31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (c)

Fr. Azam Vianney Mansha, CJM - STL

Today’s Gospel passage is about Zacchaeus’ unusual encounter with Jesus. Zacchaeus was not only a tax collector, but he was also an unusual character in the passage. Note that the Gospel passage has only ten verses. Seven verses describe the situation outside the house, which shows the struggle of Zacchaeus, and the other three verses cover the dialogue between Jesus and Zacchaeus inside the house, which shows his conversion and his receiving the gift of salvation. In both situations, the unusual way of Zacchaeus is prominent through his personal struggle, his encounter with Jesus, his confession of being a sinner, and his act of charity. In fact, in the passage of Zacchaeus, we can see three unusual conversions: the unusual conversion of actions, the unusual conversion of heart and the unusual conversion of the distribution of his wealth.

Our unusual actions actually lead us to God. As we heard in the Gospel passage, Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and a wealthy man. He must have had many workers who could easily have found a way for him to see Jesus, but he took the unusual way, and that is to climb the tree. Although the Gospel passage does not say anything about how the crowd felt towards his unusual actions, we can assume that people around him must have laughed or joked about how this well-known, little man and chief tax collector was trying to climb a tree. But what we do know is that he did not pay attention to the crowd, and as a result, he successfully climbed the tree to see Jesus. It was his unusual actions which actually moved Jesus to see Zacchaeus. Look at his seven unusual actions in the Gospel passage: he ran, he climbed, he hurried, he came down, he received Jesus joyfully, he confessed and he distributed his wealth to the poor. In response to Zacchaeus’ unusual actions, Jesus called him by his personal name, Zacchaeus.   

What grace-filled moments are those when you are waiting for the Lord and the Lord calls you by your personal name, like Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zacchaeus. Today, The Lord is calling each one of us by our personal name: Azam, Bob, Michael, Jack, Lolly, Maria and Elizabeth. He is telling each one of us, “Come down from your tree. I want to stay with you!” I remember when I first heard Jesus asking me to come down from the tree to enter in the formation of Catholic Priesthood. At that time, I was preparing for an entrance exam for  medical college. I had two girlfriends and I wanted to marry them both! I was telling Jesus, “Let me stay here in my tree.” But like Zacchaeus, Jesus wants to give us salvation; therefore, there is an urgent need to come down from our own trees to bring Jesus into our homes.

As we can see in the Gospel passage, Zacchaeus’ unusual actions brought him close to Jesus; however, he was still far away from the gift of salvation. Even though Jesus called him by his name, even though Jesus entered his house, even though Jesus was going to eat with him, still, Jesus was looking for more unusual things. Those unusual things are the other two unusual conversions: unusual conversion of heart and unusual conversion of the distribution of wealth.

Zacchaeus, a man of position and wealth, broke the social barrier of his pride and position, and stood to confess that he was willing to repay four times over for his extortion. In his confession, there was a cry of his sinfulness for extorting from the poor, for not living his life according to the commandments of the Lord, for not taking care of his neighbour. In fact, he confessed that he prioritised power, possession and pleasure more than anything else in the world. This can happen to each one of us when we live our own lives and do not feel the need for  Jesus. But with the arrival of Jesus, Zacchaeus’ unusual conversion of heart took place and he confessed that he was in need of Jesus. In spite of this, Zacchaeus still did not receive the gift of salvation because Jesus was still looking for the last unusual conversion of the distribution of his wealth.

The Gospel passage describes Zacchaeus as a wealthy man who kept everything for himself. The conversion of actions and conversion of heart become faith expressions when the unusual conversion of the distribution of wealth takes place. St. James, in his letter, said, “Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by my deeds” (James 2:18). Certainly, faith is a personal matter, but the expression of faith is to serve the poor, which we see in Zacchaeus as he confessed, “Lord, behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor.” It was the climax of the 3 unusual conversions, and it grasped the attention of Jesus. Not only did Zacchaeus, but also his entire household, receive the gift of salvation as Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house” (Lk 19:9).

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, as we are about to enter the season of Christmas, and certainly we will go through Advent preparations, let’s focus on the unusual conversion of our actions, unusual conversion of our hearts and unusual conversion of our distribution of wealth by reaching out to the victims of devastating floods, corruption, injustice, rape, violence and other social evils of society. Let’s not forget that our little unusual conversions of actions, heart and distribution of wealth will help them to encounter Jesus, the true salvation.   

May Mary, the mother of Jesus and our Mother, intercede for us to always welcome Jesus, our salvation, through the unusual conversion of our actions, unusual conversion of our hearts and unusual conversion of the distribution of our wealth.

SJE Web Roundup! 10-17-22

SJE and his compatriots continually pop up around the world wide web. Here’s the latest from our search alerts:

• Polisemia, an academic journal of scriptural theology dedicated their July issue to studies of SJE. Now available online from Uniminuto University. 5 articles [SPANISH].

• Catholic Education Resource Center. A blog post from Papa Eudes. Unalloyed primary sources, ‘cause he needs no explanation on certain topics. “How We Can Fulfill the Greatest Commandment.” [ENGLISH]

• The ordination of SJE’s friend Aymeric made the news. [FRENCH. Good photos, though]

• Meditations for Going on Retreat by St Jean-Baptiste de la Salle (an older friend of SJE). Audio, blog, article, meditation questions. [ENGLISH]

• A bio-piece on baby Eudist Fr Leonardo Vega, CJM, who spent his year of intensive spiritual training in France with Fr. Eleuterio and with Steve, way back in 2013. [SPANISH]

• A Pope Benedict XVI homily about SJE from 2009 popping back up on CatholicCanada [ENGLISH]

Homily: Fr. Azam - The Healing of Ten Lepers

Homily for the Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

by Fr. Azam Vianney Mansha, CJM - STL

While on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus encountered ten lepers. Often, this Gospel passage is known as the passage of “The Healing of Ten Lepers,” but in reality, this passage reveals the Divinity of Jesus; that is, The Holy One of Israel, the Messiah.

In today’s first reading, we did not hear the full account of Naaman’s healing. In order to get the whole picture of the passage, let’s make a quick review of the fifth chapter of the 2nd Book of Kings. In this chapter, the king of Israel tore his clothes when King Aram sent him a letter to heal Naaman’s disease. The king of Israel said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his skin disease?” (5:6-7). It is not only a cry, but a visible expression of faith of the king that only God can heal the lepers? Upon the action of the king, the prophet Elisha sent him a message, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel” (5:8). The English word prophet has its roots in the Hebrew word “nevi,” which means “the mouth of the Lord.” In other words, Elisha told the king that God is present in Israel and as we heard in the first reading, after his physical healing, the non- believer Naaman confessed, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel” (5:15). It is only the God of Israel who can heal the lepers.

In the passage of the ten lepers, like Naaman, they approached Jesus for healing, and as I said before, we need to go beyond the physical healing of the lepers. Therefore, it would be good to have a quick overview of the Gospel passage in the light of the Old Testament:

First, let’s see the geographical setting: Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, which means that he was somewhere between Galilee and Samaria. In other words, Jesus was not in the Holy City of Jerusalem as the Jews believed that God was always present in the temple.

Second, let’s see the allegorical meaning: Ten lepers approached Jesus. Hebrew is an alpha-numerical language, which means that every number has a corresponding letter. Now when I say “number ten,” what comes to mind? Ten Commandments. Allegorically speaking, these ten lepers represent the Ten Commandments or instructions.

Third, let’s talk about the courage of the lepers to enter the village to meet Jesus. According to the Mosaic Law, lepers were not allowed to enter the village to meet someone because their action would make the other person unclean.

Now, let’s put these three elements together: 1) Jesus is outside of Jerusalem; 2) the ten instructions and the obedience of the lepers show that God can work in our lives as we follow His instructions/commandment; and, 3) the Law of Moses was not meant to put people in a box, but rather, it was given so that through the obedience to God, the faithful can see God in their lives, particularly in their physical healing. Jesus did not come only to give physical healing, but He came so that we can have life and life in abundance (John 10:10).

Just to ask you a quick question: what is the first commandment or instruction? I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20) This is what the Samaritan did!!! The first step of obedience is to believe that “God is our Savior.” The Samaritan’s physical healing moved his heart to recognize that he encountered the Holy One of Israel, the Messiah, which we can see in his action: “[The Samaritan leper] fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.” His way of gratitude made him receive salvation as Jesus Himself said, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” In short, it is through the obedience to Jesus that the ten lepers received their physical healing, and it is through the gratitude of the Samaritan leper that he received salvation.

Is it a joyful moment to praise the Lord when you receive salvation!!! Therefore, let us sing together the following famous Christian song (anonymous):

“Praise him, praise him,

praise him in the morning,

praise him in the noontime.

Praise him, praise him,

praise him when the sun goes down.

Thank him, thank him,

Thank him in the morning,

Thank him in the noontime.

Thank him, thank him,

Thank him when the sun goes down.”

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, the seed of obedience is placed in our hearts through the Sacred Scripture and Sacraments in order to encounter the Messiah in our lives. The fruit of obedience is gratitude, which leads us to receive salvation. As St. Therese of Lisieux teaches us, “Jesus does not ask for great achievements: only [obedience] and gratitude.” Let’s not forget that our complaints, problems and pains will end when gratitude enters our soul.

May Mary, the mother of Jesus, our mother, and the model of obedience and gratitude, intercede for us to be always obedient in listening to Jesus with an attitude of gratitude.

Homily: Fr. Azam - The Passage of the Unworthy Servant

Homily for Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

by Fr. Azam Vianney Mansha, CJM - STL

Today’s Gospel passage is known as “the passage of the unworthy servant.” Quickly reading through it might confuse us, not allowing us to grasp the real meaning of the passage because it shows that the master of the house has no concern for his servant or it seems that the master is hard on his servant. A careful reading of the passage and a reflection on the characters of the servant and his master will lead us to a different perspective and a different title for the Gospel passage.

Let’s look at the character of the servant together. He is hard-working and multi-talented as seen by the way he worked in the farm and upon returning to his master’s house, he also cooked and was willing to serve his master while the master enjoyed his meal. Indeed, we can call today’s Gospel passage “the Passage of the Dutiful Servant.” For all his service, he just said, “We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.” Before we go deeper into the character of the servant, let’s see the character of the master first.

The master owns the farm and the house. Beyond that, we know that he empowers and entrusts all his property to his servant. In other words, he depends on the servant to do many things because he knows his servant has the qualities of being hard-working and multi-talented. Above all, the master empowers and entrusts all that he owns to his servant because the servant is humble and it is through his humility that the servant wins the heart of his master.

Often, our modern society sees humility as weakness, but a man of God, St. John Eudes, tells us that “humility” is the mother of all virtues. This means that “humility” is the foundation of all virtues, which are mercy, meekness, generosity, chastity, temperance, diligence and patience. When we are humble, we bend ourselves to serve others, not with pain, but with great joy.

Indeed, humility brings joy, trust and generosity to our selfish society which does not want to share, but rather, to collect and control. As an example of “humility,” let’s take a look at the mango tree. When a mango tree has fruits, it bends so that people can enjoy its fruits. Just like a mango tree, when we humble ourselves, we bend ourselves to serve others.

There are moments in our lives when we say YES to many things, such as being in the lector ministry; organizing fund-raising projects, soup kitchens, food banks, quinceañera, etc. In addition to these volunteer services in the church, we have our personal life and family life as well. While doing all that, we sometimes feel like we can’t go on anymore. It feels like we’ve hit the bottom of the barrel and we want to quit or want to say NO to certain upcoming events or activities. No doubt, we need to take care of our health, family life and other things, but at the same time, we must not forget our Master, Jesus, will continue to empower us with the Holy Spirit. He entrusts His mission to us because...

Christ has no body but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which He looks, Compassion on this world,

Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good,

Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,

Yours are the eyes, you are His body.

Christ has no body now but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours (St. Teresa of Ávila-attributed)

Dear sisters and brothers, if we feel overburdened with too much service in the church or serving our poor brothers and sisters, if we get tired and exhausted with our works of mercy, let us not forget that the Divine Master, our Lord Jesus, empowers us and entrusts the mission to us because we are His hands, His feet, His eyes, and His body. It is our act of humility before Jesus that actually opens our hearts to experience Divine Providence because “to be taken with love for a soul, God does not look on its greatness, but the greatness of its humility” (St. John of the Cross). In addition, humility is a fuel which leads us towards heaven because “it was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men [& women] as angels (St. Augustine of Hippo).

May Mary, the mother of Jesus and our mother, intercede for us to be more humble in order to become the hands, the feet, the eyes and the body of our Divine Master, Jesus Christ.

