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Four weeks ago I blessed the new home of the brother of my high school friend. During lunch, I met his friends who are car enthusiasts and I felt like being in the set of “Counting Cars” or “Drive.” What struck me most was the topic about “supercars” when they claimed that despite the different brands and models, these supercars are the same, very fast and mean. What really matters, they told me, is the driver himself if he has all the courage to go really very, very fast. They unanimously concluded that it is not the car but the driver. Exactly the same lesson I have always heard way back during our Varsitarian days at UST from Sean Pleta and Jay Javier, now both accomplished photographers who would insist that it is not the camera, but the shooter. A few years ago during conversations with Mike Yanga, he told me how he begged his parents for a Roland keyboard while in college at the Ateneo only to feel so ashamed later after meeting his favorite Jesuit musician, Fr. Manoling Francisco who used only an old, ordinary keyboard to compose most of the Church music we have come to love like “Hindi Kita Malilimutan,” “One More Gift”, “Humayo at Ihayag” and many more!
Every year, we celebrate Christmas and while Jesus is its very meaning and essence, it can only be joyful and true if we are properly disposed to Him; hence, the need for conversion as preached by St. John the Baptist last Sunday. Even if we have the most beautiful clothes, the most expensive gifts and delicious food this Christmas, these are all nothing if we do not have Jesus in our hearts. God became human like us precisely for us! Without us repenting for our sins and turning away from our evil ways, it would be impossible for us to rejoice this Third Sunday of Advent, even on Christmas (!) because evils hide and cover our value as a person precious in the eyes of God. And when that happens, we then spend our energies complaining and whining about our misgivings in life, without seeing the immense love and gifts God has given us. Like the Blessed Virgin Mary in our Gospel during the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception last Thursday, our guardian angels greet us each day with the same salutation “Hail, full of grace. The Lord is with you!” (Lk.1:28) If the angels’ words are not enough to convince us of our blessedness and worth as a person, now heed and rejoice in the words of our Lord Jesus in the Gospel today: “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Mt.11:11)
We are “the least in the kingdom of heaven” referred to by the Lord and yet “greater than St. John the Baptist” because though we are sinful, weak, problematic, sick, and confused, He came for us and stays with us. St. John was no doubt very great for he prepared the way of the Lord; but, once He had come, John had to exit from the scene as he declared “He must increase; I must decrease.” (Jn.3:30) See the disposition of St. John even while in prison, still rejoicing upon hearing the many great things Jesus had been doing that he sent his disciples to inquire if He was the one they were waiting for. After this episode, we heard nothing of John anymore except his execution, fulfilling his mission of preparing the coming of Jesus Christ manifested among “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.” (Mt.11:5)
Like St. John the Baptist imprisoned at that time, we are also in many darkness and hardships today but at the same time, we have many moments of joy and peace as we feel Jesus being with us in our journey, always comforting and strengthening us when the going gets tough. We rejoice today as the pink shades of the liturgy indicate because of the “little comings” of Jesus today when we are able to “see” the more essential things in life, when we are able to “walk” on with the many trials we go through, when we feel “cleansed” and vindicated, when we “hear” others telling us good things about us, when we “arise” from our many defeats and losses, and when our hearts are filled with hope that no matter what happens, God would save us (cf. Mt.11:5).
Let us not miss out the joy of this Third Sunday and of Christmas in Jesus Christ. Let us “return” to God like what Isaiah said in the first reading to indicate the need for conversion in order to experience great rejoicing among the people of Israel exiled at that time: “Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy; they will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee.” (Is. 35:10) Sin is a turning away from God while conversion is a returning to God. May we have the patience called for by St. James in the second reading today to examine our hearts and get into the very root of our sinfulness so that we may be converted as a new person in Christ. On Thursday we shall start our Christmas novena or “Simbang Gabi”. May it not just be a tradition to be fulfilled or relived among us but an opportunity for patient conversion in Jesus Christ whose coming we joyfully await in our hearts, in our very person. Rejoice!
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Parokya ni San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista
Gov. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan
