Pentecost

Christ leads the way to fulfill his promise

“While Jesus was blessing his disciples, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.” (Luke 24:51)

Since human life on earth is short, there is nothing matters more than knowing where we will go when we die, and the assurance that we can go to heaven when that day comes. We Christians believe that there is life beyond death; that death is simply the beginning of a new life, an abundant life, in God’s kingdom. There is resurrection of the dead. By accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are granted a key to unlock the door to this new life. Our faith in Christ Jesus will be our passport to that heavenly country.

There is always a choice for us—eternal life in heaven or eternal life in darkness and chaos. Jesus who came down to earth from life eternity in heaven teaches us how to make the right choices in life. He reveals to us that life in heaven is far better than life elsewhere.

Although our life on earth is short and temporary, it has a purpose. It prepares us for the future that last forever. Our present existence gives us time and opportunities to learn how to make the right choices in life. We can learn to recognize and honor the sanctity of life and of human relationships. It will also allow us to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation on earth before we see the beauty of God’s creation in heaven. It will also reveal to us our imperfections and limitations, and our potentials for growth and maturity. For those who are undergoing great suffering and for those witnessing the sufferings of others, it seems that we are also discovering what life would be if there is no God, or if the forces of darkness will rule our lives. The list of reasons for our brief existence on earth can be endless.

During our lifetime in this world, we must realize that there is one true God, and that God is not anyone of us. By receiving eternal life, it doesn’t mean that we will become a god.

We all know that when we die, we cannot bring anything with us. The good news is that whatever we need in that heavenly country will be provided by God, or should I say, everything is already prepared for us. We do believe that God is the creator of heaven and earth. If God has filled this earth with water, land, air, trees, plants, different creatures, and many resources for our use and consumption, then God has done the same thing in that heavenly country or far better than what we have here now. God will provide everything we need in the afterlife.

Since the only luggage we can bring with us to heaven is ourselves, then we must take care of our soul and spirit. We may not be able to save our physical bodies from perishing—just delaying it—but we can nourish our soul with love, truth, and constant prayers. Our soul’s wellbeing requires freedom from guilt, shame, malice, greed, pride, envy, lust, anxiety, and hate. Christ Jesus made that possible for us through his death, resurrection, and ascension.. Our spirit will remain alive and strong as long as it is connected with God. At the final day of our resurrection, God will clothe us with new bodies, new flesh.

As we continue to live our life here on earth, we must seek those treasures that are beneficial to our soul. This is the one thing we are sure of that we will bring in God’s kingdom—our soul.

-- The Rev. Fr. Jojo Pamatmat

The empty tomb is a message of hope and liberation.

“Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed.” (John 20:1)

When Mary arrived to the grave’s site, she saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb, and there was no soldier around. She went to Simon Peter and John to inform about the empty tomb. The two disciples hurriedly went to the tomb to investigate it. While thinking about what might have happened to the Lord, they returned to their homes; but Mary stayed and wept outside the tomb. Then suddenly Jesus appeared to her. But she did not recognize him at first. She thought that the man standing in front of her was a gardener. It was only when Jesus called her name that Mary recognized him.

Sometimes when we are searching for Jesus in our life we might find an empty tomb. The empty tomb does not prove that the Lord had risen, but it might point us to what we want to believe. The risen Lord did appear to his disciples so the empty tomb must have a message to those who have not seen him but believe. It is a message of new birth with full of hope and grace. It is a powerful sign that God is liberating us from whatever that hold us captives—fear, guilt, grief, hate, malice, ignorance, pride, lust, greed and prejudice—and restoring our place in God’s kingdom. Our faith in the risen Lord can bring us out of darkness into light and out of death into life.

As liberated people, we have a good news to share with the world. Christ is risen! With so many empty pews in churches, God intends to reach out those who have lost their faith and those who have not yet received the gospel of the Lord. And for the faithful, they need to be reminded of Christ’s teachings and examples, and of his death and resurrection as often as possible. Many Christians are in danger of spiritual starvation and they are turning into empty souls. They are living a life as if Jesus is still inside the tomb. They are doing what they are not supposed to be doing and they fail to do those things that must be done. Others are simply busy attending their daily concerns without regard to the wellbeing, needs and rights of others.

The Church has a duty and responsibility to discern God’s will and to work for it in order to fill the empty pews and to feed the empty souls of many. With God’s help and with the united effort of every faithful to proclaim the gospel of the Lord, a lot of things can be done for the salvation of many lost souls. The empty tomb is a message of hope and liberation. The stone has been rolled away to give us hope and grace to live a new life in Christ, and to enable us to do something to make a difference in the lives of others.

-- The Rev. Fr. Jojo Pamatmat

Lenten 2008

Fasting creates rooms for peace, love and forgiveness.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew (6:21)

Coming down from the Mount of Transfiguration and taking a journey towards the Mount of Calvary, the season of Lent gives us an opportunity to get one’s spiritual life in order. It is an occasion of “spring cleaning” that invites us to get rid of those unnecessary things and burdens in our lives, and then to make rooms for peace, joy, and love. Fasting is a spiritual exercise that can be very helpful to our “spring cleaning.” It is more than giving up food. It could mean giving up something we greatly desire for the sake of our love of God and of other people.

To grow in faith through fasting, we need to understand the reasons of doing it. First, we give up food to feast on God. We abstain from our physical desires in order to satisfy our cravings for God. Fasting enables us to seek and desire God above all things. Every time we celebrate the Holy Eucharist, we remember Christ’s holy sacrifice for our redemption. His body and blood become spiritual food and drink for us. Our souls also need constant nourishment of the Word of God--the source of hope, wisdom, comfort, and inspiration.

Secondly, fasting is a humble act of penitence. It is an expression of deep sorrow over sins committed. It requires sincere acknowledgement of the pains and injuries caused by our own faults and negligence and by others on our behalf; and that we are willing to do the right thing. Thirdly, fasting is also an act of plea to God. It is a simple prayer. People are fasting when they are in dire need—when they are in troubles or in great danger. In fasting, we express our complete dependence on God’s help and mercy. We appeal to God’s compassion and generosity.

Another significance of fasting is it allows us to focus on the true purpose of our life. Fasting is like defragmenting a computer. It is a process of cleaning its memory by removing unnecessary information that is taking up space in the memory drive. By defragmenting the computer, we are removing some garbage in the memory to maximize the usable memory space, therefore enhancing its performance. Fasting provides a similar effect to the spiritual life of the believers. By depriving ourselves of some physical needs, we are nourishing our spiritual bodies. It reminds us that life is more than food, money, and clothing.

More so, fasting could mean renouncing pride, hate, envy, greed, lust, and other sinful desires. It helps us realize that all these sinful thoughts, feelings and actions are unhealthy burdens and injurious to our spiritual wellbeing and to our relationship with God. With God’s grace, we can choose to live our lives with love, patience, kindness, faithfulness, and self-control.

Fasting brings our full attention towards God. When we do it right, our prayers speak louder and our faith becomes stronger. Fasting with constant prayer can sustain and transform us as we take the long and arduous journey towards Jerusalem.

-- The Rev. Fr. Jojo Pamatmat

Epiphany 2008

Christ is the light of the world.

“Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” (Matthew 2:2)

The wise men from the east traveled as a group to follow a brilliant star in the sky. It led them to Bethlehem where they found the holy child born in a manger. They had one purpose in their journey—to witness the fulfillment of the prophecy—the birth of a new king of Israel. They wanted to welcome and worship him. They were very excited to see this child and hear his little voice. They had brought gifts to express their faith in him as Mediator, Redeemer, and Ruler.

Knowing the purpose of life can help us find true happiness. Each of us needs a bright star that will guide us in search of it. While following that star, we need the courage and patience to explore unfamiliar places. We also need the friendship and support of fellow travelers. We don’t have to be alone in our journey. The Church of Christ has plenty of rooms for everyone.