Fr. Ricardo Chinchilla - El mal mas grande es el Corazón duro (Lucas 16, 19-31)

The Greatest Evil is the Hard Heart (Luke 16, 19-31) from Fr. Ricardo Chinchilla

El Mal Mas Grande es el Corazón Duro

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Homily: Fr. Azam - The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

Homily for 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

by Fr. Azam Vianney Mansha, CJM - STL

Today’s Gospel passage is known as “The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.” This parable represents the two standards of living in our society, and that is, being rich and being poor; it also tells about the two states of our next world, and that is, hell and heaven.

Let’s begin with the rich man who was blessed with so many things, allowing him to live a very comfortable life. He did not kill; he did not break any law; he did not complain to Lazarus by saying, “Why are you staying close to my table and sleeping in front of my house?” He did not even complain about Lazarus eating his leftover food. So what’s wrong with him that he was sent to the place of fire? Before we see that, let’s quickly see the character of poor Lazarus.

Among all the parables of Jesus, Lazarus is the only character who has been given a proper name. His name stands for “God is my help.” The parable tells us that Lazarus was sick, weak, jobless, helpless and living on scraps of food. His name actually tells us that he depended on God. In other words, his poverty, sickness and dependency actually brought him close to God. In the same manner, God was close to Lazarus as seen by how God associates Himself with the poor in the Holy Bible. I believe you remember one of the famous Gospel songs that goes (Robert Kochis):

Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me. When I was hungry, you gave me to eat; When I was thirsty, you gave me to drink. Now enter into the home of My Father. Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me.

Both characters were not judged by the way they lived, but by their attitude with regards to God’s presence in their lives. Lazarus found God in his poverty as he completely depended on the Lord. On the other hand, the rich man was completely blinded with his wealth, and therefore, he felt no need for God’s presence in his life. The most important thing that the rich man was missing in his life was reaching out to Lazarus who was sick, weak, jobless, helpless and living on scraps of food. In other words, the rich man needed to go beyond his attitude of “me, myself and I.”

The rich man forgot the basic element of God’s way of life, which is, when God blesses a person, he/she does not need to raise his/her standard of living; but rather, he/she needs to raise his/her “standard of charity.” What does charity look like? As the Holy Church Father, St. Augustine of Hippo, said, “It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of [people].”

During my seminary days in Rome, my grandparents sent me a gift to buy a warm jacket for the winter season because in Rome, it gets really cold! After buying the jacket, instead of taking a bus ride home, I decided to walk back to the seminary while admiring the beautiful, faith- enriching buildings. As I was walking, I saw a homeless person on the side of the road. It was winter but he did not have a jacket. I thought of going back to my seminary room to get my old jacket to give to him, but before I could do it, there was an inner voice in me, saying, “Will you be happy to receive an old jacket or will you appreciate it more to receive a new jacket?” I immediately said to myself, “A NEW ONE!!!” After this dawned upon me, I immediately gave my new jacket to the homeless person. After doing that, I was filled with this inner joy and peace in my heart. After spending a few special moments with that homeless person (which turned out to be a great way to polish the little Italian that I knew!), I went back to the seminary.

After a couple of weeks, a couple invited me to have lunch with their family. Back then, I did not know what moved them to do what they did, but after the delicious lunch, they took me to a store. I thought that they wanted to buy something for their children, but lo and behold!...they took me to the winter collection and asked me to choose a jacket for myself as a gift from them for the winter. The couple ended up buying me two jackets! I was so amazed by their charity and, even more so, by Divine Providence!!!

Dear sisters and brothers, let us not forget that our natural vocation is not to collect, but rather, to be charitable as a river flows to give water to others; a flower gives its fragrance to others; a tree bears its fruits for others; the sun shines for others. Therefore, when we are being blessed, it is for the hungry, the naked, the oppressed, the sick, and the persecuted because “without charity, the rich man is poor and with [charity], the poor man is rich (St. Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 350, 2-3: Charity, the Hidden Meaning of Scripture).”

May Mary, the mother of Jesus and our mother, intercede for us always to raise our “standard of charity.”

Bible Study: Fr. Ricardo Chinchilla - Luke 16:1-13

Bible Study - Luke 16:1-13, God & Money

by Fr. Ricardo Chinchilla

ESTUDIO BIBLICO Lucas 16, 1 13 Dios y el dinero

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Homily: Fr. Azam - The Parable of the Unjust Steward

Homily for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time

by Fr. Azam Vianney Mansha, CJM - STL

Today’s Gospel passage is called “The Parable of the Unjust Steward.” It is one of those parables which are often hard to understand because the master of the house praised the unjust steward, saying, “He had done wisely.” In other words, “Is Jesus encouraging dishonesty?”

