So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up
the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing
on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me. The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him. -John 8:28-29
WHAT REMAINS OF YOU?
We
had this exercise in the pastoral counseling course I took. We were
asked to imagine ourselves as coconut husks. As we imagined peeling off
the layers of husk, we were invited to think of who we are to the world
or the people around us.
As I followed our priest-professor’s instructions, I identified myself
as a business owner, a loyal friend, a trustworthy daughter, a
dependable sister, a child of God, and so on. It took an effort to
remove the husk that represented the hats that I wore in life. Because
each time I removed one layer of the husk, or one role I had in life, I
felt my self-worth diminish. Until there was only one identity left — a
child of God — and this was something that could not be taken away from
me.
From the exercise, I learned an important life lesson: that our real
identity comes from our being a child of God, not from the roles we play
in life. Since then, each time I take on a role, I remind myself:
“Tess, you are not your role. You are worth more than your role. You are God’s beloved child.” Tess V. Atienza
1ST READING
I
would not have been as compassionate as Moses if the people had
complained to me about the “wretched” food. There are many in the world
who do not have any food, or at least very little. God has brought the
Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and they were on their way to the
Promised Land. Where is their gratitude to God for this? Ingratitude is a
terrible thing. Let us avoid it as best as we can.
Numbers 21:4-9
4 From
Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road, to bypass
the land of Edom. But with their patience worn out by the journey, 5 the
people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up
from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We
are disgusted with this wretched food!” 6 In punishment the Lord sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died. 7 Then
the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining
against the Lord and you. Pray the Lord to take the serpents away from
us.” So Moses prayed for the people, 8 and the Lord said to Moses, “Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live.” 9 Moses
accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and
whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze
serpent, he lived.
P S A L M
Psalm 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21
R: O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
1 [2] O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you. 2 [3] Hide not your face from me in the day of my distress. Incline your ear to me; in the day when I call, answer me speedily. (R) 15 [16] The nations shall revere your name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth your glory, 16 [17] when the Lord has rebuilt Zion and appeared in his glory;17 [18] when he has regarded the prayer of the destitute, and not despised their prayer. (R) [19] Let this be written for the generation to come, and let his future creatures praise the Lord: 19 [20] “The Lord looked down from his holy height, from heaven he beheld the earth, 20 [21] to hear the groaning of the prisoners, to release those doomed to die.” (R)
GOSPEL
Jesus
knows that the things He is proclaiming in His ministry are difficult
to accept. He understands the peoples’ lack of understanding. However,
He also knows that there
will come a time when everyone will understand, and then there will be
no more excuses. While it may be difficult to believe some of the claims
of the Scriptures, we do not have an excuse for our unbelief as there
are literally millions who have gone before us and shown us what it
means to be a man or woman of faith.
John 8:21-30
21 Jesus
said to the Pharisees: “I am going away and you will look for me, but
you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said, “He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?” 23 He
said to them, “You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above.
You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world. 24 That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.” 25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the beginning. 26 I have much to say about you in condemnation. But the one who sent me is true, and what I heard from him I tell the world.” 27 They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father. 28 So
Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will
realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what
the Father taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him.” 30 Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.
REFLECTION
A GODLY LESSON FOR TODAY'S FATHERS
We
have always accepted that the ideal social norm is for fathers to go
out to look for ways to provide for the family and for mothers to be
focused on nurturing the family members. With the standard of life
becoming more demanding, more and more fathers are becoming absentee
fathers. If not busy with work elsewhere, they may be abroad for months
or years on contract work. It is not uncommon then that fathers can be
detached from their children. In turn, children of absentee fathers may
grow up without any intimate, unique and personal knowledge of their
fathers.
The Father of Jesus, from whom every family on earth comes from, is the
one who accompanies Jesus, His Son whom He sent. During the baptism at
the River Jordan, when Jesus began His three-year public life, and
during the Transfiguration, when Jesus started out His final journey to
His Passion, the heavenly Father made His presence strongly felt. The
Gospels tell us that in each of these occasions, a theophany
(manifestation of God) happened. The voice of the Father was heard as He
strongly affirmed Jesus as “My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
In turn, Jesus entrusted Himself greatly to His Father. Now, we hear Him
declare: “He has not left me alone, because I always do what is
pleasing to Him.” During the Last Supper Discourse, Jesus again says,
“Behold the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be
scattered... But I am not alone, because the Father is with me” (cf John
16:31-32).
Even during His passion, Jesus would never cease to call God “Abba” or
Father (cf Mark 14:36; Luke 23:34; 23:46). The Father seemed to be too
quiet, not making His voice heard, but He was there.
Fathers have a very important calling in this regard. They are called
to mirror the headship of the heavenly Father. A headship that is not
simply a right and privilege but one that involves being a loving source
of life, of providence, of guidance. A headship that means real (not
virtual), tangible (not abstract), true (not delegated) presence! Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP
"Dear Jesus, teach me and mold me to be a person after Your own heavenly Father."
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