Supersubstantial Bread

“I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger...” John 6:35

True stories abound of very rich people, celebrities even, who earned hundreds of millions of dollars, and ended up scrounging in garbage bins and living out of cardboard boxes or cars. There are also people who won millions in the lotto, who thought all their problems would be solved but who became even more enmeshed in more problems and disasters. No matter how rich or privileged a person is, he can never guarantee that he will never go hungry. 

There is only one Person who can give us the guarantee that we will never go hungry if we stay by His side. Jesus. He said, “Do not work for food that perishes but for food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him, the Father, God, has set His seal.” (John 6:27)

During Biblical times, seals were often made of wax, embedded with the personal imprint of the one who makes the guarantee of authenticity. Here Jesus assures us that it is God the Father Himself who guarantees Jesus as the Bread of Life. Whoever depends on Him, who accepts Him as Lord, will never hunger. 

When we pray the Lord’s prayer from Matthew 6:11 and Luke 11:3, we say, “Give us this day our DAILY bread”. But most Christian scholars today reject this translation of word “epiousios” in the original Greek New Testament. These scholars as well as Saint Jerome back in AD 382, translate it not as “daily” but as “SUPERSUBSTANTIAL”. Jesus instructed us to ask for supersubstantial bread. That is why we will never hunger, never perish, never die. 

Like the apostles let us pray, “Jesus, give us this supersubstantial bread always! You are the bread of life. I believe in You! I trust in You!”

I Have Chosen the Way of Faithfulness

“I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws.” Psalm 119:30-31

It is good to read how ordinary men and women choose to live faithfully. As Mother Teresa said, “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.”

Gladys Aylward was one such woman. She became a Christian at a young age all because she could not extricate herself from a crowd. She was so small that she got pushed and found herself inside a church and was too embarrassed to leave. So she stayed to listen to the Pastor. She became convicted after that experience and tried to get nuns, teachers, anybody to go to China and become a missionary and spread the gospel there. No one listened to her. When she tried to convince her brother, he said in disgust, “Why don’t you go yourself?”

She finally set her heart on going, first by studying in Hudson Taylor’s China Inland Mission. She was rejected after a while because she couldn’t seem to get the hang of learning Chinese. She decided to just go out on her own by saving money to take the Trans-Siberian Express across Europe to China. She worked as a parlor maid and read her master’s books about China. She tried all sorts of ways to increase her savings even to selling her nice shoes and buying second hand shoes which were both for the left foot! 

Eventually she set off on what turned out to be a perilous journey across Siberia only to find herself being caught up in a war between Russia and China. After surviving all sorts of challenges she arrived at her destination and met up with an older missionary named Jeannie Lawson. They set up The Inn of Eight Happinesses based on the eight virtues of Love, Virtue, Gentleness, Tolerance, Loyalty, Truth, Beauty and Devotion. Not only did they make a comfortable place for travelers, but they shared stories of Jesus. Gladys was also able to spread the good news when she became a “foot inspector” and travelled all over China to help enforce the new law against foot binding young Chinese girls. Of course at this time she was already fluent in Chinese, confounding the verdict of her teachers in the missionary school.

One time she managed to intervene in a volatile prison uprising, resulting in the improvement of the conditions in which the inmates lived. She also found herself in charge of about a hundred orphans during the war. After 27 days of trekking, she had led them over the mountains to the safety of an orphanage beyond the war zone. She collapsed of typhus and malnutrition upon arrival. All these efforts earned her the affectionate nickname  ‘Ai-weh-deh’ which means ‘Virtuous One’.

There are many more things this ordinary woman was able to do because she loved Jesus and wanted to obey Him faithfully. Her story was told in the book “The Small Woman” by Alan Burgess published in 1957, and adapted into a wildly inaccurate film, “The Inn of Sixth Happiness”, starring the tall Ingrid Bergman in 1958. 

Gladys always said, “I wasn’t God’s first choice for what I’ve done for China… [but] God looked down… and saw Gladys Aylward… and God said – ‘Well, she’s willing’.” Gladys Aylward chose the way of faithfulness. Have we? 

