Open Season

Feast of the Lord’s Baptism
Mark 1: 7-11 : “On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open
and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.”


The students asked, “Master, what is our worth?” He took a P 500 bill and asked his students, “Who would like this money?” Hands started going up. The master said, “I will give this P500 to one of you but first, let me do this.” He crumpled the P500 peso bill. He then asked, “Who still wants it?” Still the hands were up in the air. He replied, “Well, what if I do this?” And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it on the floor with his shoe. Now crumpled and dirty, he asked again, “Now, who still wants it?” Still the hands went into the air. And the master finally said, “No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It is still worth P 500.”

Like the P 500 bill, many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by our sins and wrong decisions we made in our life. We felt worthless. But no matter what has happened, we never lose our worth. We have found favour in the eyes of God in spite of our own sinfulness. To reclaim our worth, all we need is to repent and return to God. This is what John was telling us in our gospel today. Jesus saw the importance of baptism that he allowed himself to be baptized even though he was sinless.

When John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River, it was followed by three strange events: “As the Jesus was coming out of the water after baptism, John saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit like a dove descending on Him. And a voice came from the heavens.” (Mark 1:10-11).

The first, “the heavens torn open” refers to Isaiah 63:15-19 where Isaiah asks God to open up the heavens. The opening of heaven symbolizes the end of God’s isolation, silence, and his desire to listen again to his people who have sinned against him. By using this image in Jesus’ baptism, the gospel is telling us that the public life of Jesus is the beginning of the reconciliation of heaven and earth, between God and humanity. It’s now an open season.

Second, the image of the dove brings us back to what happened during the time of Noah. Like in Isaiah where heaven was also closed because of man’s hostility against God, the dove with an olive leaves became the symbol that life is once again restored - a symbol of another chance or new life with God. And when God sends his Spirit in the form of a dove in the baptism of Jesus, God is actually giving us another lease of life through Jesus. It’s now an open season.

Third is the voice from heaven. What is being emphasized here is the positive element of Jesus being totally accepted and confirmed by the Father, “This is my Son, the Beloved; in him I am deeply pleased.” The same words are spoken to us by the Father when we were baptized. Each one of us is held in divine love and care, clothed with dignity and righteousness, and anointed to become followers of Jesus. And like Jesus, we also received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, forgiveness of our sins, making us children of God and allowing us to share in the kingly, prophetic, and priestly ministry of Jesus. By the virtue of our baptism by water, we are commissioned to follow Christ in his mission: to bring glad tidings to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind and freedom to prisoners.” (Luke 4:18).

These three realities allow us to see the sacramental grace of our own baptism. Like Jesus, we gained favor in God’s eyes in spite of our own weaknesses and sinfulness. Through baptism, heaven is now on our side, we have received a new lease of life and gained the honor of being the sons and daughters of God.

For Jesus, his baptism was also the start of his public ministry - the start of his career as a hunter of lost souls. Stop for a while and pray. Renew your baptismal promises in your heart and rekindle the kingly, prophetic, and priestly role we share with Jesus. The harvest is plenty. Reclaim your discipleship and join the “lost soul” hunting season and help save souls.

As we formally close the Christmas Season today, let us remember who we are and what our worth is. The sacrament of baptism gave us an indelible mark of being the children of God. Nobody or nothing can take away this mark of God’s ownership in us. Our sins may damage our lives but the mercy and love of God will always be there to renew us. All we need to do is to repent and remember who we are. And you will hear the Father saying, “This is my beloved child with whom I am well pleased.”


When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.

-Howard Thurman






- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ
Zamboanga Catedral
January 11, 2009

Chasing the Star

Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord
Matthew 2:1-12 “We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage”
January 4, 2009


One day, a monk asks another monk, “Why, all of a sudden, so many monks are leaving the monastery?” The other monk answered, “It is just like a pack of dogs chasing a rabbit. One dog catches sight of the rabbit and starts to chase it through the fields, barking and running all the way. And soon, all the other dogs join because they just see and hear the first dog chasing the rabbit. And so the whole pack goes off across the countryside in pursuit of the rabbit. But only one of the dogs has really seen the rabbit. After a while the other dogs get tired and one by one they drop out, because they do not really see the rabbit. And only one dog continues the pursuit, because only he has seen – and understood – what he is chasing.

As we begin the year, we start running again from all over. Its cramming time! Some are reviewing for school exams. Some are preparing themselves for a Herculean job of finishing tons of paper works left undone during the Christmas Season. We have started removing Christmas decors. And the heavy traffic in Manila is back. Slowly we are returning back to our normal busy life.

But before we plunge into our usual “de more” (daily routine), it is good to stop for a while and ask ourselves, “What do I really want to chase this year?” Returning to our ordinary routine after Christmas is very tiring; and to some, it is very depressing. Sometimes we literally drag our feet to return to school or office. But this moment is much more depressing if you do not know what you want for yourself and your family this year. Stop for a moment and ask yourself, “What is my innermost desire this year?”

The Magi in our gospel know what they want. They know how to read the movement of stars and its meaning. They know that the Bethlehem star will lead them to the newly born saviour. They can see something beyond the star. They are inwardly attracted to chase the star. They know what they are chasing. Their eyes of faith allowed them to see what they are after, they want to give homage to the King of Kings. This burning desire gives them direction and meaning in life.

On the other hand, Herod and the citizens of Jerusalem are greatly troubled when the Magi came and said, “Where is the newborn King of the Jews?” Unlike the Magi, Herod is not that eager to leave the palace. Chasing the star does not excite him for he failed to see the saviour the star represents. He is so engrossed with his own needs and concern. The best thing he can offer to the Magi is to say, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me the word, that I too may go and him homage.” And so, Herod stayed at the palace. And only the three Magi continue the pursuit, because only them have seen – and understood – what they are chasing.

Today, as we begin the New Year, let us ask ourselves: Am I like Herod or the Magus? What is the “star” (desire) I am chasing at this moment? When I asked some of my friends what do they want to achieve this New Year, most of them were caught flat-footed and said, “Father, ang hirap naman ng tanong mo.” But I said I am serious with my question. And their next texts were quite revealing for them and for me: Be able to love my husband with the Lord’s heart, that papa gets out of depression, that my daughter meet someone special to be lifetime partner, that everything will be okay in my life, peace on earth, serenity at every sunrise, less anxiety and depression, sana mabayaran na namin ang utang naming, to get married and have kids, spiritual groundedness, a child, new house, physical healing of a family member, trip abroad, and others. These things are our stars. We desire these things and we should aggressively chase them this year. Our different stars mean a lot for us; but let’s not forget that they are only pointers to our real and innermost desire - God himself. St. Augustine realized it, “My heart is restless until it rest on Thee.” Let’s chase God by diligently chasing our stars.

The star of Bethlehem had helped the Magi in finding Jesus. They were mesmerized by the beauty of the star and followed it; but they know the star is not everything. They chased the star and led them to their real desire: to worship Jesus.

We have lots of stars in our life: a dream house, a plan to study, change of work, reconciliation in the family, a trip to USA, and others. Our “stars” give us direction, focus, and motivation to move on, go to the next level, and persevere. But we should be like the Magi who are wise enough to see what they are really chasing. We chase our stars in the hope that it will lead us see God and worship Him.

A friend of mine texted me this morning: “AFTER ALL THOSE CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR CELEBRATION, WE SHOULD STOP FOR A WHILE AND ASK OURSELVES … ANO NA KAYA ANG TIMBANG KO NGAYON?”

I smiled and texted her back with my revised version: AFTER ALL THOSE CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR CELEBRATION, WE SHOULD STOP FOR A WHILE AND ASK OURSELVES … ANO NGA BA TALAGA ANG GUSTO KO SA BUHAY?”

Find your own star and let the chase begin !





Fr. Wilfredo M. Samson, SJ
Ateneo de Zamboanga University
January 4, 2009