Sunday Refletions

To Live Our Faith Out

21^st Sunday of the Ordinary Time

Luke 13:22-30

August 25, 2013

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

To become a follower of Christ is a choice and as Jesus says, it is a difficult one. Our faith tells us that heaven is real, but faith alone is not enough to carry us up there. To profess the faith and to know the content of our faith are surely important, but it is incomplete. We need to work our faith out and make it a reality. Otherwise, our faith becomes mere rhetorical exercise. In the frank words of St. James, “faith without works is dead (Jam 2:17).” Faith is God’s grace yet, it is up to our freedom to make this God’s gift fruitful.

It is a radical choice to live up our faith daily. We can be baptized as Catholics or Christians, yet we never go to the Church. We profess our belief in only one God, but we enjoy reading horoscopes, consulting fortunetellers and use religious items as mere protective amulets. We can easily shout, “God is good all the time,” but we have a lot of complains in our lives. We are often instructed by Jesus Himself to love our enemies, yet we maintain hatred, remain vengeance-oriented and take pleasure when our enemies absorb misfortunes.

We like being called a follower of Christ, but we do not actually follow His footsteps. We want to be Christian, yet we adopt our own suitable styles instead of Christ’s examples. This is a serious problem and indeed we might flung heaven. If we try to paraphrase today’s Gospel, it will sound like this: We knock the gate of heaven and shout “Lord, I am your follower”, but the Lord says, “I do not know you because you never actually follow me.”

Prayer:

Lord, give us determination and commitment to live our faith daily, to act what we profess and to do what we believe. Amen

20^th Sunday in the Ordinary Time

Luke 12:49-53

August 18, 2013

A Radical Choice to Love

To follow Christ is a radical choice because it demands a full reorientation of our entire being towards God, service for others and the primacy of life. Doubtless, this realignment toward Christ puts us in the awkward standing with others who hold different ideologies, and often nails us in the perilous and even life-threatening situations.

The history gives witness to those countless Christians who paid the ultimate sacrifice as they would rather die than betray their love for Jesus and others. In our daily and humble life, we might not have to offer the final price, but still following Christ is a radical option. One time, a friend shared to me that she was in love with a man, her officemate. For a women like her, to fall in love with a man of her age is nothing but natural. Yet, things complicate when she knew that the man is not Catholic. He further demanded her to be converted into his religion if she would want him to be her husband. In this shivering situation, faith is no longer about attending the Sunday masses or listening to catechism, but a radical choice that requires great sacrifice.

Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel turns to be a reality for every person who is committed to Him. “I bring division not peace.” The division, separation, and enmity are consequences of following Jesus. Yet, the good news is that Jesus does not intend to destroy us but give us an opportunity to love even more.

The ongoing civil war is taking place in Syria and it has claimed more than nine hundred thousand lives. Among them are a Franciscan friar Francois Mourad. The reason he was killed is not because he sided with any warring parties, but because he refused to leave behind the community of refugees he served. In the face of utter atrocity, he was able even to love enormously and finally give himself for others. Yet, Fr. Mourad is not alone. Quoting Vatican Radio, “Mourad was just one of the many men and women religious putting their faith on the front line in Syria, refusing to abandon the communities they serve, Christian and Muslim,”

One time, I faced a profound crisis in my vocation. Honestly, I was confused: both to be a lay and a priest are holy and dignified call. Then, a priest would give this precious advice: “Bayu, choose the path that offers you more sufferings, because there, you may love more.” To become Christian is surely hard decision, but God would enable us to go beyond ourselves and to convert our faith into reality. Do not fret! Be His followers and love more! 

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

18^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 4, 2013

Luke 12:13-21

True Wealth as True Blessing

Becoming rich is a blessing. Ancient Jewish people believe that richness is God’s reward to His loyal servants. Some biblical characters are living evident to this truth: faithful Abraham received the Promised Land, generous Joseph assumed a high-ranking position in Egypt and Job get back his fortune after he was proven faithful in severe trials.

How about Jesus? Poor though He was, Jesus accepted well-off guys in His companies. James and John traditionally considered being heirs of fishing company’s owner (Mat 4:21). Joseph of Arimathea must be fairly wealthy to donate his new burial site just outside Jerusalem (Mat 27:60).

