My dear brothers and sisters, today begins our Homily Series and I would like to welcome those who came for that and those who made an effort to invite their friends and family for this program.
It is quite amazing that we begin this series with the important and wonderful celebration of the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross and for the many unbelievers; this is a very weird way for a God to show that he cares for you and me.
From a human point of view, Christ’s offering of himself on the Cross was a sign of contradiction, an unthinkable disgrace. It was, in fact, the most profound humiliation possible.
Our Gospel today speaks about the magnitude of the love of God to the world. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son” and it continued with the invitation to believe and a corresponding reward of eternal life.
You might want to question the process of God’s way of forgiving us after the fall of Adam and Eve. He is all powerful and why not simply say that you are all forgiven and that everything is back to normal. Life goes on as usual with Adam and Eve enjoying paradise again, where no one is lonely, nobody experiences pain and suffering and everything abounds for man to enjoy. Why send his only begotten Son?
Furthermore, our second reading today from St. Paul, he even described in a very dramatic way how Jesus, the only Son of God, has gone even to the point of taking the form of a slave being born in the likeness of man. Is this really necessary? What is in man that God has to do all these? If you have to really study and make thorough research what is special in man that God has to do this, nothing really? Nothing that we can ever imagine. Nothing that we have merited even.
It is not like a competition at the Olympics that you have to be awarded with medals, nor staying up all night to get straight A’s in class. It is not like how you compose yourself, having a stunning look and answer intelligently to questions to win the crown in a beauty pageant. It is not like having a powerful and beautiful voice to be voted as American Idol.
Then, one thing is clear to us right now. It is that Love for man that John mentions in the Gospel. It is that Love for you and me that God took the form of a slave and to be born in the likeness of man.
God did not do that to give a little tutoring to himself on how humans live. God did not do that to spend vacation on earth. It is because God so loved you and me.
He came in order to let us know that he knows how it is to be born in a cradle in a small manger with only her parents and the beasts around him. He came in order to let us know that he understands how it is when life is threatened even at its early stage. He came in order to let us understand how it is to be rejected, to be criticized, to be misunderstood, to face difficulties, how to make a living as lived as a carpenter himself. He did not do this for him to learn, but for us to remember that whenever we suffer and face difficulties, he is with us. He is one with us.
We all know that life is full of hard questions. A woman asks why at old age, her grown-up son still clings to her for support. A young widow wonders why her husband was taken from her too soon. A young man, earning a lot of money abroad, feels empty and unhappy that he cannot find the suitable partner.
One thing more, every one of us is being nailed to a particular cross: a cross of betrayal, a cross of unrequited love, a cross of serious illness of ourselves or those we love, a cross of loneliness following the death of a loved one. All around us is the pain and sorrow of crucifixion, not always of physical death, but always of suffering and degradation.
These perplexing situations represent the ever-pervasive phenomenon of the Cross, of human suffering and anguish. We encounter sufferings in various ways - physical, emotional or mental. Every person has a cross to carry, a trial to endure.
Then it comes to us so clear that God endured the suffering of the cross is because to let us realize that in every cross that we carry in this world, he is with us, he is most near to us, he is carrying it with us.
And again, why did he do it for us? It is because we are precious to him. Whoever we are, sinners or saints, faithful or unfaithful followers, believers or non-believers, one thing is sure to us, because he loves us.
Then there is another dimension, why Jesus endured the suffering and again, the most profound humiliation possible?
Why the Cross? Must we rejoice over pains and problems? It is hard to imagine doing precisely this. But why did he chose the harshest and most humiliating way of punishment? This is because he wanted to show us how much he loved us, how deep is his love for us. But what we celebrate is not just any cross, not senseless suffering or needless pain. Our eyes are focused on the cross of Jesus – which has turned defeat into victory and death into life. Jesus took the cross bravely and destroyed its evil influence with the power of God’s love.
This feast invites us to behold our own crosses with faith in Jesus. Before our daily crosses, we can be either of two things – hopeless or hopeful. When suffering comes to some people, they become hopeless. Unable to deal with difficulty, they become cowards who are unable to move forward. Their cross stops them, crushes their spirits, makes them helpless in the face of serious challenges.
In this life, we cannot avoid crucifixion anymore than Jesus could. But Christians are called to deal with the cross in the same way as Jesus. He too felt fear and he almost surrendered to it. But he faced his cross hopeful, not hopeless. He accepted it, matured in it and overcame it in the end. He knew he was not carrying it all alone. The Father was right there with him. True enough, came the resurrection! And so as followers of the Risen Christ, the crucifixion is never the end. The crosses that we find ourselves nailed to will not last forever. The Resurrection that follows crucifixion is about a new and glorious life.
The cross, the sign of shame and humiliation, became the sign of glory and victory because of Jesus. The cross, the instrument of torture and suffering, became the instrument of peace and consolation because of Jesus. The cross, the means of punishment and death, became the means of liberation and life because of Jesus. The cross moves from being a symbol of suffering, degradation and death to a symbol of the doorway that leads to celebration, rejoicing and new life.
To tremble before the cross is natural. But supernatural grace comes to those who know how to carry the cross with trust and with love, just as Jesus did. If we ask for strength, he will supply it to us through faith. Just open the doors of our hearts, let him enter into our being and for he wants to walk with us. He wants to talk to us, He wants to tell us that we are precious to him and he is still willing to carry the cross with us. As we look at the cross today, let us ask that we may not be hopeless but hopeful. We too, with Jesus, will overcome our Cross.
That is why our doors are open, because he wants you to come back. As there is nothing that you can do to gain the love of God, there is also nothing you can to diminish God’s love for you. As St. Paul says, nothing can separate us from the love of God, not our sinfulness, not our paranoias and anxieties, not our mistakes and unfaithfulness. Just come in, Christ is waiting for us.