As I encouraged you last week to re-visit our Christian Theology, I do so again this week because this parable goes beyond its title, “The Parable of the Unjust Steward.” This title does not actually define the core of the parable, which represents a picture of two worlds, as Jesus Himself said in the parable, “for the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.” In other words, this parable can be renamed as “The Parable of the Preparation for the Next World.”

Now focusing on the symbolisms of this parable, we can see some parallel images, such as honest and dishonest, world and heaven, children of darkness and children of light, good and bad. The parallel images, however, which we often forget are MATERIAL BANK and SPIRITUAL BANK.

What are these so-called MATERIAL BANK and SPIRITUAL BANK? Before I go on to explain further, a quick question first: Why do we save money in the bank? Many would say, “For a rainy day.” As you can see, the unjust steward was focusing on his material bank, which means that he was investing in people so that when he would not have a job nor a position, and he would be going through “rainy days” someday, his worldly friends would welcome him. Indeed, through earthly materials, he earned earthly friends. For his action, the master praised him and St. Augustine of Hippo (Church Father and Doctor of the Church) sees this action of the unjust steward as “foresight for the future” (Sermon 359 A.10, p. 255).

Now here comes the twist in the parable, and that is, if the children of the world can make friends with material things or can use material means to invest in earthly friendships, what about Christians? Can we not invest in our spiritual banks so that we can have spiritual friendships?

Indeed, to invest in our spiritual banks is lend to the Lord as it is written in the Sacred Scripture:

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord and will be repaid in full (Proverbs 19:17)

How do we invest in our spiritual banks? It is very easy, but very demanding as well. In reality,

Jesus Himself has given us instructions on how to invest in our spiritual banks and based on our spiritual investment, we will be judged on the last day. It is as Jesus said: “When I was hungry, you fed me; when I was thirsty, you gave me a drink; when I was naked, you gave me cloth, when I was sick, you visited me and when I was a stranger, you accommodated me.” To the question of righteous people, “When did we serve you?” God replied, “Whatever you did to the least of my brothers, you did to me” (Matthew 25). I believe you remember one of our famous Christian songs by Robert Kochis:

Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me. When I was hungry, you gave me to eat; When I was thirsty, you gave me to drink. Now enter into the home of My Father. Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me.

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, when we invest in our spiritual banks, we do not only gain friends in heaven, but God also blesses us in this world.

In February 2022, I got an email from the airlines for an upgrade in my seat to business class. I had been travelling for almost 16 years but I never had the desire to travel by business class. This time, however, I do not know why, but when I saw the email, there was this desire in me to at least see how business class looks like and how it works. I begun the process of accepting the offer, but then suddenly, I stopped because the airlines was asking me to pay $300 for the upgrade! I immediately refused to complete the process because I believe that whatever I have or whatever gifts I receive, they all belong to the poor and the mission.

The day of my flight from Karachi to Dubai to Manila arrived. After clearing all the S.O.P.’s at the Dubai airport, I boarded the plane and sat in my economy seat. As the other passengers boarded, I recited my rosary for a safe trip. Suddenly, a young girl came up to me and gazed at me, then she left and brought a flight attendant back with her. The flight attendant asked for my boarding pass. I immediately gave it to her and said, “So sorry if I am sitting in the wrong seat. She can take my seat and I can sit at the back.” The flight attendant looked at my face and went somewhere while the young girl stood by my seat. After 10 minutes, the flight attendant came back and said, “Sorry Sir, there has been a mistake. We have issued one seat to two passengers.

We are sorry for the inconvenience and we ask for an apology. As the airlines’ policy, you are now being upgraded to business class for your trip from Dubai to Manila.” What?!!! Business class!!! In my heart, I was so surprised by the action of God, which reminded me once again that if I take care of the people of God, God will take care of me. I enjoyed my first and last business class trip, and I am proud to say that I am happy with economy class.

Dear sisters and brothers, Pope Francis reminds us that “Charity is the beating heart of the Christian: just as one cannot live without a heartbeat, so one cannot be a Christian without charity” (June 05, 2021).

May Mary, the Mother of Jesus and Our Mother, intercede for us so that we may frequently invest in our spiritual banks through works of mercy in order to gain friendship with God and the saints.