In pursuit of happiness, we are searching for things that can give joy and meaning in our lives. Somehow we are aware of the things we treasure most, our interests and our needs. But sometimes we are not sure what we should be our priorities. Oftentimes we cannot see and enjoy those blessings we already have. When other people tell us what we need to have in order to be happy, how do we know that they are telling the truth? If we always listen to them, then we might end up financially broke, frustrated and stressed. We want to enjoy life but we don’t want to make wrong choices. When we make mistakes, it’s painful. It’s also a waste of time, money and energy. We need someone or something to guide us. God desires our happiness and what is good for us. To live in peace, truth and love, God sent His Son to show us the way. We should listen to him through the Scriptures, with constant prayers.

Christmas is a beautiful time of the year. However, its beauty and brightness is not something we simply admire and enjoy for a short period of time. God wants us to follow the star and see where it is leading us. To find true peace and lasting joy, God wants us to search for Jesus and to welcome him into our lives as our Lord and Savior. In him, we will discover the beauty and sanctity of life. Through him, we can love our neighbors and be a beacon of truth and justice to others. With him, we can live an abundant life with contentment.

-- The Rev. Fr. Jojo Pamatmat

Christmas 2007

Knowing the true meaning of Christmas brings joy and peace into our lives.

“And the Word became flesh and lived among us.” (John 1:14)

When Christmas season comes, we usually see many homes and stores with beautiful decorations—colorful blinking lights, a Christmas tree, a holy nativity scene in the yard, a plastic snowman, a Santa on the roof, and a flashing sign in front of the house that says, “Merry Christmas!”

Sometimes it makes me wonder how some people can celebrate Christmas without going to church or without understanding the real meaning of this special occasion. How can a person celebrate Christmas without mentioning the name of Christ, or without knowing who Jesus is? Perhaps we can say that Christmas is no longer a Christian holiday. People do not have to go to church to celebrate it. We can go out shopping, wear nice clothes, cook the best food, decorate the Christmas tree and exchange gifts with our family and friends without thinking about Christ, or remembering the first Christmas in Bethlehem. We can do a lot of things without understanding the reason behind the season.

How much has been lost since the first Christmas day? What happened to the real purpose of its celebration, the sacredness of the season; the mystery of incarnation, and the realization of God’s wonderful gift to humanity? When God spoke the Word of creation, earth and heaven and everything in it were created. When God spoke the Word of sanctification, God blessed his creation. When God’s creations had sinned, God spoke the Word of redemption. And the Word of God became flesh and lived among us. The birth of Jesus Christ is the perfect gift of love from God.

As we celebrate this wonderful occasion, we must be ready to receive the Word of God into our lives. We can do this by opening our hearts and minds to what God is saying to us through the Scriptures. We make room for God’s Word to grow within us and to work through us. Christmas Day is a special occasion when we exchange gifts with God. God gave us His Son. And in return, we lift our hearts to the Lord. We present ourselves to God, with love and humility.

-- The Rev. Fr. Jojo Pamatmat

Advent 2007

By trusting the Lord, we can be a responsible caretaker of His precious gifts to the world.

“An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’” (Matthew 1:20)

Imagining the excitement and joy of a couple when they first learned that they were going to have a baby, it makes me wonder how God make things happen to bring a child in this world. After choosing Mary to be the mother of Jesus, God wanted to make sure that someone would take the role of Mary’s husband and Jesus’ father. God knows the challenges a parent would face in bringing up a child in this world.

We can say that God had made the right choice of parents for Jesus—Mary was a loving mother and a faithful person; Joseph was a responsible and hardworking father. As we reflect upon this, we feel blessed for being alive today. Even before we were born, God had already chosen a mother and a father for us, and God brought them together. Imagine, without one of them, we will not exist in this world. It doesn’t matter if our parents are not perfect. Through them, God created us and gave us life and purpose in this world.

Joseph made a life-changing decision by taking Mary as his wife and by loving Jesus as his own son. He welcomed Jesus into his life and provided him a safe place to live and grow until he became ready to fulfill his divine mission on earth.

As we await the coming of our Savior during this Advent season, we may need to examine our lives. Perhaps, we need to make some important decisions, particularly, on how to accept those responsibilities and challenges that God has given us. Maybe God is entrusting something precious and sacred in our care. By trusting the Lord, we can be a part of something beautiful and amazing in days to come.

-- The Rev. Fr. Jojo Pamatmat