MARCH 06, 2021 | 2PM Lenten Recollection : The Paschal Mystery

a [Music] hmm [Music] jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom jesus remember me jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom jesus remember when you come into your kingdom jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] m [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] know [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] christopher [Music] if [Music] [Music] i [Music] [Music] hello and we will be your mcs for this afternoon's event hello brother warren i am so excited for this afternoon [Music] well today is our second lentil recollection for this season and another [Music] [Music] indeed whatever is necessary to reach as many of our parishioners despite the many limitations brought about the by demi so pandemic so to start with let me call on our parish pastoral council chairman brother hector salva for his opening remarks [Music] is thank you very much brother hector to formally introduce our keynote speaker uh naksparang galing samalayor speaker i'd like to call on dr imelda battar head of commission on social services and development cssb thank you thank you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Laughter] meaningful i think recollection you know happened our topic is uh going to be a little bit heavy in the sister pass in fact i wanted to ask her are you sure sister that you want me to share some thoughts on the paschal mystery and it's going to be a difficult topic and sister paz advised me to more or less present it in english with some mix of tagalog for our international audience now wow because she wants to reach the whole world with this recollection and i thought this recollection was only for the san roque cathedral parish well let us now begin with our reflection i call it a lenten meditation on the paschal mystery and you have also with you before you the slides for the powerpoint presentation i would like to begin by reading from the first letter to the corinthians for the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of god that's one corinthians chapter 1 verse 18. the paschal mystery and when we speak about the paschal mystery we're talking about how salvation is attained through the passion death and resurrection of christ highest point [Music] supper and then the veneration of the cross on good friday and then the vigil easter vigil how salvation is attained through something that looks like a defeat can you look at the cross and see the victory of god that's what the paschal mystery is about it is very paradoxical kabbalin tuna as they say in tagalog maybe that's why we call it a mystery usually mystery is associated with things that are too difficult to understand unfortunately it has become very far from the original meaning of mystery when you say the original word musterion in greek sorry that's greek mysterium in latin and mysterio in spanish it's not about things that we cannot understand it's not about things that don't make sense rather it is about things whose meaning is so rich you cannot capture it with one definition for the jews when you speak about the paschal what they think about is passover for christians when you speak about the paschal what we think about is easter resurrection but because our faith is judeo-christian we cannot separate the jewish meaning of passover from the christian meaning of easter or resurrection that is why this afternoon i will establish the connection between the jewish meaning and the christian meaning i checked up the definition of pasqua in spanish and i found two definitions number one it says in spanish la fiesta celebrant let's translate that into english the feast celebrated by the jewish people as a commemoration of their liberation from captivity in egypt that is why passover is like independence day or liberation day for the jewish people but there is a second meaning and that second meaning is the christian meaning in spanish pasqua is also defined as la fiesta que celebrant los cristianos en memoria del resurrection de cristo in english the feast celebrated by christians as a commemoration of the resurrection of christ you see we're talking about two commemorations here the jewish commemoration of their liberation from egypt on the one hand and the christian commemoration of the resurrection of christ on the other hand in order to understand pascal mystery we have to link the two together but first let me clear up some confusion because whenever i speak to a filipino audience about pascal i have a little bit of a difficulty with its connection to pasco in spanish when they greet each other whether in among the spanish jews or among the spanish christians in spanish they would say felidas pasquas and for spanish jews an ibizabihindon happy passover up to now spanish jews because there are jewish people also in spain up to now they still greet one another happy passover felices pasquas on the other hand the spanish christians they also use the same greeting felicia's pasquas and of course what they mean is happy easter in tagalog felicia's pasquas is directly translated into maligayang pascal pero the problem is it is not supposed to mean merry christmas or happy nativity in the now i'd like to settle that little difficulty how did it get to mean merry christmas for filipinos in spanish became a generic greeting and unhappy feast day or happy holiday for feasts in general whether the feast is nativity resurrection anniversaries or patronal feasts they would always say felicia's pasquas and then they add the specific fiesta originally to greet one another merry christmas originally in spanish they said felicia's past was the navidad that was the traditional way and it meant happy feast day of nativity in tagalog the original direct translation of feliz pasquez de navidad was maligayang pasco greetings [Music] happy that's the problem resurrection is the spaniards they don't greet each other felices pasquas de navidad anymore that's too archaic that is too old today in spain they'll just say feliz navidad prospero and to greet each other happy nativity we say maligayang pattay nasira you meaning the consequence is now it is so hard to talk to pinoys about pasco without getting them to think of christmas because easter should be an even more joyful feast than christmas but the problem is for most filipinos there is no feast more joyful than christmas for most filipinos easter and we don't even know how to celebrate it well some people are introducing foreign practices like easter egg hunt it doesn't mean anything to us maybe we have to reinvent easter in the pinoy setting but first we have to clarify the linguistic difficulty so the challenge is how to restore the original sense of maligayang pasco the original sense of easter and it is even harder to go back to its original jewish sense of passover because you will need a little more history for that but don't worry i will do that for you this afternoon like i said we have to begin with the jewish meaning before we even capture the christian meaning the original meaning of felicia's pasquas like i said is happy easter happy task because in english they're also using the word task p-a-s-c-h and when it becomes an adjective pascal candel the candle of easter is called the pascal candle okay before the christian meaning the jewish meaning and the jewish meaning is simple crossing over pass over as crossing over this is the easter sea well that's the jewish sense and the christian sense is jesus crossing over from death to new life to bring about our own crossing over parang bhagavataya unang tata and so resurrection for us is jesus crossing over the barrier of death to make it possible for us to also cross over the barrier of death and experience resurrection resurrection isn't just about christ resurrection is about what we are called to participate in as a community of the disciples of christ because if to be christian is to be members of the body of christ if you are part of christ then you are participant in his life his suffering death and resurrection well saint peter says you were ransomed with the precious blood of christ as of a spotless unblemished land ibizabehin the parallelism is between the lamb of the sacrifice in the old testament jewish passover and jesus christ okay the parallelism of symbols is between the land of the passover and christ as the unblemished lamb so let's now go to the jewish background the jewish background you will find in exodus 12 exodus 15 deuteronomy 6 and let me just quote some lines from exodus and deuteronomy the first is exodus 12. you know up to now whenever the jewish people celebrate passover with the passover dinner or supper it has to be dinner it is never a breakfast it is never a lunch it is always supper just as the mass which we call the holy sacrifice is a commemoration never of a breakfast even when you celebrate it in the morning it is last supper even when you celebrate it at noon time you never call it lunch it is a last supper why because we're commemorating a special feast exodus 12 when your child asks what the meaning of this ritual is you will say meaning the jewish people once a year they re-enact their liberation from egypt and they would come together for a supper and the lamb that they have slaughtered is roasted and then before they eat their supper the boy the youngest the you know the one of the children is supposed to ask a question and the father is supposed to answer the question and this is written in exodus 12. when your child asks what the meaning of this ritual is this is the passover of the lord when he passed over the homes of the israelites in egypt and slew the egyptians and the angel of death would strike would strike the firstborn in the homes of families except if he finds that the home the door of the house is painted with the blood of the lamb there was only one thing that scared the angel of death the blood of the lamb angel is that's the narrative in the jewish tradition so the first meaning of passover or pascua is the passing over in meaning the angel of death is passing by and instead of entering your house to kill you he will pass over you of the land second exodus 15 verse 16 by the strength of your arm they were silenced like stones while your people o lord crossed over the nation whom you redeem second meaning of pascua in the jewish setting not just the crossing over or the passing over of the angel of death well the second meaning is the crossing over of the people because when they run away from the egyptians they suddenly found a big barrier what was the barrier my balakin and the barrier was the red sea and the people cried out and they complained to moses and they said you mean to say you liberated us from egypt only to have us slaughtered by the egyptians how can we cross over the sea and now moses said have faith and the lord instructs moses what does moses do he strikes the water with his staff and what happens to the water it is divided and because the water is divided there is dry land in between and the people can now run for their safety they were able to cross over and when they had crossed over the water came back so that's the second meaning of pascua that the people are able to cross over thirdly so in deuteronomy chapter 6 question when your son asks you what is the meaning of these decrees and statutes you're supposed to answer and you will say we were once slaves of the pharaoh in egypt but the lord brought us out with a strong hand brought us out meaning brought us out of slavery into freedom what exodus means exodus means that is the greek word for ex hodos hodos means way x means out it's the way out meaning god made it possible for the israelite people to find a way out and it was supposed to be impossible because there was the sea and there was aside from the sea the desert how will they survive the desert there is no water there is no food if you do not know the proper stop-overs in the desert you will perish certainly the barrier the third barrier that they had to cross over was the desert before they could reach the promised land and guess how long they traveled through the desert how many how long not 40 days uh 40 years 40 years our commemoration of the 40 years in the desert is much shorter it's just 40 days that's our quaresma all right what are they supposed to say god brought us from there to bring us in may way out may weigh in way out of slavery and the way in to liberation into freedom and that's symbolized by the promised land so there you are the word passover i want you to be familiar with the words in hebrew it is called pesach in greek it is forget about nativity for the moment so the basic meaning would be three things the passing over of the angel of death the crossing over of the israelite people through the red sea and their exit from slavery their way out and their entry into promised land so like i said first it's about the passing over of the angel who would spare their firstborn and then secondly the sea the crossing over the sea and thirdly the crossing through the desert they passed over to sila in tagalog i would translate those as paglampass that's the crossing over is the crossing over and then is the way out a passing over that is made possible by the blood of the lamb according to the narrative of the old testament feast of the passover in the new testament reapplication we give a new meaning to passover and what is that new meaning the lamb becomes christ it is by the blood of christ who is now the new sacrificial land that humankind is liberated from the slavery of sin and death and of course if we are liberated from sin and death that means the way out of sin and death leads us to the way into eternal life that's the christian reapplication the christian narrative which is a real description a reinvention a reappropriation of the jewish passover it is an invitation to retell our stories in the light of the paschal mystery of christ and that means to say the ending is happy the ending is not death the ending is eternal life the ending is resurrection and our commemoration of the paschal mystery is not only on easter sunday by the way the very first mass that was ever celebrated in our country was an easter sunday mass that's why on april 4 we are commemorating the first mass which took place on march 31 and people are asking us bishop [Music] why april 4 why not march 31 in march 31 this year is holy wednesday the significance is in the day not in the date the date was march 31 but the day was an easter sunday in 1521 on the shores of li masala the first eucharistic celebration was an easter sunday but in reality every eucharistic celebration is a commemoration of the paschal mystery and so we do this commemoration in the light of the cross of christ the meal of betrayal is retold so that it becomes a redemptive meal it becomes a meal of reconciliation okay let me now go deeper into this christian reinvention you know take note that the shift of vocabulary here is from salvation to redemption you might be wondering what the difference is and almost always we say salvation and redemption no you're not the same the generic sense of salvation retribution salvation is a reward for the good for the just for the worthy for the righteous and if there is a reward for the good the righteous and the worthy there is punishment for the wicked the unrighteous the unworthy the sinners it is almost automatic that idea of salvation and in fact in most religions that is a common presupposition the good are saved they are rewarded and the sinners they are punished question can sinners be saved if you don't believe that sinners can be saved you better leave this church because salvation for christians is never only for the good challenge the real challenge for god is how to save the pasaway the sinners and that question should already you know make the idea of the paschal mystery run in your mind because paschal mystery is about redemption salvation not only of the good that salvation for sinners is possible and i don't want to say salvation of the wicked people [Music] did you know that that is that is a heresy that is a blasphemy to call a person bad to call any human being bad or evil is wrong god did not create bad people i know this is a very difficult thing for most people especially if you have already suffered especially if you have been victimized by criminal elements you're traumatized what will you do you will double your luck and then before you know it people are just knocking at your door or looking if there's someone inside saying you become so praning so paranoid you begin to think all people are bad now why do i say there are no bad people in this world and take nota that's a very basic christian doctrine no bad people because god created only good people but i did not say good people do only good things even the best people can do bad things and so we make a distinction between the person and the action you know when your children do something bad at nagalitka usually the child would say and it is very important as a good parent to say anak india galit ako you get the point you make a distinction between person and action and you did the bad thing but you are good you're good and that's why i am reacting because i would like you to be good because i love you because i care for you because god made you good so i hope you understand what i keep saying to you because if you cannot believe that don't come to church anymore don't even don't even call on jesus christ anymore because you will not understand the paschal mystery paschal mystery is the mystery of redemption that salvation is possible even for sinners now you will say most likely most likely you will say of course bishop salvation is possible for sinners only if they repent diva i can hear you saying that if they don't repent they'll go down to hell is that true yes yes we're very good at making a hell of our lives but people go to hell not because god wants them to go to hell people go to hell because they choose to go to hell and god doesn't like it is never the desire of god to throw anyone into hell please don't forget romans chapter 8 saint paul says if god is for us who can be against us hindi very bad notion of god and many catholics are afraid of god and the fear is always coming from the fear of punishment the concept of a punishing god is not consistent with the god revealed to us by jesus christ the god revealed to us by jesus christ is a loving god he's a god who loves unconditionally he continues to love you niba john 3 16 for god so loved the world he gave us his only son so that all who believe might not perish but might have eternal life we memorize but you forget merupang john 3 17 and most evangelicals and pentecostals they only memorize john 3 16. i advise them to remember verse 17 also verse 17 god did not send his son to the world to condemn the world but to save it meaning god is not excited to punish any of you that's my good news to all of you god's mission is not to condemn god's mission is to save to save and then you will say really bishop if i go into hell he can still save me of course do not underestimate god's power to save of course the catholic faith introduced purgatory because we're very stubborn in our in our faith in a loving god in our faith in the merciful god that when we suffer god suffers also when we go to hell god goes to hell crucifixion do you remember in the creed he descended into who descended into hell huh jesus he descended into hell baba look at that please take a look at that image do you think it's heaven to be condemned to death without doing anything wrong he did nothing but acts of compassion and mercy but they condemned him like a criminal you call that heaven no it is hell deetu samundo the mystery of redemption and now let's focus on what happened on this table because at each time we celebrate the eucharist it is the paschal mystery we celebrate and we celebrate the paschal mystery so that it becomes alive now so that the sacrificial lamb is bleeding all over again we receive his body so that we take part in the paschal mystery so that we also know how to work for redemption but when they say in the name of love i will not give him up i'm willing to bleed for his sake pascal mystery the mystery of redemption okay the mass which we celebrate now not only every sunday but every day people don't know that they are not required to attend mass every day did you know that you're only being required to come on sunday you know sunday only but i understand many people are hungry for the word of god because they know that the mass has two parts the liturgy of the word and the liturgy of the eucharist and they're waiting for the readings they are the word of god they want to hear god and they want to hear god through the priest who is delivering a homily what do you expect me to say to you if i don't listen to god i have nothing to say to you if i don't first of all listen to god i think that is why people now especially in the context of the pandemic a lot of people are suffering from anxiety attacks and depression and they are finding a lot of strength and courage and consolation and wisdom from attending the eucharist daily i find that beautiful okay let's now answer some questions the mass is a pagunita it is a commemoration commemoration of what of the lasaper in in spanish it's the ultimate the last supper and remember i said um it is still a commemoration of the last supper it will never be a last breakfast or a last lunch no it's always a supper we keep coming together to commemorate this last supper is remember he said do this in memory of me meaning if you want me to continue to be present if you want to continue my mission of redemption do this in memory of me the commemoration isn't just calling to mind it is a re-enactment we are making present all over again that is what the eucharist is about it's not just recalling it is living out in the present when we do it in memory of jesus now what is it about jesus that we want to remember anyway well in memory of another supper according to the gospels of mark matthew and luke on the night before he was betrayed on the night before jesus was arrested and that was a thursday night friday at 3 p.m but on the night before he was betrayed and arrested he celebrated a commemorative meal according to mark and what is that commemorative meal it was a commemoration of another supper young last supper jesus was in memory of another last supper a supper very special for the jewish people which the jewish people celebrate up to now once a year they celebrated it like thanksgiving day their freedom day the indeed remains the same may wine unleavened bread bitter herbs and the main course a new young main course a roasted lamb lichon cordero and that's the supper that they call passover kanina a hebrew word pesach and greek word pasca the english word pasque the spanish pascua and tagalog pasco it is the land that is sacrificed for that supper now jesus and his apostles on the night before he was arrested celebrated the jewish thanksgiving day american thanksgiving day turkey on jewish thanksgiving day hindi turkey indi on jewish people and people forget that the last supper of jesus was happening on passover of the jews jesus was jewish he was commemorating that last supper of course parasaten we call it last supper because it was the last supper eaten by jesus but no no it was in memory of the last supper that was eaten by the jewish people the hebrew people in egypt before they escaped before they escaped for freedom and how would that supper make their freedom possible remember and the final plague was the death of the firstborn and how would the israelites be spared i mentioned that already by the blood of the lamb they would slaughter the lamb and then sprinkle on the door post the blood and then they would roast the lamb hole in the hinahate whole and then they would partake of it as a family and they do that over and over again to remember how god liberated them from slavery now the arrest and execution of jesus would give a new meaning to this last supper let us proclaim the mystery of faith and the most common misformulation which you know is christ has died christ this reason christ will come again actually hindi nagayan you know in the new english missile nawalayan memorabagon formulation the third form says when we eat this bread and drink this cup we proclaim your death lord jesus christ until you come so we celebrate the eucharist we eat the bread and drink the cup to celebrate once again the passion death and resurrection of christ hangang somebody asked me bishop until when until when and my answer is simple until jesus comes again it is a sign of our loyalty our faithfulness it's like we're saying to jesus lord we won't stop doing this we won't stop doing it in your memory until you come again you better come again come lord jesus christ there is one modern liturgical song that has rephrased the proclamation this way it says we remember how you loved us through your death and still we celebrate for you are with us here we believe that we will see you when you come in your glory and then on summary we remember we celebrate we believe we remember the past and celebrate it in the present and we believe that it will be fulfilled in the future the eucharist is past present and future back together now if the last supper was a passover meal the most common question that is usually asked is bishop and according to the jewish tradition the menu should not change there should always be unleavened bread wine bitter herbs and the roasted lamb lichon cordero question how come bread and wine long thereon that's the common question they asked me how come bread and wine lung remember when they celebrated that meal together they were not in galilee they were not industry where were they in jerusalem this is the night before he is arrested and crucified what did they do in order to celebrate passover they rented a room they rented a room lulu how will they roast a lot of people who celebrated the passover were foreigners they were just living in hotels they would come to jerusalem to join the festival once a year so to be able to join the festival since they cannot cook along so as instructed they were supposed to procure the main dish the roasted lamb now you know there is bread there is wine and then you call this passover where is the lamb where was the lamb it was supposed to be a literal meal to wish to jesus if they really celebrated a literal passover dinner they are supposed to have the roasted lamb the story does not say and jesus took a piece of lamb and gave it to his disciples and said take and eat this is my body saying so the question is where is the lamb if they were supposed to celebrate passover according to the gospel he took the bread and said take and eat this is my body and then he took the wine and said take and drink this is the chalice or the cup of my blood young question then where is the lamb and i got the clue from the gospel of john because in the gospel of john at supper and sabine jesus one of you will betray me and peter told john to ask who is it lord and jesus said i will dip the bread in the dish in this dish jewish people puttering balsamic vinegar with olive oil you can invent all sorts of dip some of the french they they've invented what they call the tapenade and it's very delicious a dip you know well sabine john i will dip this bread in the dish yet you answer this a question who will betray him and he gave it to judas and then he said to judas what you will do quickly you now carry it out and the disciples were not wondering what jesus meant they were not even thinking that jesus may have been insinuating anything what you are supposed to do do quickly bucket well we read it from john 13 28 to 30. now no one at table knew why he said it to him some thought that because judas had a common purse he was the treasurer judas was the treasurer of the twelve because he was the treasurer they thought that jesus was telling him by what we need for the festival and what festival are we talking about passover or that he should give something to the poor because it was part of the practice of jewish people that on the passover festival they would give alms to the poor and now according to john after judas received the piece of bread from jesus he immediately went out and he's not explaining why he just says and it was nights john's poetic way of saying [Music] and it was night because something something really wicked was about to happen and what was about to happen tell me he left well presumably and he has the money he's going to pay for it when we order lichon if we are going to eat it at seven o'clock in the evening you won't get it at seven o'clock in the morning why makuna you would rather have it freshly roasted that is why the naga appetizer and then malapaths jesus says what you are going to do do quickly meaning question judas went out did he come back he went to the chief priest to sell jesus for thirty pieces of silver sin kahalphon do you remember i talked about the beloved son the betrayal was about joseph he was also sold by his brother son of jacob jacob had 12 sons jesus had 12 apostles among the 12 apostles of jesus betrayer those are twelve sons of jacob betrayer judah wow judas of the old testament and judas of the new testament because judah and judas they're just the same name in hebrew it's in the family of jacob see judah he was the one who said let us sell him as a slave twenty pieces of silver murano mechanus jesus 30 pieces of silver a new testament old testament inflation rate impression and they were so eager to sell him away 20 pieces long they sold their brother i know yesterday i was so enthused really by the telenovela of joseph you were supposed to do your assignment at home you read genesis 37-15 because you have to complete the story to get the full drama of what is taking place about a brother who is being betrayed by his own brothers now here you have the new testament version of it jesus being betrayed back to the question who was supposed to deliver the lichon the judas so i imagine the disciples were getting hungry already and you know what what happens when you get hungry your stomach grumbles have you ever felt hungry and then you get embarrassed because your neighbor hears your stomach the stomach can be noisy you know and i think that night it was starting to get late already and they were beginning to whisper to one another the same question and what is the question where is the lamb where is the lamb does the question ring a bell it should is there a boy in the old testament who once asked the question where is the lamb good i suck the boy i saw you remember when isa was supposed to be sacrificed like a lamb by his own father abraham according to the story god tested abraham and said are you willing to offer me what is most precious to you and abraham very very sad said yes lord and he went to mount moriah was his son and when they reached the altar sacrificial offering and isa said father and abraham who was so sad said yes my boy and i suck innocently asked his father father here is the fire here is the wood where is the lamb everything is ready dad where is the sacrificial lamb and abraham could not say ikaw anak he just said my son god will provide you know honestly i don't like that story it's gruesome you know i don't want you to make your children read that story you know can you imagine actually you know abraham obeying god he took the knife he bound isaac and he was about to stab his own son to death when the angel of the lord said stop stop now i know you can give up even what is most precious to you stop enough you don't have to do it i just wanted to know what was in your heart [Music] but of course you know the story has a point it's like asking us the same question are we willing to give up even what is most precious to us it's a difficult question because fast forward god will give up what is most precious to him for god so loved the world he gave us his only son in the case of isaac there was an angel who stopped who stopped the death the killing of the sun in calvary there was no one there to say stop and god's heart was bleeding i think the father was dying in the same way that his son was dying so we're taking that from genesis chapter 22 and that should make you understand why on easter vigil genesis chapter 22 the story of the sacrifice of isa by abraham take your son your only son isaac whom you love and i suck said father where is the lamb for the burnt offering it is the same question it is the same question that jesus must have also asked himself during that last supper when judas was not coming back he knew something had gone wrong there would be no land there would be no land for this passover meal but he did not stop the meal passover how can you have a passover meal without the lamb but jesus continued anyway and i think it was because at that moment when judas was not coming back it dawned on him that he was going to be the lamb and it was then that jesus took the bread broke it and said take and eat this is my body and then he took the cup and gave it to them and said they can drink this is my blood that was his answer to the question where is the lamb it is jesus's way of answering them and saying to them you're looking for the land here i am i am the lamb i'll give my life for you that creates the new passover that gives a totally new meaning to the passover meal the sacrifice is no longer an animal the offering is no longer the blood of a lamb because for the one who loves there is no worthy offering other than my own life and if you are to participate in the paschal mystery if you want to participate in the redemptive mission of christ then be ready for the sacrifice because to be a christian is to be christ the best offering that you can give it's not your money it's not the candle that you will light as votive candles it's not the flowers that you will bring to church your best offering is your life that is why we're not reviving the tithing system god is not asking only for ten percent he is asking for a hundred percent the most worthy sacrifice is the sacrifice of one's self and only true lovers can give up even their lives you don't put a condition that is why the cross for us is not a symbol