Archdiocesan Shrine and Parish of St. Jude Thaddeus, Naga City | v.3, n.29 | issn 2599-5030 | 15 to 21 July 2018
giya sa prayer meeting
THE NEED TO GET RID OF GOD
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hat started out as a chic non-conformist philosophical rumination of Jean Paul Sartre in the early 1900s in Paris has become a mantra of every working man especially in the developed countries. Sartre proposed, “essence precedes existence.” Roughly translated, freedom precedes who we are. We are what we make of ourselves. This notion of self-invention presents to man’s happiness and self-realization. itself as a romantic idea reflecting The second reading this Sunday taken the ardent desire of every modern from the letter of Paul to the SUNDAY man to succeed through the sweat Ephesians offers a very different REFLECTION of his own toil. However, things picture. For Paul, God chose us take an ugly turn when freedom in Jesus Christ “with every spiritual blessing and self-invention are absolutized. in the heavens, as he chose us in him, The retort, “Who are you tell me what to before the foundation of the world, to be do?” has trickled down to common holy and blameless before him.” God’s consciousness now. “I decide who I will be.” existence is therefore a non-competitive Freedom and liberty seems to trump existence. Contrary to popular claim, it everything else. is the fulfillment of our existence. “The The chief obstacle to this modern man’s glory of God is man fully alive, said Irenaeus ideal is not any institution or norm but of Lyon. God Himself since God represents a moral Our life is not about us or our freedom. demand. God’s existence has become a Our life is a participation in the bigger and threat to human existence. The “self-realized more meaningful masterpiece of divine life. man” thinks: “If God exists, I can’t be free, We are active protagonists in the grander But I am free therefore God does not exist.” teleserye of God. Paul calls Jesus, Kyrios Anyone today who wants to elude (Lord) undermining Caesar’s lordship. Jesus accountability for his actions feels the need is the true Lord. On Him our final get rid of God. Recently, we witnessed how allegiance should rest. political maneuvering has hit its lowest The Gospel recounts Jesus sending his when the president pick on God to bully. disciples to bring His message to the ends of Elsewhere, government policies enforce the the world. The same herald’s proclamation removal of religious symbols from Catholic echoes ever clearly to this day. “Repent!” schools or the amendment of the Whatever hinders the Lordship of Jesus, Constitution removing God from the hinders our own fulfillment. What are the equation. It is also expressed in the nagging fruits of the Lordship of Jesus? Healing of the erroneous understanding of the separation sick, liberation for the poor, the demonof Church and State to mean keeping faith possessed men and women. We need God in the private sphere. God is seen as a rival more than ever. 4 fr. francis a. tordilla
markos 6:30-34 Domingo 16 (Taon b)
“N
agtiripon an mga apostol ki Jesus asin inusip saiya an gabos nindang ginibo saka an gabos nindang itinukdo…” Sinugo an mga disipulo manduwa-duwa sa pagpasulsol kan kasàlan, pagpalayas kan demonyo, pagbulong LECTIO kan mga may helang. DIVINA Alagad, matapos an saindang apostolado, tiniripon sinda ni Jesus tanganing mag-usip asin magsaysay kan saindang mga ginibo. Sa paaging ini, maaaraman an halaga kan trabaho para sa Dyos. Digdi man mahihiling kun ano pa an dapat an idagdag sa apostolado. Kun ako haputon kun ano an sakong naginibo sa simbahan, ano an sasabihon ko ki Jesus?
“Madya kamo sa disyertong lugar, kamo sana, asin magpahingalo nin dikit.” An Dyos nagtutukdo sato kan halaga kan pahingalo. Sa pagpahingalo, nakakatipon liwat kita nin bagsik tanganing magin mabunga an satong apostolado. An sunod-sunod na trabaho sagkod na magkahelang sarong dakulang sugot kan demonyo tanganing kun kita magkahelang, mayo na lugod kitang magiginibong karahayan. Kaya dawa sa aldaw nin Domingo, mahalaga na igwa kitang panahon sa pagpahingalo. Pàno ako nagpapahingalo?
“Huli ta garo sinda mga karnero na mayong pastor...” Nahiling kan mga apostol an pangangaipo nin mga mag-aataman kan mga tawo sa lado nin kabanalan. Para sainda, an mga tawong ini na nalalagalag nangangaipo nin pastor, siring sa mga karnero. An mga karnero kaipuhan nin pastor na madara sainda sa tamang mga agihan, sa paghanap nin masasabsab, sa LECTIO / next page