PRESENCE: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Are you familiar with this story?

In both heaven and hell, people eat using spoons with long handles.

In hell, people are starving in spite of the bountiful food. Each person feeds himself. One man for himself and himself alone. As he puts the food in his mouth, it spills and he ends up getting little food or none at all.

In heaven, food is just as abundant but everyone is happy and satisfied. Each person feeds the other using the same long spoon, but here, because of their willingness to work together, no food is put to waste.

This is exactly the picture I saw last November 20 at the Villamor airbase. It was heaven on earth. No labels, no cameras, no publicity, no issues. Just plain good old human compassion going the extra (s)mile! As soon as a C130 plane lands, survivors were welcomed with big warm smiles and were assisted for their immediate needs. Those who started this project, the wives of some military men, along with other volunteers, made this "Philippine Paradise" possible with such pure acts of kindness. It was so refreshing to witness that such acts of selflessness and generosity can still happen today.

In that present moment I felt the strong presence of God among all of us. As we enter the Advent season, let us discern the meaning of these two words: present and presence.

Let us look to the future with loving remembrance of things past - the presence of God in the birth of our Lord Jesus - and His very presence in our present lives today. Let us live in the now, where the presence of God is felt in the little forms of heaven we see here on earth: At prayer, during the holy Eucharist or even in simple gestures of generosity towards others.

Advent is preparation not only for Christ's coming but also for what the future holds. It is a time for us to conscientiously live in the present and heed the call of Christ's love and compassion. It is a time to celebrate God's presence in our lives as our only Constant in the long and arduous history of mankind - unwavering in his love and mercy for the human race; Never leaving our side.

In anticipation for the second coming of Jesus Christ, by His presence in our every present moment, let us make Advent the season for us to witness heaven and participate in making it REAL and TRUE here on earth.

This true presence of our Lord can also be found in the other meaning of "present", as a "gift". Let us be gifts of our Lord to our brothers and sisters, whatever race, gender, social status or religion they may have. Let us be channels of His Presence, allowing others to feel it through every act of goodness we extend to them.

Have a HeartStrong Advent season and may we truly live in His Presence always.

Rev. Fr. Vic Y. Apacible

Rector / Parish Priest

ADVENT: A TIME TO PREPARE THE WAY FOR THE LORD

We have begun the good work of living the spirit of Advent with trust, hope, and love. Today we are reminded by St. Paul to persevere in this praiseworthy undertaking. John the Baptist is our trusted guide in the all-important work of our spiritual renewal in preparation for the commemoration of Christ’s birth.

And to prepare the way for the Lord is to make straight the winding roads of our moral uncertainties and inconsistencies; to fill up the ravines of our past shortcomings and failings; and to level down the peaks of our pride and arrogance.

And as we are engaged in this work of “spiritual landscaping,” our love for God and neighbor should increase ever more, that we may be found pure and blameless at the coming of our Lord.

Let this be our main concern in these days and the special intention for which we offer the Eucharistic sacrifice we are about to begin.


In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the desert.

John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the desert:

“Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

PREPARE FOR THE COMING OF THE LORD

"I HAVE BAPTIZED YOU WITH WATER,
HE WILL BAPTIZE YOU WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT"

The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

As it is written in the Isaiah the Prophet: "Behold I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way.

A voice of one crying out in the desert: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths.' "

John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance and for the forgiveness of sins. People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.

John was clothed in a camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey. And this is what he proclaimed: "One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."


Fr. Joel Fernandez had recently been assigned to the parish of Our Lady of Lourdes and wanted to construct a good training center for the out-of-school youth as well as a multipurpose hall for the most diverse activities to be carried out in the parish. Full of enthusiasm, he asked some architect friends to prepare the plans, which were approved by the parish council and then sent to a German funding agency with the request that it grant the P40,000,000 needed for constructing, furnishing and equipping the two buildings. Three months passed.

When Fr. Joel finally received the answer from the funding agency, he was saddened to learn that the application had been rejected because the project did not show any counterpart to be shouldered by the local parishioners in the overall expense. Fr. Joel and his parish council were obviously disappointed and consulted the Bishop on what to do next. The Bishop explained that such was indeed the procedure of all the funding agencies because they wanted to make sure that the local beneficiaries did not just receive the required sums without doing their own share of sacrifice and effort.

The project proposal was redesigned accordingly, showing that the parishioners would contribute up to one third of the total cost. It was then sent again to Germany with the request that the funding agency reconsider its previous decision. That time, the reply was positive and so a great dream became a reality – thanks to the collaboration between the generosity of the funding agency and the contribution of the beneficiaries.

It is pretty much the same with the great enterprise of our salvation. The Lord is always ready to come to our rescue. He is actually the One who takes the initiative for He knows how badly His intervention is needed and that without Him, we would get nowhere.

Whenever we experience the bites of suffering, we raise our voices to God asking Him to "show His Kindness and grant His salvation". But He also demands our active collaboration, for He does not want to spoon-feed us as if we were babies or handicapped who are totally dependent on the help of others. Though wounded by original sin, we are still capable of cooperating with God’s grace and God wants us to do just that.

This is what we are challenged to do this Advent and throughout our life. This is what is meant by John the Baptist’s call to repentance, which we find in today’s Gospel passage. We must, indeed, “prepare the way of the Lord.” Out of sheer love and mercy, the Lord comes to save us, but we also must do our share.

The call to repentance and conversion was made by John the Baptist to the entire people of Israel when the time came for God to send them the promised Messiah. This call of the fiery Prophet spans the centuries and reaches us today, as urgent as ever. We, too, need God's help and forgiveness. But in order to enjoy this, we have to do our share, we have to go back to Him.

Rightly St. Augustine wrote: “He who created you without you will not save you without you.” This means that we must “walk toward Him” and “walk in His way” with a purified heart, having done our best to remove from ourselves what defiles us and is incompatible with His presence in our lives.


Euchalette, 7 December 2008
WORD AND LIFE PUBLICATIONS
MCPO Box 1820, Makati City 1258, Philippines

THE SONG OF WAITING FOR YOU

"Yet the Lord is waiting to show you His favor, and He rises to pity you: for the Lord is a God of Justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!" (Isaiah 30:18)

The wind is cooler now, the nights are longer and the sweet fragrance of Christmas is just about everywhere. Today is the first Sunday of Advent and we officially mark our Sacrament of Waiting, so to speak. Advent after all is our glorious preparation for the real Reason of the Season - and our primary task is to simply wait patiently for His coming.

However, waiting is such an unforgettable experience for all of us. Imagine the pains of our parents awaiting our birth. And endless game of guessing whether the baby will be a boy or a girl. Imagine their excitement as they await our little faces ... wondering whose feature we will inherit - will it be Mom's or Dad's Imagine their trauma as they wait for the first eruption of our baby teeth ... praying that there won't be a need to visit an orthodontist.

These are the joys and pains of our parents - it was their sacrament of waiting! But even as they grew older, the pressure of waiting did not lessen. It even became more intense as they witnessed the unexpected irony of our failing and passing, our rising and falling, our crying and smiling. These are the bitter joys of our families' sacrament of waiting!

And now, at whatever stage we are in, at whatever circumstance we are in, the reality of waiting will not escape us. It can make us squirm in anxiety as we grapple with the unknown, but it can also make us firm in certainty as we await the promise of Truth and the Joy it brings.

For our Sacrament of Waiting is here and now; it cultivates our innermost being, it emanates from the Supreme Being, and permeates our real being. Advent is like a lover awaiting the coming of a Beloved, for it is only in love that we can await the promise of a loved one. He is that Beloved - we are loved by Him and it is only by love that we can await the coming of our Messiah.

Advent is not about preparing lists for shopping; nor is it a time to prepare our decor - but rather a Divine Appointment - a time to prepare ourselves for His great coming - the Prince of Peace.

He offers the most precious gift - priceless and immeasurable - HIMSELF! His life for our life. His forgiveness for our repeated sins; His understanding for our repeated failures, and His patience for our repeated runaways.

If only people would learn to wait more patiently for their loved ones, then surely their waiting will change into loving.

TO LOVE IS TO WAIT ENDLESSLY,
AND TO WAIT IS TO LOVE UNDOUBTEDLY.

Let us learn from Him, the humble of Heart - let us learn to wait with love this Advent Season. God Bless you all!


Fr. Vic Apacible
Parish Priest
NATIONAL SHRINE OF THE SACRED HEART
Makati City, Philippines