Totaliter Aliter

“Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” Luke 24:39

I have never seen a ghost and cannot imagine why any soul having been to heaven would ever want to come back to earth. Here is a funny story from Fr. Rainero Cantalamessa, who has served as the Preacher to the Papal Household since 1980, under Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and now Pope Francis. 

“Two German monks enjoyed a great friendship over their years in the monastery. Their favorite topic of conversation was heaven. One, a gardener, believed that the most beautiful flowers would constantly bloom. The other, the organist, thought that heaven would be filled with the most beautiful melodies. They decided that the first to die would return a year after his death and tell the other what heaven was really like with a single word. If it was as he imagined he would say taliter (“exactly”); if it was as the other thought, he would say aliter (“the other one”).

The organist died suddenly, and his friend sent many prayers to heaven in the year that followed. On his death anniversary, he appeared to the gardener in his cell. “Taliter?” the gardener asked. After a moment of silence, he tried the other response. “Aliter?”

The organist breathed forth two words: “Totaliter Aliter! (Totally Other!)”

Indeed, I do not think we can ever come up with what the after life is like. Not even close. It is so totally beyond what we can imagine. And no one can ever describe it to us except Jesus but He didn’t, except to say, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26) The amazing thing about Christianity is we believe in a God who deigned to come down to earth to join us in this difficult human journey. He suffered immensely and His suffering was prophesied in several portions of the Bible. 

Jesus opened the minds of His disciples to understand the scriptures after He proved He was no ghost, “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:46-48) We who believe in Christ are so privileged that God left us “love letters” to explain His plan and the wonderful place we have in it. We cannot keep this to ourselves, but should as He asks, preach it to the whole world! 

Stand for Truth

 "Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power..." Acts 6:8

Saint Stephen was the first martyr of the Catholic faith. His story is short but very dramatic. When the Church was growing, there were some complaints that some widows were not getting their share of food. It was decided that the disciples would preach the Word, and seven men would be chosen to take care of food distribution. One of these men was Stephen. In Acts 6:8, Stephen is said to have performed "amazing miracles and signs". You would think more would have been written about this, but it is just one line, as if this was quite ordinary among the disciples of Jesus.

 Apparently Stephen did not merely distribute bread to the members of the Church, or he would not have gotten himself into a whole lot of trouble. Jews from all over would debate with him, and he would be able to defend the faith with wisdom. Some men lied about what he said, and he was brought before the Sanhedrin. In John chapter 6, Jesus told the crowds to "NOT work for perishable food but for food that will last unto eternal life." Stephen made sure to follow what Jesus said. Even before the Sanhedrin, he spoke with conviction, filled with the Holy Spirit, about God's plan through the ages. This infuriated the Jewish leaders and they dragged Stephen out of the city and stoned him. 

This does not happen today. But are we brave enough to stand up for truth, even if we will get stoned with criticism or censure? Are we willing to spread God's Word in a skeptical world, in the middle of a group of friends who would ridicule us, perhaps?

Impossible Math

“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish...” John 6:9

This gospel story reminds me of an interview of Dallas Jenkins, the director of the multi-season series “The Chosen”. In 2017, Dallas made a film “The Resurrection of Gavin Stone”. It bombed. Dallas and his wife were devastated and at their lowest point. In prayer, his wife seemed to get two messages, the story of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, and “I do impossible math”. They couldn’t figure out what it meant. 

That night, Dallas stayed up to write a ten page memo of what they did wrong and what they could have done instead. At 2 am, a message popped up on his screen: “Remember your job is not to feed the 5000 it’s only to provide the loaves of bread and fish.” The message shocked Dallas and he asked the sender why he sent it. “I don’t know. God just told me to send you that!” 

Dallas says his life can be divided by before that moment and after that moment because it was so pivotal for him. He realized it was not his job to produce the results, just to provide the bread! He then had the opportunity to direct a short film for his church after that called The Shepherd which was about the birth of Christ but told through the eyes of shepherds. 

After the success of The Shepherd, he and his partner Derral Eves used the film to raise money for the series, “The Chosen” through crowd funding. They were able to raise a total of more than $10 million from 19,000 people! It was enough to make the first season of the series. Dallas and his wife realized what God meant when He said, “I do impossible math.” 

God can do impossible math in our life as well if we give Him our loaves and fishes. What are our gifts and talents? What are the resources we have in our hands? Give it to God for Him to multiply! 

The Spirit has no Limit!

“He does not ration His gift of the Spirit.” 

John 3:34

In my other Bible, it says, “for God’s Spirit is upon him without measure or limit”. There are many amazing, extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit, but just like any gift, we have to receive it, open it, use it, or else it will sit there gathering dust. The “charismatic gifts” are all wonderful, and I believe if we want it, we only have to ask and then to practice it. There is the word of wisdom, word of knowledge, increased faith, gift of healing and miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, the gift of tongues and the interpretation of tongues. (1 Corinthians 12:4-11)

When I was young, I attended so many Life in the Spirit Seminars, and so many brothers and sisters laid their hands on me to baptize me in the Spirit, but I did not receive the gift of tongues. Well the ones who prayed over me said I already had it but it did not manifest itself  because I was too curious about all the crying and noise happening around me. One day I was determined to get the gift of tongues and started jabbering my mouth off in the morning. In the car on the way to work, I was still mouthing nonsense. My mom pitied me and said, “Patsy, you stop already.” I didn’t. The whole day I persisted with my mission. When I finally reached home after work, I locked my bedroom door, sat in my rocking chair, and was more determined not to stop until I received this gift from God. 

Suddenly, something was different. It was like a fountain came from inside, and the syllables I was uttering were not my own. I was filled with an indescribable joy and I knew that what was coming out of my mouth were words of praise. I asked God to make it English so I could understand, and He answered my prayer for a short while, then I continued to mouth a foreign tongue for a long time. It really was like I was drunk with heavenly wine, and I will never forget the experience. My sister who was listening outside my door, ran to her room and started spouting nonsense sounds. When she felt a force inside her wanting to gush forth, she got frightened, clamped two hands over her mouth and ran outside the room. The Spirit has no limit! 

Now I want the gift of healing, and I try to remember to pray over sick people even if I am shy or even lack faith. It is difficult to lay hands now as we are so far away from the sick so I just pray for people from where I am. One day, like the gift of tongues, I will have this gift if I am persistent and just have faith. 

Crazy Awesome Love!

“For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

There is so much skepticism in the world. It’s cooler to be a skeptic than to feed our faith. Or perhaps we want to be practical, and really hope and faith are not practical. We can’t touch it or see it. We think we can’t apply reason or critical thinking when it comes to Jesus, if He really can give us enough bread, if He really can guide us, if we really can depend on Him. The list goes on. 

My starting point is always, is He who He claims to be? If He is God, then we should take Him and His words seriously. If He is God and He is not flicking His finger to solve poverty and the huge problems of the world, God does not have to explain to us why He allows it all to continue. If He is God, He has His own reasons! 

God’s ways are far above our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. It is so strange that He chose to come as a baby, a weak human being, dependent on His mother. He was born of the lineage of David, and in Bethlehem. All this was foretold by the prophets Micah and Isaiah. In the Old Testament God gave various signs to watch out for so we could recognize the Messiah when He comes. And some of those prophecies were about how the Messiah would be betrayed and put on trial, beaten and mocked. There are about 300 prophecies in the Old Testament unveiled in the New. 

A mathematician said that the chance of one person fulfilling only 8 of those 300 prophecies is 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. 1 person fulfilling 48 prophecies: 1 chance in 10 to the 157th power. Only God could have divinely orchestrated when He would be born, and the events afterwards. One may wonder: WHY? 

LOVE. God SO loved the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him may not perish but HAVE everlasting life. Let us believe in Him, and His Words, so that one day we will be with Him in the fullness of His crazy awesome plan for us! 

Earthly Treasure

“If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?” John 3:12

Everyone loves a good deal, a good investment, don’t we? And we hate it when we lose money! The stock market here in the Philippines can be quite erratic. When I thought a particular stock was on its way down, I sold a major chunk of it. Within the next few minutes it went up. Then it went way over the amount I sold it! I felt sad because I liked that particular stock. Now I don’t bother to look at my portfolio because all the stocks probably lost so much value! 

In the 6th chapter of Matthew, Jesus gives us His financial advice, His divine blueprint for estate planning. "Do not lay up for yourselves earthly treasure." Earthly treasure is not going to last, it can be stolen, burned, it can rust and devalue. Instead we should make it our practice to to store up heavenly treasure. We can think of storing heavenly treasure as buying stocks in heaven. The difference is it's not going to devaluate, the price won't go down! Whatever we invest is going to go up, up, up! But how can we buy Kingdom stocks? What is of value in heaven?

Jesus told the story of the pearl of great price in Matthew 13. When a merchant found the pearl more beautiful than all the others, he sold all his possessions to buy it. What is it that Jesus was willing to give up everything for? Jesus bought us, the pearl of great price at the cost of His very life! He became a man, left His power and glory in heaven, just so He can give us His greatest gift, eternal life in Heaven with Him.

Saint Lawrence is one of my favorite saints. When asked by the Prefect of Rome to turn over the treasures of the Church, Lawrence went throughout the city and gathered together the poor, the lame, the blind, the sick. Then he presented them to the greedy Prefect. "Here are the Church's treasure!" he announced. The Prefect was not amused and the saint was roasted over an iron grill!

We need not follow Saint Lawrence to buy stocks in heaven, but we should remember that if we use our time, talent and money to bring people to God, we are investing in what God values most!

Born Again

"...unless a man is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3

Born from above. Born again. Begotten from above. What did Jesus mean? Jesus told this to Nicodemus, when he visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus was a Pharisee like Paul, and he was a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jews. This means he was learned and with much influence. It is curious that he comes to question Jesus at night. Perhaps he doesn't want to be seen, or perhaps he just wants to get answers. He says he believes Jesus is a teacher from God. Most people then and now believe that of Jesus but Nicodemus got more than he bargained for from Jesus. He found out that we have to be born again before we can see God's Kingdom. 

In Luke 17:21, Jesus is asked by some Pharisees when the Kingdom of God was to come. Jesus' answer then and now is, "The Kingdom of God is among you. It is in your midst." Right now, I am here in my bedroom. God's Kingdom is here. You are perhaps at your desk, in your garden, in your office, in your kitchen. God's Kingdom is there as well. To see it, to experience it, we need to be born again, to be born anew with a new way of thinking and seeing. We know we are born anew when Jesus’ teachings come alive for us, and we know Him as our brother, friend and Savior. When I was new in the renewal, recently baptized in the Spirit, the words of the Bible seemed to jump out of the page, and I wanted to underline everything. I would read up to late at night, wanting to devour the Word and learn as much as I can. That will be impossible without the Holy Spirit. The third Person of the Trinity is our partner in our spiritual rebirth. 

If we spend time to listen, we will hear Him speak: “Fill every corner of your life with holy things, holy prayer. Be in my presence always, and you will see my Kingdom dwelling alongside this earth full of sorrow and pain. It is possible to see it. See through my eyes. See through the eyes of prayer, of connection with Me. Do not sever your connection with Me.”

Come Holy Spirit! I want to see and experience Your Kingdom here on earth! 

I Believe!

“Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” John 20:29

The disciples did not believe Mary Magdalene when she delivered the news that Jesus was alive. Neither did they believe Cleopas and his companion when they reported seeing Jesus on the way to Emmaus.

Jesus then appeared to them and rebuked them for their disbelief- “their stubborn refusal to believe". Do you think Jesus was frustrated with the disciples? Disappointed? Was He thinking they are hopeless? He can't depend on them? That they can't be trusted with the mission He wants to give them?

On the contrary, right after rebuking them in Mark 16:14, He said, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to everyone, everywhere." I can imagine Jesus being frustrated with a lot of us! We are being given so much! We are entrusted with so much treasure in His Word. What do we do with it? But then I know, because I see it in my own life, that no matter how much I fail, Jesus never gives up on me. He still gives and gives and gives! Every day, He opens up His treasure chest. And every day, I just want to shout, "Yes, God is good!"

In John 20:29, Jesus urges us to make a leap of faith. "Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed."  There are times I think, "Why do I believe?" Maybe the Bible stories are a myth like the story of Gilgamesh we read in High School! But legends and myths do not make missionaries and martyrs out of inexperienced, untrained fishermen and a tax collector. 

To a non-believer, the Bible can be a bunch of made up, absurd stories! I decided a long time ago that yes, Jesus, You are God, and I will follow You.  Because of that leap of faith, I have been blessed. Now I know without a shadow of a doubt, like Thomas, like the other disciples, like Paul who tried to destroy the followers of Jesus, that He is alive, He is God, and He holds the key.  

Impossible

“What shall we do with these men?” Acts 4:16

I can understand the quandary of the high priests, rulers, and Sadducees. A man who had been lame since birth could now walk because Peter and John proclaimed, “In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” They brought the disciples for questioning after throwing them in jail. “By what power, or in what name have you done this?” 

Oh that was exactly the question Peter was waiting for! “Let it be known that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead- by THIS NAME this man stands here before you in good health!” 

Now the high priests knew these men as ordinary, uneducated, and untrained. What happened to make them so bold, confident, and unafraid? The high priests threatened them, warned and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 

Instead of cowering in fear, Peter and John rebuked them. “Whether it be right in the sight of God for us to obey you rather than God, you be the judges. It is IMPOSSIBLE for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard!” 

How about us? Whom are we obeying? Is it IMPOSSIBLE for us not to speak about God and how good He is to us? Are we continuing the work of the disciples here on earth? Sometimes the world makes it difficult for us to spread the good news- it’s divisive, corny, passé, so old fashioned, politically incorrect, and uncool! Shouldn’t we prefer to obey Jesus rather than men? “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)

It is the Lord!

“It is the Lord.” John 21:7

How do we recognize the Lord’s work in our lives? With Peter and the other disciples, it was only when they obeyed Jesus’ words to cast their net over the right side of the boat, and they caught much fish, that their eyes opened. 

If we want God to work in our life, we should also obey His words. The promises in the Bible are like seeds that we plant in our lives, and we can wait for it to bear fruit. If for example, we are anxious about the future which is so terribly uncertain, and we can’t wait for this lockdown to be over so we can get back to our normal way of life, we can search the scriptures for what God has to say. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” That’s what St. Paul writes in his letter to the Romans (8:28). He also says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6) If we repeat these Words, confessing them, believing them, and rejecting other negative thoughts that we have, it will transform the way we think, and God will transform our life. 

There is a battle we are fighting all the time, and the battlefield is our mind. If we can take control of our thoughts, by refusing to think self-defeating, negative, cynical, pessimistic, or gloomy notions, we can change our life. My sister and some other brothers and sisters in our community used to tutor kids in the slum area. One of the things that they had to do, was change the children’s perceptions of themselves. They could not excel because they did not believe in themselves. They thought they were dumb and worthless. Where did they get these ideas? Unfortunately, it was drummed into them by their parents who just got it from their parents who used to say the same things to them. “Wala kang kuwenta!” “Wala kang alam!” “Wala kang patutunguhan!” (You’re not worth anything! You don’t know anything! You won’t get anywhere!”) 

We are all unique, special individuals with our own talents and gifts. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart...” (Jeremiah 1:5) Our God loves each of us, we are each the apple of His eye before we were even born! If we just know how much God loves and values us, we will be more confident about facing the future. Let us strive to see ourselves the way God sees us. When Jesus saw Peter, He did not see an uneducated, uncouth, lowly fisherman, He saw a man that could change the world! How does He see us? Let us catch His vision, His plan for us, and then we will be able to say with excitement, “It is the Lord’s work in my life!”

Touch Me and See!

“Touch me, and see...” Luke 24:39

Jesus did not expect the disciples to believe in Him with blind faith. He showed them His hands and feet and bade them to touch Him. “...it is I, Myself. Touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 

The disciples marveled and were amazed. We too can marvel and be amazed for our faith is based on evidence. We do not believe in a god invented by man, or is a delusion as the new atheists insist. In an informal survey conducted in Hong Kong University, it was found that a majority of students believe that the world is a better place if people believe in God, even in a fictional god! Many people today believe that God is irrelevant, unimportant. I should think that we should want to discover for ourselves if God is real or an idea invented by man! 

