Instant Ginatan

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

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