“MOVE FORWARD”

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lk 9:51-62

Following Christ is like climbing the highest mountain.

I remember when our community climbed Mt. Apo. We were very interested to climb the highest mountain of the Philippines. We hired a guide to lead us the way to the peak of the mountain.

On the way, I found it so difficult. I was not familiar of the trail. So I had to follow the man ahead of me. I had to look ahead. I didn’t want to be lost. But I was so tired and walked very slow. I was hungry and thirsty on the way. Then, it was raining. The path was muddy and slippery. There was no place to shelter. No place to lie down comfortably. No place to sleep. So difficult!
In my mind I wanted to go back. I wished I could bring much food and water. I wished I could bring some of my favorite heavy stuffs, my CDs, my books and others. I wished I could stay longer in a relaxing place. But I had to move on. I should look ahead and move forward to reach the peak of the mountain.

In today’s Gospel Jesus advices us to “look ahead” and “not back.” The deeper meaning of discipleship, of following Jesus, is to look ahead or to move forward. That’s where Jesus is. And its direction one should move also. To look back means we have yet not let go of the past. We are still living in the past. We long to return. We want to hang on to our negative feelings like our resentment, blame, hate and anger against one another. We want to cling to the memories of the past. We are also attached to things that we can hold - our money, gold, silver and even our fortune, our fame, our power.

Jesus asks to a man who wants to follow him not to return to his home, and even to attend his father’s funeral. It’s an overstatement – but it makes the point that we are pilgrims. We are constantly moving forward. For Jesus, “there’s no place to lay His head” in this world. His true home is found on the other side of time, not in this world. His home is ours. So we have to move forward.

Our journey on earth, as following Jesus, is but a place to pass through. Like climbing the highest mountain let us look ahead and move forward. Don’t let ourselves be stuck by the material things of this world. Don’t let our feelings of blame and anger against one another blocked us. We are not living in the past. They are the baggage in our journey. When we think of the future, we should leave these things behind and let go of our negative feelings.

Let us now fix our eyes on Jesus. Move forward. And let Jesus be our guide in our journey to the Father’s home, our true home.

“OUR NAME AS CHRISTIAN”

Solemnity of St. John the Baptist
Lk 1:57-66, 80

I met numbers of people with the nickname called “Jun” or “Jun-jun.” The name “Jun-jun” means junior. They usually named after their fathers. In my family, my parents, my brother and sisters, and my neighbors call me “Jun-jun”. My friends in our village call me “Gil-jun”. My name is Gil. This name is taken from my father’s name Herminigildo. Some people may say I am a junior but I am not really a junior. My father did not name me after him.

Name is very important for us. It’s our identity as a person. It a nice feeling to hear when people call us with our names. Some people want their names to be known and famous. We are grateful when someone knows our name. We are calling with each other with our names.

We don’t want others to make fun with our names. We don’t want it to be destroyed, to be labeled with a “bad” name. Our name is our identity or we may say our dignity. We protect our names. Some of us love our names.

In our Gospel story, Zechariah did not name his son after him. Both Elizabeth and Zechariah said, “He will be called John.” They named him after God’s choice. It was God who gave this name. They were happy with that name and praised God for giving that name.

In the bible, giving the name is giving the role or mission. Abram became Abraham, Jacob became Israel, Simon became Peter, Saul became Paul. God gave them a new names and He chose a person for a special role. The name John means “God’s graciousness.” John’s name was about God’s graciousness. He brought about God’s graciousness to the people. And John fulfilled that.

We are not named “John” but we have our own names. We are named “Christians.” This name is very meaningful for us. With this name we have given a special role, our mission, that is, to live up to that name as Christian.

We call ourselves as “Christians.” We identify ourselves as “Christians.” God calls us now by that name. God asks us now to recognize ourselves, to identify our role or mission and to live up to our name as “Christians.”