The Hebrew God is unlike any other in that He is the creator of the universe, but He broke into our world because He made us in His image, and values each and every one of us. That is the reason for the cross, the most horrible punishment created by the perverted mind of man. Jesus hung on the cross, humiliated, beaten and bruised, the lamb sacrificed for you and me. 

Irrelevant? We need to do better than that! There are things that are relevant for our life that we know nothing about, the square root of minus one for instance, which is one reason why we have smart phones. While I may never understand the concept of imaginary numbers, I can know Jesus because He wants me to know Him and the finished work on the cross. I can know Jesus by reading the Bible, and praying that He reveal Himself to me. I can know Jesus by reading dozens of historical writings by both Jews and Romans found on the internet. If we study the homilies of the Church fathers, we will see how the New Testament reveals and fulfills the Old Testament. God made sure that the life and death of Jesus is amazingly documented. Yes, Jesus is still saying today, “Touch me, and see!”

Burn

“Were not our hearts burning within us?" 

Luke 24:32

In Luke chapter 24, we read the account of two of the disciples of Jesus walking on the way to Emmaus. They were talking and debating about all the events that just happened, about how Jesus was crucified and how the tomb was empty. Jesus chose to join these two disciples, Cleopas and his companion, who were not part of the Eleven disciples, as they walked, but they did not recognize him. Then beginning with Moses and the prophets, Jesus interpreted for them all that referred to Him in the Scriptures beginning with Moses and the prophets. How I would love to have been there eavesdropping on that conversation! 

When Jesus revealed Himself to them, and left, they exclaimed, “Were not our hearts burning within us?"

What makes our hearts burn? Get excited? Traveling? A new gadget? Jewelry? 

A designer bag? Bargains?

What about the Word of God?

We have to find a way to make Scripture, God's letters to us, exciting! That's why I started painting His Word. As a visual learner, I draw pictures, now on my iPad, so I can keep God with me throughout the day and remember what I meditated on. So I can be involved and enthusiastic and eager about my prayer time, my time with the 

most important Person in my life!

There are many ways to make reading God's Word and prayer more exciting and enriching. We can read different versions of the Bible, or look up the stories in commentaries. I like researching on the internet and I learn many things about Jesus’ time by asking questions about the passage and looking up the answers. Sometimes I read a narrative in the gospels pretending I was actually there, an eyewitness. Or at other times I paraphrase the scripture in my own words, like I’m making my own version of the Bible. I also like praying the scriptures, especially the Psalms. If I had the gift of music, I would compose songs, or if I was blessed with rhythm, I would dance for the Lord. In as many ways we are unique and different, there are as many ways we can give praise and glory to God, and invite Him to visit us the way He walked with Cleopas and his companion on the way to Emmaus. And what’s more, we can be sure, if we go even part of the way towards the Lord, 

He will meet us where we are! 

YES! It is possible that 

our hearts will burn for God! 

Why are You Weeping?

"Woman, why are you weeping?" John 20:13

After reading the four Gospels' accounts of the resurrection story, I find it a little hard to put it all together in one cohesive story. But that is not surprising considering how sometimes there are so many versions of one story depending on who is telling it. What is different about the Gospel story is that women are the primary witnesses. During those times, women could not even appear in court as credible witnesses, so if the Gospel story was just made up, as some believe, the writers would never have used women as witnesses.

In the 20th chapter of John, after Mary Magdalene had gone early to the tomb while it was still dark, and had seen that the stone had been rolled away, she ran quickly to Simon Peter and to John to tell them. Perhaps the men hesitated, but they went with her. After seeing for themselves, that what she said was true, they each went away again. They left Mary. Isn't that strange? They did not try to investigate, they did not look for any signs around the tomb, they did not look for anyone to ask. They just left. They were still in their "fear" mode. They had assumptions about what happened, and did not want to interfere. Jesus, their leader was dead, they did not want to be connected to Him any longer.

But Mary, Mary wanted answers. She stayed. She did not want to leave until she had some clue as to what happened. Aren't women like that? We can't let go. We like to solve things, until we sometimes become busybodies!!! But this time, Mary gets her reward. Jesus appears and asks why she is crying. And then she recognizes Him and she is filled with joy!

