“Why could we not cast it out?” – Matthew 17:19

       I still remember that fateful night when the House of Representatives was deliberating on the RH Bill at the Second Reading in Congress. After the 6 p.m. Mass, I went to the adoration chapel to pray for the rejection of the bill. By 9:30 p.m., a co-warrior went home because another prayer warrior replaced her. I stayed because I felt the urgency to continue praying. By 12 midnight I decided to call it a night when I saw my companion asleep. Back home I saw on TV the close fight between the pro-RH and anti-RH. My hair stood on end as I heard lawmakers declare their Catholic faith boldly and, with the same boldness, defy it with their vote of yes. But I felt proud of those who were faithful. Nine votes made the difference to make a bill to propagate contraception into a law in a predominantly Catholic country.

       Like the Apostles, I asked the Lord, “Why could we not cast it out?” Should I have stayed through the wee hours of the morning in the adoration chapel? I believe the answer is the same one Jesus told the Apostles: “Because of your little faith.”

       Could it be that there was not enough faith among Filipino Catholics? If only more people made a stand for our faith. But then again, all is not lost. As we persevere in prayer, we can trust God to work His wonders. Cristy Galang (cristy_cc@yahoo.com)

Reflection: Do you live by what your faith teaches?

Father in heaven, increase my faith in You and in the people whom You have entrusted to be my guide and authority.

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, pray for us.

Each of us needs a vision for our lives or we will wander through life being pushed to and fro by every whim and fad of society. If we have a vision for how we will serve the Lord, we can overcome the storms of life, anchored on the truth and guided by it on the path to eternal life. Knowing God’s will for me is one of the most freeing and empowering realities of my life.

12 Are you not from eternity, O Lord, my holy God, immortal? O Lord you have marked him for judgment, O Rock, you have readied him for punishment! 13 Too pure are your eyes to look upon evil, and the sight of misery you cannot endure. Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence while the wicked man devours one more just than himself? 14 You have made man like the fish of the sea, like creeping things without a ruler. 15 He brings them all up with his hook, he hauls them away with his net, he gathers them in his seine; and so he rejoices and exults. 16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net, and burns incense to his seine; for thanks to them his portion is generous, and his repast sumptuous. 17 Shall he, then, keep on brandishing his sword to slay peoples without mercy? 2: 1 I will stand at my guard post, and station myself upon the rampart, and keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what answer he will give to my complaint. 2 Then the Lord answered me and said: Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily. 3 For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late. 4 The rash man has no integrity; but the just man, because of his faith, shall live.

R: You forsake not those who seek you, O Lord.

7 [8] The Lord sits enthroned forever; he has set up his throne for judgment. 8 [9] He judges the world with justice; he governs the peoples with equity. (R) 9 [10] The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of distress. 10 [11] They trust in you who cherish your name, for you forsake not those who seek you, O Lord. (R) 11 [12] Sing praise to the Lord enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations his deeds; 12 [13] for the avenger of blood has remembered; he has not forgotten the cry of the poor. (R)

Teresa Benedicta of the Cross died in the concentration camp of the Nazis in World War II. She began life as a Jew who converted to Catholicism and became a Carmelite nun. She was also a great believer in the philosophy of phenomenology and contributed greatly to its development. A woman of conviction, she remains for us today an example of how to truly follow one’s convictions, no matter what the cost may be.

Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death and brought life to light through the Gospel.

14 A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, 15 and said, “Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” 17 Jesus said in reply, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured. 19 Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” 20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

think:  We need a vision for how we will serve the Lord to enable us to overcome the storms of life.

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR 2 Maccabees 3-4

FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY

We live in a world that does not want the responsibility of maintaining a relationship with God at the individual level, and yet, when a disaster occurs or something goes wrong, God gets the blame. The phrase, “How could God allow such a thing to happen?” is one that immediately comes to mind. This is hypocrisy at its best. We cannot have it both ways. What we are experiencing is a not-so-subtle form of rebellion against authority. This is a rebellion supposedly in the name of the god of “personal freedom,” but is really just a slide towards moral decay. People do what they want in the name of exercising their various rights.

       The biggest problem with the modern understanding of rights is that it rarely, if ever, comes with a concomitant understanding of responsibilities. There is no right without a corresponding responsibility and sometimes the responsibilities are quite onerous. This is the price we pay for our humanity. If we want a socially cohesive society, then we have to be willing to circumscribe absolute freedom with the idea of the common good.

       I write this reflection 20 months before you read it. It is just a couple of days after the massacre in a school in Newtown, Connecticut, where the vast majority of the victims were six- and seven-year-old kids. The US Constitution supposedly protects the rights of individuals to carry firearms. Well, the lawmakers also have a responsibility to ensure that the so-called “right” does not end in such massacres. If the right to bear arms cannot be controlled, then the lawmakers must take at least some responsibility for the consequences. They have the power to ban assault weapons from the hands of the general public, but they choose not to in the name of freedom. This is a ridiculous argument that cannot be defended in any meaningful manner. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

REFLECTION QUESTION: Are you one of those who demand absolute freedom for anything?

Lord Jesus, help our lawmakers to act responsibly on the firearm issue. Help us understand our responsibility to protect the innocent and those least able to protect themselves.