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The Epiphany of the Lord

January 7, 2018

Matthew 2:1-12

 

“Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Mat 2:11)”

 

Balthazar, Melchior, and Gaspar, as the tradition called them, were neither Jews nor baptized Christians. In Greek ancient manuscripts of the Gospel, the word used to describe them is ‘magos’, meaning ‘someone with magical power’ or ‘magicians’, and practicing magic is detestable in the eyes of the Jews (2 Chro 33:6).  Even the Catholic Church herself prohibits our engagement with any kind of magic (CCC 2116). Yet, we cannot be sure what kind of magic they craft, but one thing is certain that these Magi read the sign of times and follow the star. Because of this, they are called as one of those ancient astrologers, star-readers who predict the human behaviors and the future.

 

Surprisingly, today’s Gospel presents these three Magi as our protagonists. Why should these practitioners of magic turn to be the good guys here? If we examine closely the story of the Gospel, we discover that these Magi stand in contrast with Herod together with his chief priests and scribes. Unlike the Magi who are reading the star to find the new-born king, Herod and his religious associates are examining the Scriptures to locate the Messiah. Indeed, the Scriptures, as the Word of God, is the lawful means to seek Jesus. Unfortunately, despite its valid method, Herod’s intention is to annihilate Jesus, his threat to his throne. Herod embodies those people who use the Scriptures to achieve his own agenda, to confuse the people and to destroy God. Meanwhile the Magi, despite their illegitimate method, sincerely seek Jesus, the true King, and indeed, God leads them to Jesus.

 

The encounter with Jesus brings real transformation. The Magi offer Jesus gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Traditionally, the three gifts are symbols of kingship, priesthood and suffering of Jesus, but further studies suggest that the three gifts are the usual items used for practicing magic in the ancient time. Thus, when the Magi offer the three gifts, this symbolizes their giving-up of their old profession. When they see the true King, they have found the true meaning of life, the fullness of happiness. They realize that their former profession, powerful it might be, is not true. Their journey has come to a conclusion, and it is the time for them to decide whether to stay in their old way or to embrace Christ fully. And, they made the right choice.

 

The story of the Magi reminds me of the story of Bartolo Longo. Growing up in the troubled time of Italy and the Church, young Bartolo loses faith in Papacy, and entered a satanic group. He goes all the way and he becomes the satanic priest. Yet, despite the power and wealth he gains from the devil, he continues to be restless. Deep inside, he longs for the true peace. Driven by his desire for truth, and helped by his friend and a Dominican priest, he returns to the faith that he has abandoned. He becomes an ardent devotee of our Lady and zealous promoter of the rosary. He initiates the restoration of a dilapidated church in Pompey, and places the image of Our Lady of the Rosary. Through his effort, now the church has become a revered pilgrim site in Italy. His holiness is acknowledged by the Church, and he is beatified in 1980 by John Paul II.

 

Like the Magi and Bartolo Longo, are we ready to recognize Christ as our true happiness? Are we willing to look for Jesus in our lives’ journey? And, when the moment comes, are we willing to give up our former lives and to embrace Jesus fully?

 

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno , OP

 

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

January 1, 2018

Luke 2:16-21

 

Some of us may wonder why the Church places the celebration of the solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God on January 1, or on the New Year. One may guess that the Church wants us to attend mass on the first day of the year, so as to start the year right. For those who wish to have long holidays, it might be pretty a kill joy, but for some of us who wish to be blessed for the entire year, it is a nice thought. Yet, surely there is something deeper than that.

Mary as the Mother of God is the most ancient and foundational among the other Marian dogmas (there are four Marian dogmas). As early as second century AD, Christians in Egypt have prayed to Mary, and called her as the holy mother of God. The prayer is known as “Sub Tuum Praesidium” or “We fly to your patronage”, a prayer that is still being prayed daily by us, the Dominicans. At the council of Ephesus in 431, in an effort to defend the humanity of Jesus, the Church proclaimed Mary as the Mother of God as definitive and bonding for all Christians of all time.

For non-Catholics, to call Mary as the mother of God is pretty idolatrous. If God has a mother, Mary must be the highest goddess of all! The Catholics must fall back to polytheism as they worship Mary like the ancient Greeks offered incense to Hera, the supreme goddess of Olympus. But, for the well-informed Catholics, the title ‘Mother of God’ does not point to the divinity of Mary, and in fact, we never consider Mary as another supreme being. She is human just every one of us, but she is so blessed because the Word was made flesh through her (Luk 1:31). Thus, in simple logic, we may say that Mary is the mother of Jesus and Jesus is God, therefore, Mary is the Mother of God.

Now, any true Marian teaching always sheds us more light on Jesus and brings us closer to God. If a woman becomes a mother because the child she bears, then it is fitting to place this solemnity of the Mother of God in close proximity to the Birth of Jesus or Christmas. No wonder, the Church honors her motherhood exactly at the Octave (8^th day) of Christmas, which happens to fall on January 1. This connection between Mary the mother and baby Jesus is reflected also on today’s Gospel who speaks of the birth of Jesus.

Perhaps we are just lazy to attend the Mass today, especially we have many other plans. We rather choose to be caught in the festive atmosphere of New Year. Yet, it is also the day that we reconnect with brilliant Church Fathers who defend this teaching, with many Christian martyrs who choose to die for this truth, and with countless devout Christians who honor the Mother of God. If we begin New Year with a lot of resolutions, why don’t we make honoring Mary, as Jesus honors His mother, as our resolution?

 

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

Feast of the Holy Family

December 31, 2017

Luke 2:22-40

 

“They took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (Luk 2:22 NAB)”

 

Today, the Church is celebrating the feast of the Holy Family. Saint Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary are man and woman regarded as the holiest among mortals. And the center of their family is Jesus, the Son of God. They are not only one holy family among others, but they are the perfection of the Holy Family. Looking at our own families, we realize we are nothing to compare to this Holy Family. We are called to be holy like them, but we continue to struggle and fail. Nobody among us is immaculately conceived like the Virgin Mary. No woman among us gives birth to the Son of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. Many of us surely love to sleep, but who among us like St. Joseph, receive genuine appearance of the Angel in our dream? Despite our best efforts, we keep hurting each other, failing each other, and are far from the ideal example of the Holy Family.

 

However, the point of the Holy Family is not so much on the goodness of individual members. It is not about the greatness of Mary who is blessed among women. It is not about the righteousness of Joseph who faithfully follows the Law of Moses. Yet, it is about the grace and mercy of God, and how they open themselves to these gifts of God. If we examine carefully the Bible and the socio-historical context of the first century Palestine, we discover that Joseph and Mary are hardly capable and prepared parents for Jesus. Despite coming from David’s clan, Joseph is a poor carpenter from Nazareth. Mary is a very young woman, and just barely ready for pregnancy, let alone for childbearing and child-raising. God makes a very risky choice to entrust His only Son to this couple.

 

Joseph is indeed a righteous man because he knows and lives by the Law of Moses, yet when he learns that Mary is with a child that is not his, he must have felt betrayal and deep pain. To satisfy his anger, he could have openly accused Mary of adultery and let the public stone her, but his mercy prevails, he decides to secretly divorce Mary as to save her life and the baby. However, adding salt to the wound, the Angel orders Joseph to take Mary as his wife. This means Joseph will have to acknowledge the child as his own, and he will live with a dishonor as one who violates a virgin before the marriage. The same thing with Mary. Despite her inability to understand the virginal conception of Jesus, she is aware that having a child outside marriage means shame and even death. Thus, this means their lives become easier. Hardly! Simeon warns Mary that a sword will pierce her soul. Mary will see her own son treated like an animal and crucified. Joseph has to work harder to provide for Jesus and Mary, and continue to bear the stigma. Holy spouses do not have a convenient life even with Jesus in their midst. Yet, both Mary and Joseph agree to the plan of God, and let the grace of God fill their lives, and this makes them holy.

 

We realize that building a holy family is a tough vocation. Like Joseph and Mary, we are going to face difficult problems, from financial instability to personal disagreements, and relying on our own strength, we will surely fall. Yet, like Mary and Joseph, we open ourselves to the grace of God, because when God calls us to holiness in the family, He surely will bring us all to the perfection.

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

Hana dan Simeon

 

Hari keenam di Oktaf Natal

30 Desember 2017

Lukas 2: 36-40

 

Dalam Injil hari ini, kita bertemu dengan Hana. Sama seperti Simeon, yang kita temui dalam bacaan kemarin, Hana juga orang Israel yang suci dan saleh. Simeon digambarkan sebagai seseorang yang dipenuhi oleh Roh Kudus, sementara Hana disebut sebagai nabi perempuan. Keduanya sudah berusia lanjut, menghabiskan hari-hari mereka di Bait Allah, menyembah Tuhan siang dan malam. Mereka adalah wakil sejati umat Allah yang kudus. Baik Hana maupun Simeon bersukacita saat melihat Yesus, dan berbicara tentang Yesus sebagai penggenapan janji Allah di dalam Perjanjian Lama.

Simeon dan Hana merupakan perwakilan terbaik dari bangsa Israel. Simeon sangat mungkin berasal dari klan imam karena dia memberkati Yesus dan orang tua-Nya. Dia mungkin juga imam yang menyunat Yesus sebagaimana ditentukan oleh Hukum Musa. Sementara itu, Hana adalah nabi perempuan, orang yang diilhami oleh Roh Kudus untuk berbicara kehendak Tuhan kepada umatNya. Jadi, Simeon dan Hana mewakili dua institusi paling terhormat di Israel kuno, dua pilar agama Israel kuno: imamat dan para nabi. Baik imam maupun nabi Perjanjian Lama mengakui bahwa Yesus adalah Mesias yang diharapkan.

Namun, Simeon dan Hana tidak hanya mewakili dua pilar agama Israel, namun keduanya berbicara tentang dua kelas sosio-ekonomi yang berbeda di masyarakat Israel. Simeon sebagai pria dan imam, mewakili kelompok yang kuat dan elit. Sebagai pria, mereka memiliki kekuatan atas rumah tangga mereka, dan sebagai imam, mereka memiliki kekuatan atas berkat dan berbagai urusan keagamaan. Sementara, Hana sebagai wanita, janda dan nabi, mewakili kelompok yang relatif lemah dan terpinggirkan di Israel. Sebagai wanita, mereka harus mematuhi ayah dan suami mereka. Sebagai janda, mereka sering merupakan bagian masyarakat yang paling miskin dan paling rentan. Sebagai nabi, mereka sering dibenci oleh banyak orang karena keberanian mereka untuk mengkritikberbagai korupsi di masyarakat.

Yesus akan datang untuk semua, untuk semua orang dan tanpa membuat perbedaan. Ini diperlambangkan dengan pertemuannya dengan Simeon dan Hana. Yesus tidak hanya datang ke kelas yang kuat dalam masyarakat, namun Dia juga datang bagi orang-orang yang lemah, miskin dan terpinggirkan. Ini adalah Kabar Baik. Kepada Simeon, Yesus membawa penggenapan Hukum dan imamat, dan kepada Hana, Yesus membawa penebusan kepada mereka yang menderita. Saat Yesus datang ke Simeon dan Hana, Dia juga datang kepada kita semua untuk membawa penggenapan dalam kasih karunia, dan penebusan dalam kehidupan, untuk menyelamatkan keselamatan dari dosa, dan pembebasan dari berbagai jenis penindasan.

 

Keluarga: Sumber dari Hal-Hal Terbaik dalam Hidup

Hari ke-5 dalam Oktaf Natal

Lukas 2:22-35

29 Desember 2015

Di zaman ini, keluarga terus diserang dan menghadapi pencobaan yang bertubi-tubi. Perceraian, perselingkuhan, kekerasan dalam rumah tangga, pelecehan terhadap wanita dan anak, eksploitasi anak, pornografi, penyalahgunaan kontrasepsi, aborsi, dan kemiskinan adalah penyakit-penyakit yang terus mengancam keluarga. Ini adalah tugas kudus dari setiap orang baik Katolik maupun bukan untuk melindungi keluarga. Namun, mengapa kita perlu menjaga keluarga dari segala kejahatan ini?

Salah satu alasan utama adalah bahwa di dalam keluarga,  kita semua belajar hal-hal terbaik dalam hidup. Selain belajar untuk mengatakan ‘Mama’ atau ‘Papa’ atau bagaimana cara berjalan, kita juga belajar untuk mengasihi dengan sungguh, untuk mempercayai orang lain, untuk setia kepada sesama, untuk memberi dengan murah hati, dan membuat pengorbanan yang sejati. Jika kita selalu ragu-ragu untuk mencintai, atau tidak mau untuk berbagi, akar penyebabnya mungkin ada dalam keluarga. Kita tidak melihat nilai-nilai luhur ini tumbuh berkembang di dalam keluarga kita. St Theresa dari Avila sendiri bersaksi dalam otobiografinya, “Jika saya tidak begitu jahat itu, ini karena saya dibantu dengan memiliki orang tua yang saleh dan takut akan Allah, dan juga bahwa Tuhan memberikan saya rahmat-Nya untuk membuat saya baik.”

Yesus dilahirkan  di dalam sebuah keluarga. Keluarga-Nya bukanlah yang paling sempurna karena Maria dan Yusuf bukan orang kaya dan tidak bisa memberikan banyak untuk Yesus, tapi tetap saja, Maria dan Yusuf adalah orang tua yang tepat bagi Yesus. Dia taat kepada Bapa-Nya di surga sebagai Ia melihat Maria yang telah taat kepada kehendak Allahsaat Maria menerima kabar dari malaikat Gabriel. Yesus adalah pengkhotbah yang tekun karena Yesus dilatih oleh Yusuf, sang tukang kayu yang tekun. Dan yang paling penting, jika Yesus mampu mengasihi sepenuhnya dan mengorbankan diri-Nya untuk keselamatan kita, itu karena Dia melihat Maria dan Yusuf yang sepenuh hati bersedia untuk meninggalkan segalanya demi Yesus.

Keluarga mungkin hanya unit terkecil dalam masyarakat, tetapi kita perlu mengingat bahwa keselamatan kita berasal dari keluarga. Perjalanan kita ke surga mengambil langkah pertama dalam keluarga kita.

Frater Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

(English Edition)

Family: The Best Thing in Life

Fifth day in Christmas Octave

Lukas 2:22-35

December 29, 2017

Our families are fiercely attacked than never before in any history of humanity. Divorce, infidelity, domestic violence, child abuse and labor, sexual exploitation, pornography, contraception, abortion, and dehumanizing poverty are diseases that threaten the family. It is a sacred duty of every Christian to protect the family. Yet, why we need to guard the family from all these evil?

One of the ultimate reasons is that it is within the family that we all learn the best things in life. Aside from learning to say ‘Mama’ or how to walk, we learn to love genuinely, to trust others, to be faithful to one other, to give generously, and to make true sacrifice. If we are always hesitant to love, or unwilling to share, the root causes may be in the family. We did not see these virtues strive in our family. St. Teresa of Avila herself testified in her autobiography, “If I had not been so wicked it would have been a help to me that I had parents who were virtuous and feared God, and also that the Lord granted me His favor to make me good.”

Jesus was born into a family. It was not a perfect family since Mary and Joseph was not rich and perhaps could not provide much for Jesus, but still, Mary and Joseph were the right parents for Jesus. He obeyed His Father as He saw Mary who had been obedient to God’s will in the Annunciation. He was hard-working preacher because Jesus was trained by dedicated Joseph, the carpenter. Most importantly, if Jesus was able to love fully and sacrifice Himself for our salvation, it is because He saw in Mary and Joseph who wholeheartedly willing to abandon everything for the sake of Jesus.

Family may be just the smallest unit in the society, but we need to remember our salvation comes from the family. Our journey to heaven takes its first step in our families.