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Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 29, 2018
John 6:1-15

Jesus said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” (Jn. 6:5)

Unlike the other Gospels, the Gospel of John does not have the story of the Institution of the Eucharist on the Last Supper. However, it does not mean John the evangelist does not write anything about the Eucharist. In fact, John includes the most sublime discourse on the bread of life in his chapter 6. The chapter itself is relatively long, and the Church has distributed it into several Sunday Gospel readings (from today up to August 26). This discourse on the Bread of Life begins with the lovely story of Jesus feeding the multitude.
The story highlights Jesus’ question to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” (Jn. 6:5) Philip, who seems to be familiar with the place, gives impossibility as an answer, “Two hundred denarii (or two hundred days’ wages) worth of food would not be enough…” (Jn. 6:7) Philip is just realistic, but he misses the mark. Jesus does not ask “how much,” but “where.” Perhaps, if Philip lives in the 21st century, he would direct Jesus to the nearest shopping mall! The point is that Philip would eagerly reduce the entire problem into a financial matter. Philip is not wrong because finance and economy are the backbones of our daily lives and even our survival as species, But money is not the only thing that matters. Philip will later see during the multiplication of the bread, that the “where” is pointing back to Jesus Himself. And as we will see in succeeding of chapter 6, the bread Jesus offers is not meant only for biological and economic benefits, but for eternal life.
I am currently having my clinical pastoral education at one of the hospitals in Metro Manila. One of the sacred missions entrusted to me as a chaplain is to distribute the Holy Communion to the sick. By ministering to the sick, especially through prayer and giving Holy Communion, I am reminded that the physical and biological aspects of our humanity are not the only things to be taken care of. It is true that many patients I have encountered are struggling with financial issues, like how to get the money to pay the hospital bills and expensive medicines. They have to wrestle also with their sickness that sometimes is incurable. I myself am at a loss on how to help them in these pressing concerns. However, often, the patients themselves are the ones who assure me that God will find a way, as He always does. What I do, then, is to affirm and strengthen their faith. Prayer and giving of the Holy Communion are the visible manifestations of Jesus’ real presence among us, and His presence is even more felt by the sick. Like our Gospel’s today, Jesus does not only take care of the physical aspect of our lives, but more fundamentally, He brings us to the deeper reality that our souls all long for. Paradoxically, in their hunger, they discover Jesus.
Being strong and healthy, we often forget this simple truth. Like Philip, we are more concerned with amassing wealth, attaining fame, and achieving success. Even as people serving the Church and the community, we are spending more time in organizing charity events, raising funds, and even arguing among ourselves over trivial matters. We miss the point why we are going to the Church. We miss encountering Jesus. We pray and hope that we are able to answer Jesus’ question rightly to Philip and us, “Where shall we find food for us to eat?”

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 22, 2018

Mark 6:30-34

 

He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”  (Mrk 6:31)

 

I am currently having my clinical pastoral education at one of the hospitals in Metro Manila. It has been one month since I started my pastoral visits. Since then, I have encountered people in different stages of illness. Many of them are fast recovering, some are taking more time to get cured, but some others have to face serious conditions. It is my ministry as a chaplain to accompany them in their journey of healing. I feel immense joy when I can witness their healing process, from one who is weak on the bed, to one who is standing and ready to leave the hospital.

However, the greatest privilege for me is that I am given a chance to accompany some persons in their journey of dying. It seems rather morbid because we are all afraid of death, and many still look at talking about death as taboo. Yet, in the hospital, battling death is a daily business for both the patients and the medical professionals. It is just that some are dying longer than the others. Death and dying are terrifying because they end our life, shatter our dreams, and cut our relationship with the people we love. I befriend a young man who just graduated with a lot of dreams in his heart, yet cancer robs him of his dreams as he has to struggle with painful and unforgiving chemotherapy. I also accompany a young woman who has kidney failures and has to spend a lot on her dialysis and medicine. She is not able to finish her school, to find a job, and to pursue her dreams. A young mother has to leave behind her young children in the province, move to Manila, jump from one hospital to another, just to be cured of her breast cancer. Her only wish is to be reunited with her children.

However, as I journey with them, I discover that dying is not only terrifying but also a privilege. It is true that dying can trigger many negative feelings like denial, anger, bitterness, and even depression. One can blame himself, or get angry with God. One who can only depend on the generosity of the people around him can feel helpless and even depressed. However, when the patient begins to accept his situation, dying can be transformed into a moment of grace. The dying person can now see what truly matter in life. As healthy persons, we do a lot of things; we work hard, we achieve many things. With so much in our hands, we tend to overlook what are the most essential in our lives. Dying slows us down, and gives us time to think clearly. It provides us the rare opportunity to settle the unfinished business and to do the missions God has entrusted to us. Paradoxically, the dying is the one who is truly living. As Mitch Albom writes in Tuesdays with Morrie, “The truth is, once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus invites His disciples to rest. After working so hard for their mission, Jesus brings them to a deserted place. After success in their preaching, the disciples may easily be proud and be full of themselves. Yet, a genuine rest may settle them down and reorient themselves into Jesus, the source of their mission and success.

