Simple Thoughts

Rejoice in the Lord Always!

2011-12-13T03:47:00.005+08:00

3rd Sunday of Advent (B)
John 1: 6-8, 19-28 “Tell us who you are, so that we could give some answers to those who sent us.”

The third Sunday of Advent is also known as Gaudete Sunday. This Sunday, in the middle of Advent Season, we are called to rejoice in the Lord always. In the second reading, Paul encourages us to wear the spirit of joy at all times: “Rejoice in the Lord always... have no anxiety about anything, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God (Phil 4:4–6).”

The call to rejoice in the Lord at all times is not just a simple exhortation to all Christians; in fact, it’s a command from God in our union with Christ Jesus (1 Thes 5:17). God wants us to shine forth and be the life and joy in the world. If we are intimately united with God, it should transform our hearts, lead us to gratitude, and bring joy to ourselves.

But our experience will tell us otherwise, many of us are unhappy and ungrateful Christians. Too many of us are Christians by name, but not by living. We seldom see Christians gladly proclaiming their deep faith and personal experience of God’s love. Thus Paul, in his letter to the Thessalonians, exhorts us to rejoice in the Lord, pray without ceasing and render thanks to God always. As children of God, we should actively manifest in our life the joy, love and peace we received from God.

But what stops us from rejoicing joyfully in the Lord? In my years of giving spiritual direction and counseling, I realize that one basic ingredients of unhappiness is our inability to process and transcend our resentments and anger caused by strained relationships. In the end, it drains our spirits and we lost our capacity to get in touch with the joy that God is offering.

In the first reading, Isaiah reminds us of our identity: “The Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the poor, heal the broken-hearted and proclaim liberty to the captives.” But how do we reclaim our identity as bearers of God’s Good News?

In the second reading, Paul gives us some basic ingredients of a happy living: 1) pray without ceasing 2) give constant thanks to God always 3) allow the Holy Spirit to rule your life 4) listen to inspired messages 5) put all things into the test - discernment 6) keep what is good and throw away what is bad 7) and avoid any kind of evil and temptations.

I remember Fr. Albert Alejo,SJ comparing our hearts to the medicine cabinets. He said, check your medicine cabinet at home; and you will be surprised that some expired medicines are still there, occupying space unnecessarily. Throw them away immediately. Then he said our hearts are like the medicine cabinets; in our hearts also, we love to keep those expired, harmful, and unnecessary negative feelings - like anger, frustrations, hopelessness, doubt and worries – in our hearts. Genuine peace, inner joy and gratitude will never come to us until we consciously free our hearts from the bondage of negative feelings.

In our Gospel today, John was asked, “Who are you?” And he immediately answered, “I am the voice in the wilderness, crying out; prepare the way of the Lord.” When Jesus was asked by John’s disciples with the same question, his answer was, “Go back and tell John what you are hearing and seeing: the blind can see, the lame can walk, and the deaf hear. (Mt. 11:4-6).” Both John and Jesus knew their identity and destiny.

What about you? Who are you? Are you in touch with your Christian identity? We should be happy bearers of God’s good news through our words and actions. God wants us to be joyful always to effectively proclaim His saving power and unconditional love. Paul exhorts us to rejoice in the Lord always, for our cheerful and positive disposition in life is a very powerful means to touch the hearts of the hopeless, lonely and unbelievers.

“Who are you?” The word of Isaiah re-echoes our Christian identity, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. (Isaiah 61:1)” Let’s reclaim and proclaim our identity. Rejoice in the Lord always!

- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ
Pasobolong Chapel

Workers of the Future

2011-12-05T07:19:00.002+08:00

2nd Sunday of Advent (B)
Mark 1: 1-8 “Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare the way.”

The Christmas spirit is already here. Decorations like Christmas trees, lights and lanterns are everywhere. In spite of our complaints against a heavy commercialized Christmas, I enjoy window shopping and viewing Christmas decors in Ayala. But it dawned on me that these beautiful Christmas decorations are labors of love from ordinary laborers. We did not see them work. It was a thankless job.

Nobody appreciates “silent workers.” They commonly works at night shift, those at the back stage and those whose work is to “prepare something” for others. They are a thankless job. Nobody sees the chef who prepares the delicious meal. Nobody sees the janitors who clean the social hall before and after the party. Nobody sees the tears of our thousands of OFWs who cannot go home this Christmas for the sake of the future of their families. Nobody notices their hard work and sacrifices. They are thankless jobs.

In today’s gospel, John the Baptist did another thankless job. He prepared the way for the arrival of Jesus by exhorting the people to repent. He had a glimpse of success when some repented and ask for his baptism, but he did not see the fullness of humanity’s salvation when Jesus died on the cross. His mission was crystal clear for John – just to prepare the way of the Lord. Nobody appreciated his contribution in the works of salvation. Herod even beheaded John. It was another thankless job.

But our gospel challenges us to be like John the Baptist – to become workers of the future. We are asked to work for peace in Mindanao so that our future generation will live in peace. We are tasked to protect our environment so that our children will have trees to climb and clean rivers to swim. It is our responsibility to teach Christian values to our children, to assure ourselves of good and God-fearing leaders in the future. But to work for peace, environment and formation of children are also thankless job. Nobody seems to care and support us. Why care and work for the future society?

William Barclay commented, "In youth, because I could not be a singer, I did not even write a song. I set no little trees along the roadside because I knew their growth would take so long. But now from the wisdom that the years have brought me, I know that it may be a blessed thing to plant a tree for someone else to water or make a song for someone else to sing."

Let’s ask ourselves this Advent: “Do I consciously work hard for a better future? What are your small and daily contributions? You say, you want peace in our society; but what are you doing about it? You dream of happy family; but how much time you dedicate to your family?

Let’s commit ourselves in building the future we don’t own. We are workers for our children and nation’s future. Our determination to work for a good future is not merely based on our social responsibility, but on the spiritual responsibility. Let’s discover the “John the Baptist” in us. We may not see the fruits of our labors; but that’s the meaning of being a John the Baptist. God calls us to prepare the way so that others may live to the fullest.

In a graduation ceremony, a teary eyed mother commented, “I don’t know what’s ahead of my son, but I’m at peace. I have given him good education to confidently face his future. ”

We are workers for the future generations. We may not see the end result of our hard work, apostolate, and advocacies. People may not recognize our sacrifices. Our work may end up like another thankless job. But don’t fret. Any work done with love will create a ripple effect in our future.

- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ

God is Always Fair

2011-09-19T05:47:00.001+08:00

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Matthew 20:1-16 “Are you jealous because I am generous?”

“My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,” says the Lord in our first reading today (Isaiah 55: 6-9). These words from the prophet Isaiah will guide us to understand our gospel today. God’s way are not our way, God’s mathematics is not our mathematics. He’s logic is not our logic.

Anybody who hears the gospel today may think that the landowner is really unfair especially to those hired early in the morning. In our present world where all work must be compensated, we find the landowner unfair to those hired at 6 AM. They have the right to receive more than to those who worked for just an hour.

But in reality, the landowner was actually fair to all laborers, because they all agreed to be paid the minimum wage. There is no guile here. It was done in good faith. What made the early workers furious were envy - that they were not the lucky recipient of the landowner’s generosity. Jesus explicitly mentioned it, “Are you jealous because I am generous?” (Matthew 20:15).

When I was in Montaban Relocation Site in Rizal, we used to distribute Christmas goodies for the poor, I remember a man who used to complain a lot each time we distribute goods to the people. He always irritated us. But he never complained when he was first on the queue or when he received more than the others. The laborers in our gospel are like that. They are protesting because they felt shortchanged. Envy plays a big role here. We complain when we are at the disadvantage but we care less when we receive the bigger and better portion of the pie.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus instantly promised the reward of heaven to one of the thieves, “I promised you that today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Some of us who are working hard to be good to achieve the reward of heaven might protest, “That’s not fair. He is stealing heaven. He did nothing to merit heaven.” We might even say, “If this is the case, we should eat, drink be merry carelessly and commit sins. Why strive to be good and holy in our younger years when God can easily forgive us later and reward us equally?”

We failed the see the point of the gospel. The gospel gives hope to those who are not working for God’s vineyard for many years. But God does not condone such idling, of course not. The gospel should bring us to a realization that it is never too late for anyone to return to God and work for his vineyard. And yet some would still insist that God is unfair to those who are faithful to Him, and gives favor to the sinners.

A theologian once said, “We sinners and martyrs may find themselves together in the presence of God because God looks at us equally but the degree of happiness might vary. Aside from being in God’s presence, what make people happy in heaven are their thoughts that they did for something for God and for their fellowmen during their earthly life.”

A bench warmer player who did nothing for the team in winning the much coveted championship title will still go to Europe with his teammates as a reward. But when the players start remembering and recalling those momentous plays, crucial breaks and difficulty in winning the championship, the players who played and fought hard for the team will be the happiest. They have stories to tell and be proud of to their friends and families. Bench warmers have nothing to share.

But I am not here to prove that God is just to everybody or to console those who are working in the Lord’s vineyard that they should not envy the late workers or those who are not working for the Lord. The gospel today wants us to purify our motivation in serving God. We don’t serve the Lord to merit material graces or to inherit heaven. We serve the Lord out of love because He has given us a lot and bless us a lot with many graces. As St.Ignatius of Loyola would say, "To give and not to count the cost." I remember Tita Glo, a volunteer in New Bilibid Prison, she said, "When one is genuinely serving God, he or she should not expect anything in return, even the words thank you."

The workers who complain are echoes of the elder son’s complaint in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The sin of the elder was envy. He failed to identify himself with the father’s joy of a returning son. The father reminded the elder son of what love is: To be happy that his younger brother is back home. What made the elder son envious was the thought that his younger brother does not deserve such warm welcome and lavish banquet, while he himself, a very faithful son, did not receive any reward from the father… not even a single goat!

And so the Father said: “My son, you are always with me and everything I have is yours. But we have to celebrate and be happy, because your brother was dead, but now he is alive, he was lost, but now he has been found” (Luke 15:31).

To love is to think of the welfare of others. Those who know how to love are genuinely happy when others are happy.

Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ
Sacred Heart Chapel
Ateneo de Zamboanga University

Instant Ginatan

2011-08-31T21:33:00.001+08:00

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Matthew 16:21-27

When I was in Hollywood, a Filipina offered an instant “ginatan halo-halo” for merienda. Having been away from the Manila for five months, the thought of ginatan halo-halo thrilled me. But the taste of this instant ginatan was a big disappointment. It was far from the taste of real ginatan. Indeed, instant products are not always good. Unfortunately, our world is turning into the culture of instants, short cuts, quick fix, and convenience stores. Modern technology is giving us a painless, easy and lazy life. Majority would say, why make it difficult and complicated when technology can make it simple and quick? In the process, we lost the value and wisdom of sacrifice and suffering.

In our gospel today, Jesus revealed the secret formula of his future glory: He must go to Jerusalem, suffer greatly, be killed, and on the third day be raised (Mt.16:21). But it was the antithesis of the disciples’ idea of “glory.” So Peter corrected Jesus, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” Peter couldn’t accept that suffering and sacrifice are necessary ingredients in Jesus’ assent to glory. Peter couldn’t think a suffering Saviour. And so Jesus rebuked him, “Get behind me Satan, You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” And Jesus gave his triple conditions to discipleship to correct Peter’s wrong notion of sacrifice and suffering, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mt.16:24) There is no instant glory in following Christ. We need to take the road to sacrifice and suffering to attain fullness of life and salvation.

Fullness of life and salvation can only be achieved through sacrifice, self-denial and hard work. Not through shortcuts or any instant solution. They are the fruits of our hard labour, perseverance and faithful carrying of our daily cross.

When Jesus scolded Peter with the words, “Get behind me, Satan!”... Jesus’ is directly commanding Peter to resist the devil’s deceiving temptation – take shortcuts, avoid pain and suffering, run away from the cross and self-indulge. But life is not like that. It has its own challenges, failures, misgivings, detours and delays. When these things happen, self denial and sacrifice become our way of engagement. And we gain a lot from them.

One of my friends required his newly graduate son to work as an all-around helper in their bakery. The son resented the idea at the beginning. He felt humiliated but followed his father’s decision. As a worker, the son learned how to relate to people and learned the value of hard work. After six months, his father made him the new manager of the bakery.

In his desire to protect Jesus from suffering, Peter failed to see the importance of sacrifice in God’s plan of salvation. Self-denial is necessary. No sacrifice, no glory.

If you want a happy family, then sacrifice.
Spend more quality time with your family.

If you want to pass the board exam, then sacrifice.
Go to the library and read read read.

If you want good health, then sacrifice.
Avoid your favorite junk food and exercise daily.

If you want beautiful garden, then sacrifice.
Toil under the sun and soil your hands.

If you want fruits in your backyard,
then plant trees now and wait for years patiently.

If you want delicious ginatan, then sacrifice a little.
Prepare your own coco milk. Cook it slowly.
It may take a while but it’s worth all the wait and effort.

Today’s Gospel calls us to take the same road with Jesus: “Whoever wishes to come after me he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24). St. Paul also exhorts us to run hard to win the race: “Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable garland, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:25-27).

No to shortcuts and instants.

In heaven, only fruits of hard labor and sacrifice are recognized. And they don’t serve instant ginatan there.

Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ
St. Joseph Parish

The Quiz

2011-08-21T05:51:00.002+08:00

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Matthew 16:13-20 “But who do you say that I am?”

I love History subjects when I was in high school. I enjoyed memorizing famous names, important dates and exotic places. But I struggled a lot when reflection paper would be required with topics such as “If Rizal is alive today, what will he say to the Filipino youth?” To answer it well, we need to know Rizal beyond facts and figures. We need to know his values, aspirations and sentiments in order to know him well.

In our gospel today, Jesus suddenly gave a surprise quiz to the disciples to test their knowledge about him. Much to the disciples’ surprise, Jesus posted two questions to them. The first question was a general knowledge inquiry, but the second was a heart to heart inquiry – a check of personal knowledge.

The first question was a curriculum vitae material: “Who do people say I am?” And they answered, “Some say you are John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Easy! It was just a re-echoing of what others have said about Jesus.

But the second question was a hard one. Only those who were intimately close to Jesus could answer this: “Who do you say I am?” Everybody was caught in surprise. It was a re-echoing of what’s inside their hearts.” Surprisingly, Simon answered it correctly, “You are Christ, the Son of the living God.” I could imagine a smiling Jesus when Peter answered his second question correctly.

In our experience, students who are intellectually motivated spend a great deal of time in reading and researching. They have this unquenchable thirst for deeper knowledge. In the end, they become what they read and contemplated.

On the other hand, Peter was not only intellectually motivated to know Jesus. He was spiritually moved by Jesus. He was captivated by Jesus’ charism, passion and ministry. He wanted to know what keeps Jesus so passionate in everything. Thus, Peter decided to stay close with Jesus and learn more of Him. In the end, he decided to follow the footstep of Jesus. He became what he contemplated. It was Peter’s intimacy with Jesus that led him to say, “You are the son of the living God.” It was also his intimacy with Jesus that led him to say, “If it is you Lord, allow me to walk on water.”

But far more revealing in the story was the reply of Jesus, “Peter, I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.” I suddenly realized that the more we know Jesus, the more we know ourselves and our hidden gifts and potentials. Thus, we are challenged to continually fix our eyes on Jesus in our prayer if we want to know ourselves. Our identity is in Jesus.

In our society, educated people benefits a lot. They always win in Quiz Bees, get freebies from the Cebu Pacific in-flight contest, and frequently consulted for bright ideas. Intelligent people are sources of right information and sound opinion of anything under the sun.

On the other hand, prayerful and spiritual people are sources of inspiration and strength. They are emotionally stable, balanced and happy. Such peaceful and cheerful disposition is the fruit of their deeply rooted prayer life and intimacy with God. Spiritual giants like Mary, St.Ignatius of Loyola and St.Francis of Assisi were people of prayer. Like Peter, because of their intimacy with Jesus, they found God and found themselves in the process.

But what about us? How is our intimacy with God? If Jesus will give us a surprise quiz today and ask us the same question, “Who do you say that I am?” What is your answer? Evaluate yourself.

Is your knowledge of Jesus comes from:

Your Rate
Your personal experience of Him in prayer? ----------- 40 % _______
Your personal experience Him in your daily life? ----- 40 % _______
Your Bible Study and Catechism? -=-------------------- 10 % _______
Other people’s experience of Jesus? --------------------- 10% _______

Total ________

What is your score?
Your score will tell you how deeply you know Jesus.

Knowing Jesus through Bible study and Catechism will give us a trophy in a Bible Quiz Bee; but knowing Jesus intimately through our prayer will give us heaven in our hand.

- Fr. Willy M. Samson,SJ
Sacred Heart Chapel
Ateneo de Zamboanga University

The Wall

2011-08-14T05:16:00.001+08:00

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Matthew 15: 21-28

In the middle of our conversation with regard to the latest GRP-MILF peace negotiation, somebody suddenly blurted out, “I cannot trust the Muslims.” When he saw my reaction, he said, “Sorry Father. I am just disappointed with the recent atrocities caused by this arm conflict. I just want peace in Mindanao.”

We may not be aware of it, but we need to acknowledge that biases and prejudices, caused by our long and painful history of violence in Mindanao, unconsciously affect how we relate with our Muslim brothers and sisters. We have created an invisible wall of division. This is not what God desires. He wants to bring the whole humanity to Himself. Thus, we need to purify our minds and hearts from any destructive biases and prejudices that bring animosity and division among us.

In our gospel today, it showed that even the disciples were not free from the prejudices and discrimination. When they realized that the woman was not a Jew, they said, “Master, send her away” (Matthew 15:23). Initially, we may find Jesus’ reply to the Canaanite woman inappropriate: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel… and it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs” (Matthew 15:24,26). His intention was just to test the woman’s faith; but after testing her faith and good intention, Jesus healed her daughter in the end.

In the Scripture, it is clear that everybody has a space in Jesus’ heart, Jews or not. His unconditional love allows him to transcend all cultural, social and religious boundaries and embrace the whole humanity. Real love melts animosity, division and fear. Jesus forgives his enemies, eats with tax collectors and other public sinners, heals the lepers, talks to the prostitutes, and spends a lot of time with the poor and marginalized. He even chooses ordinary fishermen as his disciples. And He continues to love and trust us in spite of our unfaithfulness. If Jesus has one bias to speak of, it is his decision to love everybody without any reservations.

This unconditional love of Jesus is also true to our God the Father. Our first reading from Isaiah shows Yahweh welcoming the Gentiles in His holy temple: “The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, ministering to him, loving the name of the LORD, and becoming his servant.” (Isaiah 56:6). Therefore, as children of God, we are challenged to follow the footsteps of Jesus and recognize everybody as our brothers and sisters without any reservation.

The way relate with one another shows us the need to continue purifying our hearts. We don’t trust an ex-inmate. We look down on someone who are less educated than us. We treat people differently according to their social status. We have lost our trust to people who committed a mistake. We don’t mingle with the poor. We give our undivided attention to people of high status; but not to the needs of our house helpers. We are not aware that our hidden biases and prejudices affect how we relate with others. We are insensitive to their needs. We don’t see their inner beauty. Thus, we don’t see them as our brothers and sisters.

We need to identity our hidden biases and prejudices. It is only in naming that we can tame them. Prayer will help us to purify our hearts. Our gospel challenges us to leave our comfort zones, transcend the walls of division and reach out to a stranger. Let us learn to trust one another, including those who offended us and have asked for another chance.

All of us - whatever is our color, background, religion, culture and social status - are children of God. Only true love can compel us to destroy the walls that separate us from the poor, enemy, marginalized and strangers. Peace is within reach when we begin to accept that God is present in every person; and to respect them is respect the God who created us. We also need to forgive one another and remove from our hearts all traces of distrust. Let us not forget the words of St. Paul, the disciples of the Gentiles, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.” (Eph 4:32).

A disciple asked his master, “When can I say, it is already dawn? Is it when I can say this tree is a mango tree and that one is an acacia tree?” The master said “No.” The disciple asked again, “Is it when I can recognize a cat from a dog from a distance?” The master replied, “No.” “Is it when I can say that the man coming is a Muslim, Christian or Buddhist? The master replied, “No.” Then the disciple said, “Then when can I say, it is already dawn?” The master smiled, “It is when you see a stranger coming and you said to yourself, that’s my brother. Then it is already dawn.”

- Fr.Willy M. Samson, SJ
Cagayan de Oro City
August 14, 2011

Why Pray?

2011-08-07T05:40:00.003+08:00

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Matthew 14: 22 – 33

One of the activities we do in Ateneo is the “Trust Walk.” In this activity, each participant is blind folded and asked to walk under the guidance of a companion. We realized it is easier to walk when guided by someone whom we know well than by a total stranger. The voice of a good friend gives us the confidence that everything will be fine.

Our gospel today is a classic example of trust walk. When Peter learned that it was Jesus walking on the water, he said, “Lord, if it is you, allow me to come to you.” And Jesus said, “Come.” Although Peter could not clearly see Jesus, his voice was enough to encourage Peter to walk on water. Faith is indeed connected to our ability to hear God’s voice. The more we listen to God, the more we gain trust and confidence. Unfortunately, in our present world where noise is part of our life, we are slowly losing our capacity to keep quiet and listen to God.

People nowadays are so busy and distracted with many things. We are multi-task human beings; we do many things at the same time, but lost our focus in the process. Like a machine, we can accomplish many things, but the quality of our relationships suffers greatly, especially our relationship with God. We go home exhausted from daily work, but no sense of fulfillment. We excel in different fields and praised by our colleagues, but no inner joy and satisfaction. Many of us are simply tired, discouraged, or almost dead inside. We have lost our simple joys, spontaneity, and peace. We have lost the depth and breadth of our Christian life. We don't like this feeling of "sinking" but we are. Like Peter, distracted with many worldly concerns, we cry out for help, “Lord, I am sinking! Help me!”

The only way to regain ourselves is to pray again. Prayerful people could hear God in their prayers. The deeper we pray, the more we see God in all things. Our first reading tells us how God revealed Himself to Prophet Elijah. God did not reveal Himself in the strong wind, earthquake and fire, but in the tiny whispering sound. In our present society where everything must be loud, dramatic and grand to win our attention, the God who reveals Himself in silence loses in the competition. If we want to hear God, we need to pause and pray silently.

It is simply absurd to say that we don’t have time to pray. To pray is a decision compelled by our love of God. Even the busiest person can still drop his work and do something urgent and important. Unfortunately, we don’t see the necessity and urgency of daily prayer in our life.

Why pray? When you look at the gospel today, it is Jesus who did the seeking, and not the disciples. When we pray, we create a space and allow God to seek and find us. And when God finds us, He gives us the grace of serenity to face our storms in life. An unknown author defines the meaning of serenity…

To walk when everybody is running
To whisper when everybody is shouting
To sleep when everybody is restless
To smile when everybody is angry
To pause when all are in a hurry
To pray when all are in doubt
To think when all are confused

Fr. Roque Ferriols,SJ shared something about God who constantly looking for him when he celebrated his 70th year as a Jesuit:

“Seventy years ago, I joined the Society of Jesus. I thought I was beginning a lifetime looking for God. But it was given me to know that throughout my lifetime, God has been looking for me. With infinite tenderness, patience, and with great humility, God has been looking for me. God is humble. He waits for me to allow him to find me. Yet in the mystery of his grace, I need his grace to be able to allow him to find me. I have to pray: Lord, grant me the grace to allow you to find me.

As a novice and later as a scholastic, when they sang the Office of Tenebrae during Holy Week, I was always thrilled when they came to the verse: "Bonum est praestolare salutare domini in silentio." "It is good to wait for the saving help of the Lord in silence."

- Fr. Wilfredo M. Samson,SJ
St. Joseph Parish, Zamboanga City

The Fireworks Within Us

2011-08-01T06:42:00.001+08:00

18th Sunday in the Ordinary Time
Matthew 14: 13 – 21

One day, Jesus called a press conference at the Manila Hotel. The reporter asked Him, "The Philippines is burdened with lots of personal, family and social crisis. What are your plans to help us?" Jesus replied, "I will ask my disciples to help." "You trust them a lot? Suppose they failed, what’s your Plan B?" Jesus smiled, "I have no other plans. I’m sure, they can do it."

In today’s gospel, the death of John the Baptist must have had caused deep pain to Jesus. By this time, Jesus was also tired of moving from one village to another, doing all sorts of work alone. He may have felt the fatigue of the ministry that he suddenly decided to withdraw from the crowd. But when Jesus saw the big crowd, he felt pity on them. But he could not do it alone. The ministry was getting bigger. He needed help. He knew it was time to bring his disciples in the frontier. He needed to wake his disciples’ potential as leaders and healers of the society.

And so Jesus said to his disciples, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food themselves.” And they hesitantly responded with five loaves and two fish. But that small act of generosity was enough for Jesus to make a miracle and feed five thousand souls. Thanks to the disciples’ five loaves of bread and two fish. But honestly speaking, Jesus could easily make a miracle without his disciples’ contribution. But he wanted to encourage his disciples to get out of their comfort zones, be empowered and have their own miracles in God’s name.

We need leaders. Our society is in need of good leaders who can inspire and bring us to greater heights. Sad to say, we have a short list of possible good leaders in our midst. Our gospel today is challenging us to start forming leaders by encouraging individuals and groups to start sharing their loaves of bread and fish. No miracles will take place in our lives unless we share our loaves and fish. When one discovers his giftedness, he also discovers his mission. Like Jesus, we are duty bound to empower others to help themselves.

But do we know the art of empowering people? One day an old lady invited me for lunch in her house. Knowing that she was really poor, I politely turned down her invitation. But in tears, she replied, “Bakit po Fr.Willy? Dahil po ba mahirap lang kami, wala na kaming karapatang pakainin kayo? Yung mayayaman lang po ba ang pwedeng maglibre sa inyo?” I was taken aback. She was right. The poor are not just beneficiaries of our kindness; given full trust and encouragement, they could also be potential helpers, leaders and evangelizers as well.

But how do we empower people? Do I believe that each person is unique and capable of making a difference to our society? Do I consciously encourage anybody to develop his/her talents? Can I trust them to do something big and important? Can I entrust my pet project to my assistants? We are good leaders or managers, if the people under us can manage themselves even without us; or our ministry survives and flourishes even when we are gone. We are good parents, if our children can take care of themselves while we are away from home. We need to form confident, independent and highly motivated individuals who can stand on their own and lead. The measure of success of our evangelization program is when our subjects become evangelizers themselves.

We need to form leaders, and not mere followers and admirers of us. Sometimes, the cause of our fatigue comes from our inability to delegate some of our work to others, because we don’t trust them. And in the process, we don’t inspire them to wildly dream and empower themselves. Remember this – to trust is the key to confidence build-up. If Jesus could only sing a song today, he will sing the “The Fireworks” of Katy Perry to remind us of who we are. Here are some lines:

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time to let it through

'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go, oh
As you shoot across the sky

Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go, oh
You're gonna leave 'em falling down

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon

Let’s remember, it is better to commit a mistake for trusting somebody and failed, than to commit a mistake for not trusting somebody for the fear of failure. Jesus has no plan B. He has only one plan for us – to assist Him in His vineyard.

- Fr. Willy M. Samson,SJ
St.Ignatius of Loyola Parish, Brgy. Tetuan,
Zamboanga City.

The Sell and Buy Business

2011-07-25T21:17:00.006+08:00

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Matthew 13: 44-52

Our gospel today is all about finding the real treasure in our life. Without any doubt, we say, we found our treasure! God Himself is our greatest treasure and pearl of great value. As Christians, we know that God must be at the center of our lives. We agree that our decisions and actions must always be in line with God’s commandments. Amen! But when we look closer at our lives, we can see some inconsistencies between what we say and what we do. We don’t really walk the talk.

Let’s look closer. Some of us prefer to clean the garden than to attend Sunday Mass with their families. Some choose to work overtime on Sundays for an extra income than to chat with their children. Some could afford to read their friends’ status and view photos in their Facebook for hours, but they don’t have time for prayer and spiritual readings. Some likes listening to music but not listening to a confused friend. Some loves window shopping but not volunteering in a soup kitchen. We are curious about Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, but not with the life of Jesus. We can easily add more to this short list of our misgivings. We are blinded. We tell our children that God is important in our life, yet our priorities, decisions, and actions contradict what our lips are saying. If we are true to our words that God is our treasure or pearl of great prize, then let’s really prioritize God in our life both in our words and actions.

