Living Fully, Not Just Existing

    

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

18 August 2024

 

First Reading: Prv 9:1-6

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

Second Reading: Eph 5:15-20

Gospel: Jn 6:51-58

 

Reflection

By: Theresa B. Manio

The past weeks were a roller coaster ride for me. All emotions were up and shifted momentarily in just a flicker. I was surprised, excited, and extremely scared, but I could not stop the thrill of the ride. I had to endure until it stopped, and I literally felt the rise of acid inside my gut. Just like any other circumstance in life, it stopped and passed. In God’s grace, I thrived again. 

Last weekend, my husband and I attended the Life in the Spirit Seminar of Bukas Loob sa Diyos Community, and in that seminar, I realized a thought that deeply hurt me, nobody stopped and intentionally  asked me, how I was? Nobody asked me, “kumusta ka?”, someone who would take the time to really listen. I know everyone is busy. I also know that because I was still in the situation, if someone asks, I couldn’t also elaborate my thoughts so I would simply say, “Okay lang”. I was fighting the meltdown upon having this thought. In silence and darkness, all they asked us was to surrender to the Holy Spirit, to talk to Jesus, to be with His presence.

Most often the conversations we have been having  were about the circumstances of life. We might be thriving and busy, competently making our work done, meeting deadlines and expectations, fulfilling obligations, loving and caring for the people around us, to simply say we have been doing life and not necessarily having a life within us. Last weekend made me realize that I have been doing life lately and not having a life, and Jesus was concerned about this, is there a life within me? Is there a life within you? This question pushes us to discover the hunger within us and the life Jesus wants to feed us. All the Gospels these past few weeks, have been all about this. 

Two weeks ago Jesus challenged us to consider the bread we eat. Is it a perishable one or does it sustain us? Last week, Jesus declared himself to be the bread of life. Today, he says, “Eat me. Drink me.” This is the only way to have life within us. Any other diet leaves us empty and hollow, hungry for life. When we depend on people, even on our loved ones to fill in the hunger we have, most of the time we will just be disappointed and later we might be toxic to them too. 

Jesus is talking about the life that is beyond words and yet we know it when we taste it or when we experience it. We get a taste of it when we love so deeply and profoundly that everything about us passes away and somehow we are more alive than ever before.  In this moment we are in the flow, the wonder, and the unity of life, and it tastes good.

Jesus is our healer and our health. He is our life and the means to the life for which we most deeply hunger. We don’t work for the life we want. We eat the life we want. Wherever human hunger and the flesh and blood of Christ meet, there is life. We consume his life that he might consume and change ours. We eat and digest his life, his love, his mercy, his forgiveness, his way of being and seeing, his compassion, his presence, and his relationship with the Father. Jesus said, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood, remains in me and I in him. Let us work on having a life and not just living it.

Prayer

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus, who offers Himself as the Bread of Life. May we embrace this sacred gift with reverence and faith, finding in Him the sustenance for our souls and the strength for our journey. Help us to live in unity with Christ, ever mindful of His presence and love within us. Guide us to cherish this holy communion and to share its grace with others, so that through our lives, Your love and truth may be made known. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.

Blessedness in Nothingness

 Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

13 February 2022

 

First Reading: JER 17:5-8

Responsorial Psalm: PS 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6

Second Reading: 1 COR 15:12, 16-20

Gospel: LK 6:17, 20-26

 

Reflection

By: Sem. Carlo Alexis R. Malaluan

 

Blessed are you! The Gospel for today speaks of the Beatitudes. We often think of blessedness as moments when our cup overflows with bounty and goodness. For us, freedom from pain and suffering is the very definition of blessedness. One might say, "I am blessed with new car! I am blessed with a loving partner and beautiful children! I am blessed with a new house or a job promotion!" And the list goes on. All of these are in contrast with the life's difficulties.

But Jesus speaks of a different blessedness – of grace beyond human comprehension and understanding. The blessedness in nothingness. But how come one is called blessed when he experiences poverty, hunger, tears or persecution? Human suffering is a mystery which even words fail to give meaning. But Jesus didn't stop with the sad plight of human suffering but transcends and points out to a more important reality – our total dependence on God's mercy. The mystery of our humanity's meaninglessness and futility finds its fulfillment and significance in the mystery of God's providential love. It is God who gives the riches in our poverty, the joy in our sad and depressed moments, the satisfaction of the great hunger of our hearts, and the consolation when the world can no longer understand and accept us. For Jesus, this is what blessedness truly means – to be emptied from the world and filled with God's loving presence. For Jesus, blessedness is not a material gain but our total dependence of God.

One might say, "Oh! He is so blessed! He was hired to his dream job! Oh, she was so blessed! She won the lottery!" We might fall in the temptation of chasing worldly values yet losing our eyes on the real treasure – the kingdom of God. Without God, the riches, our happiness and praise of the world is but a vain and fading glory – tasteless and fruitless. Only when we have realized that it is God who bestows on us the blessings and graces in our lives, then we will see everything, no matter how big or small it might seem, as a moment of beatitude. What are these moments? When we are able to give something for others when we feel we are in the days of our nothingness – a friendly smile or a warm hug, we build the Kingdom of God. When we are able to be present for a grieving friend or a depressed stranger, we are able to satisfy the hunger for connections and healing. When we are able to cry and to find comfort those who are going through rough times, we become God's loving consolations in the lives of other people.

The Gospel provides a different portrait of the beatitudes – there is indeed blessedness in brokenness. We are blessed when we realize how God is at work in our lives. And blessedness is not stagnant nor dry – we are the first beneficiaries of God's blessings and we, in turn, transmit those graces in the lives of other people. And so the ripples of the beatitudes go on creating greater waves of beauty, life, and grace.

Prayer

Loving God, we praise and thank You for Your unfailing goodness. We are truly blessed even when we feel that life has been tough and our days have been dry for You have sustained us along the way. As we have come to the realization of the blessings in our lives, transform us to become "blessings" where we can bring Your love and grace in the lives of our brothers and sisters. Amen.