Let us not be afraid to cry. Pope Francis said that sometimes tears are the lenses we need to see Jesus. Recalling the story of Mary Magdalene, the Pope said, “let us ask the Lord to give us the grace of tears — it’s a beautiful grace” — and ask for the grace “to be able to say with our lives, ‘I have seen the Lord,’ not because he appeared to me, but because I saw him with my heart.” Christian witness, he said, can be summarized as: “I live this way because I’ve seen the Lord.” (Homily about Forgiveness, April 2, 2013, at the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae)

Do we live as if we have seen the Lord? 

The Tomb is Empty

“You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’ 

Matthew 28:13

What is the significance of the empty tomb? The late Billy Graham relates the story when Konrad Adenauer, the first post war Chancellor of West Germany asked him: “Do you believe Jesus Christ really rose from the dead?” Billy Graham then answered, “Mr. Adenauer, if I didn’t believe that, I would have no gospel to preach.” Then the Chancellor concluded, “Outside of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I know of no other hope for mankind.” 

Resurrection Sunday is a day of great rejoicing for those who believe that the tomb was really empty. For those who don’t, for those who are ambivalent about this, the whole story of Jesus loses personal significance. Of what use to us is a man who claimed he was God, who said he would rise from the dead, but had no power to do so? We would have no need for him aside from his good instruction. For that is what Jesus’ words would amount to- good advice like all the self help books for sale nowadays. 

But because Jesus’ tomb was empty, we can rely on all His promises, all of the promises in the Old Testament. Because He lives, we too shall live! The same power that raised Him from the dead can raise dead marriages to life, dead relationships, dead careers, dead hopes, dead dreams... There is resurrection power available for us who believe! 

The non-believer may ask us why we believe in Christ’s resurrection. Isn’t it all legend? Even the opponents during Jesus’ day admitted the tomb was empty. That’s why they invented the story that His body was stolen. But Jesus’ followers were too frightened to do anything like that. It was the women who discovered the tomb had no body in it. If a story had been concocted, they would not have used women as witnesses because their testimonies would not have been admitted in any court as commanded by the Talmud. The disciples lived lives of desperation and suffering because of what they believed and claimed. They were willing to die for the truth they believed in, and they did get martyred for being followers of Jesus. They lived in exciting times as defenders of the truth! 

We live in exciting times as well! Do we stand with Jesus just as the disciples did?

Hope is Alive!

"We don't know where they put Him!" John 20:2

As a woman I can imagine myself in Mary Magdalene's place. I would not have had a good sleep...who could, after seeing someone you love crucified! Perhaps I was not able to sleep at all! I would have asked others to walk with me to Jesus' tomb early in the morning, just as I walked to where my mother lay in her coffin at 4 in the morning. It was very dark and all I wanted was to be with her, just one last time. So I can fully understand Mary. Perhaps she wanted to pour out her fears, her sorrow, her dashed hopes, despair even. 

But because Mary went, she is given a gift. She does not know what it means at first. Sometimes, even most of the time, God's gifts are shrouded in mystery. And like all gifts, there is an anticipation, a hope, then a revelation. We only realize its significance, its worth, when we stay close, trusting, and we ponder like Mary the mother of Jesus. She whose heart was pierced, “treasured all these things and  reflected on them in her heart." (Luke 2:19) 

The revelation of Easter, Resurrection Sunday, is not something we should keep for ourselves. Like Mary Magdalene, after unwrapping the gift and realizing its value, we should go out and share it with others. “This is what I found out! HOPE is alive! All Jesus said was true! IS true! ALL His promises!"

This morning, I woke up thanking God for Easter. Otherwise we just might be made of cardboard, no hope, no future, no dreams. But because Jesus rose from the dead, as He said He would, we should go back to ALL He said and live the way He said we should live, so we can have ALL He promised we could have! Thank you Lord for this absolutely marvelous awesome gift!

Blessed Rest

“Let us strive to enter into that rest.” 

