[katoliko] Limang Tinapay at Dalawang Isda ika-4 na Linggo ng Kuwaresma Year B

[Wilberto Piczon]

 

Video reflections:
Bishop Luis Tagle http://www.youtube.com/user/jesuitcomm
Fr. Francis Martin http://www.youtube.com/mogchapel
Fr. Jun Lingad SDB http://wmffi-us.org/tv.htm
Fr. Joel Galang and Bishop Ambo http://www.youtube.com/user/menoflightamanu
Paulines' Daily Reflections http://paulines.ph/paulines_updates/radio_philippines.php
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Gospel Jn 3:14-21

Jesus said to Nicodemus:
"Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

• The serpent that Moses lifted up was a foreshadowing of Jesus' being lifted on the cross. This also tells us that Jesus had to be crucified, die and resurrect so that we can be saved by faith. Faith is the adherence of man to God which includes believing in him and believing in his words. Jesus' sacrifice is made present in the Mass. Through our faith, we are justified which means that our sins are forgiven and also we are made holy and just. No man will be able to merit/earn righteousness because no one can fulfill the law perfectly. Christ was the only one who fulfilled all of it and he makes us sharers in his own righteousness through faith.
• Jesus is aware that his lifting up means his excruciating sacrifice and death on the cross. But he must lay his life for all men so that all of us may be saved. Elsewhere in the Gospel he mentioned that he is doing it on his own accord. So great is Jesus' love for us that he is willing to give up his life so that we may live.
  

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.

• We can only have eternal life through Jesus Christ who is the Way,the Truth and the Life. A saint pointed out that so great is God's love for man that He gave His only begotten Son to us even when man was still His enemy because of sin. But because God is love, He always gives us his unconditional love and always invites us to accept it.
• John Paul II said, God didn't abandon man. He still took care of man even if he offended God.  He gave mankind a promise of redemption after the first fall; He gave them clothing when they left paradise; throughout history, God made covenants with his people.
  

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

• We bring condemnation to ourselves by choosing sin over God's mercy. There is no salvation except through Christ. He is the only one who was able to fulfill all righteousness and merited for us salvation. God the Father has given us His Son, He who is the fullness of His love and the fullest means for our salvation. To reject him is also to reject the only way we can be saved. We saw the prodigal son who rejected the father and lost everything. He had to come back to the father to be alive again. "He was dead and is alive again". Those who do not choose God chose their own condemnation. Jesus is the Way because it is only through him that we can reach the Father and only through him  can we be truly human. He is Truth himself and everyone is dependent on him. He is Life. Creation exists because of him and it is only through Jesus that we achieve the purpose of our lives.

And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.

• Jesus came here in the world to show us the way to the Father. When Adam and Even sinned, they made all their descendants inherit the original sin which weakened our will and intellect. Although we can still see the truth, this task of seeking it became harder. Also, as a result of the original sin, we have an attraction to sin. Jesus came here to give us faith so that our reason will be guided and so we can have knowledge of things that our reason won't be able to arrive to by itself. Jesus reveals to us who the Father is because he is the Image of God. But God doesn't force us. He wants us to respond freely to his call for salvation.
• We as catholics have been given the fullness of the revealed truth through the word of God and the sacraments.  But even if we have these, we still choose death by choosing sin. We believe in the truth and so we give our intellectual assent to God, but we have to love God with all our heart, mind and soul. This means that even our actions and wills will have to be offered to the Lord. Our sonship is not just a title that is imputed on us. Our righteousness is the righteousness of Christ infused in us that affects our whole being.
  

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.

• It's either we are for the Lord or we are against the Lord. He who clings to sin rejects God's love and chooses his own condemnation. We are always given enough grace to choose good but we have to cooperate with God. When we do evil things, we often hide it from people. Each person has a conscience that tells us which is right and which is wrong because it recognizes the law of God. That is why when we do bad things, we feel shame and we hide our sins from other people.

But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

• Those who have the desire to live the truth do so by seeking the truth. We have the capability of finding the truth because it is God's call to us and so he grants us the means to seek it. Pope Benedict said that in this search, we need faith to purify our search and to liberate us from prejudices and biases that can hinder our quest. We do not seek the truth in vain, God has given us the ability to reason so that we can come close to the light.
  

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March 19, 2012
Reading 1 2 Sm 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16
Responsorial Psalm Ps 89:2-3, 4-5, 27 and 29
Reading 2 Rom 4:13, 16-18, 22
Gospel Mt 1:16, 18-21, 24a

Makikita natin kay San Jose ang modelo ng pagiging ama at Kristiano. Siya ay tumayong ama ni Hesus at asawa ni Maria and dalawang pinaka mahalagang mga tao sa mundo. Ngunit ang pagsisilbi ni San Jose ay sa pamamagitan ng mga pang-araw-araw na gawain: ang maging ama kina Hesus at Maria, gumawa ng mga gawaing bahay, maghanap buhay sa pagkakarpintero. Ang pagsisilbi ni San Jose ay sa ang pagpapahalaga ng relasyon ng pamilya .
Sa ating lipunan, madalas na nakakalimutan natin ang ating mga kapamilya dahil sa pagtutok natin sa ating mga karera sa buhay, kung minsan ay sa mga luho at libangan. Maging katulad sana tayo ni San Jose na naglingkod sa Diyos sa pamamagitan ng pagmamahal niya at pag-aaruga sa pamilya. Makita sana natin na ang katuturan ng ating mga gawain ay dahil sa pag-aalay natin sa mga ito para sa Diyos at sa kanila.

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March 20, 2012
Reading 1 Ez 47:1-9, 12
Responsorial Psalm Ps 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9
Gospel Jn 5:1-16

Tinanong ni Hesus ang paralitiko kung gusto niyang mapagaling sa kanyang karamdaman. Sinabi ng paralitiko na walang tumutulong sa kanya upang makababa sa tubig at kung minsan ay inuunahan siya ng iba. Ang kagalingan na ibinigay ni Hesus ay di nangailangan pa na makipag-unahan ang paralitiko sa iba. Ang kinailangan lang ni Hesus na malaman ay kung gusto ng paralitiko na gumaling.

Ganoon din sa atin, dahil sa walang sinuman ang makapagliligtas ng kanilang sarili, ang kaligtasan ay maibibigay lang ng Panginoon sa atin at tinatanggap natin sa pamamagitan ng pananampalataya. Nagiging matuwid tayo at banal dahil sa pagpayag natin na kumilos sa loob natin ang Panginoon. Ito ang kahulugan ng grasya, ang biyayang galing sa Diyos na kusa Niyang ibinigay sa atin 'di dahil sa nagtrabaho tayo para makamtan ito, bagkus, ito ay ating natatanggap dahil sa Kanyang pagmamahal sa atin.

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