The parables call us to give up our treasures of lesser value before it’s too late. Material blessings could give us satisfaction and self-gratification, but not genuine happiness that could last forever. Thus, the selling and buying of treasures are necessary. Let’s evaluate our priorities and rearrange them according to their importance in our life. Let’s not waste our God given grace – time, talent, treasure - to something which is not really important in the end.

Look closer at your life. Reflect. What really is your pearl of great value? If it’s God, do people see it in your actions? If you have a social life, do you have a spiritual life? How much of your quality time goes to your family? How do you handle your God-given time, talent and treasure? Do you see them as graces given to us to buy “heavenly treasures” by using them to help those in need? Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Mt. 6:21).

A hermit was praying by the river when a young man disturbed him, “Master, I want to become your disciple.” The hermit said, “Why?” The young man said: “Because I want to find God.” The hermit grabbed him in his neck and dipped his head under water. After a minute of kicking and struggling, the hermit pulled the young man out of the water. The young man gasped to catch his breath. And the hermit said, “Tell me, what do you want most when you were under water.” “Air!” answered the young man. Then the hermit said, “Then go home first and come back again when you want God as much as you just wanted air.”

The Kingdom of God is not totally free. We need to work for it to merit it. Let’s use our God given gifts – time, talents and treasures - to acquire a place in God’s Kingdom. It’s urgent and necessary, for the Kingdom of God is worth keeping than all of our worldly treasures combined.

------- o 0 0 --------

Prayer: "God our Father and Protector, without you nothing is holy, nothing has value. Guide us to everlasting life by helping us to use wisely the blessings you have given to the world. Ame,"

- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ
(St.Joseph Parish, Zamboanga City)

Is it worth doing it?

2011-07-17T05:08:00.005+08:00

16th Sunday of the Year
Matthew 13: 24 – 43

Our gospel for today is a continuation of last Sunday’s gospel, the parable of the sower. In this parable, we have learned that God always provides good seeds. And our main responsibility is to provide good soil so that the good seeds planted by God will have good harvest.

Unfortunately, to provide good soil for the good seeds are not enough. The story of the parable of the weeds warns us of an enemy. The enemy may come without our knowledge and throw weeds in the good soil we have provided for our family and community. These things are beyond our control and could greatly influence our children and destroy the good seeds that God had planted. These weeds are the enemy of the good seeds. They may come to us in the form of worldly values and temptations. Our experience tells us also that even us - parents, teachers, bishops, priests, religious and formators - are not immune from the corruption of the weeds. Our weaknesses, selfishness and sins sometimes stop us from doing what is noble and right. St.Paul even confirmed it, “I cannot understand myself, the things that I should do, and I am not doing. The things that I should not do, I am doing.”

To remove the bad weeds in ourselves is not as simple as deleting a virus from our laptop. Some of these weeds are deeply rooted in our hearts and culture and could influence our behavior and decision making. It would take a lot of self-retrospection and awareness before we can even see, accept and resolve to change ourselves for a better person. Formation is a lifetime process. Forming people takes a lot of time, effort and dedication. But if we care, we don’t mind the difficulty.

How do we sustain our effort to help people? Our gospel challenges us to do three things: 1) Be patient. 2) Keep your calm. 3) And never give up.

To form God fearing, responsible, and loving individuals is not an easy task. The influence of evil is deeply rooted in us. The three parables invite us to be more hopeful rather than hopeless in dealing with those seemingly difficult and problematic people in our lives. But is it worth doing it?

The next two parables - the mustard seed and the yeast - give us reasons why we should not give up in forming and guiding the “prodigal sons and daughters” in our lives. With good soil and personal care, a small mustard seed is capable of becoming a huge tree where birds can come and rest. When used correctly, a small amount of yeast could bring a large quantity of dough to rise. The two parables are invitations to be more positive and hopeful with others. We don’t want their talents and innate goodness to go to waste. Giving up is not an option. With our patience, understanding, and constant love, one day we shall reap a bountiful harvest from our labor.

One of my students from Xavier University ten year ago visited me last week. I was thrilled to know from him that most of my noisy, hard to discipline and problematic students in high school are doing great. Most of them hold key positions in the local government and multi-national companies. They are well loved by their families and peers. Out of sheer joy, I texted one of them and congratulate him. My former student responded, “Because good teachers like you, never gave up on us.”

Sometimes our role is just to plant, plant, and plant. We are just planters. Somebody after us will do the harvest.

That’s more than enough to console me. It’s worth doing it.

- Fr. Willy M. Samson,SJ
Zamboanga Catedral

The Good Soil

2011-07-11T22:21:00.002+08:00

15th Sunday in the Ordinary Time – (A)
Matthew 13:1-23 or 13:1-9

Our gospel for today tells us that good soil is the secret of a bountiful harvest. Even if the seeds are exceptionally good, a good harvest is doubtful if the soil where the seeds are planted is rocky, thorny or dry.

Our Christian values, faith, and goodness are the “good seeds” that God planted in us. We are basically good and talented. Unfortunately to some of us, these potentially powerful “seeds of faith, love, goodness, and intelligence” planted in our hearts, will never have a chance of good harvest for the lack of good soil to grow.

An honest child is influenced by his honest parents. Well-motivated members are inspired by their very supportive leader. Good priests and religious are products of good formation program and good community life. Hardworking students are inspired by their good teachers. Good soil produces good fruits. Bad soil produces bad fruits. Good soil then is crucial for one’s maturity, character and spiritual growth. Who you are now is the product of your own family and community influence.

Therefore, the challenge is how to create “good soil” in our family and community so as to foster the growth of the good seeds in us. We need the following positive basic fertilizers to produce good and fertile soil:

1. Positive Meaning
2. Positive Environment
3. Positive Relationship
4. Positive Communication
5. Positive Stories

Do I consciously provide these fertilizers in my family or community life? It reminds me of this article written by an unknown author:

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule, he, he learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame, he learns to be guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to love the world.
If a children lives with love of God, they learn to be human and discover their happiness.

Values and character are caught and not just learned. Let’s stop blaming the government and the poor for the proliferation of street children and the increase of youth violence and crime. We need to be more pro-active and stop criticizing. What can we do to help them? We need to do something, like assisting poor students in their education.

Good seeds are already planted in ourselves, in our children, students, friends, and members. Let’s not waste them. Let’s start providing good soil in our family and community. This is one of our Christian duties that God expects us to do. And God wants us to do it well, for the future harvest depends on us.

Good ground matters a lot. For The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.

- Willy M. Samson,SJ

Bending Exercises

2010-09-02T22:54:00.004+08:00

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Luke 14: 1, 7-14 “But the one who humbles himself will be exalted”

The recent hostage taking in Manila that led to the death of eight Hongkong nationals was a big blow to the Filipino pride. The incident revealed flaws in our security and law enforcement unit. It was a major mistake. As a nation, let’s humbly accept our mistake, do the necessary action to ease the anger in Hongkong and seriously reform our police force. All of us are sad and in shame. I don’t want to offer any justification to lessen our guilt. A mistake is a mistake. We can’t do anything about it but to humbly accept our fault.

Our gospel today fits us well. The tragic event calls us to do “bending exercise” – a call to humbly ask for forgiveness and do some necessary reforms. Jesus tells us that humility is an important virtue and we can benefit a lot from it. When you look at the different misgivings, anger and violence in our midst, we see that pride is one of the main culprit. Nobody wants to be humiliated and insulted in front of others. We don’t want to lose face because our honor is somehow attached to it.
But what is humility? It is not only choosing the least sit in the party or not seeking for honor and recognition. Genuine humility is 1) to endure insult and contempt for doing the right things 2) To admit one’s mistake and correct it 3) To recognize that everything is a gift from God. Thus, we can’t boast of anything as ours.

Sad to say, humility is not one of our recognizable virtues. To some us, we even view humility as something reserve for the weaklings. We did not realize that there is hidden power in practicing humility. Jesus’ decision to embrace humiliation, insult and death during his crucifixion puzzled everybody including the powerful Roman soldiers.

How do we cultivate humility? Jesus suggested a couple of “bending exercises” : 1) If you’re invited in the party, take the least sit and 2) If you’re hosting a party, invite not only your friends but the poor and the marginalized.

In our world today where success is measured by social status, educational attainment, wealth and power, the following “bending exercises” can make us humble and free. Let’s consciously say these words daily. One a day can keep the spirit of pride away.

1. “I made a mistake.” Admitting a mistake is not easy. It takes a lot of courage and humility to own a mistake.
2. “You did a good job!” We are slow in giving praises and good remarks. But we are quick to condemn when somebody commits a mistake.
3. “What is your opinion?” We are always smarter than others. Thus, we don’t listen to their thoughts, ideas and opinions.
4. “I need your help.” We don’t trust others and their works. To delegate work or ask for help is not in our in our system. We prefer to work on our own.
5. “Thank you very much.” A grateful heart recognizes the help of others. Thanking others is our recognition of their valued presence in our lives.
6. “WE.” An admission that I belong to a community of believers. We are all created equally in the image and likeness of God.

It will take some months before we forget that shameful hostage tragedy in Manila. Let’s wear the garment of humility, take everything with a grain of salt, forgive ourselves, advocate for reform, and move on. Our national pride is deeply wounded. But we need to remind ourselves that one bad incident does not define us as a nation. We are more than that. In humility and conviction, we could still say, “I am proud to be a Filipino.”

- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ / Dominican Sisters Chapel, Baliwasan / August 29, 2010

3-D Ticket to Heaven

2010-08-23T17:41:00.003+08:00

20th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Luke 13: 22-30 “Do your best to go in through the narrow door”

Wedding is a special occasion for all of us. We do a lot of preparation to make it more memorable and meaningful. When my friend Jenny was asked to be the Maid of Honor of her bestfriend, it was the beginning of her serious preparation, as if she was the one who will get married. Without delay, she immediately rushed to her dressmaker and meticulously chose her DRESS to wear. But the preparation did not end there. A month before the wedding, she begun avoiding her favorite chocolates as part of her DIET program. She wanted a slim beautiful body for her bestfriend’s big day. But as the wedding day came closer, a business offer came up from Singapore. Without having a second thought, she politely turned down the offer. Her DESIRE to attend her bestfriend’s wedding was far more important than any business or personal interests.

There is also a big banquet coming in the Kingdom of God. All are invited; unfortunately not everybody will be able to enter the gate. In our gospel today, someone asked Jesus, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” His answer was a big surprise, “Do your best to go in through the narrow door; because many people will surely try to go in but will not be able (Lk.13:24).” Jesus even hinted that some of his followers will not be allowed to join the banquet. They will claim, “We ate and drank in your company (Lk.13:26).” But Jesus will simply say, “I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evil doers (Lk.13:27).” The blame was on them. They did not prepare themselves for the Big Feast.

The 3-D preparation is a must for the big banquet in heaven. We are expected to dress appropriately, do our regular diet, and have great desire to meet our Savior. How do we do these? Let’s check our own 3-D list:

Dress – Do you wear your dress of righteousness and charity regularly? Don’t forget the guest
who was thrown out from the feast for not wearing the appropriate dress. (Mt. 22:12-13).

Diet – Do you do your spiritual dieting regularly? Cut down your excesses. Trim your pride and
selfishness. Avoid temptations. Turn away from sins. Remember, the gate to the
Big Feast is too narrow. Diet is a must to squeeze ourselves. (Matthew 3:2).

Desire – Do you have a genuine desire to join the Big Feast and meet Jesus? Are we like
the invited guest who says, “Not now, I am busy with my business and other things.”
(Matthew 22:5).

Unlike any earthly wedding, preparing for the Big Feast is quite difficult, challenging and liberating. All are invited to the Big Feast but nobody knows when. The gospel gives us a stern warning - we will falter and fail if we don’t start preparing now. Thus, the challenge is to dress up, do your diet and desire for Jesus every day. If the 3-D prep becomes part of our daily life, the date of the Big Feast is not something to worry about, but something to look forward to.

In our newspaper this morning, it was reported that our Bb.Pilipinas International 2009, Ms.Melody Gersbach, 24, died in a road accident. She is too young to die. We really don’t know when our time is. Suddenly, it reminds me of my friends who are struggling hard with cancer. They are more or less prepared than us. Somehow, this is one of their graces.

So wake up. Do your 3-D preparation. And you will never be disappointed.

- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ / St.Joseph Parish, Zamboanga City / August 22, 2010

Hail Mary, Pray for Us

2010-08-14T05:34:00.004+08:00

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Luke 1: 39-56 “Mary set out and travelled to the hill country in haste”

Last Christmas Eve, while preparing food for our family Noche Buena, Louie my brother in law had a phone call. His mother requested me to administer the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick for his cousin Ian who was critically ill with rare viral infection. We went to St.Luke Hospital in haste and anointed Ian with holy oil. To our delight to God, he miraculously recovered from the viral infection and survived from his ordeal. Later, I learned that Ian’s mother had a dream when they were in the hospital: Our Blessed Virgin Mary told her that she will be visiting Ian on Christmas Eve. It was Christmas Eve when I administered the sacrament of healing. It dawned on me that Mary fulfilled her promised. She visited Ian on Christmas Eve and interceded for his healing. She was with us during those trying moments.

Our gospel for today was another story of Mary’s visitation. When Mary learned from Angel Gabriel that her cousin Elizabeth was pregnant at her old age, Mary felt the need to support her during those moments of uncertainty and anxiety. She left her home in haste and accompanied Elizabeth during those trying moments.

In 1950, Pope Pius XXII declared the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary as an official dogma of the Church. Here we proclaim that Mary went up to heaven both body and soul. But the bottom line of this dogma is – Mary gained an everlasting place in heaven. And with that, Mary can intercede for us and console us – the way she consoled Elizabeth.

The numerous Marian shrines all over the world are manifestations that Mary has a special place in our hearts. Jesus asked her to take us as her children (John 19:26-27). Unfortunately, for some of us, they only come to Mary for her intercession. We failed to see that aside from being our mediator to Jesus, she is our model in obeying God. Her life is an inspiration how to accept God’s will, especially in times of trials.

As our Mother, we can seek her presence for refuge and consolation. We can come to Mary to intercede for us and ask God to grant our deepest desires. But in all our prayers, we need to reserve a space for God’s will to work for us; believing that God knows what’s best for us. When our eyes failed to see the wisdom of God, we should turn our hearts to Mary and listen to her words, “Do whatever my Son tells you (John 2:5).” Remembering that her total trust to God led her to say: “I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word (Luke 1:38).

Recent study showed that most cancer patients who sought help in Marian Shrines returned home unhealed; but their visit to the Shrines gifted them with an unlikely miracle - they went home with renewed strength, inner peace, and determination to face their daily battle with cancer. They believe that Mary will be with them in their trying moments.

Mary will always remain as our greatest mediator to Jesus. But we should also listen to her life-giving wisdom, “Do whatever my Son tells you.” Her Magnificat is a testimony of the joy that comes from surrendering oneself to the will of God: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God my Savior. He has done great things for me. Holy is his name. (Luke 1:46-55).”

When Mary ascended to heaven, God gave her a reward that all of us should aspire – an everlasting union with God.

- Fr. Wilfredo M. Samson,SJ / Ateneo de Zamboanga Chapel / August 15, 2010

Money Talks ... Not in Heaven

2010-08-09T21:38:00.006+08:00

18th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Luke 12:13-21 “Though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”
August 1, 2010

When I was in college, a friend of mine invited me to accompany her in Megamall. She bought a new refrigerator, television set, gas range, king size bed and jewelries. Knowing that she had a shopping spree recently, I asked her why? She answered, “It’s my money, I deserve to use them freely.” A week later, she slashed her right wrist. When I visited her in the hospital, she said, “Willy, I realized that money could not make me happy.”

Our gospel explicitly tells us that material possessions should not be the reason for living. We already know this truth but sometimes our action betrays our words. Jesus gave us a stern warning on mishandling God’s blessings : “Take care to guard against all greed; because your true life is not made up of the things you own, no matter how rich you may be (Luke 12:15).” We need to remind ourselves that any blessing we received is bound to be shared; and to share is an act of recognition and gratitude that everything is indeed a gift from God. Anything we possess is not for our own use only. God expects us to be good stewards of His grace.

In our story it was not mentioned that the wealthy man was wicked or immoral. But it was mentioned that his farm produced a bountiful harvest. Unfortunately, he earned God’s anger for being greedy. He “stored up treasures for himself” instead of “becoming rich in the sight of God (Luke 12:31).” His gravest mistake was - hoarding God’s blessings for himself without discovering the joy of sharing.

Be cautious of the devil’s devious trap: When one becomes selfish and forgets to share, he begins to crave for more money, more luxuries, more amenities and more gadgets, until it becomes an unquenchable greed for more. Wealth then becomes his life and happiness. This is tragic. And when greed rules, we can easily drop our Sunday family bonding in exchange of double pay work and bribe our children with an I-Pod. When greed rules, we can easily buy expensive jewelry without qualms and ignore our neighbor borrowing P125 for medicine. When greed rules, we need to remind ourselves of three things to wake us up: First, everything is gift from God. Second, the graces we received – money, health, time, talent and others – come with great responsibility. Third, graces are meant to be shared. God gave us hands for two purposes: to receive graces from God and to release some for the benefit of the needy.

Here is the irony of life: We work hard all our life to secure our future with hefty pension. We plan a lot for our retirement. We buy expensive life insurance for our families. Some of us even went to the details of choosing their coffins and grave sites. But we do little effort to secure our souls after death. We seldom consider our “After Life Insurance Plan.” We need to remind ourselves that there is LIFE after this life. For those who are really wise, they know where to keep their material possessions: in Heaven’s Barn.

A prisoner in New Bilibid Prison came to me with a thought, “Padre, mas masarap palang pakainin ang pamilya ko ng sardinas na galing sa pawis ko, kaysa sa bigyan ko sila ng lechon na galing naman sa pagnanakaw. Sayang huli na ang lahat.” Sometimes, it’s too late to realize that money is not the source of real happiness and security.

In this consumerist society where people love to say “Money talks,” I agree and disagree. Yes, money talks in this world – but not in heaven.

“Life is so tragic for the person who has plenty to live on, but nothing to life for.”

- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ / Carmel Chapel, Zamboanga City / August 1, 2010

A Dose of MGM

2010-07-20T14:44:00.007+08:00

16th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Luke 10:38-42 “Mary sat beside the Lord at his feet, listening to him speak.”
July 18, 2010

A friend came to me and said, “I attend Mass and pray the rosary every day. In spite of being busy with my work, I am actively involved in prison ministry. Yet I feel empty. I don’t feel God the way I used to do.” I simply said to her, “Visit the adoration chapel. Just stay there in silence and listen.” After a day, she came back, consoled and enlightened. She recognized the source of her emptiness. She unconsciously resented her husband for reprimanding her in public two years ago. She has forgiven him. The silence disposed her to listen to the voice of God.

Our gospel is not about who is better in the eyes of Jesus, Mary or Martha? Both are good. In fact, it is good to cultivate both the Mary and Martha in us. But we should know what hat to wear in a given situation. Our first reading showed that Abraham’s hospitality to the three strangers was rewarded with a promised son (Gen 18:10). I’m sure Jesus was pleased with Martha’s sincerity to prepare a good meal for him; but her hard work merited a correction from Jesus for complaining and for being anxious in many things. She forgot that listening and conversing with her guest was also important. Mary did sit and listen to Jesus. And Jesus delightfully replied, “Mary has chosen the better part.” (Luke 10:42).

There is great value in hard work. No doubt about it. But today, Jesus is emphasizing the necessity of listening to God.

Like Martha, we are always anxious with our daily concerns. We are pressured to earn a living for our family. Mothers must cook, clean the house, and take care of their children. Our office and school activities are up by this time. God expects us to be busy in all these things; but He also wants us to involve Him in our daily concerns.

Like Martha, we are task oriented and busy beings. This is our reality and God understands. Unfortunately, in our desire to please people and bring good results, we bury ourselves with our works and concerns and easily forget God. When we are busy and pressured in our work, our prayer life is the first thing that flies out of the window.

I admire people who are actively engaged in many things; but they are able to stop and pray in silence. They are highly motivated, spontaneous and happy people. They begin and end their day with God. They can drop everything in the middle of a busy day for a quick dose of “MGM” (Me and God moments). They know that prayer and hard work are both necessary. A good guiding principle to a busy but anxiety-less life: The more we are busy with many things, the more we should stop and pray.

Here is my personal guide how to STOP in prayer.

S – Silence: Seek God in silence and listen to His will.
T – Trust: Have faith in God. He knows many things and can see things beyond us.
O – Obey: With firm faith, follow what God wants you to do, even if it hurts.
P – Persevere: Don’t give up when things seems not working well. Just do your part and allow God to do the rest. It is only then that our anxiety will disappear.

“Every Christian needs half an hour of prayer each day except when busy. Then we need an hour of prayer” - St.Francis de Sales

Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ / Sacred Heart Chapel, Ateneo de Zamboanga University

“Breathe the Holy Spirit”

2010-05-22T02:53:00.003+08:00

Pentecost Sunday (C)
May 23, 2010
John 20:19-23 “As the Father sent me, so I send you. Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Today is Pentecost Sunday – also known as the birthday of the Church. This was the day when the disciples received the Holy Spirit and transformed themselves from simple timid fishermen to energetic charismatic disciples of Jesus. That was the work of the Spirit.

As we celebrate this feast, it is good to stop and reflect for a while the state of the Catholic Church today. The Church is under serious attack from many parts of the world. We are scandalized and discouraged from the news of scandals done by the clergies; even Pope Benedict VI is not spared from the attacks. Although we know that scandals are widespread in many religious and social institutions, we cannot not help but ask ourselves, “What’s happening in the Church? Who are our enemies? What do we do now?”

Since the beginning, the Church enemies – kings, emperors, anti-catholic groups and individuals, atheists, schisms, new ideologies – have tried in vain to destroy the Church. They failed and the Church flourished. In the midst of persecutions and crisis, God intervened and raised Spirit-filled men and women to save the Church. That was the work of the Spirit.

Today is a different story. Our real enemy is more dangerous, cunning and knows us well. The battle fields are no longer the plains and seas, emperors’ courts, lions’ den or coliseums. Our enemy deeply hates us – the devil; and the battle ground is inside us - our hearts. With an increasing incidence of sexual scandals, broken families, hopelessness, hatred, violence, loneliness and other forms of moral, social and spiritual degradation, it’s clear that the devil and its cohorts are gaining grounds. They cunningly sneak themselves in our fears, selfishness and sins; and they control us in the process. They are desperate to take away the Holy Spirit from us; for without the Spirit - the giver of life, light, and hope - we are good as dead.

In our gospel today, Jesus gave his peace to the disciples, commanded them to preach the good news and breathed on them the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gave them new strength, hope and renewal – a rekindling of fire within themselves! When the Spirit of God rules our hearts, peace, transformation, and a sense of mission follows. This is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Through baptism, we received the Holy Spirit and its seven gifts: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. Do you use them in your daily discernment and dealings with others? Do you feel love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal 5:22-23)? They are the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Live and cooperate with the Spirit and you will be renewed and empowered every day. The Spirit’s power is with us; but sad to say, we barely use it.

The Holy Spirit is with us. Now is the time to purify our hearts from all traces of evil. What areas of your life need conversion, rejuvenation or renewal? Pray to the Holy Spirit for courage, guidance, and enlightenment. Then breathe-out all your sins, fears, and doubts and slowly breathe-in God’s peace and forgiveness. Evil may come strong for us, but the power of the Holy Spirit is much greater. Listen to the Spirit and obey his promptings - and you will see wonders in your life.
For those who daily seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit, every day – is Pentecost day.

“Come Holy Spirit, rekindle the fire within us, and we shall renew the face of the earth.”

- Fr. Willy M. Samson,SJ / Blessed Sacrament Parish, Hollywood / May 23, 2010

"Your ID please."

2010-05-15T14:53:00.006+08:00

5th Sunday of Easter (C)
May 2, 2010
John 13:31-35 “This is how all will know that you are my disciples …”
Our gospel brings us to the last moments of Jesus where he bids goodbye to his disciples. It is very human that when we leave, we want to be remembered. He wants to give his followers a lasting sign that will distinguish them from the rest of the world – the ability to love one another (John 13:35). A passport allows us to know each others’ nationality; but our love for one another will allow others to recognize us as disciples of Jesus.

Let’ stop for a while and reflect the following paradox of life I recently read:

“We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less. We have bigger houses and divided families. More conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less love; more knowledge, but less good judgment. We have more experts, but fewer solutions; more medicine, but less health. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, but don’t know how to listen. We have learned how to make a living, but not a life; we have added years to life, not life to years. We have been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbour. We have higher incomes, but lower morals; we’ve become long on quantity, but short on quality. These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition. We have cleaned up the air, but polluted our soul.” – Anonymous.

This paradox of life simply tells us that some of us have lost their Christian I.D.

In our gospel today, Jesus wants us to wear our Christian identity: our capacity to love one another. When we know how to love unconditionally, we become effective messengers of God’s love. People remember us not because we did great things for them; but because they felt our presence when they need us most. Anything done with great love – listening to your son, a good evening family meal, serving a cup of coffee to your dad or mom, stroll at the park with grandma, a warm morning greeting to a homeless, a surprise visit to a friend, a phone call just to say hello, a thank you note to your teacher and other small act of kindness – is worth remembering. Love spells T-I-M-E.

Do you still remember your favorite teacher in grade school or high school? I do. Her name is Miss Maria Calica. Her lovely face is still vivid in my memory. She gave me a bar of chocolate and a hug to ease my fear on my first day in school. That small act of kindness left a wonderful memory in my heart; that’s love – the disciples’ I.D.

It’s fun to walk in the famous Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Viewing the names of more than 2,000 movie stars engraved along the sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard is interesting and entertaining; but everything ends there. But each time I walk through my own memory lane, it gives me joy and gratitude remembering people who touched my life - their kindness is deeply engraved in my heart. I will never forget them for the rest of my life.

- Fr. Willy M. Samson,SJ / Blessed Sacrament Parish, Hollywood / May 2, 2010

Cricket in the City

2010-05-07T06:27:00.003+08:00

4th Sunday of Easter
April 25, 2010
John 10: 27-30 “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

On our way out from the Ateneo de Manila Campus, an old Jesuit said, “I hear a cricket.” We just smiled at him. It was impossible to hear a cricket in the middle of the city noise. But he insisted, “Please stop the car and listen.” Respecting an elderly brother, we did stop for a while and we listened; to our surprise, we did hear the cricket as he told us. The Jesuit Father smiled and said, “I spent a lot of time listening to crickets when I was young. I know them well. Their sounds are music to my ears.”

Today is the fourth Sunday of Easter – also known as the Shepherd Sunday. The gospel invites us to stop, dwell in silence and listen to the voice of God - with our inner ears.

Unfortunately, listening with our inner ears is easier said than done. In the midst of other inner and outer noises that compete with God’s voice, it would entail lots of time, patience and sensitivity to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd in our hearts. The first step and the secret of listening begin with the words STOP and LISTEN.

To fully appreciate our Gospel today, we need to understand its context. Earlier in this chapter 10 of the Gospel of John, Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd. A good shepherd loves his sheep. He is willing to do sacrifices and hard work to keep his flock safe and secured. When Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me,” it was presumed that his sheep knew him well. Thus, if we don’t have an intimate relationship with God, hearing the voice of God in the midst of other noises would be very difficult.

The call of our gospel is to deepen our prayer life and be intimately connected with Jesus. It is only in prayer that we could know Jesus the Good Shepherd; and there is no other way of knowing the Father but through Jesus. The more I immerse myself in prayer, the more I understand God’s mysterious movement in my life. And the more I listen to God in prayer, the more I understand myself - especially what God wants me to do. I admit that even in my prayer, I may not totally understand everything in my life; but to hear the voice of Jesus is enough to make me serene – I know that in the hands of God, all shall be well.

Do you have an ear for God? What are your distractions? What are three “unhealthy” voices that grab your attention and distract you from listening to God? Is it the voice of anxiety or anger or hopelessness? Is it the voice of wealth or fame or honor? If we are not familiar with the voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd, we can be easily distracted and enticed by these ungodly voices that longs for our attention.

During the day, it is good to stop for a few minutes, drop what you are doing and listen to the Good Shepherd. Some of the things we do everyday can wait - net surfing, facebook, laundry, shopping, a friend’s invitation for a cup of coffee – but not God. In this busy, chaotic and seemingly impersonal society, the voice of God is too good to be ignored. Jesus the Good Shepherd is calling us to come and rest in his presence; His voice is not only music to our ears – it is music to our souls.

“The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests
and his own are the same” – Stendhal

- Fr.Willy M. Samson, SJ / Blessed Sacrament Parish, Hollywood / April 25,2010

Elephants Never Forget

2010-04-14T11:47:00.008+08:00

3rd Sunday of Easter
April 18. 2010
John 21: 1-19 “Simon, son of John, do you love me? … then feed my sheep”

In 1986, Jerry Murrell and his four sons opened their first Five Guys Burger joint against burger giants like Mcdonalds, Wendy’s, and Burger King. Today, there are 570 stores across the U.S. and Canada, with 2009 sales of $483 million. What’s their secret? They believe that their best salesman is the customer: Provide the customers good food and good service, and they will walk out the door and advertise your products for free. Elephants never forget.

In a multi-cultural society where each one is unique, common table fellowship melts away fear, anxiety and animosity. It strengthens unity, deepens belongingness and lifts everybody’s spirit. When we experience a very personal and satisfying table fellowship, we feel loved and important; we cannot help but share our wonderful experience to others.

Our resurrection story continues today. Unfortunately, even after the two appearances of Jesus to his disciples, they were still at a lost, confused and indifferent because of fear and unbelief. They were supposed to be the bearers or advertisers of the Jesus’ resurrection. The spreading of good news would not gain ground without fired up and motivated salesmen/saleswoman. And so for the third time, Jesus appeared again and hosted a breakfast to console and to encourage the disciples to go out from their closed rooms.

John did not provide a detailed breakfast account. But it was mentioned that Jesus took the bread and fish and gave them to his disciples. It was a re-echo of the last supper account to remind us of the intimate table fellowship where Jesus said, “Do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19). In the resurrection stories, the disciples recognized Jesus during the meal twice: The walk to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-25) and today’s gospel. But what opened their eyes to recognize Jesus? I guess Jesus has a special way of serving meal that allowed the disciples to recognize Him in the breaking of bread. And I guess - Jesus served with love and the disciples felt it.

In our gospel, after Jesus validated Peter’s love for him three times by asking, “Do you love me?” Jesus was confident that Peter was ready to serve others with love. When one serves with love, everybody feels he/she is important. And they will leave grateful and encouraged to share their experience to others. Anything done with love will touch people’s lives.

I smiled when an RGS nun revealed the secret of their famous Good Shepherd Ube (Purple Yam). She said, “We don’t use machine. It’s manually mixed. It is cooked with love.”

Our love of Jesus gives passion and personal touch in all we do. The people whom we serve and meet can feel it. If we have lost the fire, the sensitivity, and the joy in our ministry, it is good to allow Jesus, asking us again, “Do you love me?” We reverently say, “Yes Lord, I love you.” Then we gently hear Jesus say, “Feed my sheep with your love.”

How’s your prayer meeting? How’s the church attendance in your parish? Do you attract young men and women to join your ministry or your congregation? Do you see new faces? Are they curious of your apostolate? Or your dedication and passion in the things you do? Does everybody feel welcomed and loved in your community? Are they excited to see you? Once in a while, it is good to evaluate the way we feed our sheep and the way we relate to them.

Let’s make a difference in every person we meet. Let them feel the love of God through us. Let them feel they are important. They are the next generation of salesmen/saleswomen of good news. Grateful elephants never forget.

- Fr. Willy Samson,SJ / Blessed Sacrament Parish, Hollywood, CA / April 18, 2010

“And God said ...”

2010-04-10T13:32:00.006+08:00

2nd Sunday of Easter
April 11, 2010
John 20: 19-31 “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed”

One of the phrases that struck me in the Easter Vigil Mass was “And God said… And so it happened” Genesis (1:1 – 2:2). The twin verse was repeated seven times. In the gospels’ resurrection stories, we have seen how Jesus repeatedly stressed the fulfillment of his Words: He will be killed but raised on the third day (Matthew 16:21). When we look back at our life, the phrase “And God said…And so it happened” is also true to us. God is ever faithful to his Words from Genesis, to the time of Jesus, and to our present time. This reality consoles us much.

In our gospel reading, when Jesus appeared to his disciples and said “Peace be with you” (John 20:19) and showed his nailed hands, it was another “God said… and so it happened” experience. When the disciples realized that Jesus fulfilled his promises, their fear, hopelessness and sadness quickly disappeared; a deep joy and consolation filled their hearts. There was nothing to fear. Peace flooded their hearts and gained courage to face the world.

Unfortunately, to believe in Jesus is not always easy, especially when one is tied-down with his/her “empty tomb” experience. Thomas, in spite of the news that Jesus has risen, wanted to ground his faith on something tangible and verifiable by his senses. He wanted to touch the wounds of Jesus for him to believe. But faith is not based on what we see and hear. It is grounded in remembering “God’s promises and its fulfillment.” And so when Jesus has risen from the dead and appeared to his disciples, the first thing he did was to console his disciples - by helping them to remember His Words and how He fulfilled them.

Each one of us has its own personal experience of “And God said…And so it happened.” Jesus wants us to believe in Him by recalling God’s goodness in our life, and not by asking signs like Thomas. He demanded to see the marks of the nails in Jesus’ hands for him to believe. Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (John 20:29).

On the other hand, John was the opposite of Thomas. He did not see the body of Jesus in the tomb, yet he believed when he remembered the Words of Jesus and saw its fulfillment in the empty tomb (John 20:1-9). On the way to Emmaus, Jesus helped the two disciples to understand the prophecy about him from the time of Moses and the prophets (Luke 24:27).

The gospel wants us to remember our past and see how God fulfilled his promises - of His divine providence, protection and mercy. Sometimes, pain and sufferings blind us from seeing God’s unwavering presence in our lives. In the midst of trials, we claim that God abandoned us; but in reality, it is us who abandoned God when we start doubting Him.

In the Second Reading, John encourages us to look back and realize that there’s no single moment in our life that God abandoned us: “Write down, therefore, what you have seen, and what is happening, and what will happen afterwards” (Revelations 1:19).

The resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate reason why we should place our lives in God’s hands. In this unsecured and unstable world where nothing is permanent but change, God is our only hope and refuge. “I am with you always, until the end of time.” (Matthew 28:20). He is true to his Words. Be at peace.

Recall one or two of your greatest trials in your life. Open your eyes and see how God had helped you. See and believe. God fulfills his promises. All the time!

- Willy M. Samson,SJ / Blessed Sacrament Parish , Hollywood, CA / April 11, 2010

The Hidden Truth

2010-04-03T21:03:00.004+08:00

Easter Sunday
April 4, 2010
John 20: 1-10 “He saw and believed.”

When the disciples learned from Mary Magdala that the stone of the tomb of Jesus was removed and the tomb was empty. Peter and John immediately run to the tomb to verify the story. Stealing bodies of dead were not unusual that time, plus the fact that the Pharisees kept telling that the body of Jesus would be stolen by the disciples and proclaim that Jesus has risen from the dead.

All of them wanted to know the truth. When they arrived, they saw the empty tomb and burial cloth. Peter concluded that the body was stolen and he was disappointed. On the other hand, when John saw the cloth, he believed. Imbedded in that neatly folded cloth was the hidden truth - Jesus is alive and has risen from the dead. An intense joy and hope must have entered John’s heart when he saw the cloth and believed! Resurrection brings new life!

John’s immediate recognition of the hidden truth of the empty tomb was admirable. He was an instant Easter disciple. In the midst of their grief and fear, he recalled the words of Jesus about his dying and resurrection. Many times Jesus had told his destiny – he will die on the cross but will rise again after three days. Unfortunately, nobody listened to Jesus each time he would talk about it. John’s loyalty and faith in Jesus made him stay with Jesus all throughout – from his crucifixion to resurrection. His faith did not waver even in death. He held on to every word of Jesus and bear fruit. He saw the hidden truth in the empty tomb. God blessed him with an inner eye that led him see the risen Christ. Later in the gospel, when the disciples caught a large number of fish, John again was the first to recognize Jesus, “It is the Lord!” (John 21:7).

Easter children are like John. They have the ability to see the hidden truth in all things. They have the gift of recognizing God, even in darkness, failures, and hopelessness - a gift given to those who stayed faithful and obedient to the words of God.

Our gospel reveals why the disciples did not see the hidden truth of the empty tomb, “for they did not understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead.” (John 20:9). They were given equal opportunity to hear Jesus and his prophecy about his rising. Unfortunately, the disciples did not listen. John was a listener from the start that is why he was called “the beloved.” Listening to the words of God is the secret of seeing the risen Christ in all things.

Jesus has already risen and promised that he will be with us until the end of time (Matthew 28:20). Unfortunately, some of us are still grieving in their tombs. Locked and trapped in their miseries, sorrows, and fears. They failed to look around for the “neatly rolled cloth” in their tombs. Like the disciples, they remained in their own closed rooms. They are still dead.

In our modern era where natural calamities, tragedies, war, terrorism, church and family scandals, and personal struggles are our usual morning news, we are all longing for meaning, encouragement and hope. We need Easter Children who will be there to help others see the hope secretly hidden in their darkness, confusion and hopelessness.

You are an Easter child by the merit of Christ’s resurrection. You are bearer of Good news to your family, friends, and to all people. Help them see the hidden truth so that they will see the glory of the Risen Jesus and transform their hearts into a joyful one. Claim it. See, believe and be joyful!

Happy Easter!

- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ / Blessed Sacrament Parish, Hollywood, CA / April 4, 2010

Jesus I Adore You

2010-04-03T13:22:00.003+08:00

Good Friday
April 2, 2010
John 18:1 – 19:42 “They will look upon him whom they have pierced.”

"Sorrow can lead us into one of four lands. The barren land in which we try to escape from it. The broken land in which we sink under it. The bitter land in which we resent it. Or the better land in which we bear it and become a blessing to others."

We do have our own experience of sorrow and suffering in our lives. And when they come, our life turns upside down and we start doubting the love of God. But they are parts and parcels of our lives. It haunts and challenges our faith and we can easily identify ourselves with Jesus when he cried out loud, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

My father died seven years ago. It was one of my most painful moments of my life. How could I forget that moment when I suddenly doubted God’s love when my father had a major heart stroke? One night while I was looking at my father terribly suffering in the hospital, I remember blaming God, “I gave up everything to serve you, how come you are not helping us?” The pain of being abandoned and bitterness started creeping into my heart. I cried and blamed God. But suddenly, I found myself softly singing a line from an old worship song: “Holy darkness, blessed night, Heaven’s answer hidden from our sight. As we wait for the God of silence, we embrace this holy night.” That hit me. I realized that God was asking me to trust him more when I am in darkness, for faith is tested when one faces his/her own sorrow and pain.

Good Friday is a day of looking at Jesus whom we have pierced on the cross. It’s ironic and inconceivable that when we look at Jesus hanging on the cross, we gain strength and consolation. Jesus wants us to follow his example by embracing our cross. He does not want us to escape, or be bitter, or sink in our sufferings. He wants us to faithfully carry our cross, find its meaning and be the source of inspiration to others.

We admire people who gallantly carried their own crosses. They suffered a lot, but their determination and unwavering courage in the midst of their pain, persecution, and humiliation give us strength to face our own. A friend of mine died of cancer two years ago. But I admired how she willingly accepted her fate and surrendered her life to God. She suffered terribly but she died in peace. The cancer did not to stop her from loving God. She found the meaning of her suffering. We have our share of suffering but we missed the meaning, because we dwelled too much in our own bitterness and sorrow and failed to transcend them.

The death of Jesus is not a sign of scandal, shame or defeat. It is the ultimate sign of Jesus’ total surrender to the Father’s will. Jesus persevered in his suffering out of his great love for us, and he gained salvation for us. He knew the meaning of his cross and he gladly carried it.

Let’s not allow our tears blind us from finding the meaning of our suffering. Look up intently on the cross. The meaning of your suffering rests in the crucified Jesus. And you would know why Jesus willingly said, “Into your hands, I commend my spirit.”

“There is no Christian holiness without devotion to the Passion” – John Paul II

- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ / Blessed Sacrament Parish, Hollywood / April 2, 2010

Let Jesus Wash Your Feet

2010-04-01T03:00:00.004+08:00

Holy Thursday
April 1, 2010
John 13: 1-15 “Not all of you are clean.”

Today we begin to commemorate the passion and death of our Lord. As we accompany him in his suffering and death, let us be reminded that Jesus is doing everything for the forgiveness of our sins.

In the Jewish culture, washing another’s feet was one that could not be required of the lowliest Jewish slave. It was so humiliating and degrading that even the slaves were spared from doing it. But Jesus did it out of his great love for us. He did not care what others would say. What matters most was to save us and to obey the will of the Father.

Today, as we accompany Jesus in his agony and humiliation, allow him to wash your feet. Be one of the disciples. See, feel, and listen to Peter’s hesitancy and shame while his feet are being washed by Jesus. What do you feel when Jesus started washing your feet? Feel his gentle hands touching your dirty feet. Feel how he loves you in spite of your sins.

Let Jesus love you today. Let him cleanse your soul by washing your feet.
St. John gave us something to reflect as we begin recalling our sinfulness.

“If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness,
we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 1: 5 – 2:1)
_________________________
Let us Pray:

You overlook our sins that we may repent. (Wisdom 11:23b)

You have mercy on all, because you can do all things.
You overlook my sins so that I may repent. Lord, have mercy.

For you love all things that exist and loathe nothing that you have made,
For you would not have fashioned anything if you hated it. Lord, have mercy.

And how could a thing remain in existence unless you willed it?
Or how could it be preserved had it not been called forth by you? Lord, have mercy on me.

But you spare me because I am yours,
O Lord, you come to give me life and have it to the fullest. Amen.

- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ / Blessed Sacrament Parish, Hollywood / April 1, 2010

Suffer with Jesus

2010-03-23T22:36:00.010+08:00

Palm Sunday / Passion Sunday
March 28, 2010
Luke 23: 1-49 “All his friends stood at a distance”

In our dream to have a slim and perfect body, we exercise daily to burn our excess calories. Some end up strained and frustrated. The daily exercise becomes a mere “calorie burning” activity. But some are smiling and fulfilled. They don’t care about calories. They exercise for one good reason – a healthy life. And they benefit much from it, including losing weight.

Holy week could also be like that. It becomes an annual tiring religious ritual when done for pure religious obligation of fasting, abstinence, praying the way of the cross, vigils and attending long Holy Thursday Mass to Easter Vigil Mass as penance for our sins.

But Holy Week is more than that. It’s a life-giving spiritual exercise. It’s a profound opportunity of bringing into our “here and now” the passion and death of Jesus and making his love real for us. Holy week liturgies and rituals are pregnant with meanings. If taken seriously, it could lead us to a spiritual growth and renewal. But we need to involve ourselves to the different images of Jesus’ humiliation, suffering and death on the cross. Let it sink into our hearts to gain profit from it. Bear in mind that when Jesus suffered on the cross, it was not only his body that suffered much but his soul. The suffering was so intense that he sweated blood in the garden and begged his disciples to stay with him: “My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch.” (Mark 14:34). Unfortunately, the disciples fled and left him alone.

When we are distress, we ask God, “Where are you in my pain and suffering?” But Jesus is asking us, “Where are you in mine?” This Holy Week, let’s stay and suffer with Jesus. Don’t run like the disciples. Be like Mary and John who stayed with Jesus until his death.

But how do we dispose ourselves for the Holy Week? How do we gain profit from it? St. Ignatius of Loyola suggested a specific grace to ask when meditating the Passion of Christ:

“Ask for sorrow and regret, because the Lord is going to his Passion for my sins.
Ask for an interior suffering because of the great suffering he is to endure for me.”

The feelings of sorrow and regret is not so much that our sins merited death but our sins are the cause of Jesus’ death: “He was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins, upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we are healed.” (Is 52:13 - 53:12).

But Ignatius does not end here. It’s his hope that while meditating how Jesus willingly suffered and died for me (to make it more personal); I may realize the depth and breadth of God’s love for me. And in gratitude, I would be moved to consider the question:

“What should I do and suffer for him?”

As we commemorate the Paschal Mystery, may it lead us to an overwhelming gratitude that Jesus died for us, so “that we may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10).
Holy Week is an intense spiritual exercise. Walk with him on the road to Calvary. Feel his interior pain and sorrow. Be grateful. For his death merited life for you.

- Fr. Willy M. Samson,SJ / Sacred Heart Community, Los Gatos, California / March 28, 2010

Give Life

2010-03-18T09:52:00.009+08:00

5th Sunday of Lent (C)
March 21, 2010
John 8: 1-11 “They went away one by one”

Three surprises may welcome you when you get to heaven: People whom you expect to be there are not there. People whom you think should not be there are there. And most of all, you are there.

Our gospel reminds us to be slow or not to judge others. While it is good for us to individually examine our own intentions and motivations in our actions, we should be extra careful when doing the same for others. Any judgment which is not based on the established facts, motivations and intentions is prone to error. Beware: Our emotions, biases and prejudices may lead us to hasty judgments. We might end up falsely accusing each other.

The Pharisees in our gospel angrily brought the “adulterous” woman to Jesus, hoping that he would condemn her to death by stoning. But Jesus knew their hideous intentions, said, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7) The Pharisees were caught in surprise for two reasons: First, nobody among them was blameless in God’s eyes. Second, in the Mosaic Law, only the principal witnesses have the right to cast the first stone. Nobody dared to throw the first stone because nobody saw the woman having an illicit affair. So they dropped the stone and left in shame.

Surprisingly, Jesus who has the right to judge spared her also. When everybody left, Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and from now on do not sin anymore.” (John 8:11) The guilty woman was ready to receive her due punishment. But it never came. Instead she received forgiveness and was encouraged not to sin again. God disposes mercy (not wrath) to remorseful and repentant sinner. When God thinks of us, He thinks of saving and giving us life, and not to condemn us to eternal death.

The Pharisees saw the sin of the woman. Hatred ruled their hearts. They wanted punishment. On the other hand, Jesus saw a person trapped in her own sin, begging for help and longing for forgiveness. And Jesus gave her what she wanted: Mercy. The mercy she received was enough for her to reform her life. Jesus came not to judge but to save, so “that we may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10).

In another confrontation with the Pharisees, they protested when Jesus dined with Matthew, a tax collector. “Why does your teacher eat with sinners?” (Matthew 9:11). But Jesus said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but the sinners.” (Matthew. 9:12-13). In deep gratitude, Matthew became an ardent disciple. Like Jesus, we should hate the sin but not the sinner.

I cannot forget the words of a death row prisoner in New Bilibid Prison who became a catechist for the prisoners, “Sa totoo lang Pads, wala naman akong planong magbago, pero nang makita kong meron pa ring nagmamahal sa aming mga bilanggo, tulad ninyong ng mga prison volunteers. Naisip ko...lalo na ang Diyos. Doon ako nagbago.”

This Lenten Season, let’s be slow or avoid judging others. We are all sinners. God alone has the right to judge for he knows what’s in our hearts. Throw those rocks away from your hands. We are capable of doing greater things than throwing rocks. Our hands should lead sinners back to the fold of God. Instead of throwing rocks, forgive, understand, and pray for sinners. This is what God wants from us: save sinners and give life.

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”
- Mother Theresa of Calcuta

-Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ / Sacred Heart Jesuit Community, Los Gatos / March 18, 2010

A Hole in My Soul

2010-03-10T11:07:00.006+08:00

4th Sunday of Lent (C)
March 14, 2010
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 “He was lost and has been found”

After thirty three years of unwavering search, Abel Madariaga of Buenos Aires finally found his long lost son Francisco. Trembling before the national news camera in Argentina, Abel said, “I never stopped thinking I would find him. At times I wondered what the hell I was living for. I had to find a way to continue, thinking about everyday things, hoping for this moment of happiness. When he came through the door that night, we recognized each other totally, and the hug that brought us together was spectacular. Hugging him for the first time, it was as if I filled a hole in my soul.”

As we come closer to Holy Week, our gospel brings us to the much-loved story of sin and forgiveness between father and son. We destroy our relationship with God when we live in sin. The parable portrays this truth when the younger son asked his inheritance from his father and went astray to a distant land. Sin is precisely like that – cutting ties and declaring independence from the Father. And when one disconnects with the Father, he disconnects himself with the source of grace. There is no fullness of life outside the Father’s love. Anyone who lives in sin feels that sense of “emptiness” that no worldly pleasures and treasures could fill. It’s a hole in our souls. Ironically, it could lead us back to our senses and walk us back to the Father. Unfortunately, it cost the son all his inheritance to realize this.

The huge wealth he inherited quickly drained as he carelessly indulged in worldly pleasures. And when all his wealth and “party” friends disappeared, and found himself miserable in the company of pigs, he realized his stupidity and repented.

But to repent is not just genuine sorrow and tears. John the Baptist insists on restitution: “Produce good fruits as evidence of your repentance.” (Luke 3:8). St.Ignatius of Loyola is not satisfied with “vague and generalized sense” of sorrow and repentance for one’s sins. He wants a more personalized, particular and concrete way of recalling one’s sins. We need to accept the root of our sins (which are self-love, self-will, and self-interests), repent and amend. To name our sins is to tame it. The son, after coming to his senses, humbly said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your servants.” If pride is the first step away from the Father, humility is the first step back home.

Tiger Woods said it well in his public apology for cheating his wife, “For all that I have done, I am so sorry. I stopped living by the core values that I was taught to believe in. I knew my actions were wrong. I never thought about who I was hurting. Instead, I thought only about myself. I ran straight through the boundaries that a married couple should live by. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. I hurt my wife, my kids, my mother, my wife’s family, my friends…It’s now up to me to make amends, and that starts by never repeating the mistakes I’ve made. As (my wife) Elin pointed out to me, my real apology to her will not come in the form of words; it will come from my behavior over time…”

When the son finally came to his senses, he made three important acts of genuine repentance: went home, beg for forgiveness and made restitutions.

The rest of the story is for you to digest in prayer. Is our best glimpse of God’s love. Close your eyes. Imagine that you’re the son - stinking like a pig and totally filthy. Then, oblivious of your smell and appearance, the Father lovingly hugs you. Then hear Him say, “I’m glad you’re home.” That’s more than enough to fill that hole in your soul.

-Fr. Willy M. Samson.SJ / Sacred Heart Jesuit Community, Los Gatos / March 14, 2010

read story of father and son :
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/lt_argentina_dirty_war_children;_ylt=At1BxHAlXxhenaFWw6zx7V7lWMcF

My Fig Tree Named "Faith"

2010-02-28T00:21:00.005+08:00

3rd Sunday of Lent (C)
March 7, 2010
Luke 13: 1-9 “Sir, leave it for this year, and I shall cultivate the ground around it”

Last Thursday, the Northwest Yeshiva Girls basketball team forfeited their playoff game against St. John in Washington. They walked off the court after their game was scheduled during the Jewish "Fast of Esther," a day when Jewish people go fast for food and water. When their request to change the game time was denied, they decided to forfeit and sacrificed the championship playoff. The school’s head, Rabbi Bernie Fox said, "We didn't think it was safe for the team to play without water. We worked really hard to get here, to qualify for playoff. But we're also very happy to be able to show that our religion is very important to us. And they felt that as important as this basketball tournament was, they couldn't compromise their personal values. I'm very proud of them."

Our gospel shows us a different Jesus. Out of Jesus’ exasperations of dealing with people who see nothing but the sins of others, he blurted out twice, “I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” (Luke 13:3,5) And then told the crowd the parable of the barren fig tree, “For three years now, I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. Cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?” (Luke 3:7).

The call to repent from our sins is one of things we need to seriously consider this season of lent. But in our gospel today, to repent does not only mean to be sorry for our sins and ask forgiveness. In our parable, it is not mentioned that the fig tree is a bad tree, but the fact that it has no fruits for the past three years. Jesus wants it cut. We may not be murderers, adulterers, drug pushers, and the likes. But we may be fig trees without fruits in the making. To be a Christian is not just to be “good” in the sense that we don’t offend, abuse, or harass people. We should go beyond the attitude of “I don’t offend others, I mind my own business, and you mind your own.” This is not the meaning of being a good Christian. Good Christians are expected to bear fruit by labouring with the Lord in his enterprise of saving souls.

St.Ignatius of Loyola, in his Spiritual Exercises, explained the will of God, “Human beings are created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by means of doing this to save their souls.” (Spex 23). For him, to “serve” God includes commitment to God’s work, “to labour with him, so that following him in his suffering, we will also follow him in his glory.” (Spex 95). No pain, no glory. No labor, no fruits. Thus, if we are minimalist Christians who are happy with just attending Sunday Mass, saying our prayers, novenas, and rosaries, fasting and abstinence during lent, and giving alms to beggars once in a while... we may end up like the fig tree without fruits. We may end up like the Pharisees who faithfully do their religious rituals but do nothing for the poor and then claim righteousness.

I do admire the Northwest Yeshiva Girls who gallantly stood for their faith because they know their priority – their faith. But Jesus wants us to do “magis” (more) for God. He wants to see “faith in action” in our lives, for St.Paul said, “Faith without action is dead.”

Our faith is the fig tree and our action is the fruit. To bear fruit is to allow ourselves to be cultivated and fertilized regularly by our Lord, the Gardener. But such cultivation and fertilization of our faith (our fig tree) means doing what God wants: All are called to share in Christ’s ongoing work of establishing the Kingdom of God in the world. Our personal, family and community prayer should disturb us and open our eyes to the needs of others. Here is the flowering of a fig tree, and on its way to bearing fruits!

Repent, amend, and act now! The Lord is giving us another chance. Let your fig tree bears fruit. Let your faith bears action. Reach out. Serve. Forgive.

- Fr. Willy M. Samson,SJ / Sacred Heart Jesuit Community, Los Gatos / March 7, 2010

read "Team Forfeits Playoffs due to religious fast."
http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1056883

Listen and Go

2010-02-22T10:56:00.003+08:00

2nd Sunday of Lent
February 28, 2010
Luke 9: 28b-36 “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”

Lent is a time of transfiguration. It is our time to gear up, hike to our prayer mountain and listen to the voice of God like Jesus did. In prayer, we bring ourselves into the holy presence of God to purify our hearts from our own sinfulness, selfishness and impure motivations. God made us in His image and likeness; we are more inclined to goodness, beauty, and harmony. In general, when we look at our lives now, we are more or less good fathers, mothers, children, religious and Christians. We always aim something better for ourselves, our families and others, but sometimes, our good plans or intentions may not necessarily what God wants us to do or to be, because of the influence of our impure or selfish motivations. When we go to prayer, we surrender our good will and plans and allow God to purify them according to his light.

For many of us, prayer is asking something from God. We generally pray to beg for something. There is nothing wrong with it. God is always willing to grant our prayers especially if it is according to His will. But in our gospel today, Jesus prays to the Father, not to beg for something, but to be intimately united with the Father. And when one is intimately united with God, he freely submits his own will to the will of God, and the will of God becomes his will in the end. Some of us may be tempted to say, “Why plan for ourselves and then ask God what’s His plan for us? It’s ridiculous! Just ask God what He wants and do it.” It’s seems good and less complicated, but in doing this, we deny ourselves of our freedom to see what we ought to do and do it willingly. Thus, we fail to discover the God within us, and fail to experience our dignity as persons and our fullness as children of God. In prayer, we are invited to listen to Jesus, for us to see things the way God sees things. And as we listen to God regularly, you will be amazed how in the process, we develop the skill and the grace of sensing what God wants us to do.

There are many reasons why we are not comfortable in “listening” and rather do the “talking” under the guise of “petition” in prayer. As Christians, through our conscience and by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we have a “sense of knowing” and “sense of faith” what God wants from us. We know, more or less, what God would tell us or ask us to do when we pray. We deliberately avoid prayer because we don’t want to listen to God. Thus, in our gospel today, Jesus was praised by the Father for listening to Him and asked the disciples to do the same by listening to Jesus, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him."Luke 9:35.

Listening to God is not just the act of using our ears to hear the Words of God. Listening to God involves “doing or fulfilling” the Words received. Listening may also mean letting go of something (inordinate attachments, sins, vices, past, dark past, dreadful future) that hinders us to be follow God’s will and be united with Him. When Mary heard Angel Gabriel, she said, “Be it done to me according to His will.” Joseph led his family in and out of Egypt after listening to the Words of an angel in his dreams. Jesus had its share in the Garden of Gethsemane. To pray is to listen and to listen is to act. Thus, Jesus was disappointed when Peter said, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents.” He wanted to stay for it was so good to stay there with Jesus, Moses and Elijah. The consolation of the moment was too good to let go. He did not understand that consolation was to give us strength to follow the footsteps of Jesus to Jerusalem. The transfiguration of Jesus was not the fruit of that single moment with the Father. It was the fruit of his daily prayer – of listening and letting God.

- Willy M. Samson, SJ / Sacred Heart Jesuit Community, Los Gatos California / Feb. 28, 2010

I'll Be Back

2010-02-18T09:42:00.005+08:00

1st Sunday of Lent
February 21, 2010
Luke 4: 1-13 “When the devil had finished, he departed from him for a time.”

A newly converted, but disillusioned Catholic young man visited their parish priest and asked him to recommend a good church history book. The priest smiled and asked “Why church history book?” And the young man replied, “I am just curious to know when in our history Christians today become less and less like Jesus.”

There is a grain of salt in this story. Many Christians are becoming nominal and minimalist in our faith. People don’t see Jesus in us. Our Christian faith should set the course of our life - it is our way of life. Our thoughts, words and action should be a living testimony of our faith. People are not attracted to our faith for they don’t see God in us. We are sinking. We have lost the art of walking on water as we lost Jesus in our sight. Temptations distracted us.

We have lost sight to what’s truly essential in life and the reason why God created us. St.Ignatius of Loyola, in his Spiritual Exercises, explicitly stated: “We are created to praise, reverence and serve God our Lord. And all other things on earth are created for us, to help us in our pursuit of the end for which we are created (Spex 23)." Anybody who loses his/her sight for which he/she is created is totally vulnerable to the temptations of the evil one.

The temptations employed by the evil one to the Israelites and Moses, to Jesus and to us are exactly the same. No new strategies. No new tricks, but the usual and very reliable way of trapping us via our most vulnerable spots: wealth, power and honor. The only difference - The Israelites, Moses and us succumbed to temptation but Jesus prevailed.

The Israelites grumbled for not having enough food in the desert. We complained for not having all the luxuries in life while others have. But Jesus said, “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Luke 4:4)

The Israelites constantly worshiped false gods like the golden calf. We worship money, power and honor as our modern gods. But Jesus said, “You must worship the Lord your God and serve him alone.” (Luke 4:8)

The Israelites tested God to provide them water at Massah and Meribah. Moses lost his temper and struck the stone twice. We ask God to prove his love by answering our prayers according to our plan. But Jesus said, “You must not put your Lord God to the test.” (Luke 4:12)

When we think of temptations, we only think of telling lies, losing tempers, getting angry, sexual sins, eating much, not attending Sunday Mass, keeping resentment, basking in pride, non-forgiveness and the like. But the real temptations that could destroy us and our fundamental option are the desire for material riches for its own sake (the ability to turn anything into money), to aspire for status in the society (everyone adores and likes me), and to greed for power (manipulating people and things to meet my needs).

Our struggle with evil will never end. The evil one hates defeat and humiliation from God and from us. The evil will return in different stages and moments in our lives – especially when we are vulnerable, unguarded and too secured. Lent is a time for spiritual renewal. Lent is a good time to refocus our eyes to God and to the essence of our creaturehood. Pray more intensely and meditate the Word of God. Make it part of your life. Jesus resisted evil and won with the Word of God.

It is our hope that through our words and action, people will be drawn to us - not to ask us something on Church History - but to know more of Jesus who lives in our hearts.

- Willy M. Samson,SJ / Sacred Heart Jesuit Community, Los Gatos California / Feb. 21, 2010

I Can See You

2010-02-13T12:42:00.007+08:00

Ash Wednesday
February 17,2010
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 “When you pray, go to your inner room”

A confused disciple went to his master and begged him for enlightenment. And the master said, “Go and sit in your room, and your room will teach you everything.”

Today we officially begin the Season of Lent. For most of us, Lent is a time to remember how the Son of God willfully offered his life for our salvation. It is a time for us to examine ourselves in the light of God’s love and how we responded or not to His call to righteousness. Lastly, lent is also a time for intense prayer to know more of ourselves and our God.

We remain a mystery to ourselves in spite of our best effort to know ourselves. My self- understanding continues to elude me. Do I really know what I want? There is inner restlessness that is embedded in me. I am never satisfied. I always want more of anything and everything. And in my failure to fully understand myself, I end up endlessly craving for praises from other people, and “what they think” of me defines who I am. Are you affected when no one praises you? Do you feel bad when your work is criticized and not appreciated? Unfortunately, some of our course of action is deeply influenced by what people would say, and not by what we should do for the good of all. This is very frustrating and non-liberating. Slowly, we lost our identity.

Our gospel tells us how Jesus warned his disciples of performing noble things like giving alms, praying and fasting for the sake of winning praise and affirmation. This is a vicious trap. Sometimes we do good works for other people to see, not because this is the right and noble things to do, but because we unconsciously seek praise and adoration from others. Our desire to do charity is tainted with our selfish motivation. And when we allow impure motivation to eat us up and be our main reason for doing good works, we end up empty and tired trying to feed our ego with our unquenchable thirst for praises, honor and glory. We want to be seen always. We want medals, trophies, awards, citations and others. We want to be on the pedestal. The pedestal defines who we are. This is a mirage in the desert of emptiness.

Thus, Jesus is giving us a solution to free ourselves from this vicious trap of craving for praises and honor. He wants us to allow God to exclusively define who we are by going into our inner room where nobody sees us except God. The more we spend time in prayer, the more we detach ourselves from what others would say or think about us or our work. We realize that the praises or negative comments against us have no bearings in the eternal life. Trophies and medals will gather dust and claps will fade away, but the words of Jesus telling us much He loves us will stay and stick through the test of time.

The volunteers in Haiti are slowly packing up their things back to their countries. The thrill of going into the rubble and being seen in CNN news is slowly fading. Haiti is not “hot news” anymore. The real volunteer heroes in this catastrophe will not be seen and would not want to be seen. They are the ones who will eat and sleep with the Haitians on the street tents when CNN’s Anderson Cooper and his new crew would be home for a hot cup of cappuccino.

Today is Ash Wednesday, let’s not just fast and abstain from our skin-deep cravings – ice cream, bacon, cigarettes and wine. We can do better than these things. Start doing noble works for the love of God. Don’t expect anything in return even the words “Thank You.” Grab a time and enter into your inner room. And you will find God is everything you need.

Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ / Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles / 02/17/10

Heaven is All Yours

2010-02-12T00:41:00.004+08:00

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Luke 6: 17; 20-26 “Blessed are the poor. Woe to you who are rich”

Jewish law teachers used “contrast” as one of their techniques when they preach. In our gospel, Jesus stood on the ground and used “blessing and curse” contrast to teach his disciples: “Blessed are poor! Woe to you who are rich!” (Luke 6: 20, 24). It was not an open declaration against rich people. Jesus has nothing against wealth and being rich, in fact some of his disciples were socially affluent and powerful. The correct meaning of “poor” and “rich” in Jesus’ time would be “socially unfortunate and powerless” and “greedy” respectively. Thus, anybody, rich or poor alike, in our present meaning and context could be considered “blessed or cursed” in the eyes of God. This was the context when Jesus preached this heart-shaking Beatitudes.

To fully understand and appreciate the meaning of the Beatitudes, it should be seen in the context of discipleship. Last Sunday, we learned the disciples left their boats and followed Jesus (Luke 5:11). Levi did the same thing (Luke 5:28). They gave up everything and opted to be poor. They were blessed upon discovering that happiness was not attached on wealth and power but on following Jesus. To discover Jesus is to discover happiness, and then everything in this world becomes secondary. This theme is also highlighted in the parable of the pearl of great price. (Matthew 13:444-46). This is the joy of discipleship.

To follow Jesus is not a walk in the shore. There is a call to “leave our boat” and be poor in spirit: “Blessed are the poor...” (Luke 6:20). The next three beatitudes after the first beatitude are the cost of discipleship: You will be hungry, you will weep, and you will be insulted and persecuted. (Luke 6: 21-22). Jesus is very honest to tell the hardship to expect in responding to His call and what’s store for them: “Be not dismay for the Kingdom of God is yours.” (Luke 6:20). The Beatitudes give us the reason why we should hold our ground until the end.

Saint Syncletica of Alexandria, known for her charity, humility, and internal torments, summarized the struggles and hope of discipleship: “In the beginning there is a struggle and a lot of work for those who come near to God. But after that, there is an indescribable joy. It is like just building a fire: at first it’s smoky and your eyes water, but later you get the desired result. Thus we ought to light the Divine Fire in ourselves with tears and effort.”

Following Jesus requires us to “leave our boat.” Peter, Levi and the disciples did it. We should free ourselves from the clutch of wealth and power. Our inordinate attachments could stop us from doing what we ought to do. Our society teaches us to buy, buy, and buy more things for our security and social status. We unconsciously hoard things (food, clothes, medicines, DVDs, books, magazines, chocolates, and others) under the guise of “we could use them in the future.” Anything we are not using is not ours already. Give them to those in need and feel good inside. Hoarding is a sign that we don’t trust God’s providence and generosity.

This week is Ash Wednesday, let’s fast and abstain from our inordinate attachments to things, feelings, and people. Let’s “leave our boat” especially our attachments, so that we could be free to do what we ought to do and follow Jesus.

Today is Valentine’s Day, renew your commitment to God, to your vocation, and to your family. Surrender your heart to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus who loves us tenderly. Hear Him say, “Rejoice and leap for joy, heaven is all yours.”

Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ / Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles / 02/14/10

Fishing Expedition

2010-02-06T14:02:00.004+08:00

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Luke 5: 1-11 “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”

The Lake of Gennesaret (Sea of Galilee) was surrounded by ten prosperous towns during the time of Jesus. The richness and beauty of the lake attracted people from all walks of life. Being a wise evangelizer, Jesus knew the vicinity was a good place to catch souls. On the other hand, Peter knew the lake as a perfect place to catch fish! But the two men ended up with contrasting results. Jesus caught multitudes! People listened and followed him. On the other hand, Peter and his friends caught nothing; they returned to the shore with empty nets.

When Jesus saw Peter, He knew that Peter could do greater things than fishing. Like Peter, we failed to do something for God for we are preoccupied with our own fishing career – satisfying our needs and dreams! Fishing was everything to Peter. But Jesus saw more of him. And the only way to force Peter to move out of his box is to challenge him to “go out into the deep” which may mean doing two things: Going “in” and going “out.”

When we go “in” through prayer and reflection, we discover three things: 1) We are blessed 2) We are loved by God 3) And we could do “greater things” for God. Peter realized these in his encounter with Jesus and found himself overwhelmed and unworthy of God’s love, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” (Luke 5:8)

We usually hear people say that they don’t feel worthy of this or that ministry or service in the church or community. Perhaps they ought to take heart from Peter’s words and Jesus’ response. Peter saw his unworthiness, but Jesus lovingly consoled him and said, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” (Luke 5:10). Such affirmation from Jesus compels Peter to leave his nets, follow Jesus, and go out into the deep.

Good fishermen don’t stay in the shore. They bravely sail into the deep to catch fish. Christians should not stay inside the four walls of their homes, prayer meetings, convents, and parishes. We should go into the deep – to the borders, frontiers, outcasts and marginalized – be with the people in their needs. Be where brave Christians are. Be at the frontiers where Jesus had trod his feet. This is the cost of discipleship.

Are you still in the shore? What stops you from going into the deep? Is it your unworthiness and the feeling of inadequacy? Let God consoles you as he consoled Isaiah: “I touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged. Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” And with conviction, slowly say, “Here I am Lord, send me.” (Isaiah 6:7-8).

Are you still in the shore hoping to catch some fish? You will be disappointed. They
are on the streets taking drugs, sleeping in the shanties, dying alone in hospitals, hopeless and confused in prison and in every corner where evil casts his darkness. They need a helping hand or a listening heart to understand them. They need hope and encouragement. Don’t wait for them to come to the church. It may not come. Instead bring God to them through your presence. Bring your “fish nets” (our words and action) and catch some of them for God’s greater glory.

Every day is a fishing expedition. There’s no fish in the shore. You need to sail into the deep. Do not be afraid to give yourself to Jesus. For the more we give ourselves to Jesus, the more His Presence is multiplied for others, two boatloads filled!

Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ / Loyola Marymount University – Los Angeles / 01/07/10

Pocket Size Faith

2010-01-31T09:42:00.004+08:00

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Luke 4: 21-30 “But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away”

One of the things that struck me when I visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico was the flags of different nations at the left side of the altar. The huge Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the greatest Marian shrine in the whole world and is visited by 20 million pilgrims annually. Such extra-ordinary devotion to Mother Mary would never come true without the courage of Juan Diego, an ordinary Indian, chosen by Our Lady of Guadalupe to be the bearer of her message to Bishop Zumarraga to build a “teocalli” (temple) on the hill of Tepeyac where she would offer all her love, compassion and protection to all people.

Juan Diego knew his limitations; he begged our Lady to ask somebody instead of him. But our Lady wanted him to be her messenger to the bishop. The trust given to him by our Lady was enough for Juan Diego to overcome fear, foul remarks and possible death for heresy and did what our Lady wished. He was rewarded with honor and vindication. On December 12, 1531, when Juan Diego courageously brought an ordinary “tilma” (cloth) with flowers to Bishop Zumarraga, it miraculously revealed the image of our Lady, known today as Lady Guadalupe.

Our gospel today is a continuation of last week’s gospel where Jesus proclaimed the good news of God. But the story took a different twist and grounded us to certain realities about good news bearers. Instead of receiving praises from the crowd, Jesus’ authority was questioned. Though disappointed, it did not stop Jesus from telling the truth and the crowd was offended.

Part and parcel of being God’s messenger is the possibility of being insulted, humiliated and questioned. The Good News we bring is “light in the midst of darkness.” And the Prince of Darkness hates” bearers of the Light.” Bringing good news to others may not always mean a “walk in the park” but a “walk in the storm.”

We don’t want to be criticized, belittled and ridiculed. We admire bearers of good news like Juan Diego, Lorenzo Ruiz, Mother Theresa of Calcuta, Gandhi, Cory Aquino and others, not only because of the miracles they did, but also because of their courage to transcend from their fear, limitations and weaknesses. How did they do those wonderful things? The first reading gives us the answer: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you… They will fight against you but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.” (Jeremiah 1:5,19)

Courage is a matter of discovering “Who created us?” and “Who are we?” When we discover ourselves, we discover our strength and our potential to make “pocket miracles.” When St.Ignatius of Loyola said to himself, “If Dominic and Francis did it, I could do it also.” He simply discovered who he was. "For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith" (I John 5:4)

The bad spirit knows who we are and our giftedness; he spends most of his time and energy convincing us that we are nothing and God does not care. He is good in convincing us that we are just ordinary mortal beings, incapable of doing something good in this world.

Saints are ordinary people and sinners like us, yet they did marvel in our lives because they are intimately united with God. The bad spirit hates us when we pray. He does not want us to discover the big lie he loves to tell. Be faithful in your prayer and gain a pocket size faith; that’s more than enough to bring pockets of miracles in your life.

- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ / Loyola Marymount University / Los Angeles

Life of the Party

2010-01-23T02:27:00.008+08:00

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21 “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

I do admire people who bring joy in our presence. They are naturally funny and candid that they can literally bring life to any gatherings or conversations. I am not good in telling jokes but some people can deliver a good joke without even trying hard. I envy them! They are indeed life of the party! They bring joy that allows us to forget our daily grind and difficulties in life.

Two days ago, the CNN news reported a boy from Haiti who suddenly raised his hands and gave a good smile after being rescued from rubble after a week of no food and water. The boy gave the tired rescuers and the Haitians people a respite from emotional and physical fatigue, sense of hopelessness and meaninglessness. It’s good news at hand! Something we need to lift us up when everything seems falling apart. That boy is an epitome of Good news to Haitian people who are totally devastated from the recent earthquake that struck their nation.

Starting today and every Sunday, our gospel will be taken from the Gospel of Luke. Luke begins his gospel by telling us that everything written in his Gospel is true “so that we may realize the certainty of the teachings he received.” Luke realizes the importance of writing another Gospel to inspire those who are not Jews but became followers of Jesus. He knows that good news must always be proclaimed and shared, how much more if the good news is God Himself revealing Himself to us, including the Gentiles (including us), and loving us personally.

In our gospel today, we see Jesus standing and proclaiming the Good news, “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.” Luke (4:18-20) Jesus is more than life of the party. He is the life of Life itself! He may be good in telling jokes to bring a smile in our frown face, but Jesus brings hope to our weary heart and hopeless situation. And when one receives this wonderful hope that Jesus brings, we should rejoice in the Lord… for rejoicing in the Lord must be our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). There is always strength in rejoicing! For to rejoice is to believe in the good news!

The question I am posting to you now is, “Are you like Jesus? Do you bring good news to every people you meet every day? Are they thrilled when they know you are coming? Do you bring inner joy to each people you meet?”

When Jesus rolled the scroll after reading some verses from Isaiah, he said, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21) He said this because he himself is the fulfillment of the passage. Jesus is the Good News Himself! How I wish we are also the good news to our family, friends and to everybody. The good news that the Bible is proclaiming must not only be heard from our lips but must also be seen in our lives. We should be the living bible and our lives should be the living manifestation of the loving presence of God.

Natural calamities, tragedies, poverty, social injustices, cancers and mysteries of life will always be part of our life. Somehow we have accepted these realities. What pains me is we don’t have lots of good news bearers in our society. This is tragic. This is not good news for all us.

God is not asking to become another spiritual giant like St.Paul or St.Francis Xavier. He wants us to become bearers of God’s good news in our families, friends and workplace. If you don’t know how to begin, just wear a smile, learn to listen, be sensitive, care and lend a hand. These will teach you how to become like Jesus, more than life of the party, but life of Life!

- Fr.Wilfredo M. Samson,SJ / Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles California

"Thanks-Giver"

2009-11-08T04:58:00.005+08:00

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 12, 38-44 “…but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had.”

After the Mass one Sunday morning, a mother complained, “The choir was awful.” The father commented, “And the priest gave a lousy homily.” And their six-year old boy said, “But you’ve got to admit, it was already a good liturgy for the P 10 coin we gave.”

Many Catholics are more generous to waiters in the restaurants than to God. We don’t complain when 10% service charge and another 10% VAT are added to our bill. They are our social duties. Unfortunately, we don’t do that to God. We don’t render to Him our religious duty. God deserves more than our “barya” (coins). He deserves a “tribute” for all the work He is doing in creation and for providing all our needs. He deserves everything in us.

The two widows in our 1st reading (1 Kings 17:10-16) and in our gospel (Mark 12:28-44) are deeply aware that everything is gift. Out of deep gratitude, they dutifully returned and offered to God everything they possessed as an act of “thanks-giving,” They cannot afford to be selfish to a generous God who provides all their needs.

By definition, a widow is one the poorest in the Jewish community. When she lost her husband, she also lost her status, protection, income and suffer social stigma. The two widows may be poor in the eyes of the community, but rich in the eyes of God because of their selfless giving of everything. The irony of life is, those who have plenty are selfish and the poor are the ones who are selfless and generous. .

The generosity of the poor widow who shared her little flour with Elijah was rewarded by God. Her jar of flour and jug of oil went bottomless until the end of famine. While the generosity of the second widow in the gospel gained admiration and respect from Jesus Himself. He said, “This poor widow put in more than all the other contributions in the treasury.” (Mark 12:43). Indeed, God loves cheerful “thanks-giver.”

Anyone who discovers God as the REAL TREASURE, does not need anything in their life. God is more than enough. They become selfless and other-oriented individuals.

Many years ago, I was asked to bless the remains of a poor old man in a far flung village in Kitaotao, Bukidnon. I was expecting a very quiet and modest wake. To my surprise, I found myself in a small nipa hut overflowing with grieving people. I learned that the old man was a jolly kindhearted person. The villagers cannot imagine their life without the old man. Having nothing to share but his time, presence and his worn-out broom, the old man gladly swept the backyard of everybody for years, expecting nothing in return. And every night, their children eagerly gathered around him for a story telling moments.

A simple act of kindness or self-less giving done in love is a diamond in the eyes of God. We touch people through our total commitment to things we do – big or small. We convert people through our daily simple witnessing and not through our beautiful words. Looking at the widows, we are challenged to offer everything to God with a joyful heart.

We should strive to provide the needs of our families. This is our main responsibility. But we are also love-bound to return to God what is due to Him and extend our hands to those in need. We don’t need to wait for another Ondoy to help. Genuine generosity is in the here and now, and not only when there is a surplus or excess in our wealth and time. God never ceases to provide all our daily needs. Poor and rich alike have something to share. Let’s give and alleviate suffering. It’s our “thanks-giving” - a fitting tribute to God’s generosity.

“The test of progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” – F. Roosevelt

- Fr. Willy M. Samson,SJ / November 8, 2009 / Ateneo de Zamboanga Chapel

Ripples of God

2009-10-31T06:53:00.003+08:00

All Saints Day
Matthew 5: 10-12 “Be glad and rejoice, for your reward in heaven is great”

Candles, fresh flowers, rosaries, water, rice, dinuguan and adobo. All are perfectly packed. My family is now ready to visit the tomb of our Tatay Paco in Manila Memorial Park. I wonder why we Filipinos traditionally visit the tombs of our departed loved ones on All Saints Day? Are we presuming they are also “saints” in their own rights? Or this day is the best time to pray for their eternal repose to all unknown Saints of God?

In the Jesuit Cemetery in Novaliches, there is a tomb where the remains of unknown Jesuits and lay friends are laid together, bearing an interesting epitaph: “Here lies people who are unknown to men but known to God.” One of my Jesuit professors taught us that holy people do not know that they are holy (Revelation 7:13-14). They are more aware of their sins and limitations, but the love of God is also so real to them. The love of God overwhelms and compels them to offer their lives in total oblation just to seek the will of God.

Our gospel today gives us hints on how Saints lived their lives. By becoming living witnesses of faith, they create ripples in peoples’ lives. We love throwing stones in the pond. It creates circles of waves that disturb the water surface. Saints are like that. Their lives (as described by the beatitudes) are like stones thrown to us by God. They create ripples in our souls and wake us up from our slumber to do “magis” (more) for God’s glory. A Saint is someone who achieves perfect joy here on earth by placing God ahead of any comfort, honor or satisfaction - and thus opens his soul to the endless joy with God forever. Blessed are the poor, sorrowing, lowly, hungry, thirsty, merciful, single hearted, peacemakers, persecuted and insulted because they follow God, the reign of God is theirs and their reward in heaven is great! (Matthew 5:12)

Saints are totally selfless people. They die to themselves to follow God. Their only desire is to obey the will of God even at the cost of being misunderstood, hated and out casted by the world. Thus, they are beautiful in the eyes of God. They are blessed! (1 John 3:1-3) We venerate Saints not because of their great miracles, but because of their ability to offer their lives for the sake of God’s Kingdom. And when we remember their inspiring stories, they disturb us! They moved our hearts! And challenge us to move out of our comfort zones! Ripples! Saints are indeed ripples of God!

My Father died seven years ago but the ripples he created in my family left a lifetime mark in my heart. How can I forget his loving presence and how he gave us a wonderful family? Ripples! My father is unknown to many but known to God. It’s All Saints Day. Let’s honor the Saints and our “saints” by making a difference in other peoples’ lives. Let’s be ripples of God.

Today, as celebrate the Feast of all unknown Saints of God, we beg for their intercessions to help us follow God faithfully. We also remember and thank God for our departed loved ones who also created ripples in our lives.

The challenge of sainthood is to go where love takes us

- Wilfredo m. Samson,SJ
Krisong Hari Chapel, Montalban, Rizal
November 1, 2009

All is Blind

2009-10-25T07:48:00.003+08:00

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 10:46-52 “What do you want me to do for you?”

Blindness was very common during the time of Jesus. Medicine has yet to discover laser treatment and eye operation to prevent blindness. Blind people are literally at the mercy of others. They beg for money or food to live Thank God we are not blind.

But today we are facing a different kind of blindness. It is the blindness of “not seeing” the meaning of what’s happening to us or the meaning of life. When one failed to understand and accept what’s happening in his life, he could end up miserable, hopeless, and lost.

Think about these: Some of us have everything in life, but unhappy and grumpy. Some will sleep tonight with an empty stomach but thankful to God for the peace of mind. Typhoon Ondoy destroyed the house of Mang Tinoy in Marikina but grateful that his family is intact after the flood. I guess some of us saw the meaning of life, while others did not.

All of us are blind. Nobody possesses a “crystal-clear” understanding of what happened to us, what’s happening and what’s ahead of us. We need the eyes of faith to see and understand things in our life. We don’t have a keen eye to see the finger of God in the midst of our pains and trials. In our present world where everything is possible and conveniently available, it is ironic that some of us are more frustrated, hopeless and lost. In our era of technological advancement, we have lost our sight to see God in all things. Suddenly we realized that Google cannot answer everything, especially the meaning of life and God’s will for us.

Our gospel today challenges us to follow the footsteps of Bartimaues. We need Jesus to heal our spiritual blindness. It is unlikely of Mark to give details in his gospel. But here, he specifically named Bartimaeus as the blind man. Mark wanted us to emulate Bartimaeus’ remarkable virtues of courage, humility, and self-detachment.

When Batimaeus heard that Jesus was passing by, he did not hesitate to shout at the top of his voice, “Son of David, have pity on me.” The crowd rebuked him but it did not stop him! And when Jesus finally called him, he threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and went to Jesus immediately. That was a display of courage and humility.

The “throwing of his cloak” was surprising. Cloak was very important for blind people for their survival. It was both for protection against weather and for begging purposes. It was on the cloak laid on the street that people would normally tip few coins. When Bartimaeus threw his cloak, he was abandoning the source of his security and leaving everything to Jesus. He realized that Jesus was the real source of security. And holding on to his securities and comforts blinded him from seeing God and His will. For all of us, our cloak may mean our personal attachments: people, things, possession, talents, honor, pride, etc. We need to set aside our cloaks to see essentials things we have taken for granted.

Jesus is passing by every day. Take the challenge of Bartimaeus. Set aside your cloak. Leave your comfort zones. Wear the virtues of courage, humility and self-detachment. Shout out loud and beg, “Jesus, I want to see.” And healing will take place.

Bartimaeus saw Christ clearly with the eyes of his faith. So must you and I.

“Miserable people are not those who are blind but rather those who refuse to see.”
- John Kiley

- Wilfredo m. Samson,SJ
Ateneo de Davao University / October 25, 2009

The Big Picture

2009-10-08T07:25:00.009+08:00

Thursday of the 27th Sunday
Luke 11:5-13 “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find.”

We are now into the 6th day of our novena in honor of our Blessed Mother Nuestra Senora La Virgen del Pilar. But what really is a novena prayer? Why do we pray the novena? Our catechism would tell that novena is “a nine-day private or public devotion to obtain special graces. It is usually made in honor of a saint, asking his/her intercession for a specific intention.” In our case, the novena mass we are celebrating today is in honour of our Blessed Mother, La Virgen del Pilar. We are deeply grateful to our Blessed Mother for a century of accompanying us in our personal and community journey.