Hebrew 4:11

It’s been a pretty hectic few days. On Maundy Thursday, I went through two versions of the Stations of the Cross in Jerusalem via YouTube, and listened to Catholic convert Steve Ray on Parousia. After lunch, I prepared haroseth, mixing apples, raisins, walnuts, dates, almonds, cinnamon, and sweet red wine in a bowl. At a Seder meal, haroseth symbolizes the mortar which the Israelites used to bind the stones and bricks in their back breaking work for their Egyptian masters. Haroseth has been a symbolic part of the Jewish Passover for at least 2,000 years.

Before 3 pm, we prepared the Seder meal ceremonial plate and paraphernalia, with a bone from a goat, bitter herbs, the haroseth, an egg, salt water, wine glasses and unleavened bread. Usually we have guests, but this time we just had a zoom get together for our Seder meal. 

Yesterday, Good Friday, I attended Father Johnny Go’s “Letting Good, Letting Evil, Letting God” retreat in the morning then we joined our community’s recollection and liturgy after lunch. What I found interesting was Father Go’s mention of what philosopher Hannah Arendt said about Adolf Eichmann. Arendt was a witness at Eichmann’s trial where he was convicted of a crime against humanity for the atrocities committed against the Jews. Arendt said Eichmann’s crime was his failure to think for himself. He was just following orders! And then Fr. Go related that to what was happening today with social media. Sometimes we do not think and just repost and forward! We need to think critically so evil will not proliferate. In order to think well, I think we also need to rest well. It will not do to always keep ourselves busy, so that we are always preoccupied. We need space for God to fill us up. 

One of the gifts that God wants to give us is the promise of rest. In Hebrews 4:1, the writer says, “God’s promise of entering His place of rest still stands.” Today, Holy Saturday is a day of rest after two days of blessed busyness. There is no mass today until the Easter vigil tonight. So we wait with the disciples, with Jesus’ mother, with all the faithful. Jesus’ body lies in the tomb, but we know in faith, that we do not wait in vain. Today, like all the times we wait for God’s answer to our prayers, we wait in hope and faith. God is working. Even if all others see is the tomb, we know the tomb is empty and our Savior lives. We can rest gratefully in that truth. 

Family Business

“My kingdom does not belong to this world.” 

John 18:36

I have been working in our family business since I was 11 years old. We always say our business is a miracle. So it is. It was started by my mom, with no capital, with more common sense than business sense. And it is being managed by a family with more creative inclinations than business savvy. During this time of pandemic it is surviving by the grace of God! 

But there is another business that is even more of a miracle, one million more times a miracle! More than 2000 years ago, the Father left the business to His Son (1 Cor. 15:24-28). And the Son had to learn everything in 30 years, and pass it on to all sorts of ordinary people, like fishermen and tax collectors! He invited them to invest, to commit themselves to this amazing business plan, to follow Him and to advertise the business and spread the Word.

It is a business that will never fail, never go bankrupt, and you don't have to be rich or smart or popular to be a part of it! It's not easy, because to be a part of the Family business, you have to carry your own cross just as the Son did on a Friday like this one. But there is a manual of instructions, a business plan, to read and follow. 

What is great about this business, is the promise of victory and blessing if we follow and obey (Dt. 28:1-2) And if we continue to be faithful, the retirement plan is out of this world!

Are you in? 

Beauty for Ashes

“...beauty for ashes...” Isaiah 61:3

This is one of the most beautiful promises in the Old Testament. The prophet Isaiah’s ministry spanned 60 years and four kings. He lived through war and the destruction of Israel. But his prophecies were always about rescue and restoration. 

“...to provide for those who grieve in Zion, a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness in place of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” When Jesus went to the synagogue on a Sabbath, he read these same verses from the passage of Isaiah. 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed Me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” Jesus rolled up the scroll and sat down. “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” 

For hundreds of years, the Jews had been waiting for their Messiah. They expected a King in resplendent robes with a mighty army. Jesus came in peasant garb and dusty sandals. Today He walks among us, and many people still ignore His presence. He may be the beggar with a misshapen face on the overpass. He may be the autistic child in the corner shunned by his classmates. He may be one of the 5000 forgotten prisoners in overcrowded QC jail. He may be anyone who needs us to bring him glad tidings and good news. 

Before Jesus left, He instructed, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere.” If we obey, we will have the joy of giving beauty for ashes, gladness instead of  mourning, thanksgiving instead of despair.