It is a good thing for a person to remain as he is. – 1 Corinthians 7:26

You’ll never know how it’s like to be the mother of the bride until you become one yourself. The closer we were to the date, the more I felt the happiness — and anxiety — build up. I was savoring the joy and excitement while dealing with the physical separation from our only daughter that comes with it.

       Turning to her dad and myself a day before the wedding, Trina declared, “Please promise me there won’t be any tears from either one of you, OK?” We all knew this was easier said than done. So she quickly added, “Whenever you feel like crying, just remember that I will be back right here in my room after our honeymoon.” It would take a year before the turnover of their condo unit at the Fort and we were thrilled at the arrangement for her and Jang to stay with us in the meantime.

       The extension of her stay was a wonderful bonus from the Lord. Parting was not going to be easy especially since our only son, Peevee, is now working in the U.S. Amidst the constant changes in life, only God offers a sense of permanence. Mari Sison-Garcia (mari_sison_garcia@yahoo.com)

Reflection: The Lord meets you where you are, even postponing a separation between mother and daughter if He has to.

Lord, life moves so fast, we want You to remain where You are — right here beside us.

St. Thomas of Villanova, pray for us.

There is nothing unbalanced about what Paul says here regarding marriage and celibacy when taken within the context of the issue he is addressing. Paul believed that Jesus would probably come again in his lifetime. Therefore evangelization was his key priority and anything that could distract a person in this work was to be avoided. Hence, marriage should be placed second in importance in the light of the imperative to evangelize. This is still today a perfectly valid position to take if one believes that God is giving you the grace of celibacy for His Kingdom. One of the key gifts of celibacy is ready availability to serve the Gospel wherever and whenever needed.

25 Brothers and sisters: In regard to virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. 26 So this is what I think best because of the present distress: that it is a good thing for a person to remain as he is. 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek a separation. Are you free of a wife? Then do not look for a wife. 28 If you marry, however, you do not sin, nor does an unmarried woman sin if she marries; but such people will experience affliction in their earthly life, and I would like to spare you that. 29 I tell you, brothers, the time is running out. From now on, let those having wives act as not having them, 30 those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning, 31 those using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away.

R: Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.

10 [11] Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear, forget your people and your father’s house. 11 [12] So shall the king desire your beauty; for he is your lord, and you must worship him. (R) 13 [14] All glorious is the king’s daughter as she enters; her raiment is threaded with spun gold. 14 [15] In embroidered apparel she is borne in to the king; behind her the virgins of her train are brought to you. (R) 15 [16] They are borne in with gladness and joy; they enter the palace of the king. 16 [17] The place of your fathers your sons shall have; you shall make them princes through all the land. (R)

Jesus teaches that we all have responsibilities towards one another. We cannot expect to be absolved from them because of our titles or positions in the work of the Gospel. If we are wealthy, we have a duty to care for the poor. In fact, Thomas Aquinas says that it is the private sector’s responsibility to provide social welfare in a state, not the government’s. Yes, the government needs to be ready to help in all situations, but the private sector is and will always be wealthier than the government, except maybe for the various forms of communist states.

Rejoice and leap for joy! Your reward will be great in heaven.

20 Raising his eyes toward his disciples he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. 21 Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. 22 Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way. 24 But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. 26 Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.”

think:  Jesus teaches us that we all have responsibilities towards one another.

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Psalm 81-85

AN UPSIDE DOWN WORLD

By proclaiming the Beatitudes, Jesus takes the standards accepted by the world and turns them upside down. Those whom Jesus calls miserable, the society would praise and call happy and blessed. The people whom Jesus praises as happy and blessed, the world would call wretched. What He says is at odds with what society would say. Does it mean that we all should become poor, hungry and sad? Is Jesus glorifying poverty?

       Surely not! Let me quote here a parable I found in the book, The Beatitudes, by the Latin American theologian Segundo Galilea. He writes: “We are in a miserable little village of the Andes. The vast majority of its people are very poor. There are no health facilities here, no hospital, no medicines, no doctors or nurses. Neither have these poor the money to travel to the city for treatment if they fall ill... In the same village, as often happens, there is also a group of families in more comfortable circumstances. The latter can afford to journey to the city to be looked after.

       “One day a clinic is set up in the village. Now the people can be treated for their diseases right in their village. Furthermore the clinic is free.

       “Now comes the day of the formal opening. A priest is asked to bless the new facility. He says, this minister of Christ: ‘You are happy ones today, you, the poor of this village. For this clinic is yours. It belongs to you.’”

       Galilea reflects on this and writes, “At first glance it might seem that the priest’s assertion is not accurate. Actually, the clinic is for everyone, is it not? It is free for everyone... So why does the priest mention only the poor? For a very good reason. It is the poor who have most reason to rejoice, most reason to be ‘happy’ about the clinic. For the poor, the clinic is the fulfillment of an ancient promise... True, the clinic is not for them alone. It is for rich and poor alike. But the primary beneficiaries are the poor.”

       Jesus does not advocate poverty but He says that those who suffer now will eventually experience the eternal reward and rejoice much more than those who live a comfortable life here on earth. Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

REFLECTION QUESTION: Do you appreciate God’s blessings enough?

Lord, thank You for Your message in this puzzling Gospel passage. With Your grace, may I be able to reach out to the less fortunate and let them feel now a bit of their future eternal happiness.