We do not have to suffer first from terminal illness as to experience dying. We can always avail the privilege of dying through moments of rest, prayer, and reflection. It is always good to reflect the words of St. John of the Cross, “in the twilight of life, God will not judge us on our earthly possessions and human successes, but on how well we have loved.”

 

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

The fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 15, 2018

Mark 6:7-13

 

Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them. (Mk. 6:11)

 

Our Gospel today speaks of the mission of the Twelve. They are sent to perform the threefold task: to exorcise the evil spirits, to heal the sick and to preach repentance. This threefold missionary duty reflects Jesus’ mission also in the Gospel according to Mark. To facilitate their preaching ministry, they need to travel light. No extra baggage, no extra burden. They need to travel two by two as a sign of communal and ecclesial dimension of the mission. They shall depend also their sustenance on the generosity of the people. And, when they face rejection, they shall shake the dust off their feet as a symbolic judgment against those who reject them. In ancient time, the Jews shake the dust off their feet when they reenter the Israel soil from the Gentile territories, as a sign of disowning and disapproval of the Gentiles nations.

 

I am presently having a clinical pastoral education in one of the hospitals in Metro Manila. The program trains me to become a good and compassionate chaplain. One of the basic tasks of a chaplain is to visit the patients, and during our visit, we are to listen to the patients and journey with them as a companion of the sick. To a certain extent, I feel that I am participating in the mission of the twelve Jesus’ disciples, especially in the ministry of healing the sick. However, unlike Jesus’ disciples, I am aware that I do not have the gift of miraculous healing. I often pray for and together with the patients, but so far there is no instantaneous healing, and patients continue to struggle with their sickness. However, the healing is not limited only to physical and biological aspects. It is holistic and includes the emotional and spiritual healing. Our doctors, nurse, and other hospital staffs have done their best to cure their patients’ illness, or at least to help them to bear their illness with dignity. I do believe that they are essentially and primarily Jesus’ co-workers in the ministry of healing. However, with so much load work they carry and limited time and energy, they have to focus on what they are trained for. The chaplains are there to fill in the gaps, to tie the loose ends, to attend to the emotional and spiritual needs.

 

In my several visits, I am grateful that many are welcoming my presence. However, at times, I feel also unwelcome. At this kind of moment, I am tempted to “shake the dust off my feet” as the testimony against them. After all, the disciples are instructed to do that. However, at the second thought, I try to understand why the patient is not so welcoming. Perhaps, they are in pain. Perhaps, they need rest. Perhaps, the medication affects their emotional disposition. Perhaps, they still have some serious issues that they need to deal with. With this awareness, I cannot simply judge them as “bad guy”. Trying to understand them and empathize with them, I also “shake the dust off my feet”, but this time, it is not the testimony against them, but it is to shake the “dust” of misunderstanding, rash judgment, and apathy. A chaplain is one who carries the mission of Christ to bring healing, and if I address rejection and difficulty with anger and hatred, then I just create more pain and illness.

 

Whether we are medical professionals or not, all of us are called to participate in this healing ministry of Jesus Christ. All of us are wounded and in pain with so many problems and issues we have in life. Thus, it is our call to bring healing to our family, to our friends, to our society, to our natural environment, and to our Church. This begins with our willingness to “shake the dust off our feet”, the dust of fear and wrong pre-judgment, the dust of rush emotional reactions in the face of challenging situations.

 

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 8, 2018

Mark 6:1-6

 

“He was amazed at their lack of faith.” (Mk. 6:6)

 

When Jesus teaches in the synagogue in Nazareth, the listeners are amazed by his wisdom. Jesus speaks like a mighty prophet. However, the people soon make a background check on Jesus, and they realize Jesus’ identity and his family background.  Nazareth is a small rural town in Galilee, and everyone knows everyone in this kind of setting. The people of Nazareth know Jesus as a son of a carpenter, and himself a carpenter. They are familiar also with Jesus’ family and relatives.

 

It is just impossible for a carpenter, an artisan who spends most of his time doing manual labor to acquire such profound wisdom. The people of Nazareth also recognize that Jesus is a son of Mary and they know His relatives. It seems the people are aware that Jesus’ relatives are just ordinary and poor Jews. None of them seems to possess a notable personality. Jesus should stay where He belongs: an ordinary Jewish and a poor laborer. Thus, to become a charismatic preacher and an admirable rabbi is simply unthinkable. Jesus, recognizes the root cause: lack of faith.

