain why “selfie” was chosen as the word of last year if not for the exponential boom of MEdia.  

Facebook says, “Like me.”

Twitter says, “Follow me.”

Instagram says, “Look at me.”

You Tube says, “Watch me.”

Sadly, the focus of living is slowly shifting towards one’s self and self-interest alone. Active posters will show what they eat at breakfast, at lunch, at dinner and in between. They show their new pair of shoes, and how they used them. They give their virtual friends and followers daily glimpses of their day at work and very much anything they can think of under the sun and in a snap of a mobile camera.  

Lent has started today and we are being challenged to a different ME.

As the impression of the ashes on our foreheads symbolizes, we must re-learn to live in hu”me”lity, one that is not about us but about others and more importantly about God.

It is a timely opportunity to reflect and contemplate what we can do for God and for others to make our own life have a deeper meaning.

Lent is a time that instead of making sweeping remarks about the evils and pitfalls of social networks, we turn the tables and make good use of media to bring across the message of God’s salvation for all those who are both lost and seeking. We do know and see how good and well-meaning people and organization use the internet media to spread God’s Word and humanitarian assistance. The Catholic church, in keeping pace with the current trend, has also gone internet to catechize and preach the believers.   

When we learn to moderate or even deny the “me” in our everyday and concrete lives, then we will realize that we have truly humbled and transcended above our own selves.

Our daily post and updates to those around us will be radically changed to the following:

Watch Jesus instead of watch me.

Look at Jesus instead of look at me.

Follow Jesus instead of follow me.

Be like Jesus instead of like me.

God bless.

(This reflection was inspired and with excerpts from the priest’s Ash Wednesday homily at Ortigas Park. He emphasized his 3H main points – humility, (true) happiness and holiness as a guide for us to have a meaningful observance of Lent)