It is quite amazing that we begin this series with the important and wonderful celebration of the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross and for the many unbelievers; this is a very weird way for a God to show that he cares for you and me.
From a human point of view, Christ’s offering of himself on the Cross was a sign of contradiction, an unthinkable disgrace. It was, in fact, the most profound humiliation possible.
Our Gospel today speaks about the magnitude of the love of God to the world. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son” and it continued with the invitation to believe and a corresponding reward of eternal life.
You might want to question the process of God’s way of forgiving us after the fall of Adam and Eve. He is all powerful and why not simply say that you are all forgiven and that everything is back to normal. Life goes on as usual with Adam and Eve enjoying paradise again, where no one is lonely, nobody experiences pain and suffering and everything abounds for man to enjoy. Why send his only begotten Son?
Furthermore, our second reading today from St. Paul, he even described in a very dramatic way how Jesus, the only Son of God, has gone even to the point of taking the form of a slave being born in the likeness of man. Is this really necessary? What is in man that God has to do all these? If you have to really study and make thorough research what is special in man that God has to do this, nothing really? Nothing that we can ever imagine. Nothing that we have merited even.
It is not like a competition at the Olympics that you have to be awarded with medals, nor staying up all night to get straight A’s in class. It is not like how you compose yourself, having a stunning look and answer intelligently to questions to win the crown in a beauty pageant. It is not like having a powerful and beautiful voice to be voted as American Idol.
Then, one thing is clear to us right now. It is that Love for man that John mentions in the Gospel. It is that Love for you and me that God took the form of a slave and to be born in the likeness of man.
God did not do that to give a little tutoring to himself on how humans live. God did not do that to spend vacation on earth. It is because God so loved you and me.
He came in order to let us know that he knows how it is to be born in a cradle in a small manger with only her parents and the beasts around him. He came in order to let us know that he understands how it is when life is threatened even at its early stage. He came in order to let us understand how it is to be rejected, to be criticized, to be misunderstood, to face difficulties, how to make a living as lived as a carpenter himself. He did not do this for him to learn, but for us to remember that whenever we suffer and face difficulties, he is with us. He is one with us.
We all know that life is full of hard questions. A woman asks why at old age, her grown-up son still clings to her for support. A young widow wonders why her husband was taken from her too soon. A young man, earning a lot of money abroad, feels empty and unhappy that he cannot find the suitable partner.
One thing more, every one of us is being nailed to a particular cross: a cross of betrayal, a cross of unrequited love, a cross of serious illness of ourselves or those we love, a cross of loneliness following the death of a loved one. All around us is the pain and sorrow of crucifixion, not always of physical death, but always of suffering and degradation.
These perplexing situations represent the ever-pervasive phenomenon of the Cross, of human suffering and anguish. We encounter sufferings in various ways - physical, emotional or mental. Every person has a cross to carry, a trial to endure.
Then it comes to us so clear that God endured the suffering of the cross is because to let us realize that in every cross that we carry in this world, he is with us, he is most near to us, he is carrying it with us.
And again, why did he do it for us? It is because we are precious to him. Whoever we are, sinners or saints, faithful or unfaithful followers, believers or non-believers, one thing is sure to us, because he loves us.
Then there is another dimension, why Jesus endured the suffering and again, the most profound humiliation possible?
Why the Cross? Must we rejoice over pains and problems? It is hard to imagine doing precisely this. But why did he chose the harshest and most humiliating way of punishment? This is because he wanted to show us how much he loved us, how deep is his love for us. But what we celebrate is not just any cross, not senseless suffering or needless pain. Our eyes are focused on the cross of Jesus – which has turned defeat into victory and death into life. Jesus took the cross bravely and destroyed its evil influence with the power of God’s love.
This feast invites us to behold our own crosses with faith in Jesus. Before our daily crosses, we can be either of two things – hopeless or hopeful. When suffering comes to some people, they become hopeless. Unable to deal with difficulty, they become cowards who are unable to move forward. Their cross stops them, crushes their spirits, makes them helpless in the face of serious challenges.
In this life, we cannot avoid crucifixion anymore than Jesus could. But Christians are called to deal with the cross in the same way as Jesus. He too felt fear and he almost surrendered to it. But he faced his cross hopeful, not hopeless. He accepted it, matured in it and overcame it in the end. He knew he was not carrying it all alone. The Father was right there with him. True enough, came the resurrection! And so as followers of the Risen Christ, the crucifixion is never the end. The crosses that we find ourselves nailed to will not last forever. The Resurrection that follows crucifixion is about a new and glorious life.
The cross, the sign of shame and humiliation, became the sign of glory and victory because of Jesus. The cross, the instrument of torture and suffering, became the instrument of peace and consolation because of Jesus. The cross, the means of punishment and death, became the means of liberation and life because of Jesus. The cross moves from being a symbol of suffering, degradation and death to a symbol of the doorway that leads to celebration, rejoicing and new life.
To tremble before the cross is natural. But supernatural grace comes to those who know how to carry the cross with trust and with love, just as Jesus did. If we ask for strength, he will supply it to us through faith. Just open the doors of our hearts, let him enter into our being and for he wants to walk with us. He wants to talk to us, He wants to tell us that we are precious to him and he is still willing to carry the cross with us. As we look at the cross today, let us ask that we may not be hopeless but hopeful. We too, with Jesus, will overcome our Cross.
That is why our doors are open, because he wants you to come back. As there is nothing that you can do to gain the love of God, there is also nothing you can to diminish God’s love for you. As St. Paul says, nothing can separate us from the love of God, not our sinfulness, not our paranoias and anxieties, not our mistakes and unfaithfulness. Just come in, Christ is waiting for us.
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