of suffering and death the cross for us means redemption because it is a symbol of love of unconditional love of a love that does not give up the beloved and saint paul says love is forever you cannot kill love it will resurrect that's the beauty of the christian narrative of the paschal mystery and so inspired by the image of the passover lamb by whose blood israel is saved isaiah describes the mission of israel to the world as that of the suffering servant as that of a sacrificial lamb sabine isaiah he was oppressed he was afflicted but he did not open his mouth like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before it shearers is silent so he did not open his mouth that is why before communion the priest would lift up the host and the chalice and say behold the lamb of god behold him who takes away the sins of the world this now is the lamb for our redemption the new lamb for our redemption is no longer an animal the new lamb for our redemption is god himself the son of god can you imagine god suffering and dying that is an anomaly in philosophy god cannot suffer and die says who i do not believe in a god who does not suffer because if god is love how can god not suffer ask that question to yourself because you will suffer when you see people you love suffering that is what they call compassion and so if god is love god had to embrace suffering and god had to embrace death itself which is almost unthinkable but by embracing suffering and death god will destroy the curse of suffering and death by submitting himself to sinners god will destroy the curse of sin he will destroy death so that we can participate in eternal life are you a sinner are you afraid of god are you afraid of punishment i have good news for you like saint paul once said if god is for us who can be against us who can separate us from the love of god nothing [Music] because of jesus christ our lord because of his paschal mystery that's the good news the paschal mystery is the good news that's why he asks us to keep recalling it do this in memory of me in memory of the lamb by whose blood israel was saved in memory of the lamb that israel himself was later called to be for the salvation of the gentiles but finally in memory of jesus the lamb by whose death the world is saved okay the paschal mystery is the story of love the first image that filipinos were introduced to anka una una icon of christianity that was introduced to the natives of this country was the cross and so this year i suggest please wear your crosses for the whole year 2021 be proud of wearing your cross but do not proclaim it as a morbid message of suffering and death proclaim it as a good news of love god's eternal unconditional love he is like the bridge over troubled waters i will lay me down so that we can cross over into eternal life and i would suggest one of these days you download us it's one of my favorite songs because when i listen to it i do not hear sharon kuneta singing it i hear jesus singing it i love to hear that song and imagine jesus on the cross saying tapacon foreign [Music] foreign [Music] that is the pascal mystery and it is beautiful it is not morbid it is good news so please forget about the scary god god is never your enemy god is the one who can never give you up if he has to suffer and die if he has to go down to hell to save even the worst sinner he would do it because god that let us pray thank you dear god loving father for this opportunity to reflect on the paschal mystery dear lord you make this mystery come alive but it's time we celebrate the eucharist we remember how you loved us through your death but still we celebrate and at each time we celebrate you are with us here and now and we believe that we will see you when you come in your glory lord we know that evil can never have authority over good yes we have to deal all the time with the power of evil but today you make us declare that there is nothing more powerful than evil nothing more powerful than love that evil can never have the last say in our lives that the good will always triumph over evil because of your unconditional love for us made manifest on the cross in the love that jesus revealed to us in the paschal mystery the lord be with you may almighty god bless you all the father and the son and the holy spirit amen thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] in the face of uncertainty gratitude has the power to energize and what better way to thank and recognize bishop ambos blessings through this latin recollection but to give him simple tokens from our commission heads our bec and mission station head so bishop [Applause] salamat [Music] oh [Laughter] [Applause] everybody was created good say i am you are created in the image and likeness of god and salvation is possible for sinners like me like all of us and going to hell is a choice my purpose so that i could weigh out of temptation and sin but i'm way in way out amen [Laughter] [Music] okay so again thank you very very much bishop this afternoon session was truly informative i know that you want more however we need to wrap up for now to formally close our program i call on reverend father geronimo maria j cruz rector and biker general for his closing message [Applause] [Music] um [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] we have many more challenges ahead as a parish and we are on we are all on this together so [Music] each and every one of us is love so a pleasant weekend thank you for being part of this year's lantern recollection [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i

Channel: Diocese of Kalookan

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Length: 113min 0sec (6780 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 05 2021