BETRAYAL AND DENIAL

HOLY TUESDAY Year C John 13:21-33,36-38 “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Jesus was a victim of betrayal. You know what, the saddest thing about betrayal is it never comes from your enemies. Judas a disciple of Jesus hand Him over to the chief priest with a kiss worth 30 pieces of silver. (Halik ni Hudas) Nowadays, so many relationships were destroyed by a betrayal. Countless marriages were broken by unfaithfulness. Have you been betrayed and cheated by people whom you spent life with? The worst feeling is the feeling of being used and lied to. They say every jungle has a snake. Friends when someone betrays you and cheated on you it is a reflection of their character not yours. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Today’s gospel is a great reminder of God’s unconditional love. Even if we continue to betray Him by doing some crazy things (SIN) He still give His trust and He proved it by dying on the cross. If trust was broken, it will never work the same again but this is not the case for Jesus. Trust is like an eraser it gets smaller and smaller after every mistakes but this is not the case for Jesus. Trust take years to build, seconds to break and forever to repair but this is not the case for Jesus. Friends, protect yourself from abusive people by turning to Jesus. Life is full of fake people trust no one except Jesus. Pray for your betrayer. Blessings Fr. Jhack

HOLY MONDAY

HOLY MONDAY Year C John 12:1-11 Three points that I would like to share. First, the poor are the most generous people in the world. No one can beat the generosity of poor people because they give not the surplus but the finest. They will offer their best and the “first class” of what they have. They are willing to give everything they have to serve their guest. “Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair.” Judas sees this as a waste, Jesus sees it as love. Friends, when we give our everything to Jesus it will not be wasted because everything belongs to Jesus. Second, I was deeply moved by this line in the gospel- “the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.” We need to have an experience of brokenness to let the smell of fragrance flows. We need to break ourselves before God so that in our brokenness God’s mercy and blessings will overflow. When we imitate Mary’s generosity and passionate love to Jesus the whole world will always remember the kindness we have done. Acts of kindness is like a perfume that people can smell it. Let your fragrance do the talking. Finally, let us be careful of the attitude of too much attachment to money. Friends, money is a horrible master. Never be a slave to money rather be the master of your money. Judas was very materialistic person. Friends. be watchful of people who are more interested in getting money for himself than sharing it with those in need. Brethren, use money to help people avoid using people to earn more money. Blessings Fr. Jhack

PALM SUNDAY

Palm Sunday Year C Mark 15:1-39 To have a meaningful and sacred celebration of Holy Week this year, let the PALM be our guide. Brethren, the answer for a successful lenten observance can be found in our PALM. P-ray In this days of of Holy Week spend more time in spiritual exercises not in outing, mall hopping and shopping or other personal recreations. Friends, prayer is power. The more we pray, the powerful we become. A-lms In this days of Holy week try to be generous in giving alms. Alms is not only limited to material things. Its not equated to funds. Its not associated to money. You can contribute your time. You can share your talents. Friends, be generous in sharing kindness, be generous in giving sorry and compliments. L-ove. In this Holy Week practice to love unconditionally. When you love, make it concrete not just a lips service. Love without limit. M-ortify In this days of the Holy Week we need to give up something what we like and we wanted to. Practice sacrifice. Sacrifice your times in playing games and do more house chores. Sacrifice your time in social media and make the habbit of doing corporal works of mercy. Sacrifice your recreations and work more for your salvation. Conclusion: The passion narrative is a story of God’s love for us. We should be grateful to Jesus for paying the penalty of our sins. To thank Him let us translate this gratitude by hating sin. Have a HOLY week celebration my friends! Blessings Fr. Jhack

THE PLOT TO KILL JESUS

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent Year C John 11:45-57 To kill Jesus or to lose their influencial status? This is what makes trouble and confusion to the Jews. But Caiaphas justified this course of action by suggesting that it was better for Jesus to die rather than have the nation be divided. The religious leader of that time realized that if they will not take immediate action, they would lose their power and influence. So they plot to kill Jesus by accusing Him of blasphemy. Friends, when you are a threat you are always a target. Are we this type of person? Deleting someone because they are thorns to our position? Let me suggest this: wish people well. Their success will not prevent yours. Sacrifice-this is what Jesus did. He sacrifice everything for our salvation. Its hard for Him humanly speaking but because of His great love for His father He accepts death. In my journey, I knew lots of people who shed sweat and blood and willing to undergo pain and suffering for their loved ones back home. OFW sacrificing their joys outside their country for the needs of their own family. I admired those people who labor much for the sake of their loved ones. Health workers who work hard to stop the spreading of the virus. Government officials who tirelessly works for the good of his countrymen. You know what my dear friends, sacrificing your happiness for the happiness of the one you love is by far, the truest type of love. There is no success without sacrifice. Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven. In the coming days we will celebrate the Holy Week. In this most sacred week of the year we need to do some sacrifices for Jesus. Brethren, let us live a life like a candle. Friends, burn yourself up to give others light. Let be the happiness of others be our priority than ours. Let us empty ourselves for the sake of others. No sacrifice, no victory. Friends, give up something that matters for something that matters more. Bear this in mind: life does not end in Good Friday, Easter Sunday is coming. Blessings Fr. Jhack

DO WHAT YOU SAY

Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent Year C John 10:31-4 In today’s gospel Jesus shows us how He is not threatened by the Jews because He is telling the truth. “The Father is in me and I in Him.” He was charged with blasphemy for claiming to be the Son of God. For me, blasphemy is not the main reason of their rage towards Jesus but ENVY. Friends, don’t worry about your haters, they are just angry because the truth you speak contradicts the lie they live. Haters are someone who wish they could be you. You know what Jesus does not “make Himself” God; He is God since the beginning. I would like to highlights what Jesus said in today’s gospel reading. He said: “Even if you do not believe in me, believe the works so that you may realize that the Father is in me and I am in the father.” In his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi Pope Paul VI had a similar thoughts: “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.” Today let our words should be seen with our works. DO WHAT YOU SAY. Let us make our actions reflect our words. Finally, when the Jew try to kill him, He moved to another town. Jesus is teaching us this lesson-to cool down the rage, walk away! How beautiful it is to stay in silence when someone expects you to be enraged. This is a wonderful gesture of love and effective way of turning stones into pieces of bread. The best way to conquer violence is not to be violent. Denounce violence! Brethren, extinguish the spark before it becomes a fire. How? Overcome evil with good. Be experts in doing the good. See the good and wonders in others. Keep smiling, one day your enemies will get tired of upseting you. Blessings Fr. Jhack

VIOLENCE CAN’T STIFLE THE TRUTH

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent Year C John 8:51-59 When the Jews can no longer refute Jesus’s arguments, they picked up stones to throw at Him. They recourse to violence but Jesus went away from the temple area. He went away not because He is guilty and afraid but because there is no reason for Jesus to argue with people who believe that they are the most knowledgeable and most righteous. They wanted to murder Jesus because they are afraid of the truth. The truth has a quality that makes the most powerful oppressor tremble in fear. My brethren, make a habit of telling the truth no matter how much it hurts. We need honesty to empower the world of lies and deceit. Its hard to speak the truth but I find it delightful to do it. Jesus was greatly loved and admired because people see the truth in Him. Infact, He is the TRUTH. Because of this He was becoming a significant threat to the power and influence of the Jewish officials of the time. They are trying to put Him into death because He was undermining their credibility with the people. Truth will scared those who hide it. I would like to conclude my reflection with this beautiful qoutation which I kept on telling you my dear friends: “Telling the truth and making someone cry is better than telling a lie and making someone smile.” Blessings Fr. Jhack

FREEDOM

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent Year C John 8:31-42 The truth will make us free. But what is the meaning of "truth" and what is the meaning of "free"? Three points that I would like to share with you today. First, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. We are reminded in today’s gospel that we will never be free until we free ourselves from the prison and slavery of this monster called sin. What makes you a slave? Work? Pride? Anger? Lust? Envy? Addiction to drugs and alcohol? Negative mind? Laziness? Brethren, free yourself and approach the Lord. Beg for His mercy through the sacrament of reconciliation. You deserve to be free! MAKE A DECISION TO LOVE. Second, everyone wants to be free; free to do what we want, but is this really the true meaning of freedom? Today, Jesus is teaching us that true freedom is submission to God. If we wanted to be free, don’t close your eyes and ears to Jesus. Love for God makes us truly free. “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Today, tell yourself, I AM NO LONGER SLAVE TO SIN. Never give the sin the chance to control you. Control what controls you. Jesus has come to set us free from the slavery of sin. Hold on to the freedom Christ has given you. Be slave of Jesus not of sin. Third, we are challenged to believe in Jesus. Never allow the devil filled with garbage to dump it on you. We are not the dumpsite of garbage but wellspring of God’s grace. Live free from the slavery of sin. Make Jesus your master by hating the monster. Love the life you live and live the life you love. Blessings Fr. Jhack

LOOK AND LIVE

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent Year C John 8:21-30 Our Gospel for today speaks of this three important reminders: First, our life is a journey towards everlasting life but our sins prevents us from going where Jesus is going. Sin is more poisonous than the bite of the serpent. It is the deadliest disease a human person can have. Its the new serpent that looking for innocent victims. Stay away from sin. Return to the Lord because without God we will die. Sin kills but God gives life. The cross is the new bronze serpent, look at it and you will lived. Second, in the gospel it says: “You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world.” Friends, it will be hard to follow Christ when our life are tied to the things and cares of this world. Brethren, we are in the world but not of the world. In it but not of it. We are sent by God to transform the world and be transformed by the one who sent us. Be who you are in Christ, not who the world wants you to be. Jesus came down to this world so that we may be lifted up. Third, the cross reveals God to us. The cross becomes the glorification of Jesus. “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.” Im grateful for the cross of Jesus because it is the reason why even in pain I smile, why even in confusion I understand, and even in fear I continue to fight. Our crown is the cross. Blessings Fr. Jhack

JESUS IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent Year C John 8:12-20 The world nowadays needs light. Why? Because many of us make the things of this world our light. We make our success, as our light. We make our riches as our light. We make our influence as our light. Friends, these kinds of light darkens our world. That is why in the gospel for today, Jesus boldly proclaims to us that He is the light of the world saying: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Suffice it to say, shun the darkness and all its influences. Friends, if Jesus is our light we can dispel the darkness of this world. The light of Jesus will prevent us to others by appearances. Today, be the light that others see for within you is a light of a thousand suns. Let your light shine everyday. Radiate kindness, forgiveness, compassion and love. Let these reflect in our lives so that others may see the truth of God. Follow Jesus because He is a the light that never goes out. It is Jesus or darkness. There is no third option. Blessings Fr. Jhack

ELIMINATING SIN FROM THE SINNER

Fifth Sunday of Lent Cycle C John 8:1-11 Our gospel is telling us that we have a merciful God who will not condemn us for our failings and our sins. God’s mercy overflows in our misery. The woman caught in adultery was given by Jesus another chance. “Go your way, and from now on do not sin more.” Perhaps, we are like this woman in today’s gospel. We sinned but not caught. We do wicked deeds yet not caught perhaps because we are clever. Friends, whether caught or not the gospel is inviting us to refrain from sinning. Reform is what the Lord ask of us today. He forgives our sins but He asks us not not sin again. Like this woman, caught in adulteryJesus release us from our dark and horrible past. Friends, let us free ourselves by avoiding sin in the future. We cant meet Jesus and continue sinning all over again. Finally, we are encouraged to stop throwing stones from each other. Friends, stoning people is not a commendable fraternal way of correcting them. The best way to do is to drop our stones and replace it with love and mercy. As followers of Christ we should arm ourselves with love not with stones. In our modern world I find bashing, gossiping, and racism as the contempary stones. Friends, let us stone each other with mercy. Blessings Fr. Jhack

DEFEND JESUS LIKE NICODEMUS

Saturday of the Fourth Sunday of Lent Year C John 7:40-53 In today’s Gospel, prejudice is the main reason that hinder the Jews from accepting Jesus as the promised Messiah. To them, Jesus was a threat, a danger to their position of authority and they will lose their credibility among the people if they would not eliminate Him. They doubted His Davidic descent because he was of Galilean origin. Three points I would like to share with you today. First, opinions founded on prejudice are always sustained with the greatest violence. Prejudice is a disease. Its like virus too. Sometimes our human opinions and personal prejudices blinded us to the truth about God. Friends, let us be cautious of our judgements towards others. Have yourself check in the mirror first. Take a good look at ourselves before we judge others. Second, I love what Nicodemus did, He stand to defend Jesus saying: “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” He was not afraid to take his stand to defend Jesus. Friends, we need people like Nicodemus. Defend Jesus, fight for Jesus because He is always fighting for us. Finally, like Jesus let our life be a sign of contradiction. Today, in this world which choose and promote death (abortion, Euthanasia) let us be the defender of life. If government wants the legalization of divorce then fight for the sanctity and unity of marriage. Hate any concept that destroys our faith. Continue to be faithfull even others are faithfless. Fight the good fight of faith. Stay in the fight till the final round. Let your persecutors and accuser say: “Never before has anyone spoken/fight like this man.” Blessings Fr. Jhack