I am sure you have your own personal intentions for our novena mass this year. We visit this shrine to attend Mass or to just light coloured candles and say a little prayer for ourselves, our families and friends. And some of us are begging for a miracle: healing of loved ones who are sick, praying for a better job for a better life, good health, reconciliation in the family, financial problem, love life, to pass the Bar or teacher’s board exams, and others. Today we pray for the intercession of our Blessed Mother, that God will grant our prayer intentions.

But for today, in the midst of the recent events in our country, let’s think, reflect, and go beyond Zamboanga. Let’s look at the big picture.

Just a week ago, Typhoon Ondoy dumped a month’s worth of rainfall in just 24 hours causing huge flood in Luzon. More than 300 people died and thousands were forced to stay in the evacuation center. Fortunately, many Filipinos quickly responded and helped them with food and other assistance. But the struggle does not stop there, they need to reconstruct their houses and rebuild their lives. Most of their savings and things were washed away by the flood.

Last week, here in our locality, the Municipality of Indanan, Sulu experienced another armed conflict. More than 1,400 families were internally displaced when they were caught in the middle of the crossfire. Most of them are now staying in the evacuation centers. They have nothing to eat and nowhere to go.

When you go international, we see the news of powerful earthquake in Indonesia, tsunami in Samoa, and bombings in Afghanistan that killed hundreds of people. The big picture is not really good. And when we look at the big picture, we realized that we are more fortunate.

A friend of mine who complains a lot, have stopped complaining when he saw in the television how thousands in Luzon were affected by Typhoon Ondoy. A woman who lives in a shanty is very grateful that her family is not living in the evacuation center in Indanan. When they saw the big picture, their perspective changed.

The “not so good” big picture we are in today should compel us to go beyond ourselves and beyond Zamboanga. In this novena, we beg for the intercession of our Blessed Mother, not only for our own personal intention, but for the whole country and the whole world. Let’s pray for the big picture

Suddenly, we realized that we are still fortunate here in Zamboanga. We do have our own personal and family concern that we need to attend to. There is a great need for us to pray for our own personal intentions. But the “big picture” of people who are “suffering more than us” compels us to gaze our sight to them and pray for them. And we do that today through the intercession of our Blessed Mother La Virgen del Pilar.

When Fort Pilar was built on 1635 under the instruction of Governor Juan Cerezo de Salamanca and under the supervision of Padre Melchor de Vera, a famous Jesuit engineer, it was principally to protect and defend Zamboanga Peninsula against possible attacks from the pirates and armed groups.

Today, after 100 years, Fort Pilar takes a different role. It is now the symbol of Zamboangeños perseverance against the many challenges in our city and Mindanao at large. While our Blessed Mother La Virgen del Pilar remains Zamboangeños source of protection and inspiration in the midst of our personal and social challenges.

Our gospel for today teaches us the right disposition in praying the novena. Some of us have this wrong notion of novena - that God will grant any of our prayer intention after completing the novena. Some are disappointed when their prayer intentions were not granted. Novena is not a way to twist the hands of God to grant our prayers. Novena is not a magic prayer. Instead, novena prayer should lead us to be more open and dispose to the will of God. He knows what’s best for us. He knows the grand design of everything. The will of God plays a big role in the big picture. Let us learn from our Blessed Mother.

When angel Gabriel told our Blessed Mother that she would be the mother of the savior, she was dumbfounded and confused. God was proposing to engage herself in the plan of God and be part of the big picture of saving humankind. She has a personal dream. She was already engaged to Joseph. But after listening to Gabriel, she decided to submit herself to the will of God – salvation of humankind – by saying, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your will.” It was our Mother’s YES to the big picture. And the rest is history.

We have a small picture – our personal care, concern, and trials. We have a big picture – our city and country’s concern and challenges. Both are important. But each time I pray to our Blessed Mother La Virgen del Pilar, I cannot help but look beyond myself and remember the original intention of Fort Pilar – to defend Zamboanga against the enemies. We don’t have pirates anymore, but the challenges being posted to us by Ondoy, Indangan, Mindanao conflict and others, calls us to pray for our country and do something. Like our Blessed Mother, let’s contribute something to the big picture.

We don’t lose hope. We should persevere in our prayer. Perseverance could produce miracles. We have many accounts of the miracles of Our Blessed Mother La Virgen del Pilar in our history: the failed attempt to capture the Fort by a big armed group in 1734, the story of the earthquake and tsunami in 1897 and 1976, and hundreds of undocumented miraculous intercession of our Blessed Mother as the Protector and Patroness of Zamboanga.

These stories should inspire and rekindle the fire within us, to move out of our comfort zones and be engaged in the big picture.

There is always hope for those who persevere in prayer and action. We don’t lose hope in our struggle for peace and progress in Mindanao, because in the end, through our prayers and actions, the good will prevail.

Nuestra Senora La Virgen del Pilar, pray for us.

- Wilfredo M. Samson,SJ
Fort Pilar Shrine, Zamboanga City
October 8, 2009

In the Beginning

2009-10-03T23:25:00.008+08:00

27th Sunday in Ordinary Times
Mark 10: 2-16 “What God has joined together, no human being must separate”

The sunset in Manila Bay is a beauty to behold; but the sight of an old couple holding each others’ hand as they watch the sunset is more consoling and uplifting to behold!

Our gospel for today is a foretaste of what’s happening now. More and more people are questioning the indissolubility of Catholic marriage vows. They don’t see the practicality and wisdom of couple staying together until death when marriage turns sour. They want a quick fix and divorce is the ultimate remedy to all marital problems. Fast, simple and easy.

But our gospel for today reminds us of God’s grand plan. His intention from the very beginning is a permanent union: “The two shall become one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” (Mark 10:8-9). Jesus even scolded the Pharisees and the Jews when he said that Moses was forced to allow divorce because of hardness of their hearts. They did not want to obey God’s plan.

One of the things that struck me: How come some couples who are happily married for many years will suddenly want a divorce or legal separation? What went wrong? Who are to blame, when at the beginning of their married life, they mutually agreed to live together for better or for worse? Somewhere along the way, they lost their selfless love to one another. When misunderstanding, open-ended argument, unexpressed resentment, and unresolved issues start to creep in, the foundation of married life “one flesh” is severely shaken. When I don’t see the “I in You” and the “You in Me,” selfishness creeps in. And when selfishness creeps in, I start to disengage from my vows of being in “one flesh” with my partner.

Marriage for God means undivided and unconditional loyalty and union of hearts at all times, for better or for worst. Marriage is not a question of "What's in it for me?" But Jesus wants a married couple to ask each other, "What's in it for us?"

Some marriages failed not because they married the wrong persons, but because they allowed their love to die a natural death because of distrust, hatred and non-forgiveness. Soon enough, they lost their desire to save it. They simply break their promise “to be one heart and one soul from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”

Hardness of heart and selfishness are the main culprit for marriage break-up. If only they treat each other the way they treat themselves, their marriages will become more attractively beautiful, life-giving and emotionally stable.

Each time I preside a marriage rite, I take extra effort to remind the couple to remember their marriage day, especially when they have misgivings, to remind themselves of their “in the beginning” moments - where they genuinely and freely expressed their love to each other and promised to live together “for better or for worse, till death do us part.” To file a divorce or seek legal separation without exhausting all possible solutions to fix your marriage is to implicitly tell everybody that your vows is nothing but a big joke. In the beginning, you know it was not a joke. In the beginning, when you and your partner genuinely fell in love and mutually agreed to tie the knots, you know its forever.

In marriage, both husband and wife must say "I will do more than belong, I will participate. I will do more than care, I will help. I will do more than believe, I will practice. I will do more than be fair, I will be kind. I will do more than be friendly, I will be a friend. I will do more than forgive, I will love." - Annonymous

- Wilfredo M. Samson,SJ / St.Joseph Chapel, Zamboanga City/ October 4, 2009

Building Bridges

2009-09-27T22:20:00.007+08:00

26th Sunday in the Ordinary Time
Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48 "Do not prevent him…For whoever is not against us is for us.”

The gospel today starts with John reporting to Jesus that a man is exorcising demons in His name yet the man is not a disciple. Instead of being alarmed, Jesus simply said, “Anyone who gives a cup of water to drink will surely not lose his reward.” (Mark 9:41). The disciples, who are unconsciously developing “religious elitism”, are surprised to hear Jesus’ response. They thought that preaching the good news, healing the sick, and exorcising demons are exclusively reserve to the disciples.

The first reading tells us the same story. A young man complained to Moses that two men, Eldad and Medad, are prophesying in the Israelites’ camp even without being formally authorized by the Spirit. Like Jesus, Moses answered the man, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the people of the LORD were prophets?" (Numbers 11:29)

In our ever changing world that moves closer to “global community,” we are compelled to build bridges with our brothers and sisters of different faith and religion. Today we cannot exclusively claim that Christianity is the only religion where God reveals Himself. Evangelization should take a different mode to respond to the signs of times. Now, it is not merely the propagation of our Christian faith, but allowing our faith to manifest through active engagement in the different challenges and issues of the modern world. Our faith challenges us to love inclusively and promote bridging religions, cultures, and people.

Visiting Cambodia many years ago, I was exposed to Jesuits working closely with their Buddhist lay partners. Aware of their cultural and religious diversities but united in their desire to help the poorest of the poor of Cambodia, they visit far-flung villages all over the country to assist victims of mines and war. Indeed, love can build bridges within us.

Recently, I received a clipping from New York entitled “Zamboanga.” Interestingly, the article sees Zamboanga as the cradle of inter-religious dialogue in Mindanao. It cites the city’s unique multi-cultural environment where Christians and Muslims alike have learned to respect and co-exist peacefully. In the never-ending conflict between MILF and government troops, majority will agree that is not a religious issue but political. The solution is in us – Christians and Muslims alike should build bridges to each other through respect, sensitivity and acceptance. We need to transcend our deeply rooted biases and prejudices and begin recognizing and appreciating each others’ uniqueness and differences. Appreciation of each other’s belief and religious practices will certainly lead us to discover God’s presence with one another. Do I see a brother in every Muslim I meet?

A week ago, the Campus Ministry Office and the Muslim Students Association of Ateneo de Zamboanga sponsored the annual “Grand Pagbuka” (A festive Muslim tradition of ending Ramadan). To see Christian students, teachers, and even Jesuits joining the celebration console and inspire everybody. It’s building bridges in action! The inter-religious dialogue is gaining grounds in Ateneo de Zamboanga University, but the journey is still a long way to go. We need more “bridge builders” to push this ever challenging and peace-promoting frontier.

Let’s open our eyes. Let’s change our understanding of evangelization and the meaning of discipleship in our present context. That is, to see God in all people!

“We must cultivate optimism and hope. Inter-religious dialogue can not be reduced to an optional extra. It is in fact a vital necessity, on which in large measure our future depends”. - Pope Benedict XVI

- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ

Aspire to Inspire

2009-09-06T21:44:00.005+08:00

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matthew 7: 31-37 “He looked up to heaven and groaned, "Ephphatha!"

In the old baptismal rite, priest used to touch the ears of the candidate with his thumb and says, “The Lord Jesus who made the deaf hears and the dumb speaks grant you the privilege to listen to His word and profess your faith.” We don’t do that anymore. Unfortunately, it is an important part of the baptismal rite. It emphasizes the Christians’ obligation to listen to the Word of God and to faithfully proclaim it.

In our gospel today, it is good to note that the deaf and dumb man represents all those who are deaf to the Word of God. Our concern here is not the physical deafness but the spiritual deafness. We do hear the Word of God but we don’t internalize it. If listening to the Word of God regularly and faithfully is already difficult, how much more of the call to proclaim it? We cannot effectively preach what we don’t faithfully live and practiced.

When I was in high school, I had a hearing problem. After visiting an E.E.N.T. specialist, I was informed that it was just a big “tutuli” (ear wax) that caused my hearing problem. It was a big relief to hear perfectly again after the doctor removed my big “tutuli” in my right ear. In our gospel, Jesus placed his finger into the man’s ears. I guess he was trying to remove the “tutuli” from the man’s ears! Pause for a moment. Ask yourself, “What are your spiritual “tutulis” that block you from hearing what God wants you to do? From hearing the voice of the marginalized and the poor? From hearing our Muslim brothers and sisters? Anger, hate, pride, hurt, biases and prejudices may contribute to our spiritual and psychological “tutuli.” They do block our capacity and sensitivity to listen to God and also to our others.

When Jesus led the man away from the crowd, Jesus knew that we don’t have the courage to openly admit our “tutuli.” Cleaning ears is a private thing. Most of the time, accepting our faults is also very personal. We are more comfortable to admit our faults and ask forgiveness in private. And yet our gospel tells us that removing our “tutulis” through repentance is necessary, for us to hear clearly the voice of God.

In the Old Testament, prophets proclaimed the message of God with their lips. Thus, Jews believed that the Spirit of God was intrinsically connected to the prophets’ breath. They believed that the “Breath of God” (Holy Spirit) was concentrated in the prophet’s saliva. So when Jesus touched the tongue of the man with His saliva, Jesus freely gave him the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit of God dwells in us, we become bold and fired-up in proclaiming the God’s love. After touching the ears and tongue of the man, Jesus then said, “Ephphatha” (“Be opened”) and immediately the man was healed and started proclaiming God’s love.

Proclaiming the good news of God does not necessarily mean becoming a prominent speaker or gospel evangelizer like Mike Velarde, Bishop Chito Tagle and Bo Sanchez. Most of the time, we touch and convert souls, not because we are good speakers, but because people see something beautiful and enticing in our lives. The early Christians attracted new members because of how they loved one another (Acts 2:43-47). Christians don’t work for praises, for self-interest, and for self-glorification. Everything we do is for God’s greater glory. What the world needs now are living witnesses of the loving God. We are His presence here on earth. As the saying goes, “Let’s aspire to inspire people before we expire.”

Fr.Bustamante,SJ posted in his Facebook wall, “I think this Sunday Gospel speaks this: “The greatest tragedy of all is NOT to be born deaf and dumb, but to have ears and fail to listen and to have tongues and fail to speak and act the message of God’s love.””

- Willy M. Samson,SJ
September 6, 2009 / Sacred Heart Chapel / Ateneo de Zamboanga

Walk Your Talk

2009-08-22T05:38:00.003+08:00

Finally after five Sundays, this passage brings the sixth chapter of John's gospel to a decisive conclusion. To choose our course: to follow Jesus or abandon Him? It all begun in the multiplication of bread and feeding of thousands. Then three Sundays ago, Jesus bluntly told the crowd of their real reason why they follow Him, they are well fed (John 6:26). But Jesus remained calm and even offered different bread that comes from heaven…Himself.

It was a bombshell to everybody when He said, “You must eat my flesh and drink my blood.” Many of his followers murmured in disbelief, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" (John 6:60). His words were too much for them to believe. As a result, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.

Jesus then turned to the twelve, “Do you want to leave?” And Peter answered, “Master to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68). It was a relief and consolation to Jesus. At least they wanted to follow Him because of Him and not because of the bread he gives. The disciples successfully passed the motivation test.

In today's first reading Joshua tested the Israelites: "Decide today whom you will serve. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” And the people responded without doubt, “We will also serve the Lord, for he is our God.” (Joshua 24:21)

In the midst of our monotonous work, tiring school-work-home routine and never-ending energy sapping challenges we face everyday, we also need to re-affirm our commitment to God and His words every day. Decide whom you will serve. It is in our daily affirmation of our commitment to God that we show our deep love for Him.

I realized that if there’s one thing that pushes us to our limits and challenges our faith, it is our daily grind and work. They purify us. Whether we like it or not, our commitment and dedication to our “de more” (daily ordinary routine/work) defines us as good parents, good religious Sisters, good teachers, and good Christians. To follow Christ, one must take the words of Joshua, “As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord for He is our God.” And walk your talk.

But such commitment to the Lord as exemplified by Joshua and his people did not come in handy. It was not a spontaneous lip service to please God. It was the fruit of their reflection as they recall their personal and communal experience of God’s love: “For it was the LORD, who brought us out of Egypt, out of a state of slavery. He performed those great miracles before our very eyes and protected us along our entire journey.” Peter and the disciples have also something to remember with regard to the greatness of Jesus: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Such act of remembering God’s goodness, allows us to rekindle the fire of love within us and prompts us to say “We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” The Psalm today even encourages us to “taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” (Psalm 34).

Let’s encourage each other to have that habit of “recalling” or “remembering” God’s goodness in our prayer. We are good in remembering when it comes to our mistakes and faults, but we are poor in remembering God’s goodness and love to us.

Beginning today, let’s have the habit of remembering and reminiscing God’s goodness in us and in our families. Let it be our prayer. Let the love of God be your “baon” when you go to work, school, or to your apostolate. And you will discover the secret of Joshua and Peter’s quick YES to God. You are God’s children. Walk your talk.

- Fr. Willy M. Samson,SJ
Zamboanga Catedral / August 23, 2009

Eat All You Can

2009-08-15T07:42:00.004+08:00

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
John 6:51-58 “I am the living bread …whoever eats this bread will live forever”

Reading our gospel, the words “eat” and “drink” are repeated many times. John’s Chapter 6 is indeed about “eating and sustenance.” It is about the Holy Eucharist.

When we eat, our body assimilates the food for nourishment. We become what we eat. Vegetarians have healthy bodies and long life. Meat lovers have high level of cholesterol and prone to heart problem. While in the Eucharist, when we eat the body of Christ, we are transformed inside and gain eternal life! “Just as the Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.” (John 6:57) Pope Benedict XVI once said, “The Eucharist is a dynamic Presence that grasps us and makes us His own.” In the Eucharistic celebration, we receive Jesus saving us now and we are fully united with Him. Such saving presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is offered to all, but without faith, the saving grace of the Eucharist evades us.

I used to enjoy smorgasbord dining before. Unlike ala carte dining where the choice of food is limited, smorgasbord offers a variety of delicious food. The wide range of food is too difficult to resist and we end up indulging, eating almost everything, and filling all available space in our stomach. But after we indulged and enjoyed, we end up blaming ourselves for eating too much. As always, regret comes last. We regret. And we comfort ourselves by saying, “Better luck next time.”

For the past three weeks, our Sunday gospel readings have revolved around Jesus offering a different manna to the Jews. After the multiplication of bread, Jesus offered his body as the bread from heaven - a food to eat. Unfortunately, we are not totally attracted to this bread. In the midst of the more alluring options being offered by the world, many of us prefer the bread (wealth, power, and fame) the world is offering; and ignore what Jesus is offering: union with Him and the Father and the promise of eternal life.

We do recognize the necessity of the material things in our life. But like anything else, anything excessive will not bring good to us. Moderation in eating lechon plus our deliberate decision to eat fish and vegetables will bring us health and long life. In the same way, dreaming a beautiful house, money, car and other luxuries is natural and commendable. But if our whole life revolves around these things and we forget God, we may end up gaining the world but lose our soul (Mark 8:36). We regret. But in this context, there’s no next time or second chance around.

Lets’ keep in mind that Alexander the Great, Napoleon and the Egyptians have established powerful empires but all have disappeared. Weddings of the rich and famous that we envied much were already forgotten; but the Sacrament of Eucharist that Jesus instituted remains with us. Believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Spiritual nourishment is always available to those who believe in Jesus as the bread of life. Eat all you can! It’s a guaranteed “soul satisfying experience.”

Survey says that only 10% of the Catholics attend Mass regularly. A good number of us go to Mass out of obligation and not out of devotion. We should examine and ask ourselves: Do I look forward to attend Mass? Is it an obligation or a devotion to me? What is the quality of my participation in the Mass? Do I feel incomplete without receiving communion? Do I have a “Eucharistic hunger?”

In an “eat all you can” restaurant, we eat to satisfy our palates. In the Eucharist, we eat to satisfy our souls. For without the Eucharistic meal, we are incomplete.

– Willy M. Samson,SJ
August 15, 2009 / Bacolod City

A Trbute to Cory

2009-08-09T22:21:00.002+08:00

I have learned that one of the things I need to accept in life is the reality of pain and suffering. Why good people suffer in pain? Why good people whom we love like Cory Aquino, suffered and died of cancer? I guess, we know that in the end, answers to these questions will always evade us.

All of us here are deeply affected with the sudden death of Cory. As we hear from TV and read from the internet the courageous fight of Cory against the big C, we also remember her uphill battle to uphold and preserve democracy for our country. When she was asked if being afflicted with cancer is her greatest fight of her life, she simply said no. She said that her greatest and painful fight was when her husband Ninoy Aquino was imprisoned and when she decided to leave her well secured private life in the United States and decided to run for presidency. Her return was a fight against a different cancer, more lethal and dangerous - the social cancer that almost killed the Philippine democracy.

It is unfortunate that our young people do not have a first hand experience of Cory. In our society today lacks model or living witnesses to emulate and inspire our youth, Cory could be one of the best model to imitate. We have limited faces or images of democracy, dedication to public service, and love for our country. We need heroes like Cory Aquino and her husband Benigno Aquino to inspire us how to fight a seemingly undefeatable social injustices, poverty, and graft and corruption. Cory fought up to the end and never wavered in the advocacy. For Cory, what matters most is fighting up to end.

The battle of Cory against her physical cancer and the cancer of the Philippine society was not an easy one. It was a long painful bout but she took everything in stride with God. Yes, cancer took Cory’s earthly life but not her spirit. She remained a fighter, ever faithful to God. She remained loving mother and grandmother to her family throughout those difficult times. In the midst of her fight against the big C, she remained in touch with us in our advocacies, encouraging and challenging us to fight up to end. During the last days of her life, what made her more admirable was her ability to trust the will of God. Her last days were echoes of St. Paul’s words, “Who can separate us from the love of God? Trials? Sadness? Persecution? Even death cannot separate us from the Love of God.”

When I saw the long queue of Filipinos from all walks of life who wanted to see Cory for the last time, I must admit that what I saw was the Filipinos’ dream of having heroes or inspirations within us. Somehow the death of Cory challenges me to ask myself, how’s my life? How’s my dedication to my country? Am I ready to fight for our country?

When I think of Cory now, I don’t want to think of her as a cancer victim. Every time I remember Cory, it inspires me to trust God the way she trusted God. It inspires me to hold on to Jesus in the middle of my own storm. Cory was indeed a child of God and God is very please with her. Cancer my have killed her but she died healing all of us.

As I look back, Cory taught me how to trust the Lord with all my heart. Cancer had snatched away a hero from the Filipino people but not the wonderful legacy she left for us – Freedom. She is indeed the icon of the Philippine democracy. I will surely treasure her memories… forever grateful to the Lord that He blessed us with Cory… it was a short presidency… but her memories will last for a lifetime.

Cory … please do pray for us

- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ
Carmel Monastery
August 4, 2009

The Bread of Life

2009-08-09T21:31:00.002+08:00

18th Sunday in the Ordinary Time
John 6:24-35 “You are looking for me not because you saw signs…”

One day in the forest, a hungry hunter saw a bear giving a piece of meat to an injured hungry wolf. The hunter said to himself, “If God loves the wolf, how much more of me. I am sure God will feed me too.” So the hunter waited for God to give him food. But nobody came to feed him. He blamed God and went home. On his way, he saw starving children on the street. He blamed God again, "Why don’t you do something for them?" Finally God answered, "I have done something. I created you. But you choose to behave like the wolf when you could act like the bear."

Our gospel today is a continuation of last Sunday’s gospel where Jesus multiplied bread and fed the multitudes. Because of the miracle, the crowd thought of making Jesus their king; and so Jesus escaped to the mountain (John 6:15). In our gospel today, many pursued Jesus, not because they finally found their saviour, but because he gave them bread. Jesus explicitly voiced out his disappointment, “You are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled.” That was very disappointing on the part of Jesus. The crowd even demanded to provide bread for them to believe: “What sign can you do that we may see and believe in you?” (John 6:30). But Jesus calmly reacted in the midst of their apparent spiritual immaturity and instead, offered a life-giving option, “Do not work for food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” (John 6:27).

What is this food that Jesus is telling? It means two things: First, He is referring to His body and blood we partake in the Eucharist. (John 6:54). Second, the Word of God. When the devil tempted Jesus to turn the stones into bread; Jesus simply said, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4). Motivated by His great love to the Father, the life of Jesus revolved around obeying the Father’s will. For Jesus, His Father was his everything.

Our gospel challenges us to purify our motivation every time we pray. Do we pray to seek His will and guidance? Do we pray because we have these hunger and thirst to know Jesus? Or we pray because we have something to ask?

There is nothing wrong asking for something in prayer. God even encourages us to ask anything in His name. But if God becomes like an ATM (automated teller machine) to us, we missed the point of prayer. Prayer should disturb us. Prayer should lead our eyes to the poor, marginalized and abandoned. Prayer is listening and responding. It is not only asking. We seek Jesus in prayer because we want to know Him more intimately. We want to imitate Him especially His faithfulness and obedience to the Father.

When Jesus told the crowd not to seek for food that perishes but food that endures forever, the crowd suddenly made a breakthrough when they asked: "What can we do to accomplish the works of God?" They understood what Jesus wanted to convey – to set aside our “What can I get?” attitude and practice the “What can I do?” attitude.

Let’s choose to behave like the bear. Be a bread-sharers and not just bread-eaters. Be like Jesus. Be the bread to the hungry. In our 2nd reading, Paul exhorted us “to put away the old self and put on the new self” (Eph 4:22-23). And let the words of the crowd be our prayer, “What can I do to accomplish the works of God?"

The shortest but the best prayer I’ve ever heard goes this way …
“Lord God, tell me what to do. Amen.”

- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ
August 2, 2009 / St. Joseph Parish, Zamboanga City

I Believe in You

2009-07-05T15:16:00.003+08:00

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 6: 1-6 “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place”

A father and son love to collect rare paintings. Their collections were much sought and envied by art collectors and museums. One day the son volunteered in Vietnam War and died after saving another soldier. A month later, the soldier visited the grieving father and gave him a portrait of his son. It was not a beautiful painting but the father placed it in the middle of his priceless collections. After two years, the father died without anybody to inherit his wealth including the paintings. Millionaires and famous people went to the auction, ready to spend millions of dollars for the rare paintings of Van Gogh, Picasso, and Juan Luna. All were excited but the auctioneer begun with the soldier’s painting of the son. He said, “Any bid? 100 dollars?” Everybody laughed and said, “We want the paintings of Picasso, Klimt, and Pollock! Not that one!” But the auctioneer just continued, “50 dollars? Thirty? Ten? Five? No takers?“ Then an old man shouted, “I will take it! That boy in the painting saved my son in Vietnam.” Everybody said, “Good. Take it. Let’s move to the real things!” Much to their surprise, the auctioneer said, “The auction is over. The father, in his last will, requested that anyone who buys the portrait of his son will get all the paintings for free.”

Our gospel for today is like that. It was tragic that the town mates of Jesus did not believe his authority and failed to see who Jesus was, the Son of God. They questioned Jesus’ teaching and healing authority because they know him well (Mk 6:3-4). He was once one of them! Indeed, familiarity breeds contempt. Familiarity stops us to see the positive in others. He was just an ordinary carpenter and the son of Mary, and so they did not have faith in him. Because of this, “he was not able to perform any mighty deed there…” (Mk 6:5). It’s crystal clear: Without faith, expect no miracle.

First and foremost, our gospel calls us to take the Son. We proclaim with our lips that we believe in Jesus. And yet our action betrays what we proclaim. We proclaim that we trust God, and yet we could not let go of many things. We say I believe and yet you look sad and worry a lot. We say that God is our priority and yet we only give him one hour every Sunday. If you want to see miracles in your life, believe in Jesus. Seek the giver and not the gifts. Prioritize the Son. As Matthew said, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Mt. 6:33) Take the Son and possess everything.

Second, our gospel also calls us to believe with one another. We seldom see miracle or breaks in our families and communities because we always doubt in each other’s potential and talents. Familiarity breeds contempt. We raised our eyebrows when one does something innovative. We seldom encourage and complement people, but we are quick in criticizing and judging. All of us are gifted, for God created us that way, but many of us will die without discovering their full potential. We should be “talent spotters.” When was the last time you say to someone, “I believe in you.” Or tap the shoulder of someone and say, “Kaya mo yan! Ikaw pa!” But the sad part of our story is, when somebody gained little confidence to fly, instead of giving him more wings to fly, somebody from us will shoot the poor guy’s wings with criticism and contempt. Miracle stops when we cease to believe with one another. But
when there is encouragement, there is always miracle to expect.

When I was in college, to speak in public and to write an article were my two greatest waterloos. Today, I still have butterflies each time I give a talk and still grasping for words each time I write a homily. But with friends and God around to encourage me, it gives me some guts to speak and write as well. Miracles do take place, if you believe.

- Fr. Willy M. Samson,SJ
Carmelite Monastery / July 5, 2009

Worry Not

2009-07-01T08:59:00.004+08:00

13th Week Tuesday
Matthew 8: 23-27 “Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea”

There are two kinds of storms in Lake Galilee. One originates from the outside, like the continental wind storms that are common in the Mediterranean area. It is seasonal. The second originates from Lake Galilee itself. The natural geographical set-up of the lake and the nearby mountains creates a unique movement of cold and warm air that produces storms. They are potentially dangerous to seafarers but they don’t usually last.

In our gospel today, Jesus and his disciples were confronted by this local storm. They were well-seasoned fishermen. But because of fear, they panicked and forgot who they were and who was sailing with them.

Think about this: We have two kinds of storms in our life. The first storm is the “outside” storm. We cannot control them but they are legitimately important in our life: political, social, economical, ecological and other concerns. The second storm is an “inner” storm, this is our personal, family or community concerns that we normally encounter: family feud, broken relationship, financial difficulties, health concerns, community or work related issues. They are not life-threatening storms but they are life-defining opportunities that we need to face. Like the disciples, sometimes we lost our bearings in the middle of the storm because of fear and failure to trust God.

But I realize that one of the things that contributed to this fear factor is our bag-full of worries. Many of us are worriers. We love to say, “We’ll never make it.” We forgot that Jesus is with us. The funny thing is, much of what we worry about doesn't matter at all! Take a look at these statistics about worry:

• 40% of all things that we worry about never come to pass.
• 30% of all our worries that involves our past decisions that cannot be
changed.
• 12% focus on criticism from others who spoke because they felt inferior.
• 10% are related to our health, which gets worse when we worry.
• 8% of our worries could be described as "legitimate" causes for
concern.
• It means that 92% are useless and unnecessary worries!

I guess “worry” is one of the devil’s most powerful weapons in his armoury against us. When worry rules our hearts, we lost our identity. Worrying robs our now. It is either we are trapped in our past mistakes or anxiously living in the future. Thus we failed to enjoy the “beauty of the now” and “the gift of each moment” that God is giving us. The man who is free from worries can leisurely eat and enjoy his breakfast of dried fish, red eggs, tomatoes, and fried rice. He can immerse himself in the morning sunlight and breathe the fresh morning air. She takes a bath and enjoys the water gently flowing to her body without thinking what she will do in the office or school today. He can close his eyes and count his blessings. She can afford to smell a flower. He can work well under pressure. She can laugh at her mistake. He can set aside his voluminous work when weekend comes and waste his time with his family. And when evening comes, they pray, leave everything to God, and sleep in peace.
Worry not. God is with us.

"The moment the little boy is concerned with which is a jay and which is a sparrow, he can no longer see the birds or hear them sing." - Eric Berne

- Fr. Willy M. Samson,SJ
Carmelite Monastery / June 30, 2009

To the Other Side

2009-06-29T07:37:00.006+08:00

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 5:21-43 “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured.”

A text joke: Nanay: Anak, bumili ka ng tinapay sa tindahan.
Pedro: Nanay, gabi na po, natatakot po akong lumabas.
Nanay: Anak, huwag kang matakot, lagi mong kasama si Hesus.
Pedro: Inay, si Hesus na lang kaya ang utusan ninyo.

Jesus loves crossing the Lake of Galilee. This is the fastest way to travel between two towns separated by this body of water. But crossing this lake is dangerous because it is notoriously known for its sudden storms. You need a lot of courage to cross this lake especially in the evening.

Encarta defines courage as the ability of a person to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear. In other words, fear is not an alien thing to courageous people. They just don’t allow fear to stop them from “crossing to the other side.” The four gospels tell us that even Jesus experienced fear (Mt.26:39, Luke 22:44). But it is crystal clear that his faith to the Father gave him courage to say, “Let’s cross to the other side.” (Mk 4:35).

Our gospel today introduces another two courageous souls to emulate: Jairus and the woman with haemorrhages. Both of them have mustered enough courage to “cross to the other side” and seek Jesus’ healing. Their faith in Jesus gave them strength to overcome their fear and approached Jesus. They were rewarded. Jesus gave them what they want … healing!

The decision of Jairus to kneel and beg Jesus to heal his dying daughter was a brave move. As a synagogue officer, to invite Jesus in his house and be identified with Jesus was a blow to his social status, knowing that Jesus was already unpopular to the scribes and Pharisees. For Jairus, the life of his daughter was much more important than his career, social status, and pride.

Like Jairus, the woman who was bleeding for twelve years was also desperate to find a cure to her malady. Aside from being physically sick, her bleeding isolated her from her family, community and God. When one has a haemorrhage, she is considered unclean and is barred from entering the temple. Anybody who touches her becomes unclean too until after a performing a very tedious purification rituals recommended by the Pharisees.

The woman knew that she will be expelled from the crowd and publicly humiliated if somebody recognizes her. But she mustered enough courage to “cross to the other side.” She made a brave move when she said, “If I can touch his cloak, I will be healed.” She did and she was instantly healed. When Jesus felt her touch, he said, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be healed of your trouble.” (Mark 5:34)

Driven by their great faith in Jesus and their courage “to cross to the other side,” the two brave souls got their wish – a new lease of life!

Today’s gospel invites us to reflect on how Jesus could heal us. Sometimes we don’t have the courage to “cross to other side” (to forgive a friend, to do things the right way, to correct a mistake, to stop delaying things and firmly decide for the good of the family) and come to Jesus for healing and new lease of life. Take heart! Trust God. He is our real provider, healer and giver of life. God is assuring us today, “Do not be afraid; just have faith. Let’s cross to the other side.” Transcend your fear now, come to Jesus. Whisper your prayer. Believe and you will never be disappointed.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." - Ambrose Redmoon

- Fr. Willy M. Samson,SJ
Ateneo de Zamboanga Chapel
June 28, 2009

Fear Factor

2009-06-22T04:39:00.002+08:00

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 4: 35-41 "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?"

Three months ago, I visited an alumnus of Ateneo de Zamboanga in Western Mindanao Medical Center. He was diagnosed with cancer, fourth stage. After anointing him with oil, he politely asked me, “Father Willy, answer me. I am 38 years old and dying of cancer. Two years ago, I was a very healthy person. But two years ago, when I started attending the mass and became close to God, it was then that I was diagnosed with cancer. I can’t understand, now that I am close to God; it is also now that I got a cancer. Where is His promise of protection and care?”

I paused for a moment and said, “It is unfair to God to conclude that your closeness to Him has something to do with your cancer. Maybe God knows that you will have cancer that He decided to bring you closer to Him. He knows you will need Him now, more than ever.”

Our gospel today brings us to a realization: Storms (life’s ordeals, hardship, sickness) and fear are parts and parcels of our lives. The setting of our gospel was frightening. Jesus and his disciples were caught in the middle of a perfect storm: “A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up; and it is evening.” (Mark 4:37). Fear ruled the disciples’ hearts. They panicked and sought the help of Jesus. Only to find out that Jesus was sleeping in a cushion. Imagine the frustration of the disciples when they saw Jesus sleeping. They woke him up, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" He simply woke up, rebuke the wind and said to the sea, “Quiet, be still.” And there was a great calm. Jesus asked them, “Why are you afraid?” Do you not yet have faith?” (Mark 4:38).

When Jesus said to the sea, “Quiet, be still.” I have this feeling that those words were also intended to the disciples and to us. Each time we are asked to “cross the other side” or each time a storm comes to us, fear will always be there. But this fear is pretty much normal. Fear is a basic survival instinct in response to any danger. Even Jesus, in his humanity, have experienced fear but he learned to conquer it, “Father, if it is possible, take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want.” (Matthew 26:38). In our gospel, Jesus is giving us his secret antidote against fear: 1. Be quiet 2. Be still.

When Jesus said, “Be still….”It means to relax, not to panic and have faith that God will surely help and protect us. God is with us. He said, “Be still and know that I am you God.” (Psalm 46:10). On the other hand, “Be quiet” means go to your room and pray. Allow God to talk to you. Listen to Him and be consoled. A child can sleep soundly in the arms of his mother or father because he knows his protected. Jesus could sleep in the middle of the storm, because He knew that his Father in heaven would protect him.

Storms will always be part and parcel of our lives. Face it and it will make you strong. Fear will always be there every time we are asked to cross to the other side. Take courage. Be not afraid. Not all crossings have storms along the way. But if ever a storm comes to meet you and fear rules your heart, do not forget the antidote, bring God with you and listen to his words, “Quiet, be still.” Then with confidence say, “With God at my side, I can. I will.”

"Have no fear of moving into the unknown. Simply step out fearlessly knowing that I am with you, therefore no harm can befall you; all is very, very well. Do this in complete faith and confidence." – Pope John Paul II

- Fr. Willy M. Samson,SJ
Our Lady of Peñafrancia Parish, Zamboanga City
June 21, 2009

Make My Heart Like Yours

2009-06-19T15:03:00.003+08:00

Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
John 19: 31-37 “They will look upon him whom they have pierced.”

One summer morning in Florida, a crocodile snatched the right leg of a boy while swimming in the lake. Fortunately his mother was there and grabbed his hands. It was a fierce battle of tug of war between the crocodile and the mother. Fortunately, a man came to the rescue and shot the crocodile. After a month, reporters came and interviewed the boy. Hesitatingly, he showed his wounded legs and said, “These are the wounds of evil.” Then he proudly showed his wounded hands caused by the mothers’ fingernails and said, “These are the wounds of love.”

The water and blood that came out from the side of Jesus was caused by humanity’s sin and wickedness. They were the “wounds of evil.” Jesus felt the physical and emotional pain of crucifixion, but when He humbly embraced the cross for our sake, the water and blood that came out from His heart became the sign of God’s unconditional love for us.

The water (symbol of Baptism) that flowed out from the side of Jesus purifies and cleanses our hearts from all our sins and selfishness. His blood inebriates our spirit and saves our soul. His wounds become the “wounds of love.”

Today, as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Let’s pray that our hearts will be transformed and be like the heart of Jesus – gentle, compassionate, forgiving, and ever ready to embrace and love humanity. Let’s pray that Jesus’ humble heart will console, inspire, and strengthen us to follow Him – to heal the wounds of others and stop adding pain to the already deeply wounded humanity.

Let this simple prayer of humility to the Sacred Heart be our guide and inspiration, “Lord, have mercy on me, make my heart like yours.”

From the desire of being praised, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honoured, deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being preferred, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of comfort and ease, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being criticized, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being passed over, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being lonely, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being hurt, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering, deliver me, Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like yours.
O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, strengthen me with your Spirit.
O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, teach me your ways.

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart,
help me put my self importance aside
to learn the kind of cooperation with others
that makes possible the presence of your Abba's household.

Adapted from a prayer by Rafael, Cardinal Merry Del Val,
from the prayer book, For Jesuits, 1963, Loyola University

Anger-Revenge Virus

2009-06-16T09:50:00.005+08:00

11th Week – Monday
Matthew 5: 38 – 42 “But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other
one to him as well.”

We hurt people because someone had hurt us. Think about it. The reason why we tend to hurt other people is because somewhere in our past, we were victims of others’ uncharitable acts. Most of the time, we are not aware of our temptation to retaliate, unfortunately, because of our frustration to get even or return the hurt done to us, we ended up hurting other people or hurting ourselves. Sometimes, we are not aware that we are already infected with the “anger-revenge” virus. In fact, this is more dangerous than the H1N1 Virus that is floating around the globe. H1N1 is now curable with the discovery of an anti-virus. But this “anger-revenge” virus will always threat us.

In our gospel today, when Jesus said, “offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. Should anyone ask you to walk for one mile, go with him for two miles.” (Matthew 5: 39.41). Jesus is giving us an antidote or cure to this highly infectious and dangerous virus that lives in our hearts. The only way to kill this virus is to stop it from spreading. Nursing a hurt will lead us to anger. Anger will lead us to hatred and hatred will lead us to revenge. Then in it becomes a vicious cycle. Anger breads more anger. And when anger virus controls and poisons one’s heart, he loses his sensitivity, self-control, and hurt people in small or in big ways, knowingly and unknowingly. It will never end. Like any other virus, it is very infectious. Revenge breads revenge. Someone has to stop it. Someone has to bear the pain, bear the blow, to stop it. Someone has to forgive. When one forgives, the cycle or the infection stops. In forgiveness, the person who forgives benefits most.

Now we can easily understand the silence of Jesus during His crucifixion: “Have you now answer to give to these accusations against you? But Jesus kept quiet.” (Matthew 26:62-63). He said nothing against His enemies and even prayed for them, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.”(Luke 23:34). Jesus knows that revenge is not the solution, “Put your sword back in its place. Don’t you know that I could call on my Father for help, and at once He would send me more than twelve armies of angels?” ( Matthew 26:50-54). To absorb the pain and to forgive are the only antidote to this very infectious “anger-revenge” virus. Someone has to stop it. Someone has to do the sacrifice. Christ did it for us. Can we do that also for others?

Today, we are being called to forgiveness. We are being asked to swallow our pride and reverse the customary way of re-acting to injustices, uncharitable acts, persecution and unkind words against us. We are called to do the impossible. We are called to magis (to give more): to love our enemies and share our very best with them, the peace and love we have received from God. In doing so, we can be called real children of God.

"If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we would find in each person's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility."
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

- Willy M. Samson,SJ
Ateneo de Zamboanga Chapel

The Pelican

2009-06-13T21:57:00.003+08:00

Solemnity of Body and Blood of Christ
Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26 “Take it, this is my body…this is my blood…”

One of the oldest symbols for Jesus in Christian art is the pelican bird. In Medieval Europe, the pelican was thought to be particularly attentive and caring to her chicks. When a mother pelican failed to catch fish, she would strike her breast with her beak and feed her young with her blood to prevent them from starving to death.

This is precisely what Jesus did on the cross. His blood saved us. But He wanted more. He made a promise of continuing presence, “I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20) and a promise, “when I go, you will not be left alone, I will come back to you.”(John 14:18). And He fulfilled these promises by instituting the Eucharist.

Today as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, we thank our Lord for His unconditional generosity of sharing Himself - by feeding our spirits with His body and blood in the form of bread and wine. The Eucharist satisfies our spiritual hunger and thirst each time we partake in the Holy Communion. Each time we receive the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist, we allow ourselves to commune with Him, and Him with us. The Eucharist nourishes us and gives us life. Such realization of Jesus living in our hearts should console and transform us into His likeness.

Unfortunately, we have taken for granted this wonderful sacrament. The celebration of the Eucharist becomes so ordinary and routine to us that we failed to see its importance in our lives. It is ironic that we are always asking for signs of God’s presence and yet we failed to see that the body and blood of Jesus we receive in the communion is the greatest sign of God’s real presence in our midst. We have taken for granted the Holy Eucharist, thus we’ve never fully experienced the hidden saving power of the sacrament in our life.

Think about these: If we say we believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, how come we are not excited to attend a Sunday Mass? Is attending Mass out of obligation or out of our heart’s desire? When was the last time you attend a weekday Mass because of your great desire to receive communion? If we believe that it is Jesus we receive in the Eucharist, how come we are still sad after communion and go home feeling empty? We are like the disciples in last week’s gospel, “they worship him but doubted.” (Matthew 28: 17). We are like shipwrecked sailors who died of thirst without realizing that their boat had drifted into a fresh water cove. They failed to dip their bucket into the fresh water. In our case, we failed to dip ourselves in faith into the mystery of the Eucharist. Thus, some of us, in spite of attending the mass, still went home with an empty heart and broken spirit.

We need to rediscover the importance of the Eucharist in us and in our families. The Eucharist is our home. It is in the Eucharist that we are forgiven, loved, and fed. When one cannot feel God’s presence in the Eucharist, we should not put all the blame to the priest for his unprepared homily, to the choir’s lousy singing or to the lector and commentator’s wrong pronunciation. We should transcend all human limitations and faults that may distract our participation in this saving mystery unfolding before us… the bread and wine becoming the body and blood of Jesus - for our spiritual nourishment. Our human senses cannot help us see the real presence of Christ in the bread and wine. Faith will help us. Believe in Jesus, “This is my body…this is my blood…” Participate prayerfully and listen attentively. And you will see and taste the goodness of the Lord in the Eucharist.

One monk says, "Being close to Christ is not a prize. He challenges us to earn. It is a gift. He invites us to accept."

- Fr. Willy M. Samson,SJ
St. Joseph Parish, Zamboanga City / June 14, 2009

The Three in Me

2009-06-05T14:07:00.003+08:00

Feast of the Holy Trinity
Matthew 28: 16 – 20 “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Leo Buscaglia was asked to judge in a contest to find the most caring child.
The winner was a four-year-old child, whose next door neighbour was an old man, who recently lost his wife. When the child saw the old man crying, he climbed onto the old man’s lap, and just sat there. The next day, the old man was up and back to his old happy self. When he was asked what he said to the old man, the little boy just said, "Nothing, I just cried with him." Presence is always consoling and empowering.

Today as we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Trinity, our gospel shows us how the loving presence of Jesus did two wonderful things to his disciples: they were consoled and empowered; and commissioned them to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

We do believe in the Holy Trinity - three Persons in One God. We have accepted that full understanding of this Trinitarian dogma will elude us for the rest of our lives. It will remain a mystery to reckon until we finally meet God in heaven.

But the best way to understand how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit become one is not through Mathematics (for it will surely fail us) but by how they unitively relate to one another and how they reveal themselves to us in different ways. Three different ways of manifestation yet one loving God: The Son, by becoming like us, shares his eternal presence, “I am with you always, until the end of age.” The Father’s eternal protection and unconditional love provides our daily bread, protects us from all evil and empowers us to face our struggles in life. The Holy Spirit’s eternal light consoles and reminds us of the teachings of Jesus. Three different ways of manifestation but unitive in nature.

In our gospel today, when Jesus met the disciples in Galilee, “they worshipped him but doubted.” Somehow we can relate with the disciples here. We do believe in God. We pray and attend Mass regularly. But a part of us doubts God’s power and presence in our life. We still have some anxiety attacks, pockets of sadness, and unrecognized emptiness.

Today, beg the Holy Trinity to touch our hearts. Let the Holy Spirit consoles us. Believe that “all power in heaven and on earth has been given” to Jesus by God the Father and all your fear will disappear. Then say YES to lend a hand in the Trinity’s Enterprise of saving souls. The Trinitarian love (presence, consolation, empowerment) we have experienced should move us out of our selfishness, sins and comfort zones.

Our Jesuit theology professor in Loyola School of Theology attempted explaining to us the Trinitarian mystery for one semester, but he closed the course with an expected conclusion, “The Trinity is in the realm of mystery. No amount of words or logical explanation can fully grasp the mystery. Faith will do.” But faith is for the believers only.

For the unbelievers, the only way to understand the Trinity is through our examples, by becoming LIVING WITNESSES of the Holy Trinity’s loving presence in their lives. Be like the Son – be the presence of unseen God to others. Be like the Holy Spirit – guide and console people. Be like the Father – love unconditionally and empower people to discover their own giftedness. Witnessing is more convincing than explaining.

I don’t need to understand the Trinitarian mystery in its fullness. My experience of the Father’s unconditional love, the Son’s eternal presence and the Spirit’s consolation, are more than enough to wipe away my tears, move on, and face the day with a smile.

- Fr. Willy M. Samson, SJ
Santa Maria Parish, Iloilo City
June 7, 2009

Good Friday : The Mother of All Boxing

2009-04-08T22:03:00.002+08:00

Good Friday
John 18:1 – 19:42 : “And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.”

Good Friday is the summit of the Holy Week celebration. In my six years as priest, I observed that churches overflow with people on Palm Sunday and the Easter Vigil celebrations. The churches during these times are vibrant and alive! But there is a notable decrease in attendance when Maundy Thursday and Good Friday liturgies come. Is it because of the summer heat? Or is it because we are unconsciously not at ease with Maundy Thursday and Good Friday liturgies? We are not Good Friday Christians. We welcome happiness and love victories in our life; but not pain, suffering and death.

But we’ve never learned. We are living in a reality that life is not a bed of roses and parties. Life is not only celebrations. It is not only victories nor health, nor of plenty. It has its thorns also. We are surrounded by the realities of pain and evil. Poverty is around us. People whom we know and close to us are dying of cancer. There is no peace in Mindanao. Families are in the brink of separation. My Tita Pilar is in coma after an accident. And we have our own battle within us against evil, temptations, hopelessness and unbelief.

But we don’t want to face our own darkness. We are always running away from our cross because we don’t want suffering. We don’t want to die. But the irony of life is – we are formed by our cross. We are transformed by facing our own crosses. Jesus’ final transfiguration did happen when people saw him hanging on the cross (in that seemingly defeated situation) and they exclaimed. “Truly, this was the Son of God.” (Matthew 27:54). He gained the real admiration from the Jews and non-believers, not in his triumphant entrance to Jerusalem, not in His resurrection on Easter…but when he was there on the cross …helplessly hanging and dying. They saw Jesus and declared Him as the “Son of God” in that in the seemingly humiliating and defeated situation.

As followers of Jesus, we need to face courageously our own crosses in life. What makes us genuine Christians is the cross; and not on our own moments of Palm Sunday or Easter experiences. There is no resurrection without the cross. There is no Easter joy without faithfully embracing our own Good Fridays. There’s no fullness of life without dying from ourselves in the name of love.

Sandwiches are named from their “palaman.” We called it tuna sandwich because there’s tuna in between the two slices of bread. It is what’s in between the two slices of bread that defines the sandwich.

Christians are defined not by our Palm Sunday and Easter moments, but by the cross we are carrying. It is our lived-moments of Holy Thursdays and Good Fridays that defines us.

______________________________

“He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a Cross between two thieves. When He was dead He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Such was His human life—He rises from the dead. I am within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that One Solitary Life.” -James C. Hefley

- Fr. Willy M. Samson,SJ
Pasobolong Chapel / Talisayan Chapel
April 10, 2009

Fighting with Towel

2009-04-07T05:50:00.004+08:00

Holy Thursday
John 13: 1-15 “If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you
ought to wash one another’s feet.”

In boxing, when a trainer sees that his boxer is being badly beaten by his opponent, he throws a towel and the fight is over. In boxing arena, throwing a towel is a sign of surrender and giving up. But in the arena of loving, a towel picks up a different meaning – it is a sign of commitment to service and genuine loving.

In our gospel today, Jesus prepares himself for the greatest fight of His life. It is one person against the world. He knows that He is facing a dreadful, shameful and painful death. Clearly, it will be a lopsided victory by the enemy: “Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. The devil had already induced Judas to hand him over.” (John 13:2). It is very tempting for Jesus to throw the towel. In fact, when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, he entertained throwing the towel and giving up, “My Father, if it is possible, take this cup of suffering from me. Yet now what I want, but what you want.”(Matthew 26:39).

In our boxing arena called life, for brave fighters like Jesus, throwing the towel is not an option. He courageously faced His enemies up to the end: “He loved his own … and he loved them to the end.”(John 13:1). Jesus knows nobody loses in loving. And so, instead of throwing the towel, He decided to tie the towel on his waist and started washing the disciples’ feet. The Son of God gladly takes the role of a slave, ever ready to wash dirty things including the disciples’ dirty feet. It is fighting back with towel in the name of love.

One of the difficulties in washing things is the likelihood of getting dirty. We don’t want to clean things because we don’t want to mess ourselves. But when one loves, he/she is willing to get dirty. A mother finds joy in bathing her soiled child even it means getting soiled. A boy bathing his dog will eventually get wet. When one cleans things, he/she will likely get some dirt. The dirty towel becomes the symbol of service.

When Jesus decided to wash the disciples’ feet, He knew that he would be tainted with our dirt – our sins. But out of His love for us, he joyfully willed it. He died for our sins. His blood on the cross cleansed and renewed our wretched spirits.

But our pericope today did not end in washing feet. After the washing, Jesus wore his clothes back and said to the disciples, "Do you understand what I have just done to you? You, then, should wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:12-14).

Jesus gave us an example to follow. He wants us to tie a towel in our waist - a symbol of our desire to love and be of service to others. Tying a towel in our waist may mean going out of our comfort zones and be involved in cleaning others’ mess. In this world of consumerism where “service without a reward or compensation” is not a popular option, the only way to fight is to fight back with “towel” – to be a servant of all like Jesus. To serve and not to be served. To love and not to be loved … until death. It is a road less travelled and seldom appreciated, ironically, it is the only way to victory in the boxing arena called life.

Somebody did a golden deed; Somebody proved a friend in need; Somebody sang a beautiful song; Somebody smiled the whole day long; Somebody thought, 'Tis sweet to live; Somebody said, I'm glad to give; Somebody fought a valiant fight; Somebody lived to shield the right; Was that somebody you?" – Anonymous

- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ
Carmelite Convent
April 8, 2009

Isa Pang Boksing ng Isang Nanay

2009-04-06T22:56:00.002+08:00

Dear Fr. Willy,

My boxing match has been more of an amateur level match, or sparring, even, when one compares it to the challenges faced by others.

My battles have been more with situations, rather than people, and it’s more of an internal battle. Ever since I’ve gotten married and moved to a new place 2-3 years ago, I’ve found myself struggling with internal issues – adjustment to a new stage in life, adjustment to the lack of freedom that comes with the territory – the peace and order situation in Zamboanga / Mindanao, adjustment to being away from all that is familiar, and missing the comfort of family and friends back home. Then when I became pregnant, there was also the excitement and fears that come with motherhood.

Round 1: Delivering my baby. It was a gruelling 17 hour labor – 13 hours of waiting for the right dilation, and the last 4 hours that felt like an eternity as I tried to push with all my might. Despite the difficulties of labor, giving birth to my baby boy was truly a blessing of God. Damang dama ko yung awa at pagmamahal ng Diyos sa panahon na iyon – akala ko hindi na ako makakaraos sa pagod at hirap ng pagpapanganak sa aking sanggol, pero noong talagang nawalan na ako ng lakas, nandyan ang aking mga supporter at coach – ang aking asawa na nagpapaalala sa akin na gawin ang mga Lamaze breathing technique, at ang aking ina, na binigyan ako ng chicken soup upang magkaroon ng lakas pa sa pagtutulak. Just when I felt like I was running on empty, literally, my mom was there to give me a drink of soup, and I had my own spiritual drink as I prayed to God to see me through until I deliver this baby boy – I prayed for strength. I felt a surge of His power run through me as I really strained to push – and finally, I cried in pain and joy as my baby finally saw the light and greeted the world with his crying. God was truly gracious and merciful to me in that time of physical struggle – and He blessed me and my husband with the greatest gift of all – the gift of life and love in the form of our baby.

Round 2: Raising a sickly baby. My baby was hospitalized when he was just 4 months old - after 5 days of very high fevers – due to ear infection. Those days of carrying him as he cried in such pain was so challenging and draining – I felt so helpless as I tried to comfort him. I had a very tiny glimpse of our Blessed Mother’s pain as she saw the passion of Christ Jesus. If only I could be the one suffering the pain instead of my baby, I would have gladly taken on the illness myself, to spare him of the hurt he went through. I thank God that after the medications, he got better

Round 3: Hospitalization number 2 when he was 8 months old – he had tonsillitis and had high fevers and couldn’t eat nor drink milk well. I prayed that he may get healthier and stronger – and the Lord answered my prayers, after 4 days in the hospital, he got better again.

Round 4: When he was hospitalized for yet a third time, his second hospitalization for the year 2008 – this time around he needed a blood transfusion because his haemoglobin was going down / he was a bit anemic. I really felt like breaking down. Talagang bugbog ako nun. Iyak lang ako ng iyak – sa takot para sa anak ko, sa galit ko sa sarili ko kung may pagkukulang ba ako bilang ina, at bakit naging masakitin ang anak ko, sa galit ko nung nalaman ko na natunaw lahat ng breastmilk na aking pinaghirapan i-pondo, dahil sa mga brownout sa Zamboanga. Siguro muntik na ako ma-knock-out noon. Pero ayan na naman ang Diyos, na tunay na nagmamahal at nagaaruga sa aming lahat, kahit na madalas, marami akong mga tanong sa Kanya, at kahit na madalas, makulit ako sa aking mga tanong at mga pagdududa.

Round 5: My own internal struggles – with insecurities, fears, loneliness, self-questioning – have led me to an up-down, consolation-desolation journey with myself and my God. Having moved to a new environment, wherein it’s more of my husband’s “territory” than mine, has really been challenging for me. There are days when being cooped up in the apartment really makes me feel impatient and unproductive. Having to say farewell to people and activities and groups that I held dear - I had to regroup and to take on a new role as wife and as mother. I have always been used to my other roles in the past – group moderator, teacher, mentor, volunteer – these roles defined me. And without these roles, I felt a certain part of me seems to be missing. Motherhood does take up most of my time, but lately, I find myself wondering if there is some call for me to do more again, like I used to. Ang hirap i-explain po, Father, at alam ko napagusapan na po natin ito last SD session – clear naman sa akin na first priority ko ang aking pamilya, asawa at anak. Pero, I guess may personal needs din ako for fulfilment – professional, etc. – beyond my roles as wife and mother. Alam ko naman hindi lahat ng tao, puede maging Superman / Superwoman, pero gusto ko rin sana tumubo sa iba pang aspeto ng aking buhay, tulad ng dati. Hindi ko nga maintindihan kung ito ba ay katigasan ng aking ulo, o isang attachment – to the way things were before. Recently, having involved myself in volunteer advocacy work (children with cancer) with the photography club I joined here has helped filled that void a little, somehow. Pasensya po, Father, I am rambling here. As you can see, there are some areas of confusion, and some of clarity naman. As with all things, I think God’s call to me now is “Patient Trust” – na wag magpabugbog sa aking sariling mga pagdududa, o sa aking kainipan o frustrations sa buhay, at manalig sa Kanya – magtiwala sa Kanyang mga plano, sa Kanyang pagsasa-ayos ng mga bagay-bagay sa buhay, ayon sa Kanyang Sariling Oras (in His good time).

Palagay ko Father, kahit naman po amateur division ako sa aking Boksing ng Buhay, hindi titigil ang mga rounds. Sige-sige lang ang mga rounds, at kailangan ko makibakbakan pa. Pero ang malinaw po sa akin na kailangan kong magtiwala sa Diyos, na Siya ang gumagabay sa aking mga kamao habang ako ay nakikipag-bakbakan sa buhay. ‘Ika nga, (and this is a twist on some satirical line I read on the Internet): “I am going to beat them up with my Jesus fists”

Isa pang reflection ko sa buhay boksing: Minsan, akala ko ang Diyos ay ang Referree, minsan naman, parang Siya ang aking nai-gugulpi dala ng aking mga sala, mga pagdududa, mga pagkukulang ng tiwala at pananalig sa Kanya. Sa aking focus sa aking mga natanggap na sapak mula sa buhay, tila nakakalimutan ko na higit pa dyan ang aking pagiging bugbog—bugbog sa pagmamahal ng Diyos. Marami ang mga biyaya na aking natanggap mula sa Kanya, at karapat-dapat na Siya’y aking pasalamatan, sa pamamagitan ng pagmamahal ko sa mga tao sa aking paligid – pamilya, kaibigan, katrabaho – at sa aking komunidad, sambayanan, mundo. Kailangan kong alalahanin na ang pagmamahal ng Diyos dapat ang gumabay sa aking mga kamay habang ako ay nakikipagsapalaran sa buhay. Anumang “ring”, sinuman o anuman ang kalaban, ang aking Diyos ay parati lamang nariyan, binibigyan ako ng lakas muli sa buhay boksing – ang lakas na iyan ay nanggagaling sa pagtitiwala na hindi Niya ako iiwanan, na mahal na mahal niya ako.

Zamboanga Mom

Boksing ng Isang Nanay

2009-04-06T18:27:00.004+08:00

A friend of mine sent this beautiful sharing of her own boxing. Allow me to share this ... in the end, she won with God.
Sa Boksing ng Buhay, kapag si Lord ang kasama mo ...walang talo.
______________________________________________________

When Mario, my eldest son stepped into high school, he started to become my biggest “care”. His life in the elementary and even high school years was a bit easier for me since we were together in the same school. His teachers were my co- teachers and he was so obedient on the rules I’ve set for his personal safety, and even academic success. Mario was born an “easy” child to love , mold and care for. But when he entered college, life for us has greatly changed. I am no longer in control of his time, his activities, whom he was going with . All the more when he left home to work as a nurse abroad. The first few nights were sleepless nights for me because of fear that bad things might happen to Mario and I am so far away from him that I can not easily be with him in time of greatest need for my presence. . My fear would get so intense when I see documentary films like “Rescue 911”. I lost my peace that I was bordering between paranoia and panic attack.

In an act more of desperation than obedience I cried out to God concerning this. Lord God! tulungan Mo po ako sa laban kong ito, hirap na hirap na ako! Ting!, ting! ting! My greatest REFEREE rang the time out bell. He sat with me in my corner and reminded me, “Mario is My gift to your husband and you. I care for your son even more than you do.” I was reminded of the biblical instruction to “Cast all your cares upon Him” (1Peter 5:7), and so I did. From that point on, I’ve learned to release Mario into God’s Hands. He is now on his 16th year working in California so blessed by my Greatest Manager and Referee.

I had the same kind of Boksing Nanay with my girl Gina. The pattern of the fight was so similar to the kind of fight I had with Mario’s. I cried the most painful tears and sobs for mixed feelings of pain of letting her go to live with her husband and children in Canada, what would life be for her in a foreign land etc. And when I allow myself to wallow in these fears and anxieties till I feel almost defeated by my unknown giant Fears, my Greatest Referee rings my time out bell. He would whisper to my ears “Cast all your fears unto Me”, then my peace is restored and I grow strong for my fight.

As the years went by I realized my Manager have prepared for me five boxing fights in my life as a mother. I already came out victorious in my three Nanay boxing fights. But this my fourth fight is the toughest one, my fight with my second boy who from elementary years until college have given me a difficult fight. My son Jay, was a frequent visitor to the Prefect of Discipline and Guidance Office in his elementary years because he would pick up a fight with male or female classmates and becomes a destruction to the class, thus, a behavior problem to his teacher.

He is an intelligent child as all his teachers would tell me, yet he was underachieving. He exhausted all his energies in basketball and computer games. His grades were deteriorating as every grading quarter came by. He finally graduated grade six and moving on to high school and finally to college compounded the toughness of my fight as a mother. I have come to a point that whenever I would meet his teachers in campus, my heart would pound like a dribbled basketball preparing to listen to a knock out report. I became a very frustrated mother that my heart and my ears did no longer know how to expect good news about my son’s performance in school. I suffered quietly deep inside. Araw-araw pasan ko ang krus of being a mother who wants only to prepare her child for his best future. In school being the coordinator for Faculty and Staff formation , I was for many years involved in Parenting conferences for all parents of the entire Ateneo Grade School. Parenting my own first three children and teaching early childhood pupils for 17 years enabled me to talk with confidence and assurance about effective parenting.

My experiences with them almost made me believe that I really have gotten the knowledge and wisdom of the many renowned authors about parenthood and have found the secrets of successful parents. But parenting my son Jay, made everything turned upside down. I lost my confidence in what I knew in all the principles of child rearing and all the early childhood development and human psychology written by most renowned psychiatrist , psychologist and child developmental theorist . Every philosophy, principle, formula, experience and whatever was written and said about successful parenting suddenly to me became a hoax . I stopped getting involved in parenting conferences. What right do I have to stand before parents who are so excited to hear secrets of bringing up their children to the best they can be ,and here is my own son who defies every thing I say to develop a respectable image, safety and success in school.

Jay and I have come to a point where dialogue is impossible. He closes himself to any conversation or dialogue I would initiate with him. He has consumed his waking hours in listening to music and dancing, doing choreography for all dance groups , debuts and school programs. He totally neglected his own studies. I became so afraid of what will happen to him- my worst fear was he might be going with bad companions, getting into alcohol and worst is drugs. I was enveloped with fear every time he comes home in the early dawn hour- my prayer time hour. I became a defeated boxer.

For two years I allowed myself to wallow in disappointment, frustration in being an ineffective parent. But I continued talking to my Manager and my Referee. I talked to Him in the silence of my heart for many nights . I told Him “ ayaw ko nang lumaban pa sa boxing arena ng mga Nanay. Pagod na pagod na ako, pinanghihinaan na ako ng loob, sadyang di ko na kaya. Kung pipilitin ko man baka batuhin lang nila ako ng kamatis dahil kilala nila ako at ang anak ko. I did have many moments of temptations- doubting if my God was listening to my pleas. But answers would come to my mind like – si Sta Monica naging santa dahil sa anak niyang si Augustine ! St Monica prayed for 30 years for the conversion of her son. Then I would mentally retort- sus! Lord kaya ko ba yan katagal? Pagod na ako Lord at matanda na ako. Yet again the bell rang for my time out and my Great Referee sat with me in my corner and His whisper was clear “ Would you limit Me in what I can do with your son? Just allow Me to take hold and have full access of his life I will take care of him even better than you can”. From that moment on I said “ Yes Lord I am releasing my son Jay into Your Hands and ask You to be in charge of his life. Sa pagka nanay ko surrender na ako. Walang-wala na talaga akong magagawa sagad na ang lahat kung pag unawa, pag pasensiya, at pagbibigay. Suko na ako Lord, Ikaw na Po ang bahala sa kanya.

Over a year I prayed this kind of prayer- daily releasing my son Jay into God’s Hands. I asked God to take care of him as the sun rise for a new day until the next sunrise for another day.

My Manager, my Great Referee surprised me one morning when my son Jay asked me- “Ma, do you have time for me? I have something very important to tell you”. I answered anak, I will always have time to listen to you. And the greatest dialogue in my son’s lifetime happened. He said with tears in his eyes- “Ma, pagod na ako sa buhay ko. Parang wala akong patutunguhan. Matagal na tayong di nagkasama sa pagkain, dahil pagising ko ay wala na kayong lahat. Matagal na rin akong di nakasama sa inyo ni Papa sa pagsimba tuwing Linggo na kinagisnan ko dahil puyat ako at di makagising ng maaga. Gusto ko nang magbago Ma. Bigyan po ninyo ako ng one last chance. Paniwalaan po ninyo ako na abutin ko ang araw na sasabihin po ninyo” Mag -graduate ang anak ko. Proud ako sa anak ko. Hindi na ako magpromise Ma, gagawin ko na lang. Sorry po sa lahat na nagawa kong pagpasakit sa inyo ni Papa.”

To cut short my boxing story, last April 3, 2009, my son was admitted to enroll in a prestigious university for a four year degree course which starts in June. His subjects were all credited ,nothing was wasted. He is so excited to start a new life as a student in a new place and new environment. Ting! Ting! Ting! Panalo ako sa boksing ng buhay Nanay! Thanks to my Manager and my Great Referee!

I know I still have many more days and even years ahead when I have to release my son Jay into God’s Hands. I would like to say the same prayer Hannah had prayed for her son Samuel, who became one of the greatest prophet of God the world has ever known. “For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore , I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord” (1 Samuel: 27-29).

My Manager and Referee told me I still have one more Boxing Nanay fight as my youngest girl is about to enter college in June. Well, I would say as long as Ikaw pa rin ang Manager at Referee ko Lord, okey lang ang laban ko. Thanks be to God! Ikaw ilang fight pa ba ang ilalaban mo?

- Nanay Zamboanga

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You may want to share your own boxing and inspire other people who are losing and being tempted to surrender their fight. Send your sharing to willysamson@yahoo.com

The Greek Prayer

2009-03-31T20:26:00.002+08:00

5th Sunday of Lent
John 12: 20-33 “Sir, we would like to see Jesus”

Today is the last Sunday of Lent. As we move closer to commemorate the passion and death of Jesus next Sunday, it is good to ask for the grace we want to receive during the Holy Week. Our pericope today gives us one of the best prayers in the Gospel and it came from the outcast gentiles – the Greeks: “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” (v. 20). This simple prayer could help us walk through the Holy Week as we remember Jesus’ ultimate expression of His love for us - offering His life for our salvation.

When Philip and Andrew accompanied some Greeks to Jesus in their desire to know Him, we are surprised by Jesus’ answer, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” It seems that Jesus is not connecting with the Greeks. Their request is simply “to see.” But Jesus’ response is “to die.”

On second thought, Jesus is actually answering the Greeks! He wants them to see Him in a different but life-changing perspective. Usually when we pray to Jesus, we want to see Him in his divinity – a bright shining light, defender of the oppressed, a miracle worker and healer, a God who always answers our prayers. When we come to Him, we want to hear his victory over evil, pain and suffering.

But Jesus is introducing a different Him in our gospel. It goes against our expectation of a victorious God and challenges us to journey with Him into an undiscovered, unpopular, and less traveled road known as “dying to ourselves.”

To see God is to die from our own selfishness and self-centeredness by carrying our daily crosses. It is easy for us to see God when everything is okay, when we have money, when we are healthy, when we have friends in our presence, and when we and our family are well secured. But we tend to lose our sight and become blind when it goes the other way around and when things are falling apart. We hardly see Jesus in our difficulties and trials in our life. We even questioned the love of God when we are humiliated, insulted, betrayed, and left alone. In moments like these, abandoning God becomes a very tempting option. Sad to say, many of us are still infant Christians. Ironically, in the realm of spirituality, dying is the only way to growing.

In the gospel of Mark, it was ironic that a non-believer Roman officer saw something while Jesus was hanging on the cross. In the midst of humiliation, defeat, and death, he saw something and proclaimed his faith, “Truly, this man was really the Son of God.” (Mark 15:39). He saw Jesus’ real identity on the cross.

Let’s be with Jesus in His journey to life this coming Holy Week. See Him hanging on the cross. Feel his struggles in obeying God’s will. Feel His pain. He was abandoned, betrayed, humiliated, and insulted. But He willingly carried His cross until death for our salvation.

As the Greeks said, “We want to see Jesus.” Do you want to see Him also? I want to. But we have to realize that seeing comes at a cost. IT WILL COST US OUR LIVES BUT IT WILL SAVE US. (John 12:25).

Fr. Willy M. Samson, SJ
St. Joseph Church, Zamboanga City
March 29, 2009

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Note: Below is another “Buhay Boksing” experience from another friend of mine.

Dear Fr.Willy

My new life here in the US has been a boxing match between me and my self. It sounds funny but yes, my greatest enemy is myself - my own temperament, my being indecisive and dependence to some people to suggest decisions for me, my impatience, my ungratefulness to God, etc...

Many times in my life here, I come to HIM for help when I am already at the cross roads or in very rough times and in most cases when my journey seems okay, I seldom thank HIM! I realized that God never used them against me, but I feel the shame/guilt. I usually embraced negativity over things, became impatient and made bad decisions. In turn, I ended up regretting over them.

YET, God in his His unconditional LOVE, never abandoned me. If my mathematical mind is right, God's help/guidance/company... is enormous that I could not count them, because no matter how bad my decisions were, God still makes me feel that I am truly loved by HIM. I wrote you about "When it rains, it pours" but I feel, it should be "When God pours, HE keeps on pouring."

There are many times that I thought I would ran away from the boxing ring because I could not raise my hand to give another punch to my enemy and yet when I hear the 'ting-ting-ting", I feel God's hands leading me to the seat in my corner to coach me to breath, relax my muscles, clear up my mind and then FIGHT AGAIN at the sound of the bell. God in HIS most loving voice saying: "I am here and I will be watching you. No matter what, I will be here waiting for you after each round!" HE continuously pours blessing, no matter what I do, no matter how bad my sins are (but of course, this has never been my excuse to keep sinning- God forbids), it is just that I feel that no matter what I do, HE is always there to give me the blessings I need to survive and in most cases, the blessings again are enormous. Kahit sa dami ng aking mga “ungrateful moment,” … isang pasalamat lang, bubuhos na kaagad ang mga grasya galing sa KANYA! Nakakahiya nga, pero ganoon nga siguro magmahal ang DIYOS! Walang kupas, walang kondisyon, "walang iwanan" sa lahat ng pakiki-boxing ko sa buhay--Pilipinas man o Amerika, walang tigil ang buhos ng mga grasya!

Sa Buhay-boksing, may pahinga naman dahil may "ting, ting, ting." Sa lahat ng pakikibaka na nagawa ko na, kitang-kita ko ang Diyos at ang galaw NIYA na misteryoso---paibaiba ang style, pero iisa lang ang pinanggagalingan - PAGMAMAHAL NIYA SA AKIN!

salamat sa mga homilya mo! napakalaking tulong sa akin!

ingat ka lagi,

A friend from the United States

Tugon ng Mga Ilang Boksingero

2009-03-27T05:33:00.018+08:00

Here are some of the responses I got from my homily "Buhay Boksing"
If you want to add and be posted here, feel free to write me at willysamson@yahoo.com
Your name will not be mentioned.

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Ang buhay nga ay parang boxing kailangan mong sumuntok at tamaan ang kalaban para manalo ka. Pero kailangan din ang pag-iingat at dapat marunong kang umilag para di ka mapuruhan.

Hinarap ko ang laban pagkamatay ng aking tatay, ilang buwan na ang nakalipas mahirap pala pero, wala akong magawa kundi harapin ang susunod na hamon. Sa pakikipaglaban ko sa loob ng ring ramdam ko na ang aking pagkatalo. Unti-unti akong nanghihina pero pinilit ko pa rin lumaban.

Sa Pagdarasal ko araw-araw at paghingi ng tulong sa poong maykapal at ang hindi ko pagbitiw sa kanya. Ako ay muling nagkaroon ng panibagong lakas upang haraping muli ang panibagong laban sa aking buhay.

Salamat sa mga Homily na pinadadala mo. Malaki ang naitulong nito sa akin.

- Muntinlupa
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May katatapos lang akong laban. Laban ng aking kalusugan. Pero okey na man na ang resulta ng ultra sound. Pero alam niyo po ba bago pa man ako sumabak sa boxing ring napanghinaan na agad ako. Di pa nga ako sumubok lumaban umiiyak na ako. Iyak na ako ng iyak. Kahinaan ba ang pag-iyak? Sa palagay ko hindi. Kasi nangangahulugan lang naman ito na kailangan ko ng kakampi sa laban na ito. Kahit di siya tumulong sumuntok.....kahit tagasigaw lang na kaya ko.....at tagapalakpak sa bawat bitaw ko rin ng aking suntok. Pero natakot talaga ako. Hindi ako makatulog. Pero sa mga takot na iyon may bumulong sa akin na "kaya mo iyan. Maging okey ka lang. Huwag kang matakot.".....ang mga panalangin at pagtitiwala sa Kanya ang nagbigay sa akin ng lakas. At hayun nga wala naman pala akong dapat ipag-alala sa nangyari sa akin noong miyerkules. Pero dapat ko pa ring pag-ingatan ang aking sarili.

Minsan kasi di pa nga natin sinubukang lumaban taas na agad ang kamay natin. Suko na agad. At sasabihing di ko kayang lumaban. Dapat pala lumaban kahit nakakatakot kasi may Kakampi ka naman talaga. Minsan di lang natin Siya napapansin. Nandiyan lang Siya sa tabi naghihintay.

Zamboanga

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Dear Fr.Willy,

Sa boksing ng buhay, ako yung tipo ng tao na iiwas sa suntok, iikot lang ng iikot sa ring hanggang mag-bell at pupunta sa corner para magpalakas ulet ng loob. Sa susunod na round, iisip ng technique kung panu makakalampas ulet ng di tinatamaan, then pahinga ulet kapag nag-bell. In fairness, tumatanggap ako ng suntok minsan, pero minsan di ako bumabangon, knock out agad. Minsan din naman nananalo ako, wow sarap ng feeling…akalain mong nalampasan ko yun! Pero kahit panalo minsan, dahil ilang beses akong nasuntok, parang nakakatakot lumaban ulet.

Hanggang ngayon po, nasa training pa din ako. Ang sarap mag training kasama si Lord na coach ko. Masaya kong mag-serve sa simbahan, umattend ng retreat/seminars at kahit anung church activity na madami akong matututunan para mas lalong gumanda ang relationship namin ni Lord. Sa kahit anong laban, kumakapit ako kay Lord…alam kong di ako iiwanan ng coach ko. At idagdag ko pa ang mga taong kagaya ni Fr. Willy…dahil sa kanila alam kong di ako nag iisa.

- Zamboanga

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My new life here in the US has been a boxing match between me and my self. It sounds funny but yes, my greatest enemy is myself - my own temperament, my being indecisive and dependence to some extend to other people to suggest decisions for me, my impatience, my ungratefulness to God, etc...
many times of my life here, I ran to HIM for help when I am already at the cross roads or in very rough times and in most cases that my journey seems okay, I seldom thank HIM! I realized that God never it against me but since I felt the shame/guilt, I embraced negativity over things and so I made bad decisions. In turn, I ended up regreting over them.

YET, God in his HIS unconditional LOVE, He has never abandoned me here. If my mathematical mind is right, God's help/guidance/company... is enormous that I could not count them, because no matter how bad my decisions were, God still makes me feel that I am truly loved by HIM. I wrote you about "when it rains, it pours" but I feel, it should be "when God pours, HE keeps on pouring." There are many times that I thought I would ran away from the boxing ring because I could not raise my hand to give another punch to my enemy and yet when I hear the 'ting-ting-ting", I feel God's hands leading me to the seat in my corner to coach me to breath, relax my muscles, clear up my mind and then at the sound of the bell, God in HIS most loving voice saying: " I am here and I will be watching you. No matter what, I will be here waiting for you after each round!" HE continuously pours blessing no matter what I do, no matter how bad my sins are (but of course, this has never been my excuse to keep sinning- God forbids), it is just that I feel that no matter what I do, HE is always there to give me the blessings I need to survive and in most cases, the blessings again are enormous. Kahit sa dami ng ungrateful moments ko, pero isang pasalamat lang, bubuhos na kaagad ang mga grasya galing sa KANYA! nakakahiya nga, pero ganoon nga siguro magmahal ang DIYOS! Walang kupas, walang kondisyon, "walang iwanan" sa lahat ng pakikibaka ko sa buhay--Pilipinas man o Amerika, walang tigil ang buhos ng mga grasya!

Kaya heto ako, patuloy na naniniwala sa Kanyang pag-ibig sa akin kahit hindi ako karapatdapat. Pero sa patuloy na pag-galaw ng Diyos sa aking buhay, dahan-dahan ko rin nasabi sa sarili ko na "ako ay karapatdapat ding mahalin ng Diyos kahit akoy meron pagkakamali!" Ginusto ko ng isipin na hindi maging insecure sa pag-ibig ng Diyos dahil ngayon lagi kong iisipin na hindi lang ako mahal ng Diyos kundi "mahal na mahal na mahal na mahal ako ng Diyos!!!!!"

Buhay-boksing, may pahinga dahil may "ting" pero sa lahat ng pakikibaka na nagawa ko na, kitang-kitang ko Diyos at ang galaw NIYA na misteryoso---paibaiba ang style, pero iisa lang ang pinanggagalingan - PAGMAMAHAL NIYA SA AKIN!

salamat sa mga homilya mo! napakalaking tulong sa akin!

ingat ka lagi,

East Cost, USA

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Hirap na hirap ako sa bagong trabaho ko kasi nga hindi ako sanay sa physical work pero natutuwa ako kapag napansin ko na excited na naman akong pumasok sa trabaho tonight. 11pm to 7am ako this week pero excited akong pumasok tonight. :) Pangalawang gabi ko ito sa pagbubuhat at paglilinis sa mga pasyente para man lang maginhawaan sila habang nakaratay sa kama. Ito ang isa sa nagpapasaya sa akin dito, mahirap man ang trabaho ko pero kapag iniisip ko na maginhawaan at maibsan ang discomfort nila, masaya na ako!

My friend and I talked about my worst experience at the nursing home last week but still we ended up seeing the positive side of the experience! Amazing how different the consequence is when you look at things the positive way. Especially when the experience is hard enough for me to give in to the temptation of giving up or wallow at the negative side.

Sa buhay-boksing, mahirap ang laban kapag hindi ko kita ang kalaban o hindi ko alam ang estilo niya pero kahit ganito ang sitwasyon, tanging paniniwala sa Diyos ang nagsilbing parang butas para man lang masilayan ko kahit maliit lang na liwanag.kasi nga kahit papano, kahit gaano kaliit ang butas na yan, tila nagniningning pa rin ang liwanag sa bumabalot na dilim.
Mandilim man ang paningin ko habang nakikipag-boksing sa buhay, pero meron akong Diyos na nagmamahal sa akin, tama na yon!

salamat sa patuloy mong pagdarasal sa akin,

- USA

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Feel ko na rin makipag-boxing...ehehehhe
Pero kailangan ko ng trainer... hopefully sa coming holy week maka-re charge / makadasal ng mahaba-haba... sana.

Sige po. God bless.

Marikina

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Dear Pads,

Maraming salamat sa inyong reflections..hindi ko alam kung makakatulong ito,pero sa aking palagay,ito'y pagkakataon ibahagi ang aking sariling laban, at kung paano ko ito nilalabanan.

Una sa lahat, ako po'y araw-araw na nagdadasal at nagpapasalamat sa Poong Maykapal sa aking eastado sa buhay.Ako'y nagagalak na buhay ako,ang aking mga mahal sa buhay at wala akong ina-apakang ibang tao.Kung tutu-usin sa mga aspetong ito,ay okey nako.pero dahil sa tao tayo at nasa mundong ito,hindi maiiwasang makipag-sapalaran sa buhay.

Ang kalaban ko ay buhay mismo. Nakakatakot isipin na kahit anong paghahanda,pag-iisip at preparasyon ang gawin mo,wala kang garantiya na mangyayari ang gusto mo.ewan ko sa inyo,pero di ba bad trip yung may pangarap ka,may plano katapos di mangyayari?Na tipong binubuhos mo lahat pero di mo alam kung anong kalalabasan? Sa totoong lang ayokong isipin, baka mawasak pa ako.

Sa ngayon, ako'y nakikipagsapalaran sa ibang bansa.Sabi nila,mas madali raw kasing makamit ang gusto mo sa abroad.(ewan ko lang,sa sobrang pait ng realidad ngayon di mo na alam kung ano ang tama at kung ano ang dapat).Di ko alam kung ano ang mangyayari pero andito nako ngayon.Nasa loob na ng ring,wala nang atrasan,tumunog na ang bell.Fight.Wala nang mga resbak,wala ng sandata kundi sarili ko.Kaharap ko,kalaban ko,malaki na! mabilis pa!Di mo alam saan manggaling ang mga suntok niya.Mukhang dehado ako,pero sabi nga nila:"it is how you play the game".

"It is how you play the game."Sa aking palagay,ito ang dapat nasa puso't isipan natin.Alalahanin natin na binuhos at binigay na ng Diyos lahat ng pag-e-ensayo na kailangan natin para sa mga laban natin.WE ARE JUST TOO AFRAID.Sa ngayon,di ko alam kung ano ang mangyayari.Ang alam ko lang ay alam ko ang dapat kong gawin upang mangyari ang gusto kong mangyari.Ang tanong eh kaya ba nating gawin ang mga dapat nating gawin?

that is the challenge..

Sydney

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Thanks Fr Willy, it is universal complaint, I bet when you do not have anything to complain about you will still be complaining about nothing. From my point of view it is not really "complaining" but "airing" ones grievances, " para bang pressure cooker, kailangan palabasin and pressure para hindi sumabog". I guess it is a coping mechanism. If you express yourself so often, one day one will listen but we know that God is always there to listen. In my job , I hear complaints everyday from physical to psychological and material, however I feel blessed for the chance to listen to others and it gives me a different perspective of my life, makes me appreciate the mundane things in my life. It gives me a chance to touch pone's hand and nod and perhaps for that moment I am in the grace of God and for that moment there is someone there to listen to another one's grief. But then again I get paid to do this perhaps if I was not it will be who different perspective.

Anyway we all need prayers and I know that you are there and all my friends and families are there to pray for my family even if I do not hear from them and vice versa

God Bless,
Sydney Man

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Father,

Napakaganda nitong reflection, tuloy na-inspire at lumakas akong bumalik sa gitna ng boxing court ng buhay ko upang ituloy and laban at huwag bibigay kahit ano pa man.At the same time, hintayin ang mga kaibigan ko sa side ng ring upang tulungang maghilom ng sugat at suportahan din sa kani-kanilang laban sa buhay.

Maraming salamat.

Zamboanga 1

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Salamat po sa pagshare nyo sa akin ng message. ang ganda. buhay nga pala ay parang boksing....:-) nabubugbog at nasusugatan tayo. at sa bawat round may pahinga at higit sa lahat may katapusan ang bawat laban. Thanks ulit ang ganda.

God Bless!
Zamboanga adzu

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Dear Pads,

Salamat sa iyo at kay Mira. Kinailangan ko itong muli, mga salita na kahit alam mo na at nasa puso mo na, dapat mo paring marinig muli. I was wrong to say "at the end of the day, we are all alone". We have Kuya Jess..and that makes Him THE MAN.
IBA SIYA!

- Sydney Boy

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Willy,

Hi! naiiyak parin ako habang binabasa ko ang email ko, na homily mo, buhay boksing sabi mo nga. nakakaiyak talaga, sana makatulong sa mga makabasa na ganyang talaga ang buhay at ang Diyos parin ang kasama natin sa hirap at ginhawa. Salamat sa paulit ulit na pagtitiwala at pakikinig.

Its meeh,
Mira
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Ang buhay nga talaga ay parang boksing. Hay,habang ako ay nagbabalik tanaw sa sarili kung mga laban ng buhay hindi ko tuloy lubos maisip kung ano ang aking dapat maramdaman. Dahil sa isang iglap lang bumalik ang lahat na masasakit na alaala, ang mga di magandang karanasan at mga taong nagdulot ng pait at pighati sa aking puso. Dahil dun hindi ko kayang pigilin ang mga luha sa aking mga mata.

Ganun pa man …..

Nanaig pa rin ang ngiti sa aking mga labi at ang galak ng aking puso. Sa bawat laban ng buhay na aking tinahak, natanto ko na kailan man ay hindi ako nag- iisa. Dahil sa bawat sandali na nais kong sumuko, may isang tunay na kaibigan na nagbibigay ng pag asa.. At sa tuwing ang bawat kamao ko ay hindi na kayang isuntok, may isang pang kamao na nagbibigay lakas.

Sa lahat ng laban ng aking buhay, damang dama ko ang wagas ng Pag-ibig ng Dios. Kaya nga natutunan ko, na kung nais kong manalo sa laban ng totoong buhay… dapat matutunan ko rin kung paano masaktan at masugatan sa bawat laban. Dahil sa bawat sakit na naidulot nito doon ko natutunan kung ano ang ibig sabihin ng totoong pag- ibig at pagmamahal. At Sa bawat sugat … may paghilom.

Ang pag-ibig at ang paghilom ang nagturo sa akin kung paano magpatawad. Sa pagpapatawad ko lamang nararanasan ang mabuhay nang payapa.

Lumaban ka!

Maraming salamat Ama sa pagbabahagi.. 

- Zamboanga lady.

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Good Afternoon po Fr. Willy,

I like it. I really like the response you’ve given to our sister.

In real situation, kung mahina ang foundation at mahina ang faith mo, the natural tendency is to get out. That is, the easiest and simplest way, to get rid of the situation. But are we really getting out of the situation? Kapag di natin hinarap ang problema, pagkagising mo sa umaga nandiyan pa rin iyan hanggat di natin natutugunan ng maayos at mahinahon. Siguro ang dapat lang, tumahimik pansamantala at harapin kung mahinahon na an gating isipan.

Oo nga naman, ang pakiramdam natin ay wala na tayong kakampi kapag di tayo hinarap at tinulungan ng iba. Di natin naiisip na sila din ay may kinahaharap na mga pagsubok kung kayat bahagya o di lubos na makatulong sa atin. We only think of ourselves not realizing that everybody have their own crosses to bear everyday and everywhere.

Its nice to know that after every crosses and when we overcome these difficulties in our life, victorious ang Panginoon and He is happy when we stick to HIM despite these hardships at wala ngang nagwawagi sa taong sumusuko o umaayaw. So regardless of the situation, we need to face all challenges in life, keep hoping, keep the faith, keep close to the Lord and keep on praying.

Salamat po.

- New York, USA
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This is also very appropriate and good to share to our members who wanted to back out and cease serving just because one or two unloving people are coming in to the leadership. While I confirm the difficulty whenever this person is around, nothing we can do to get rid of him as he was voted by the people. The only way now is to learn to love the person and try to befriend him as we feel God allowed it to happen for a purpose.

- New York, USA

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Hi Fr. Willy :)

Thank you po sa mga homily na shina-share nyo samin. Halos lahat naman ng homily na pinapadala nyo para kong binabatukan hehehe. Thank you po at sobrang enlightening ng mga pinapadala nyo.

Tama din po kayo na maski yung reflection ng ibang tao nakapagbigay ng lakas ng loob sa isat-isa. Na di ko aakalain na may mas malas at mas malungkot pang tao kesa sakin, kaya lalakas ang loob na lalong harapin ang buhay kasama si Lord.

Sige po, ako din gagawa ako ng buhay boksing ko :) It's also a healing for me when I share my shortcomings and struggles in life. Mahirap yung nahihirapan ka na pala di mo pa pinapansin, how can we open up to the Lord's healing if we don't acknowledge the pain.

God bless you always Fr.Willy,

Zamboanga 2

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Jesus was the ULTIMATE boxer...he took all the blows, bruised, battered and heavily bloody.... He accepted it all till death. Were we there for Him as a friend at the bottom of the Cross to nurse Him back to health and give Him our support and loyalty? Or did we choose to be by-standers just waiting for a miracle to happen? Sometimes it's easy to take the "safe" approach of watching from the sidelines and see how things unfold.

- Chatswood, Sydney

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Dear Fr. Willy,

I am sharing with you my own greatest fight in life. I am inspired to write when I read (in your blogspot) that there are so many people who have been victorious in their boxing struggle in life.

In December 2006 after five years of being married (still childless) I came to know of a devastating reality. My ultrasound result (which my Ob asked me to undergo) revealed the most painful punch that I have ever in my life. The result said that there is a thin lining dividing my endometria thus giving me a very slim chance of bearing a child in my womb. When the OB told me this, I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t breath. I felt a big thumped on my chest. The Ob ended the consultation with “just pray harder.”

On our way home, nobody talked about it. I brought this heartbreaking truth in my sleep. I had nightmare that night. My husband woke me up because I was crying too loud. Then, I realized that it was in my sleep that I was able to pour out my hurt. I just couldn’t bear the pain. The pain was just too enormous for me. My husband embraced me so tightly and affirmed his love for me even if we can’t have a child.

This particular situation brought me to a different kind of fight. I tried to figure who’s to blame (if this is the right word) in my predicament. Who was my opponent in this particular fight? I turned to God. I ask Him “why Lord? Why me of all people. Why deprived me of your greatest gift? Why deprived me of the gift of motherhood?”

After pouring out these questions to God, I stopped crying and even stopped talking about it. I tried to ignore the pain. I got tired of feeling the pain, likewise got tired of asking the WHY questions. And I told myself who am I to go against God.

I went on with my life. But deep inside me, I was broken. I suffered enough from the blow of this reality. I felt incomplete. I felt so alone in the middle of a boxing ring still trying to win the fight. But I lost. I was on my knees telling God that I surrender. Di ko na kaya ang sakit LORD. Then I fell down. After a while, He picked me up in the middle of the boxing ring defeated in this fight. Wounded and broken. He brought me to the ringside and started telling me that “ I still love you my child even without a child.” He still loves me despite my imperfections and my incompleteness. It was in this particular moment that I opened the issue again to HIM. I disclosed to Him my innermost hurts and feelings. While doing this, I cried a lot. (I haven’t cried in months). After weeping, I felt unburdened. I felt a dagger was being removed from my heart. Though I didn’t feel whole again, I believe that God is taking me to the process of healing my deep wound.

I am in the process of healing when I SURRENDERED myself to God. Now I realize, that putting your hands up in a fight does not mean you’re defeated. Surrendering in this particular fight (to me) means yielding to the WILL of GOD. It does not at all mean losing the fight……to me it is victory with God.

I have a different perspective of life now. Sometimes, it takes a situation for us to understand more deeply the realities and mysteries of life. Likewise, this circumstance helps me arrive at a deeper understanding with God and myself. Fr. Willy, you told me this “Understanding my humanity is leading me to understanding God’s divinity.” I see things differently now. My being childless has brought me to a reality that God is leading me a different life, a life with HIM. In fact, graces are slowly unfolding in front me…….maybe later giving me the answer to my WHY questions. I know that in all of these experiences lie purposes and deeper meaning of my existence.

Fr. Willy may I take this opportunity to thank you for also being there at the ring side. Thank you for helping me transend in all of the pains that I have. Salamat sa iyong mga panalangin. Sana’y di kayo magsawa sa mga kwento ng buhay ng tao (tulad ko.) :-D

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I’m a mother of two kids, parehong babae, my eldest is almost three years old and my youngest is 6 months old. Ito ang boksing ng buhay ko…
Round 1: I’m staying with my in laws, we have our own room but we share the same kitchen and dining room. Araw-araw, nakikita ko ang dalawang sister in law at father in law ko. Ang isang sister in law ko ay married, may dalawang anak, pero hiwalay siya sa kanyang husband. Ang isa ay single.

Sa married na sister in law ako nahihirapan. I don’t like how she disciplines her daughters: one is 2 years old and the other one is one year old, pinapalo niya palagi at sinisigawan pag may ginawang mali o makulit ang mga anak niya. Mahirap kasi nagluluto o kumakain kami sa dining room, nakikita ko at nakikita ng anak ko. Isang beses nakita ko sa mukha ng anak ko yung takot. Naawa ako sa anak ko. Paminsan ayaw na niyang pupunta sa kusina kasama ng yaya niya.

Sa mga sister in law ang marihap, they communicate each other using Chinese language, most of the times I can not understand, but I can feel they talk against me or against my husband. Paghindi ko kasama husband ko sa dining table, hindi na lang ako kakain. Kasi hindi man ako komportable. At pinaka masakit ang nakikita ko, sinisigawan nila ang father in law ko, pag nag-aaway sila, nakikita yun ng anak ko. Para sa akin they should respect him, even though they feel they are right. They can talk in a nice way or in a low voice, they should not shout to their father. Ayokong lumaki ang anak nakikita yun.

Inisip ko na lang, siguro ganun ang sister in law dahil hiwalay sila mag-asawa at wala siyang trabaho. I prayed that she can handle her own problems positively and not hurting her own daughters.

I have talk to my husband regarding these problems; we are looking for a house to stay. But my father- in- law talk to him, can we stay maybe for another 2 to 3 years with him, because he wants my husband to take care of him rather than my sister in laws. I agreed to stay. Alam ko man kaya ko tong problema, my kasama ako Si Lord at ang asawa ko. Ilang tulog lang yan.

Round 2. How to discipline our children. Lumaki ako pinapalo kami ng tatay ko, pag may kasalan ako o may kasalanan ang mga kapatid ko. Ayoko ganun paraan e disiplina ang mga anak ko, dahil para sa akin nagkakaroon ng trauma. Same with my husband, pinapalo din siya mg mama niya. I have learn from one doctor and a mother the best may to discipline your child is through face the wall, afterwards explain to her why mama or papa gets angry or ano mali ang ginawa niya, then hug her to assure her we still love her. Ok na naman ganun, dahil maintindihan ng mga anak natin kung bakit. Husband ko kasi pag galit na talaga siya pinapalo niya at nagbibitaw ng masasakit na salita. Sabi ko sa kanya e correct ang mali niya, hindi yung bitawan ng masasakit na salita “malas ka sa buhay ko”, “demonya ka”. Masakit para sa isang nanay marinig yun, kasi blessing ang mga anak. Ang panganay naming anak , she is a answered prayer, she is a gift nung birthday ko. O makikita mo may pasa ang anak mo. I prayed habaan niya ang pasesya niya at sana we can agree on how to discipline our children. Mahaba pa itong round ng boksing ko. Alam ko kaya ko to walang imposible pag kasama ko si Lord at si Bro Jesus. Marami pang boksing rounds pa mangyayari hindi parin tayo dapat susuko.

My latest miracle is my youngest daughter, I got sick during my pregnancy “similar siya sa measles”, sabi ng doctor ko my side effect yung sa baby. Either mabibingin siya o magkaroon ng cleft lips. I cried a lot, palaging man ako nagdadasal, pero that time, I prayed for the safety of my baby and she will be fine. One day I saw Fr. Willy sa campus, sabi niya sa akin, pray to God she will be ok, walang imposible sa Dios, and talk to her she will be fine. Isipin ng walang samamang mangyari sa kanya. “Think positive everyday”. Nag ultrasound ako sa eight month ng pagbubuntis ko, sabi ng doctors ok ang baby ko, pero hintayin natin paglabas para malaman natin yung other side effects “deaf”. Paglabas ng baby ko, ginawa lahat ng check up sa kanya. Praise God OK ang baby ko. Now she is on her six months, malusog at malikot. Masayahin baby. . Thank you Lord and thank you din Fr Willy sa prayers.

________________________________________________________________________

… kung gusto mong magdagdag ng iyong karanasan sa boksing ng buhay …
Huwag mahiyang sumulat sa akin …. willysamson@yahoo.com

Buhay Boksing

2009-03-26T20:54:00.007+08:00

Friday - 4th Week of Lent
John 7:1-2; 10.25-30 "Is he not the one they are trying to kill?"

Allow me to share a different homily ... in a creative way.
This is a real exchange of email between me and my friend in Manila.

Dear Willy,

Hi! talagang loaded ang lola hindi lang sa weight, pati sa labas at loob hehehe!!....alam mo nagsusumigaw ang loob ko. I'm loaded Lord!!!...naisip kung makipagkita kay Fr. Mario, hintayin ko siya pagkatapos niyang magpakumpisal, hehehe alam niya ata na hinihintay ko siya, sabi agad niya, dami niya ginagawa, kaya pa-schedule nalang ako sa kanya hehehe galing talaga diba.

Kasi ang pakiramdam ko kailangan ko ng tagapakinig, nang masusumbungang tao, na tatapik sa akin, masayang balita walang taong puwede, kasi lahat ay busy. Kaya iyon balik pa rin ako kay Hesus. Kasi sabi ko kay Hesus… pwede ka bang bumaba muna sa Krus, tapos usap lang tayo, kasi lagi ka na lang diyan sa Krus, sagot niya, “E ako mismo loaded sa problema ng mundo.”

Saan nanggagaling ang aking pagka-loaded? Sa pamilya, si mama mga ilang araw na ring sinusumpong ng hika. Mahirap talaga. Nakaka-awang tingnan at saka ang gamot araw araw mahina ang P200. Sa gamot niya ... ako lang ang nag-aasikaso kasi di ko maasahan ang aking mga kapatid. Sila rin hirap. Okay lang kahit nahihirapan ka , pero meron namang magandang resulta, e kaso para kang binabaon sa kahirapan. Asar talaga. Iyong bang sunud-sunod na hirap, walang bigas, pang-ulam at iba. Sabi ko bakit ako lang ang nagpapasan nito? Nakakainis talaga. Tapos wala ka nang malapitan kasi nautangan mo na rin lahat. Haay naku, nakakaiyak talaga.

Nakakatulala, nakakapanghina ang ganitong sitwasyon, pero tuloy lang ang buhay. Tapos paglabas mo ng bahay, asar, sobrang init. Pag-loaded ka mas madali mag-init ulo o ma-high blood, para bang pwede kang kumain ng tao, sobra talaga ang tensyon ko.

Pag dating ko naman dito sa opisina, meron akong kaibigan, galing din sa loaded situation at nag-share. Hala gusto ko nang sabihin, I'm out of order hehehe, pero makinig na lang, ngiti tapos wala lang, o di ba ang galing ng pang-asar. Para bang crossessssss is on the air, hay naku, in na in na ako sa holy weeek.........,

Buti nalang may email. Kaya sabi ko makasumbong nga kay Willy, bahala siya busy o hindi tapos bigla kang nag-HI sa YM.. Sobra talagang mapagbiro ang tadhana.

Alam mo parang may allergy na ako sa salitang BUSY, kasi lagi akong nasusupalpal niyan, sinusubukan ko rin naman intindihin ang mga tao, pero nauuwi rin ako sa pagka-asar at pagdaramdam. Pakiramdam ko para akong nanghihingi ng limos at walang nagbibigay ng limos. Kumikitid ang aking pang-unawa, nagagalit at napipikon ako sa kabila ng pagsusumikap kung maintindihan ang laht at ang aking sarili. Pasensiya na ha masyado lang akong pranning ngayon.

O sige na, maraming salamat sa iyong pagbibigay pansin.

its meeh,

Mira

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Dear Mira

Dama ko ang bigat ng iyong email ...halos lagnatin ang aking puso habang binabasa ko ang bigat ng iyong dinadala ngayon ... Hindi ko na rin alam ang sasabihin sa iyo ... kundi ang sabihan ka na HUWAG BIBIGAY.. hay naku.. ganyan naman ata talaga ang buhay .. parang boksing ... kapag nag-ting-ting na ang bell ... pupunta ka na sa gitna ng ring upang makipabakbakan na naman sa buhay ... ng nag-iisa. Alam naman natin na sa huling pagtutuos ... ikaw at ang Diyos lamang ang lalaban sa boksing ... ang ating mga kaibigan, laging nariyan lang sa corner ...naghihiintay ng tapos ng round upang magbigay ng kaunting inspirasyon, maglagay ng kaunting gamot sa mga pasa at sugat na ating inabot sa boksing ng buhay, tapos bibigkasin lamang ang salitang …KAYA MO YAN PARE KO!

Pero alam mo, ang maganda ng boksing ...may katapusan ... at ang nagwawagi e yung mga boksingerong kahit na bugbog sarado sa kalaban, kahit na dehado .. matatapos pa rin ang round ng nakatayo ang dalawang paa. Hindi ba ito ang mahalaga sa boksing ... ang manatiling nakatayo? ... sumuntok ng sumuntok ... at habang nasusugatan ...dapat lalong tumapang . Sa buhay natin ngayon, bawal ang duwag ... hindi nagtatagumpay ang mga taong duwag ... walang boksingerong tumakbo sa kalaban … kaya laban lang kaibigan ...kahit na sangkaterba ang bukol at pasa, kahit na naliligo sa dugo ang iyong mga mukha sa suntok ng kalaban ...laban lang ...suntok lang … pasasaan ba't matatapos din ang boksing ...at kapag natapos na ang boksing ...asahan mong may mga kaibigan na naghihintay sa iyo. Huwag ka ng magtampo sa mga kaibigan mo … huwag mong asahan na lagi kang sasamahan ng iyong mga kaibigan sa iyong boksing ... magandang imulat ang mga mata at malaman na meron din silang sariling boksing ng buhay na dinadaanan.

S huling pagtutuos .. ang Diyos ang tunay nating kasama sa boksing ng buhay. Kaya’t huwag magdamdam na wala ang mga kaibigan. Huwag mo silang sisihin, may boksing silang sarili. Malungkot ding bumalik sa ating corner pagkatapos ng isang round o pagkatapos ng lahat ng rounds … na wala kang babalikang kaibigan na magpapagaling ng iyong sugat.

Isang taga-hanga at naghihintay sa iyong corner,

Willy

Impatient Me

2009-03-25T16:12:00.002+08:00

4th Sunday of Lent
John 3:14-21 “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must
the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have
eternal life”

Our gospel today allows us to return to the “on and off” relationship of the Israelites with Yahweh. In bondage for 430 years, they cried out to God for freedom. God answered them and led them out of Egypt to the Promised Land. Unfortunately, while traversing the land of Edom, they became impatient and spoke against God and Moses for lack of water and food (Numbers 21:5). They lost their sight of the Promised Land because of hunger and long journey to nowhere. Because of their impatience, the Lord sent poisonous snakes, bit them and many died. When they repented, God commanded Moses to make a bronze snake, set it on a pole, and everyone who looked at it lived.

The life of the Israelites is a reflection of our life. We too have asked God of something: a new house, Australian citizenship, a happy family, a comfortable life, a baby child, reconciliation with a friend, healing from a long ailment, for our children to finish college and more. We cross our fingers and hope that God, in His time, will grant our dreams. But our waiting becomes weeks, months, and years. We start to doubt God. We become impatient. We don’t want to wait. We want an instant solution or answer. In our desire to speed up the process, we end up doing hasty crazy decisions that lead us to sin or commit mistakes.

Most of our sins are caused by our impatience. We don’t want to be suspended in mystery, uncertainties and suffering. We want to reach the end without delay. We want to solve the puzzle. When the devil sees this growing impatience in us, he will offer an “instant solution” - a very tempting alternative to God’s promise. This is the modern poisonous snakes. And it bites when one becomes impatient.

But God’s love and forgiveness never ceases. In the New Testament, instead of offering a bronze snake on a pole to look upon for healing, God offered His only Son – on the wooden pole. Anyone who looks and believes in Him will be saved. (John 3:14). But believing here should go beyond words. Believing means following the footstep of Jesus. Every time I look at the crucifix, I’m inspired by Jesus’ patience and endurance to hold on until death. It gives me strength to move on and carry my daily crosses with determination. Surprisingly true, when one believes, patience flows deep!

To be patient is to be calm, to allow God to be in control, to smile when plans are not working well, to gladly tolerate delays, to hug the unknown, and to be hopeful.

In our present world of “quick fix, rush job, instant food, digitals, internet, cut and paste, Google, liposuction, lotto, overnight affair, and divorce” - we are made to believe that PATIENCE is no longer a virtue. If you are slowly becoming a believer of this, stop for awhile. Watch a sunset, spend time with your lolo and lola, remove the white hair of your father, cook guinatan with your mom, or visit the Blessed Sacrament for an hour.

There is always joy in discovering that simple things in life can teach us the virtue of patience. Open your eyes. Good things are fruits of hard work, patience, and endurance.

"Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses and disappointments; but let us have patience and we soon shall see them in their proper figures."
- Joseph Addison

- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ
Zamboanga Catedral, March 22, 2009

The Bitter Better Pill

2009-03-23T21:00:00.002+08:00

Saturday – 3rd Week of Lent
Luke 18: 9-14 “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one
who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Paul and his wife returned to New York after 20 years of service in Africa. It was an uneventful day for them but not to the President of the United States who also arrived at the airport in his Air Force One after two weeks of vacation. People from all walks of life welcomed the President. The bands played music. Paul said to his wife, “It seems that our 20 years of service in Africa is a big mistake. Nobody welcomes us. Nobody recognized our years of hard work and sacrifice.” His wife lovingly hugged him and said, “Just pray.” After an hour of prayer, his wife asked him, “Did God talk to you?” Paul nodded with a smile and said, “God said, Paul don’t expect a warm welcome here, you are not yet home.”

Is it possible that, after years of personal prayer, masses, prayer meetings and outreach programs to the poor, you realized that not all your prayers are genuine? And not all your service or good works are genuine? Believe it or not, it is possible … especially if we are infected by the dreaded “Pharisee Virus.” Unfortunately, many of those who are contaminated with this spiritual virus are not even aware of it. The virus hides under the skin of self-righteousness, pride, and “I know more than thou” attitude.

The best way to understand this spiritual virus is by entering into the shoes of the typical Pharisee in our gospel. I realized that he is not really praying to God but to himself, “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of the community – greedy, dishonest, adulterous – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and I pay tithes.” (Luke 18:11). He is actually priding or praising himself in the guise of praying!

Self-centered Christians who are not well appreciated and loved are prone to Pharisee Virus. Majority of them are KSP (“Kulang Sa Pansin”). Because of their self-centeredness, they are always craving for attention and love, but they are denied. The more they are denied, the more they seek for attention and love, but the more they are denied. It is a vicious trap. And when they failed to get love and attention, they ended up artificially loving themselves by priding themselves of their “good works” and begin criticizing and belittling others.

BEWARE. All of us are prone to this virus if we are not sensitive to our feelings and movements of different spirits (God, self, and evil) in our hearts. It is very subtle. It weaves naturally in our basic human need to be praised, needed and loved. There is nothing wrong to seek praise and honor for all our hard work. We need to be loved and praised. But if the virus totally controls us, then all our “good works” will be (unconsciously) motivated by our selfish desire to seek personal glorification and praise.

The antidote to this destructive virus is the bitter better pill known as the “Tax Collector Pill.” Main ingredients: HUMILITY – from knowing that everything is a gift or grace from God, even the good works that we did. Ironically, the recognition that we owe everything to God is the basis for true self-esteem – “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:14b)

One of my friends in New Bilibid Prison gave me another supplement pill to purify my motivation when serving others and to keep me humble: “Willy, when you do something for others, don’t expect anything in return, even the word “Thank You.”

"When we become aware of our humility, we've lost it."
- Anonymous

- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ
Carmelite Convent, March 20, 2009

The Secret Jewel of Joseph

2009-03-20T07:17:00.003+08:00

Solemnity of St.Joseph
Matthew 1:16.18-21.24 “When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had
commanded him.”

Saint Joseph is one of the least visible characters in the scripture. A friend of mine who is a devotee of Saint Joseph defines him as the hidden jewel of the New Testament. Reading through the first two chapters of Matthew, three common characteristics described Saint Joseph: Dreamer – Frustrated – Obedient.

He was a dreamer, but a frustrated dreamer. He dreamed of having a happy family with his lovely wife Mary. But the angel appeared to him in a dream and proclaimed she was already pregnant by the Holy Spirit. He planned to break off the engagement in private, but the angel told him to take Mary as his wife (Matthew 1:18-23). When Jesus was born, he dreamed of Jesus growing in Nazareth. But the angel appeared again in a dream and told him to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-18). When they were already settled happily in Egypt, the angel of God appeared again and told him to bring his family back to Israel (Matthew 2:19-23). Just imagine the frustrations of Saint Joseph. And yet, in all these events, I am touched how Saint Joseph lovingly obeyed God, “Your wish is my command.”

Looking back, the life of Saint Joseph is more or less similar to our lives. We are also dreamers. We have many plans in our life and for our families: a retreat in Baguio this summer, to migrate in the United States, to pass the board exams, to get married in two years, to win in annulment case, to buy new house, a new Philippine president, and many other plans and dreams. And like Saint Joseph, some of our small and big dreams remain a dream – unfulfilled and unanswered. We are frustrated. We blame God. We stop going to Mass and attending prayer meetings. We question God’s existence. We rebel against Him. Some of us change became a non-believer. Worst of all, we slip through anger, depression, and hopelessness. It pains us because we tried controlling our destiny but to no avail.

God wants us to plan and dream. God is always giving us a hand in our life. But sometimes, when our plans are not working the way we want it to be, or the way we want to see it, let’s open the possibility that God is offering us a better option. In times like this, learn the art of letting go and letting God. Have faith and trust God. He knows better than us. Learn from Saint Joseph. Be obedient.

My Tatay Francisco was a frustrated engineer. In my desire to fulfill the dream of my father, I took the Civil Engineering at the University of Santo Tomas and passed the board exam. But God made a turn-around in my life and I found myself as a Jesuit priest after saying yes to God’s promptings. Like my father, I ended up a frustrated engineer. But looking back, when I decided to follow the will of God and let go of my dreams, I realized that God gave me a better life. A friend of mine told me, “You are still an engineer – and a successful one, because you are helping the church build a spiritual bridge between God and His children.”

Sometimes, we may think that God is unfair for telling us to plan our life only to be told, “Do this and not that one.” But in the end, when we allow ourselves to follow God and cooperate with Him, we discover that God is not thinking of His own capriciousness but our own happiness: A life to the fullest! God has a greater plan for us. Saint Joseph discovered it. This is his most precious jewel!

What happens happen for a reason.

- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ
Carmelites Convent, March 19, 2009