 

We are living two millennia after Christ, but unfortunately, this debilitating mentality continues to exist and even thrive in our midst. It is a mentality that boxes people in their limitations and suppresses their potential to grow and improve. This is the mentality that fuels fundamentalism, racism, negative stereotypes, and other destructive ideologies that divide people. Once a loser, always a loser; once an Asian, always an Asian; once an addict, always an addict. Yet, this mentality does not only reside the big ideologies, but it also affects our personal lives: when we think we are always right, and others are always wrong; when we believe that we are holier than others; when we only trust ourselves; when we refuse to forgive others; when we cling to our pride.

 

Dealing with this crippling mentality, Jesus brings to the fore the reality that humans are beings with faith. With faith, that is the spiritual gift from God; we are empowered to go beyond our own cultural, mental, bodily limitations. In the Gospels, faith enable God’s power to do much more in persons’ lives, and the same faith inspires us to see God’s works in us. The paralytic is healed because of the faith of his friends who carry him to Jesus (Mark 2:1-6); the woman with hemorrhage is healed because of her faith (Mark 5:25-34); Jesus tells Jairus, the synagogue official to have faith and Jesus brings his daughter to life (Mark 5:35-43).

 

I am currently doing my pastoral work as a chaplain in one of the hospitals in Metro Manila. My duty is to visit the patients, to give blessing and minister the Holy Communion, but fundamentally, to be with them and listen to them. I cannot do much in term of physical cure, but I realize that sickness is not only physical. Healing includes psychological and spiritual aspects. I journey with the patients in their joy, sorrow, frustration, and hope. I accompany them as they try to resolve some issues like anger, broken relationship, and painful memories. As I walk with them, I also realize my weaknesses. Yet, despite this brokenness, people with faith have always found strength and courage to heal, to go beyond themselves and live a meaningful life.

 

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 1, 2018

Mark 5:21-43

 

“Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.” (Mk. 5:34)

 

Today’s Gospel seems to be just another healing miracles of Jesus, but if we read it closely, the story of the healing of the woman with hemorrhage is extraordinary tale of faith. We are not sure what kind of hemorrhage she suffers, but the fact that she bears the sickness for 12 years, spends a lot for the medication, and does not get any better, means it is pretty serious, if not terminal. During this time, the physicians are extremely rare, and expectedly, the patients need to spend a lot of money. The woman may come from a wealthy family, but she is impoverished because her prolong sickness. The woman is losing her life and facing despair. I am currently assigned as an associate chaplain in one of the hospitals in Metro Manila, and my duty is to make pastoral visit to these patients. I encounter some patients who are suffering from certain health conditions that drain all their resources, and it seems the situation does not get any better. I realize the story of the woman with hemorrhage is not only her story happened in the far past, but it is also our stories here and now.

 

We must not forget that our protagonist is also a woman. Being a woman in the time of Jesus means being a second-class citizen in a patriarchal society and often, they are considered as mere properties of the husbands or the fathers. Generally, while the men work outside and socialize, women are expected to stay at home, and function as the housekeepers and babysitters. Normally, they are not allowed to communicate with the outsiders, especially men, except under the supervision of their husbands or fathers. Our protagonist is also having chronic hemorrhage, and this means she is ritually unclean, and those who are in contact with her shall be made unclean as well (Lv. 15:19).

 

The woman with hemorrhage has faith in Jesus and wants to be healed, yet to do that, she has to challenge the cultural norms that bind her. She traverses into greater danger. What if she is not healed? What if she makes Jesus and His disciples unclean? What if she will be branded as a shameless woman by the society? Shame restrains her, but faith propels her. Thus, she takes a ‘win-win’ approach. She tries to reach Jesus’ cloth, and she makes sure that she will not establish any contact with Jesus. Miracle happens, and she is healed. Yet, unfortunately, Jesus finds her. In tremble and fear, she fells down before Jesus and confesses. She is afraid not only because she “snatches” the power from Jesus, but because she has broken the standing cultural norms and the Law of Moses. However, Jesus’ response surprises his disciples and all who witness the event. Instead of castigating her for culturally improper behavior, Jesus praises her faith, “Daughter your faith has saved you.”

 

Indeed it is her faith that makes her a proactive protagonist of this particular story. She refuses to succumb to despair and makes her way all the way to Jesus. We notice most of the actions in this story is performed by the woman, and Jesus is there to affirm her. Rightly, Jesus calls her “daughter” acknowledging her also as the descendants of Abraham, the father of great faith. The story of a woman of hemorrhage is a journey of a woman of faith. It is a faith that grows even in the midst of hopeless situations of sickness, financial crisis, and uncertain future. It is a faith that thrives in the middle of human limitations, and transcend cultural boundaries. It is a faith that moves a mountain.

 

Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP