EASTER THOUGHT

Oh finally... I am back! It took one whole year before I could write, again. Well, there have been a lot of thoughts crossing through my mind but most of all the thought of this season we are (at least for us christians) celebrating, the Easter.

But even before Easter, the days of Lent were truly remarkable. I did not really have any special moments of prayer, retreat or recollection. But what made these days remarkable was the fact that I was able to have some moments of silent reflection. Reflecting what? Of everything in my life, the life of those people with whom I live with, the various situations I am informed about or got to know... etc... practically, everything that concerns me and the people around me... of life, of death, of joy, of sorrow...

But the most striking of all the thoughts that came through my mind was the act of dying of Jesus. I have always believed, and still believing until now, that Jesus did not come in our miserable world to die. That would be absurd!

These days it came to me very clearly, the why of his coming. He came to be one among us, to be like us! This thought was confirmed when one day I was browsing through a page in the net and I happened to cross a famous line from Chiara Lubich, it says: "...So that we might have Light, you made yourself “darkness”So that God might dwell in us, you felt him far away. So that we might possess wisdom, you made yourself “ignorance”So that we might have life, you experienced death. So that we might be clothed with innocence, you made yourself “sin”. So that we might hope, you almost felt desperation. So that Heaven might be ours, you felt forsaken. "

This description of Chiara, I think, says it all. All the absurdity that there is in the world can be seen in this optic.

But also today, while reading an article of the Zenit Pope Benedict underlined a very important reality on the act of dying of Jesus. The purpose why Jesus has to die. I felt that it was particularly address to me, it says:
"My hand upholds you. Wherever you may fall, you will always fall into my hands. "I am present even at the door of death. Where no one can accompany you further, and where you can bring nothing, even there I am waiting for you, and for you I will change darkness into light."

This, I think, is the meaning of my Easter 2007. That passing through a terrible darkness, but even death, can also become a moment of light, of life. I realized that I should not focus so much on my "falls" but on the merciful hands of God who even upholds me wherever I fall.

This is my simple Easter thought!

God Is Not Against the Rich

I've read this very interesting commentary came to me through ZENIT.org, a commentary by the Pontifical Household preacher, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa.

"How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" Mark 10:17-30

A preliminary observation is necessary to clarify any possible ambiguities when reading what this Sunday's Gospel says about wealth. Jesus never condemns wealth or earthly goods in themselves. Among his friends is, also, Joseph of Arimathea, a "rich man"; Zaccheus is declared "saved," though he kept half his goods for himself which, given his office of tax collector, must have been considerable. What Jesus condemns is exaggerated attachment to money and property; to make one's life depend on these and to accumulate riches only for oneself (Luke 12:13-21). The word which God uses for excessive attachment to money is "idolatry" (Colossians 3:5; Ephesians 5:5). Money is not one of many idols; it is the idol par excellence, literally, "molten gods" (Exodus 34:17). It is the anti-God because it creates a sort of alternative world, it changes the object of the theological virtues. Faith, hope and charity are no longer placed in God, but in money. Effected is a sinister inversion of all values. "Nothing is impossible for God," says Scripture, and also: "Everything is possible for the one who believes." But the world says: "Everything is possible for the one who has money." Avarice, in addition to being idolatry, is also the source of unhappiness. The avaricious is an unhappy man. Distrusting everyone, he isolates himself. He has not affection, not even for those of his own flesh, whom he always sees as taking advantage and who, in turn, really nourish only one desire in regard to him: That he die soon to inherit his wealth. Tense to the point of breaking to save money, he denies himself everything in life and so does not enjoy either this world or God, as his self-denial is not for him. Instead of having security and tranquility, he is an eternal hostage of his money. However, Jesus does not leave any one without the hope of salvation, including the rich man. The question is not "whether the rich man is saved" (this has never been in discussion in Christian tradition), but "What rich man is saved?" Jesus points out to the rich a way out of their dangerous situation: "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes" (Matthew 6:20); "make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal habitations" (Luke 16:9). It might be said that Jesus was advising the rich to transfer their capital abroad! But not to Switzerland -- to heaven! Many, says St. Augustine, exert themselves to put their money under earth, depriving themselves of the pleasure of seeing it, at times all their life, just to be sure it is safe. Why not put it no less than in heaven, where it would be much safer, and where it will be found again one day forever? And how to do this? It is simple, continues St. Augustine: God offers you the carriers in the poor. They are going there where you hope to go one day. God's need is here, in the poor, and he will give it back to you when you go there. However, it is clear that today almsgiving and charity is no longer the way to use wealth for the common good, or perhaps the most advisable. There is also honesty in paying one's taxes, to create new jobs, to give a more generous salary to workers when the situation allows it, to initiate local enterprises in developing countries. In sum, when one makes money yield, makes it flow, they are channels for the water to circulate, not artificial lakes that keep it for themselves.

"Our Lord Has Conquered With a Love Capable of Going to Death"

With my heart filled with much desire to see peace restored in Lebanon, I post this very special reflection on Peace by our dear Pope Benedict XVI, given at RHEMES-SAINT-GEORGES, Italy, JULY 25, 2006.

RHEMES-SAINT-GEORGES, Italy, JULY 25, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered last Sunday during a ceremony for Mideast peace over which he presided in the church of Rhemes-Saint-Georges in the Aosta Valley. * * *

I only wish to offer some brief words of meditation on the reading we have heard. With the background of the tragic situation of the Middle East, we are moved by the beauty of the vision illustrated by the Apostle Paul (cf. Ephesians 2:13-18): Christ is our peace. He has reconciled one another, Jews and pagans, uniting them in his Body. He has overcome the enmity with his Body, on the cross. With his death, he has overcome the enmity and has united us all in his peace. However, more than the beauty of this vision, we are impressed by the contrast with the reality that we experience and see. And, initially, we can do no more than ask the Lord: "But, Lord, what is your apostle saying to us: 'They have been reconciled'?" In reality, we see that they are not reconciled. … There is still war between Christians, Muslims, Jews; and others foment war and all continues full of enmity, of violence. Where is the efficacy of your sacrifice? Where in history is this peace of which your apostle speaks to us?

We men cannot resolve the mystery of history, the mystery of human freedom that says "no" to the peace of God. We cannot resolve the whole mystery of the relationship between God and man, of his action and our response. We must accept the mystery. However, there are elements of response that the Lord offers us. A first element is that this reconciliation of the Lord, this sacrifice of his, is not without efficacy. There is the great reality of the communion of the universal Church, of all peoples, the network of Eucharistic Communion, which transcends the frontiers of cultures, civilizations, peoples and times. This communion exists; these "islands of peace" exist in the Body of Christ. They exist. And forces of peace exist in the world. If we look at history, we can see the great saints of charity who have created "oases" of this peace of God in the world, who have again lit their light, and have been able to reconcile and to create peace again. The martyrs exist who suffered with Christ; they have given this witness of peace, of love, which puts a limit to violence. And, seeing that the reality of peace exists, though the other reality persists, we can reflect further on the message of this Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians. The Lord has conquered on the cross. He has not conquered with a new empire, with a force that is more powerful than others, capable of destroying them; he has not conquered in a human manner, as we imagine, with an empire stronger than the other. He has conquered with a love capable of going to death. This is God's new way of conquering: He does not oppose violence with a stronger violence. He opposes violence precisely with the contrary: with love to the end, his cross. This is God's humble way of overcoming: With his love -- and only thus is it possible -- he puts a limit to violence. This is a way of conquering that seems very slow to us, but it is the true way of overcoming evil, of overcoming violence, and we must trust this divine way of overcoming.

To trust means to enter actively in this divine love, to participate in this endeavor of pacification, to be in line with what the Lord says: "Blessed are the peacemakers, the agents of peace, because they are the sons of God." We must take, in the measure of our possibilities, our love to all those who are suffering, knowing that the Judge of the Last Judgment identifies himself with those who suffer. Therefore, what we do to those who suffer, we do to the Last Judge of our life. This is important: At this moment we can take his victory to the world, taking part actively in his charity. Today, in a multicultural and multireligious world, many are tempted to say: "For peace in the world, among religions, among cultures, it is better not to speak too much of what is specific to Christianity, that is, of Jesus, of the Church, of the sacraments. Let us be content with what can be more or less common .…" But it is not true. Precisely at this time, a time of great abuse of the name of God, we have need of the God who overcomes on the cross, who does not conquer with violence, but with his love. Precisely at this time we have need of the Face of Christ to know the true Face of God and so be able to take reconciliation and light to this world. For this reason, together with love, with the message of love, we must also take the testimony of this God, of God's victory, precisely through the nonviolence of his cross. In this way, we return to the starting point. What we can do is to give witness of love, witness of faith and, above all, to raise a cry to God: We can pray! We are certain that our Father hears the cry of his children. In the Mass, as we prepare for holy Communion, to receive the Body of Christ that unites us, we pray with the Church: "Deliver us, Lord, from all evils, and grant us peace in our days." May this be our prayer at this time: "Deliver us from all evils and give us peace," not tomorrow, or the day after: Lord, give us peace today! Amen.

[Translation by ZENIT] ZE06072506

Living Lent with a compassionate gaze

It has been said that the season of Lent is a period of repentace, sacrifice and mercy but the call to being merciful to the point of having a sentiment, heart and eyes like Jesus has never been so evident and concrete as much as this time. A professed christian is called now, more than before to live a coherent life.

The message of Benedict XVI for this Lent 2006 delineates a clear program in living authentically the spirit of Lent guided by the very words of the gospel: "Jesus, at the sight of the crowds, was moved with pity."

The Pope begins this message saying that "Lent is a privileged time of interior pilgrimage towards Him Who is the fount of mercy. It is a pilgrimage in which He Himself accompanies us through the desert of poverty, sustaining us on our way towards the intense joy of Easter."

Benedict XVI continued his message quoting his predecessors Paul VI and John Paul II bringing into evidence their revolutionary teaching on the dignity of the human person affriming that the true content of "humanism" consists in the "fully- rounded development of the whole man and of all men and women." And we should fall -attest the Pope- into the temptation to reduce Christianity to a merely human wisdom, a pseudo-science of well-being. That this secularized world aim at striving for the good of man, but man who is truncated... however, continues the Pope, that Jesus came to bring integral salvation." It is this integral salvation that Lent puts before us, pointing towards the victory of Christ over every evil that oppresses us.

Pope Benedict concludes, "we entrust our lenten journey to Mary, the fount of hope, so that she may lead usto her Son. And the Pope commends to her in particular the multitudes who suffer poverty and cry out for help, support, and understanding and he imparts his special Apostolic Blessing.

May this Lenten message of Benedict XVI may truly be a program not only in our life today but for always. http://http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=83732

Bata, oy bata!

In a Trentine dialect a child is reffered to as "popo", a child - a bata. These few lines I wrote some days ago are refelctions of the world of a child "created" purposely for him.

How beautiful it is to be a child again!

"Bata, oy bata!
Turuan mo akong maging ikaw.
Bata, sige na bata,
tulungan mo sa aking mundo
ay lumisan.

Saya, galak, tuwa
ang nakaukit sa 'yong mga mata
sa puso ang ligaya ito'y damang dama.
Sa makulay mong mundo
Dalhin ang ninanais ng puso ko.

Sigla, tawa, laro
ito ang mundong iyong kinagigiliwan,
lungkot at luha dito ay walang puwang
sa munting mundong iyong ginagalawan
sana sa 'king buhay ito'y ilarawan.

Bata, oy bata!
Paano kita matutularan?
Dalhin mo ako sa iyong mundong
puspos ng kapayapaan
at kasiyahan na siyang iyong tanging buhay.

Ako rin... Magpakailanman!

Since I came back from my one year stay in Rome I have not had the chance to post a single article, I was taken by a lot of things plus the adjustment period and ... a lot of things that have truly eaten up my time.

Finally today! I thought of posting a poem that came spontaneously while I was taking a moment of rest and reflection. It's in Filipino, the language of my deep rooted sentiments!

The verses speak openly of a heart conversing with his crucified friend.

" Sa lahat ng iyong minahal,

bawat taong iyong hinirang,

Sa dulot mong saya at tuwa

bakit sugat sa iyong puso

ang ganti ng bawat isa?

Bakit luha sa iyong mga mata ang

natatanaw sa 'twi-tuwina?

Inalay mong liwanag,

gabay sa bawat lakbayin,

ang saradong puso at minimithi ay dilim.

Bakit nga ba sa puso ikaw'y walang puwang

Ang pag-ibig mo ay di namamasdan?

Sila ba o ako

ang may kagagawan

sa lahat ng sugat

na nababalot

sa iyong katawan?

Paano, o paano nga kaya

makiisa sa iyong pagdurusa

at sa iyo ipadama

aking pag-ibig sa bawat t'wina.

Ako rin sa lahat ng oras,

sa lahat ng panahon.

Ako rin katulad mo magpakailanman!"

‘God is Love’: new hope for the world'

‘God is Love’: new hope for the world
By Chiara Lubich, on the first encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI

“God is Love.” What great gratitude we felt for Pope Benedict XVI from the moment that the title of his first encyclical was announced! He enkindled in us the flame of hope – the hope that the great announcement, “God is Love,” that the word “love” brought back to its “original splendor,” may overflow to infinity, like a stone that is thrown into the water and causes wider and wider circles. The interest shown by the media, even before its presentation and much more so now, is a prediction of what will come.“God is Love” is most certainly the Word that Jesus wants to say today in this new millennium.Yes, love is inscribed in the very nature of the Church, as the Pope writes. To the rich heritage of Church history new charisms have been added, brought about by the Holy Spirit in recent decades. The message - “God is Love! God loves you just as you are!” – has been passed from person to person, on the strength of personal testimonies, transforming the lives of millions of people. For us, it was a light that shone out in the darkest hour of history, during the Second World War, illuminating the whole Gospel, making us discover that Jesus was not afraid of pronouncing the word “love.” Actually, we understood that it is love itself which is the heart of His message, and, yes, “the primordial creative power that moves the universe,” moving our own little personal histories as well as the great history of the world.I am certain that the encyclical of the Pope will arouse a spontaneous echo from the entire Church, and even beyond. If living love is not limited to helping our neighbor concretely, but also urges us to “communicate to others the love of God that we ourselves have received,” what will emerge is the great wealth of that love that is often lived heroically, in silence, within the family, in governments and factories, in universities and neighborhoods, in the most depressed areas of the world, among those whose face reflects the very face of the God-Man himself who cries out the abandonment by His Father.In this way, we will make “visible in some way the living God” and his action in our times, as is the hope of Benedict XVI.And God, who is rediscovered as Love, will attract the whole world.