We belong

The story is told about a group of people in a boat. One of them suddenly started drilling a hole under his seat, and water began to come into the boat. Shocked, the others scolded him, saying, “What are you doing! You will sink the boat, and we will all drown!” The man replied: “What concern is it of yours? I am drilling only under my seat.”

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Today is Corpus Christi Sunday, marking the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. We belong to one Body, and we affect one another, for good or for bad.

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In today’s Gospel (Lk. 9, 11b-17), the disciples of Jesus tell Him to dismiss the crowd since they cannot possibly provide the people who have assembled with food and lodging in a deserted place. But Jesus tells them: “Give them some food yourselves.” This order of Jesus is the overriding attitude we should nurture toward one another—that of care, concern, reaching out, and helping one another. How often have we “dismissed the crowd” because they threatened and disturbed our comfort zones?

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I remember a story about a 10-wheel truck that got stuck in an underpass because the driver ignored the vertical clearance limit. Many technical steps were aired on how to solve the problem, until a child made a simple suggestion: Deflate the tires! And the problem was solved, and the truck was able to move on.

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Deflate your pride! This is one solution whenever we encounter gridlock situations. As one body, we must learn to give in, to let go of our pride, and to let God. Otherwise, we will arrive at a stalemate and eventually come to a dead end. Humility is the key to any relationship problem. The problem, of course, is: Who will give in?! The rule of thumb: For the sake of the common good, we must be ready and willing to sacrifice.

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Deflate your greed! This goes well with deflating our pride. It is greed that makes us set up walls instead of bridges. It is greed that makes us stand on separate shores. Greed says: “Have it all!” But Humility says: “You can’t have it all.”

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“Nobody is indispensable.” People come and go, but institutions remain. We are all just passing through. Let’s all do our very best, but let us remember that we do it best when we do it together, when we give our due respect to one another as well as to the institutions that have been there before, and which will still be there long after we are gone from this world.

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Freedom, family and faith are our basic foundations as a country and as a people. Let us strengthen these. We need these to preserve the unity and wellbeing of our nation.

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As bread is broken in the Eucharist, we, too, must experience sharing. The spirit of giving, not hoarding, must be our guiding principle in all that we say or do as members of the Body of Christ. We should not be threatened or be afraid to dialogue, listen, and be in communion with the realities of the world in which we live. And as bread is broken, neither should we fear persecution, for it is a part of discipleship to be misunderstood, judged, condemned and, yes, persecuted because of our faith. “Blessed are you when men insult and hate you because of Me.”

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We live our faith best when we are persecuted because of it. If our faith is an upgrade, a power bank, a convenience store, or just a decoration, then we have not really understood and embraced the cross that is central in our faith. To belong to the Body of Christ means to share in His suffering, and not just in His glory.

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The month of May, the month of Mary, is coming to an end. Summer, too, is ending and the rains have come again. Such is life. Seasons come and go, but life goes on and the journey goes on. Please remember that living life is not a matter of who is right or wrong, who  is richer or poorer, or who is a saint or sinner. If  it were so, then we will just be focused on one another.

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Let us learn from Mary, who, through it all, continued to listen and to obey her Lord and Master. Yes, we must pray more, and pray much. Like her, in prayer, in the Eucharist, may we really listen, obey and understand.

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Think about this: “Power and money are the fruits of life. But God, family and friends are the roots of life. We can manage without the fruits, but we can never stand without the roots.”

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A moment with the Lord:

Lord, remind us that we belong, and that we journey not alone. Amen.