Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year B

"There is no greater love than this: to lay down
one's life for one's friends"

This passage from the gospel of John is one of the
popular verses that we know in Scripture. It depicts
the image of Jesus who sacrificed his life on the Cross
so that, we, his friends, may be saved from our sinfulness
and gain eternal life. Perhaps no man in the history
of the world has expressed love to its noblest and
its most sublime form as did our Lord Jesus Christ, when
he sacrificed his very life on the Cross out of love
and obedience to the Father. That is why the Christian life continues up to
this day, despite many things in our
modern world that is undermining its influence.
Christianity has survived the test of two millenium, not because of an ideal
or concept of love, but because of a Person, who showed through a very
concrete example,
what love really is: sacrificial, selfless and
life-giving. And this Person has truly made Christian
love a life-giving love by sending His Spirit on the
apostolic community on the day of Pentecost.

For those of us who have always known our Lord by his
example in the Gospel, let us be more attentive in these
times to base our ideal of love not on what the world
of our times teaches us, but more on what the Church
teaches us through its explanation of the Gospel. Let
us be strong and steadfast in our faith in the traditional
meaning of love that has been taught to all peoples
of all nations for many centuries past. If ever we
hear of something being taught that is not what we have
always known to be as the truth, let us be wary and
very cautious in accepting it, since the truth does not
change radically, or dramatically, when it comes to
the mystery of God's love and how he was incarnated in
Jesus. Rather than being swayed and swept by the
winds of contemporary beliefs, let us focus our eyes
more on the truth of the love of Jesus as we have
always known it to be in our Christian tradition.

3rd Sunday of Easter, Year B

"...he opened their minds to the understanding of the Scriptures."

Lectionary Readings for the 3rd Sunday of Easter, Year B

When the disciples beheld the Risen Jesus again in their midst in
this Resurrection narrative, they panicked and were frightened.
They did not understand what was happening and thus created
this fear in them. From a plain human perspective, the disciples knew
that the dead do not rise from the grave. Thus, Jesus had to prove
to them that he was no ghost and that he was made of flesh and blood.
And to really prove it to them, he asked for something to eat. And
this, Jesus knew the disciples will surely understand; because
dead people do not eat!

The fear, the panic, the lack of understanding, on the part of the
disciples, was due to the fact that they forgot what was said about
Jesus in the Scriptures. So Jesus then had to open their minds to
understand, that the Messiah was to die, and rise from the dead
after three days, in fulfillment of the Scriptures. Without this
Scriptural basis for understanding the crucifixion and resurrection
event, the disciples will not really understand what is going on.
Only when their experience of seeing their Master crucified and
then raised from the dead, is seen from the context of the
fulfillment of Scripture, can they see that all this is really
of God, and not just an ordinary human event.

Like the disciples, there are times in our life that we shall
experience much pain, suffering, even illness, a loss of a
loved one or a relationship, or even a job or business. We
will surely not understand all these experiences and life
events, if we see them only from our own limited human perspective.
We may panic, be frightened, and be discouraged in all of
these. However, if we open our minds and our hearts to the
person of Jesus, he will help us understand the meaning of
all the negative things that assail and afflict us. We will
especially understand them better when we listen to him as
he speaks to us in the Word of the Scriptures and as he
makes himself present to us in the Eucharist.

So like the disciples in the resurrection narrative of today's
gospel, let us not be disturbed, let us not panic or be
frightened. Let us rather be open to Christ, who will
open our minds to the divine meaning of his resurrection,
so that we may view life from this Christian mystery,
and have a healthy and positive outlook, even despite
the hardships and difficulties we experience in our day
to day living. When we root our Christian living in the
mystery of the Resurrection, we will share in the life
giving spirit that Christ has won for us, by his victory
over sin and death.

Passion Sunday, Year B

"Clearly this man was the Son of God."

Lectionary Readings for Passion Sunday, Year B

The gospel of Mark is dramatic, especially when it depicts Pontius Pilate
interrogating Jesus. Just reading the text of the gospel places in our
mind images of a life that was innocently condemned by a mainline religion
that wishes to save its people from the eyes of a watchful Empire who
does not like anyone of its subjects to "rock the boat" as it were.
Jesus, because of his love for the people, went out of the normal way,
departing from his comfort zone, in order to preach the kingdom of God
in word and deed. His style of mission really just involved healing
people, teaching people and preaching the good News. The reason the
leaders of their mainline religion were against him was because Jesus put
love above the law: healing many people on the Sabbath. This irked the
Pharisees and the scribes because nobody is to act or work on the Sabbath.
Another point they placed against Jesus was the controversial way Jesus
presented himself as God's Son and calling God, "Abba". For the Jewish
religious authorities, this is blasphemous.

The popularity of Jesus rose and many came to him for healing, to be
taught wisdom and to learn of the kingdom of God. Crowds always gathered
around him because they learn of his miracles and many of them have
sick they want to be healed. This large group of people, who probably
regularly followed him, caused fear and anxiety among the Jewish religious
leaders. They fear that Jesus, with his following, may subvert the
peace of the people and cause a revolution. And so, the Jewish leaders
plotted a way to have him arrested. Jesus, knew that his time was to
come, and so prepared himself for this.

The problem with the Jewish religious authorities was their lack of
perception and open-mindedness to the truth that Jesus was the Messiah.
Simple people did not have this problem because they see how Jesus
performed good works with their sick and in their lives. Even the centurion,
who belongs and represented the authority of the Empire, believed in
Jesus because of the manner of death he had underwent. Faith is a gift
not given to all. It is given only to those who open their minds to
the truth about Jesus. The Jewish religious authorities lack the faith
necessary to see the truth because their frame of mind and their mindsets
were dictated by their established law and tradition.

As we enter into Holy Week, let us examine our own frame of mind and our
own mindsets and ask ourselves, "Is my perception of Jesus as the center
of Truth in my life clouded with doubt?" Let us look deep down in our
hearts and reflect with the question, "What is preventing me to truly
believe in Jesus: denying myself, taking up my cross, and following Him?"