Obedience and humility

The story is told about Mass-goers who noticed something strange about their parish priest one Sunday morning. Every time he greeted them with “The Lord be with you” with open arms, his left arm would shake and his wrist would twitch. When asked about it after the Mass, the priest said: “Oh, you noticed that? You see, I was just trying to revive my self-winding automatic wristwatch, which had stopped!”

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Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Lord’s Baptism. In today’s Gospel (Mk. 1, 7-11), we hear of John’s baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan, which he did in all humility, declaring to all, “I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of His sandals.” After Jesus was baptized, a voice from heaven said, “You are my beloved Son: With You I am well pleased.” What made John and Jesus pleasing to the Father? They were obedient and humble. So, too, must we be.

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What can revive our faith, and what can help us renew our baptismal promises? Obedience and humility. Pope Francis visits us this week with his message of mercy and compassion. If we are not obedient and humble, we cannot be true recipients or agents of mercy and compassion. May Pope Francis’ grace-filled presence in our midst this week remind us again of the most basic lesson in life: We are not gods, and neither should we play god.

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A text message sent to me said: “A good apology must start with admission, continue with contrition, and end with reparation.” If we want to become truly pleasing to the Father, we must go beyond lip service, and go to concrete service. The bottom line is that we must please God, not ourselves, or other people.

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Many of us spend our whole lifetime focused on our financial journey, fame and popularity journey, power journey, beauty journey, and what have you. Our Lord Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, His herald, and now Pope Francis, His vicar on earth, teach us that the most important journey is our journey to God’s heart. Indeed, what does it profit us if we can gain the whole world, and in the end lose our soul?

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What is your “wristwatch”? What is it that keeps distracting you from truly focusing on and serving God? It boils down to the 4Ps: pera (money), power, pride, and pleasures. And if we may add another “P”—politics. The evil one knows how to distract us. Let us be vigilant and prayerful, for only if we truly listen to God can we discover how selfish and how self-serving we all are.

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Speaking of service, we who claim to be involved in the Lord’s service would do well to reflect during these coming days what true servanthood is all about, following the message of Pope Francis. Again, the bottom line is that our serving should be borne out of gratitude for God’s mercy, motivated by sincere concern for our brothers and sisters, and done out of humble reparation for our sins and the salvation of our souls. Let not money, career, position, fame and popularity get in the way of our serving, so that we can truly serve Him always, and in all ways.

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Gratitude is the best attitude. In so many ways, I thank God who has given me, since I was a child, faithful dogs, faithful companions, heart-warmers and friends: Spot, Big Boy, Miko, Toffee, Bruno—dogs I’ve loved before, and who loved me even more! Thank you to the Pope who said, as reported on NBC news: “One day we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.”

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Thank you to St. Arnold Janssen, SVD, whose feast day we celebrate on Jan. 15. Through this simple, prayerful person, and through the three congregations he founded—Society of the Divine Word (SVD), SSpSAP (Pink Sisters), SSpS (Blue Sisters) and their lay affiliates—the mission that “the heart of Jesus lives in the hearts of all” continues.

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Thank you to former justice Ruth Romero, who informed us that the author of the poem, “My First Christmas in Heaven,” which was published in our column last Dec. 28, is Wanda Bencke.

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I have never seen a place in the Philippines where the Simbang Gabi is celebrated so religiously even in barrio chapels all throughout the nine-day novena before Christmas. The parishes in Batangas even “import” priests from different dioceses and religious orders to meet the requests of so many barrio chapels for their services. Ala e! Talagang sadyang relihiyoso at madasalin ang mga Batangueño!

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Inviting you to a 10-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land (starting March 16), and to a Marian pilgrimage (May 11) which will include Marian shrines in Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal. For particulars, please call Executive Resources at 523-8581, 521-4156, or 0917-5235456, or log on to pilgrimscenter@pilgrimage.ph.

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Think about this: “Worry ends where faith begins. Fear fades when faith grows. Humility grows when faith matures. Faith strengthens when you obey. Obedience is easy when there is love. Transformation is brought about by love. Love is the overflowing result of a person in true fellowship with God.”

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A moment with the Lord:

Lord, help me, an unworthy recipient, to live a life of obedience and humility, so that I may become a grateful agent of compassion and mercy. Amen.