However, Jesus sternly reminded his followers that wealth may turn to be a devastating curse if we lose sight of its true nature as God’s gift. Failure to see God’s providence behind these material processions leads us only to selfishness and this self-seeking ambition bears nothing but greed. St. Paul condemned the love of money as the root of all evils (1 Tim 6:10). Money itself is not the cause of evil, but the irregular attachment to it. We forget that our love has to be oriented toward He who is the source of all richness, not on this richness itself. The excessive yearning for money only gives birth to dishonest competition, stealing, and corruption.

Knowing that richness is coming from God, why do people still crave for it then? Simple! Money feeds us with instant pleasure and immediate security of life. Name it, and you have it: latest gadgets, sport cars, luxurious mansion, political power, sexual indulgence and of course, more money. It can almost buy everything, as if everything, including human persons, has a price tag hanging in their necks. Yet, fortunately, not everything can become a business commodity. Almost! Try to ask British pop singer, Jessie J, and she rightly would sing, “Money can’t buy us happiness…it’s not about the money, money, money.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tumbled His followers’ perspective. We might sweat to make a living and be tempted to think, “This is mine; I deserve it!” Yet, we may lose the whole point, when we are too busy making a living and fall short to make and appreciate life. Every possession that falls to our palms is God’s grace and mercy. Thus, every time we see what we hold in our hands, we are to gaze God’s utter generosity. Naturally, gratitude ensues from our heart and thanksgiving bears fruits another generous heart in us. Fear of sharing our belongings is beyond seeing because what we see is only God, our true wealth. Every time we give up what we possess, we open with our arms and receive God all the more.

Don’t be greedy! Be generous as your Father in Heaven is generous.

16^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 21, 2013

Luke 10:38-42

“Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her (Luk 10:42).”

Be the Better Part

Today’s Gospel is one of the most heartwarming stories in the Bible. Martha and Mary welcome weary Jesus who sought for a restful refuge after the backbreaking preaching ministries. Both offered the best of the two worlds: the active service and the contemplative listening. Needless to say, Jesus was delighted with both.

Yet, the story is intensified when Martha began complaining of the attitude of her sister. Here, Jesus affectionately called her name twice, “Martha, Martha,” something that he would not even bother to do to His male disciples. Reading it closely, we discover that Jesus enjoyed a tender and loving friendship with both Martha and Mary. Jesus appreciated Martha’s passionate work of hospitality, but He valued more the listening heart of Mary. Here, Jesus expressed His true humanity as well as our humanity, that human as we are, we need not only vital bodily sustenance, but also gestures that fills our souls. We want to be welcome, listened, understood and loved.

Jesus pointed out that we talk, work, and get busy in almost effortless way, yet ironically, we have to exert a tremendous effort just to be still, calm and listen to understand. Especially now, we are living in the world marked by much noise and rush: we find our identity by creating sound and moving as fast as we could. Yet, paradoxically, the more clatter we produce, the more people close their ears.

Let us focus on our young generation. Time Magazine of May 20, 2013 dubbed our present young generation as “the ME generation”. Why “ME”? It is simply because the technology and especially the internet offer us a venue to instantly turn us into ‘celebrities’. With smartphone on our hands, we could post our sentiments on the Facebook’s wall, broadcast our messages through Twitter and upload our ‘selfie’ photos in Instagram, anytime of the day! The more ‘likes’ we get, the more netizens follow us, the happier we feel. Yet, ME generation is not only about happiness and popularity. Recently, an American girl committed suicide, yet what makes it uglier is that she uploaded at YouTube a self-recorded video explaining why she would like to die and how she would end her life just before she died. This “ME generation” phenomena speak the subtle yet deeper longing of today’s young people: yearning for persons who will love and understand them. Unfortunately, instead a real person, they discover internet, and start believing that this is the ultimate reality of their lives

Jesus’ words to Martha are not only applicable but also a staggering wisdom for our generation, living two millennia after Him. Jesus spoke the truth that no things, no food, no gadgets, or no amount of money could satisfy the deepest yearning of human beings. Married man and woman work so hard to earn a living for their family and busy climbing the career’s ladder, but little time to touch the heart of their spouse. Parents might think that they solve their children’s problems by sending them to the best school or feeding them with the latest gadgets, but how much quality time we spend with our children just to listen to their little stories and sentiments? Some priests and religious become so busy with their ministries that ironically, they have no time to listen to their own brothers and sisters in their community. Only person can fulfill other persons by caring for others in the more significant ways and daring to touch the humanity of others. As He challenged Martha, Jesus also challenges us to take a better part in serving others. Yes, material help is important but it never substitute the depth of loving and listening heart. Be the better part!

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

15^th Sunday in the Ordinary Time

July 14, 2013

Luke 10:25-37

Learn to See Life

The story of the Good Samaritan is a story of radical love and primacy of life. Looking deeper into the characters (the Jewish victim, the priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan), we are going to see the intricate fabrics of Jewish culture in Jesus’ time. Let us focus now on the two main characters of the story: the priest and the Levite.

Why did the priest and the Levite deny their fellow Jew a help he deserve? The priest and the levite avoided their half-dead fellow Jew not simply because of sheer disgust nor lack of medical expertise, but it was primarily legal. Moses’ laws forbid Jews especially the priests and the Levites to touch the dead or blood (Lev 15 and 21). The priest and the Levite were basically would uphold the Laws to its strictest sense. The book of Maccabees tells us how a mother and her seven sons would rather die than to violate the Laws by eating unclean food (2 Mac 7). They were meticulously religious, yet Jesus criticized them for failing to recognize the much greater reality than the Law. They refused to see life.

However, I suspect that there is a subtler reason behind their refusal to see life. A priest and a Levite primarily live and serve around the temple. Every time, a priest or a Levite becomes unclean, they were not allowed to enter the temple area. This is a mortal blow. They practically lose their revered identity. Not only missing their honor, failure to perform their sacred duties means losing job. Naturally, nobody wants to become poor instantly. Here, self-worth and economic issue could hinder the priest and the Levite to see and save life.

Every time, we witness pride and business outweigh the value of life, we encounter the modern day priest and Levite are present among and even in us. Hundred babies are aborted every day, and it is justified merely for the economic interest and personal reputation. In some rural areas, little children have to walk miles just to attend school in a deteriorating classroom and with limited teachers. Where is the right of descent education they deserve?

Through the story of the good Samaritan, Jesus invites us to look at our lives and how we relate with God and our fellowmen and women. Do we treat our friends as a source of income and plain business partners to satisfy our needs? Do we go to the Church and be active there merely to attain recognition? Do we pray to God simply because we want our wish fulfilled and thus, relegate God to be an ATM? Let us we choose to be the good Samaritan, to see  and defend life.

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

14^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 7, 2013

Luke 10:1-12.17-20

“Announce The Kingdom is at hand (Luk 10:9).”

Speed for Life

Human life is marked steady and measured growth and development. Normally, it takes years for a little kid to grow physically, intellectually and emotionally, and to face an adult world. In my case, I need to undergo more than 10 years formation inside the seminary before I will be allowed to become a priest.

However, life also demands speed and promptness. Every day, billions cells in our body is multiplying while other billions are damaged and die. Red blood cells, ones that carry oxygen and practically sustain our life, only have 120-day life cycle. Not only in cellular world, swiftness is also necessary in human world. Everyday day, countless doctors are obliged to make a split-second medical decision that would determine the lives of their patients. One or two seconds late means death. We need speed to save others!

In today’s Gospel, Jesus commenced not only massive but also swift operation. He sent not only twelve apostles, but seventy other disciples with strict instructions. “Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way (Luk 10:4) and announce The Kingdom is at hand (Luk 10:9).” We feel the sense of urgency in Jesus’ commands and He expected no less than a positive and efficient result. Indeed, it was a successful mission as the disciples returned overjoyed (Luk 10:17).  

Here, we see the other side of Jesus. Often, Jesus is depicted as someone who is calm, cool and takes his time. He did not even wake up when the storm hit the boat (Mat8:24)! Yet, this time, he manifested the sense of promptness and the value of time. He was aware that sending the disciples in such fashion was enormously risky, like “sending the sheep among the wolves”. They might face hunger, violent rejection, and total failure. Yet, Jesus insisted because preaching the Kingdom is preaching life, and life also demands speed and promptness.

Every day, thousand babies are aborted, enormous number of young women fall victims of human trafficking and prostitution, millions suffer in conflict-torn areas. Tablet, the International Catholic weekly on June 8, reported that 2 million children die out of hunger every year. Last June 8, Pope Francis shared an intimate moment with 200,000 people telling them, “Today, the news is scandals, that is news, but the many children who don’t have food – that’s not news. This is grave. We can’t rest easy while things are this way.” This is the reason why Jesus went beyond His ordinary calmness and ordered us to move fast and efficiently. Life is at stake every day, and if we want to follow Christ to preach the Kingdom, we need to get involve with this life (and death) of others in more significant ways. So, are you going to just sit there, read this reflection and feel blessed or do something more meaningful for others? Will you?

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

13^th Sunday in Ordinary Time 

June 30, 2013

Luke 9:51-62

“When the days for his being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem (Luk 9:51).”

Jerusalem

Every journey has an end. In fact it starts with an end. We will not visit Paris, unless we get a vacation plan there. I would not have been in Manila, if I had not aimed for priesthood. The end is so critical that even Aristotle created his philosophy based on this ‘end’. Thus, the very first question is ‘what your end in life is’. The answer is so fundamental that it sets the course of our actions through life.

Is it wealth? Is it sexual pleasure? Is it power? If wealth is our highest goal, then corruption is justified. If sexual pleasure is our last motive, then free sex and prostitution are the norms. If power is the final end, then violence and intimidation are rules of the game.

Recently Agence Frence-Presse (AFP) released depressing news for me, an Indonesian: ‘School exam cheating rampant in graft-ridden Indonesia.’ The agency does not only announce its finding on rampant cheating in Indonesia but it also links corruption with this bad habit. Simply put, we, Indonesians, learn corruption in school! The news might be true or not, but the reality points to the same question: what our end is. For students who aim high grade without hardworking, then cheating is a favorable means. Yet, for students who understand the purpose of education, cheating is a no-no.

Let us go back to today’s Gospel. Jesus determined to go to Jerusalem where He would fulfill His mission. Yet, to be in Jerusalem means he has to suffer false accusation, endure horrible suffering and die as a criminal. The disciples were also disbanded. Peter denied Him, Judas betrayed Him, and the rest run away. It was place of total failure. Yet, despite of all, Jesus never wavered and remained determined. Why? Because He knew where he was going. He was certain with His destination that he was willing to sacrifice His own life. This is the same Jerusalem is where Jesus resurrected. It was the city where the disciples gathered anew and received the Holy Spirit in Pentecost. The Church was born there. Jerusalem is indeed a place of glorious end.

What and where is our Jerusalem? Are we even aware of our Jerusalem? Are we ready to change course if we are moving to the wrong direction? Are we willing to make sacrifice to reach our Jerusalem?  Are we going to lay down our lives for our Jerusalem?

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

12^th Sunday in the Ordinary Time

June 23, 2013

Luke 9:18-24

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me (Luk 9:24).”

Reality of the Cross

Today, Jesus teaches us how to deal with sufferings: Embrace them! This may sound terribly wrong. Naturally, we shun pain and aim for happiness. This is why we love classic tales (like Cinderella, Snow White, etc) end with a marriage and both leading characters live together happily ever after. Thus, telling his disciples to “deny themselves and take up their cross”, Jesus is a bit out of his mind. Isn’t He?

Let us see the reality of cross in the time of Jesus. Crucifixion is the most brutal and humiliating way to punish a criminal. Any threat to the Roman Empire would not only be nailed on a log but also become a public entertainment. The victims would die slowly as they gradually lost blood and water. Not only extremely excruciating for the one hanged on the tree, but also it was emotionally hurting for his loved ones watching and hopeless. Crucifixion is sure death, but the longer the agony is the better it is. 

Now, the reality of the cross turns uglier when Jesus, our Lord, freely chose to embrace it and die with it. Is he insane when he decided to take the worst part of death? Is he mad enough to promote this to his followers?

We miss the point if we zero in on suffering itself. Let us see a bigger picture now. Christian theology explains that sufferings and death are the consequences of our sin. Since everybody commits sin, suffering is our lot. In His mercy, God can always erase sufferings, but He does not. Why? St. Paul got the answer: “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1Cor 1:18).” 

By embracing the cross, Jesus makes suffering a source of growth, wisdom and holiness. The focus of cross is not suffering itself but God who is hung there. It is not the nail that holds Jesus on the cross, but love. We are invited to see God even in the bleakest moments of life. When a single mother discovers that her only daughter is pregnant outside of marriage, she might curse God right there and then. Yet, she could find God in her daughter who refuses to abort the baby and from the Christian community that rallies behind her. 

Cross is not about suffering, but finding God and making it fruitful.  

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

Tenth Sunday of the Ordinary Time

June 9, 2013

Luke 7: 11-17

“When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her… (Luk 7:13)”

Bigger than Life

The keyword in today’s Gospel is compassion. Jesus was moved by compassion and then raised the boy up. Jesus teaches us not to fret death. There is something bigger than death, even greater than life itself. It is compassion.

However, if we look closely at the totality of the story. Even the town’s people also had compassion to the widow whose only son just died. They perhaps tried to comfort the woman and accompanied her to the grave. They even hired a band of professional mourners to accentuate their sympathy for the widow. 

Jesus definitely had the power to raise the son from the dead. Yet, the townsfolk did their part as well to express their compassion. So, what is the difference between Jesus and the people?  From a deeper perspective, the Gospel is not actually highlighting the power of Jesus over life and death, but Jesus’ critic to His fellow Jews. There was a serious misconception and mishandling of compassion. It is an enormous power, yet without proper understanding, it just turns to be devastative and deadly. The action of Jesus is primarily to bend the stream of compassion that simply flows toward a graveyard. “Hi, stop! You move toward a wrong direction!”

Optimus Prime, the leader of Autobots, once said that human is a being capable of great destruction as well as of great compassion. Indeed, the rise or fall of humanity depends on our compassion with our fellowmen and women. Why does poverty persist? It is not simply a problem of lack of resources or generosity. In a deeper sense, the reason can be traced back to compassion. Some people no longer feel compassion that they steal even from those who do not have, and some others even manipulate the compassion of those who eager to share. The rest of humanity seems at loss in expressing their compassion. It is a serious issue of mishandling our compassion. 

We might be like the town’s crowd that has sympathy for the mother whose son died, but our feeling just leads them to nowhere but the graveyard. It is a radical mind-shift to understand how Jesus expresses His compassion. It is a compassion that touches and changes a life (and death) in a most profound way. It is a life-giving compassion in the complexity of our world. It is compassion that dares us to critically ask ourselves, “Have our compassion become bigger than life or nothing but marched toward our graveyard?”    

   Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

Trinity Sunday

John 16:12-15

May 26, 2013

To Be a Little Trinity

The distinctive mark of being Christian is Trinity. We share the claim of monotheism with other religions, yet our belief in one God in three divine persons enables us to stand unique among others. Doubtless our God is one, yet the same doubtless we give to three persons in this one God. The Father is different from the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Son is also totally unique. And, the Holy Spirit definitely maintains His personal identity. Yet, they remain always one! How is this possible?!

Relax! I spent an entire semester to study the Trinity and not even a dot I could mark in my mind. This is the core of our faith, yet it is the most puzzling if not intriguing teaching of the Church. Why did God choose to reveal this truth?

Well, since God cannot create useless things, this must be necessary. Necessary for what? Since, it is related to our faith, so it is necessary for salvation. Next question: how concretely our belief in Trinity can save us then? Here is the missing link: that we are created in God's image and likeness.

Being made in God's image and likeness means we are called to be godly and destined to share the final beatitude with Him. But, who is our God? He is Trinity. Thus, more than just godly, we are also called to be Trinitarian! We are fundamentally invited to reflect this perfect harmony of perfect diversity on earth as it is in heaven.

We are born and grow to be unique! I am male, Indonesian, Roman Catholic, Dominican, firstborn, student of Theology in Manila and more. How about you? Just yesterday, in my flight from Pontianak to Jakarta, I sat beside a French black man who spoke Indonesian well! We are different and we are many! But, don't worry. This diversity is never intended to be a source of conflict and enmity. It perfectly mirrored God, the Trinity!

Yet, difference is only the beginning. We are also to finish the job. As three persons are living as a community of perfect love, we are to make our differences a harmony of love. This is cute in theory, but in reality, it is a radical choice to love the diversity, to breakthrough the walls of hatred, to clear out the deep-seated misconceptions.

To be Trinitarian means to dare to sincerely talk with the majority who discriminated our group. To be Trinitarian means to lower our position to the level people we consider lowly and speak as equal. Yes, it is so hard! Yet, if we believe in Trinity, we need to meet God's expectation in us: to be a little trinity on earth.

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

The Ascension of Our Lord

Luke 24: 46-53

May 12, 2013

"Goodbye"

‘As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven (Luke 24:51).’

Piscine “Pi” Molitor Patel, the main character of the movie “Life of Pi”, once beautifully said that life is actually as series of letting go, yet the hardest part is when we are not able to say goodbye. Indeed, the essence of this world is temporariness. People are born yesterday and gone tomorrow, or as the psalmist would write, “People disappear like sleep at dawn; they are like grass that dies. It sprouts green in the morning; by evening it is dry and withered (Psalm 90:6).”

Our relationship here on earth is bound to end. Even those persons whom we love most, sooner or later, we have to see them be away from us. I remember when I was about to enter the novitiate in the Philippines, my mother would cry and tightly hug me as if she would not let me go. Yet, she did. She gave me the freedom to live up my chosen vocation. 

Separation is inevitable and normally it hurts us much. Yet, our Lord today teaches us to embrace it, to learn to say goodbye and make it fruitful. As he ascends to heaven, he shows his disciples that separation is real and painful, but he also expresses his confidence in his disciples that they would fervently grow, precisely without he going around and policing them. Coming in and going out are two sides of the dynamism of life. Without one, we start decaying and human race faces its extinction. A pregnant mother needs to let her baby leave her womb and breathe with his own lungs and lives. Parents have to allow their children to go out from their home and build families of their own and lives. 

Let us go back to Pi. He reminds us to say ‘goodbye’ for a reason. Goodbye is not simply a word indicating separation, but ‘goodbye’ is actually a compressed version of ‘God be (with) ye’. It is originally a form of blessing and prayer. When we let ‘goodbye’ slip from out mouth, we entrust our loved ones to the Lord. We are assured that even without our real presence, they will mature all the more because God is with them. Jesus himself makes this gesture of blessing before his departure for heaven; a gesture that embodies Jesus’ love and trust in their disciples and Holy Spirit’s guidance. Indeed, after almost 2 thousand years left by Christ, the Church has transformed herself into the biggest living community in the world. In his deathbed, St. Dominic, whispered to his brothers that they must not weep because he will be useful for them in heaven. Undeniably, the Order of Preachers remains one of the most vibrant religious congregations up to now. 

In his Ascension, Jesus explains to us the deeper meaning of separation, of growth and of life. We are invited to embrace the moment of separation, to say blessing and make every letting go an opportunity of bearing fruits. We are Christians, and precisely we live as Christians because Christ dares to let us go and allow us to live and shine in the Holy Spirit.

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

5^th Sunday of Easter

April 8, 2013

John 13:31-33; 34-35

“…all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:35)."

To Hope More

Few days ago, I engaged myself in a discussion over the Facebook. The topics were stretching from the necessity of religion to some scandals that rocked the Church. Standing on the other side of the ring, representing Christianity, I was tempted to launch a frontal attack. Yet, I might turn the discussion into a word war. Then, instead bridging the river of differences, I might build up an ever-taller separation wall. Thus, maintaining the attitude of listening, I dig out some grain of truth. Eventually, I come up with this simple conclusion: ‘It is true that both the good and not so good realities exist in our Church and the world. Now, it is up to us to see them in more optimistic light or view them in rather pessimistic way; to remain hopeful and repair the damages, or lose hope and toss everything to a garbage can.' 

  

Through years, I encounter some people who left the Church and even turn against her. They see no future in the Church because the Church herself has no future. Definitely we cannot simply blame them for upholding a gloomy perspective. Part and parcel of the cause lies on us, Christians! Some of us fail to become genuine Christians, and unfortunately, some other people choose to zoom in on these failures. There are hypocrites, thieves, sexual perverts and other scandal-makers inside the Church. Mahatma Gandhi once famously said that he chose Christ but not the Christians! His words point to the reality that Jesus taught love, but the some British Christians exploited India.

Today’s Gospel is familiarly known as the farewell discourse. Jesus made clear his will to his disciples before He left His earthly life. When Jesus reminded us that we need to be recognized as His disciples by loving others, Jesus passed a fundamental law. Graver than the law of gravity! Other people see us, our attitudes, and from us, they come a conclusion what kind of God we have. We project the image of our God since we were created in His image. Especially for us, religious and clergy, people all the more want to know God through the reflections of our conducts. Sadly, some priests fall into sexual-related issues. Then, some people find no Christ in Christians.

I believe, however, it is not the end. Today’s Gospel should re-energize us in following Christ. All of us fall short in various aspects, but we are called not to lose hope and rise anew. Church is indeed a congregation of sinners, but remember that a saint is once a sinner. The only thing is they do not lose hope in God’s mercy. Pope Francis starts his pontificate with a message that Church is not simply a social organization, but it is a Christ-centered and Spirit-inspired people of God.  In this new era of evangelization, I think, though very important, it is not enough to understand the basic dogmas of our faith. We are challenged to make ‘He’ whom we believe, a shining reality in our midst, which sometimes is pessimistically dark. We need to love one another in a very concrete and radical way; including to love those Christians who lost their hope and even people who now stand against us.

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

Third Sunday of Easter

John 21:1-19

April 14, 2013

Jesus said to them, ‘Come, have breakfast.’… they realized it was the Lord (John 21:12).

 God of the Ordinary

The best things in life are free and almost everywhere. Life, love, peace, friendship, and good health are something people most look for. Indeed, they are completely without any charge, but never get it wrong, they are not cheap. Their true values dawn upon us when these simple yet priceless things are taken away from us, and no amount of money can reclaim them. When we suffer from insomnia, we then realize how important sleep is. We may go shopping to malls around, and procure a cozy king-size bed, but no shop can afford you a tight and natural sleep. 

Unfortunately, because they are free of charge and oftentimes within our grasp, we prone to take them for granted. Oftentimes, they are richly abound and ordinary that we lose sight of their worth. Worse, we tag them as ‘usual’, ‘monotonous’ and even ‘boring’. Who among us truly appreciate our mother who everyday wakes up early morning to prepare a good breakfast for the entire family or value the regularity of our heartbeat? We fail to look after them and finally they slip pass through our hands. And, worst come to worst, we begin overlooking the most important reality in our life, God Himself, the Meaning of all meanings, simply because He is so ‘ordinary’. 

Fr. Roberto Reyes, a Filipino activist priest, recently marks that the sharp decline of church-goers is due to the ‘dull’ homilies and ‘dry’ liturgy. If Catholics move away from the Church because her liturgy is ‘tedious’, and thus, the ‘God’ the Church tries to offer must be a ‘boring’ one, Fr. Reyes would conclude. I do not totally agree with him, but there is a grain of truth in what Fr. Reyes expressed. We are so immersed in the mass media that every second spoon-feed us with instant and extremely sensual entertainments. Our generation constantly craves for something that amazes us and becomes so impatient with the ‘ordinary’ and ‘regular’. The looming danger is that we are easily irked by ‘ordinariness of life’ and especially by the ‘humble and slow-paced’ God.

The disciples in today’s Gospel carry us to another level of understanding God. They invite us to recognize God even in the simplicity and regularity of life. They encounter the Lord in a humble breakfast meal (John21:12)! The gesture of breaking the bread and sharing the fish are nothing but familiar, but the same gesture reveals the Risen Lord! The best things in life do not display any extraordinariness, but in their lowliness they unveil life and the source of life itself, God.

Be patient enough when the liturgy is rather ‘repetitious’ and the homilies turn to be the medicine for insomnia, since it does not mean God is absent. His grace just works and forms us in most humble ways, even beyond our consciousness. It will be presumptuous if you instantly change after reading this reflection, but I hope that my constant sending of reflections would contribute a little piece to that gradual transformation in God’s grace. Why don’t we pause a moment and count tremendous blessing we receive thorough free yet best things in life: our friends, family, educators, co-workers and even unknown farmers that planted the rice we eventually consume. God reveals Himself and shapes us through these ordinary and simple gestures, which turn to be the best things in life.

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP