Righteous Indignation

Binhi sang Pagtuo

November 30, 2009

Dear Centralians and Friends,

Greetings from Iloilo!

Today is another holiday. Our country is celebrating the heroism of Andres Bonifacio, the Filipino that organized a secret society called Katipunan – Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (The Highest and Most Respectable Society of the Sons of the People). The Katipunan advocated revolution rather than reform.

The Katipunan interpreted Christianity apart from what the colonizers taught them. Mabini wrote a New Decalogue. A portion of it says:

“…God is the fountain of all truth, of all justice, and of all activity, and thy honor the only power which will oblige thee to be truthful, just, and industrious…Thou shalt cultivate the special gifts which God has granted thee, working and studying according to thy ability, never leaving the path of righteousness and justice…Thou shalt strive for the independence of thy country: for only thou canst have any real interest in her advancement and exaltation, because her independence constitutes thy own liberty, her advancement, thy perfection, and exaltation, thy own glory and immortality.” (Obusan, ed., Roots of Filipino Spirituality, p. 280)

Since last week, politicians have started filing their Certificate of Candidacy. Most of them filed last November 28 because they deemed it lucky (a double eight). The politicians have now started their mantras – “we want to serve you; we are servants of the people.”

But the gruesome massacre of about 60 people in Maguindanao, Mindanao reminds us that most of these politicians do not want to serve the people. They only want to serve themselves. The pictures and videos being shown in the newspapers and TV news stations are so horrific that it incites you to puke. Women were raped and then shot in the genitals; some were murdered by a chainsaw; some were buried alive inside their vans; and some were killed while the perpetrators were laughing. It is as if Lucifer was incarnated in these merciless killers.

Where are the principles of honor, justice, righteousness, and sense of service? The Katipuneros are reminding us today of what they fought for. As Christians let us have a righteous indignation on what happened. Let this be a costly wake-up call for all of us to stand up and be counted. Let us throw away our indifference and be part of the transformation of our society.

May God bless us all in this struggle!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on

Assistant Chaplain

Be Grateful!

Binhi sang Pagtuo

November 23, 2009

Dear Centralians and Friends,

Greetings from the campus!

Our reflection for this week is still focused on thanksgiving. We will reflect on the story of the ten lepers in their encounter with Jesus.

People who have leprosy during the time of Jesus were one of the outcasts of their society. They stayed in the cemeteries and caves away from the people. They were away from their family, their husbands, wives, children and friends. There is an Old Testament law that states that a leper should maintain a distance of 50 feet away from the people, and they shall shout “Unclean! Unclean! Get away from me!”

Have you ever felt being neglected and driven away? Yes, all of us have, in one time or another, experience this kind of feeling. But the good news is that Jesus Christ cares and has compassion to those who being neglected and cast away. The story says that when the lepers cried out for mercy, Jesus took pity. They were cleansed along the way to the priest but only one of them remembered to say “thank you.” This leper was a Samaritan. This Samaritan leper will teach us three different thanksgiving positions.

The first thanksgiving position that he showed was he turned and went back. This Samaritan was not an “eat and run” type of person like some of us. The nine, who were Jews, forgot about Jesus and went straightly back to the society. They are even the ones who were expected to come back since there was an enmity between Samaritans and Jews. Jesus might be saying, “these nine lepers who did not come back have a greater disease than leprosy – the disease of ingratitude.”

In our Filipino culture and tradition, we frown upon those who are ungrateful because we have a culture of utang na loob (utang nga kabalaslan, utang nga kabubut-on - sense of gratitude). We need to practice utang nga kabubut-on towards our God.

The second thanksgiving position that the leper showed was “he raised his head to heaven and praise God in a loud voice.” The leper knows where credit is due.

When something good happens to us we sometimes forget whom to be thankful and credit our being a dibuenas or swerte (lucky) or to the other gods.

The third thanksgiving position that he showed was, he bowed to the ground at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. To humble oneself is to perform an act of submission. It is to do away with our human pride and let God reign in our hearts. Like the Samaritan leper, we must learn to let go and let God reign in our lives.

It is hard to have a “humble thanksgiving” when we have something better that what is being given to us. It is also hard to say “thank you, Lord” when we are in want. But all the while God is saying, “look at what you have.” As the hymn goes, “count your many blessings name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

The nine lepers may be physically healed but the one who returned was not only physically healed but was also spiritually healed. “Your faith has made you well” – this is what Jesus said. Because of the leper’s faith and thankful attitude, he was made whole.

May God bless us all! Happy Thanksgiving!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on

Assistant Chaplain

Give Thanks! - part 2

Binhi sang Pagtuo

November 16, 2009

Dear Centralians and Friends,

Greetings from the campus!

Since yesterday afternoon, November 15, 2009, almost everyone I encountered talked about the fight of Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, and how Pacquiao methodically and systematically won the welterweight crown and made history by winning 7 world titles in 7 weight classes. Newspapers report that Filipinos are thanking God for this victory because even for a short time the nation can forget the series of typhoons and calamities that hit the country.

Last week, we started our reflection on thanksgiving. We will now continue reflecting on thanksgiving with another acrostic of the word THANKS.

T – TRUST IN GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART

Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”

H – HELP THE NEEDY

2 Corinthians 8:1-4, 7“ Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity. For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem… But just as you excel in everything …see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

A – ALLOW THE HOLY SPIRIT TO REGENERATE YOUR LIFE

1 Thessalonians 5:19, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.”

N – NEVER FORGET WHAT GOD HAS DONE TO YOU

Deuteronomy 6:12, “be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

K – KNOW JESUS MORE DEEPLY

2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

S – SHOW THE PEOPLE WHAT IS GOOD AND AVOID EVERY KIND OF EVIL

3 John 11-12, "Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God."

May God bless us all!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on

Assistant Chaplain

Give Thanks!

Binhi sang Pagtuo

November 9, 2009

Dear Centralians and Friends,

Greetings from the campus!

November is usually the month that the churches celebrate thanksgiving. This week our reflection will center on thanksgiving, and the scripture text comes from Psalm 100.

There are six things that can be found in our scripture text. I am giving an acrostic meaning of the letters from the word THANKS.

First, T – Thank God for giving us three things. Thanksgiving comes from two words – Thanks and giving. Thanks be to God for he has been giving us his goodness, mercy and faithfulness. Verse 5 says, “For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His faithfulness endures to all generations.”

Because of these three major things that God has given us, what will be our responses? The 5 letters that are left, based on our text are the responses that God is expecting us.

The first in the five responses is that we must have a H – Heart that is thankful/grateful (indebted). Verse 4b says, “Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.”

The second in the five responses is that we should A – Always praise God. Verse 1 says, “Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all you lands!” Verse 2b, “Come before His presence with singing.” And Verse 4a, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise.”

The third in the five responses is that we must remember that we belong to N – New Covenant community. Verse 3b, “We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” We Christians belong to the New Covenant community or the new testament community. Jesus said, “this new covenant I gave to you…love one another.”

We need to be reminded that when we were baptized, we signed a new contract with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We gave our commitment to repent from our sins, to be transformed by the Holy Spirit, and as a result to be initiators of the Kingdom of God. Have we been faithful to this new covenant? The church covenant that we read every communion Sunday is a big reminder for all of us.

The fourth in the five responses is that we must K – Know that the Lord is God. Verse 3a, “Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves.” We are his people. He is the owner. Sometimes we forget that God is the owner and we are his stewards. What is happening around us has shown how we fell short of our responsibility as stewards of God’s creation.

The fifth response is that we should S – Serve the Lord by serving his people. Verse 2, “Serve the LORD with gladness.” The Hebrew word used by the Psalmist to describe serve is awbad. The literal meaning of awbad is to be enslaved to serve the Master. We are bondservants of Jesus. This verse teaches us that serving God is not a burden but a joy. We must never feel that the ministry of Jesus Christ is a burden but rather we must feel joyful because we are serving the Lord of lords and King of kings.

May God bless us all!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on

Assistant Chaplain

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Chaplain's Office Website: http://www.cpu.edu.ph/chaplain
Audio Sermons of Binhi sang Pagtuo: http://binhi.4shared.com
Blog: http://cpuchaplain.blogspot.com

Life is full of transitions

Binhi sang Pagtuo

November 2, 2009

Dear Centralians and Friends,

Greetings from Iloilo City!

Yesterday, November 1, most Filipinos went to the cemetery to visit the resting place of their loved ones. Some even went back to far flung provinces to be with relatives in this day of memorial. Last night as our family went back home in Pvia, we can still see a lot people camping near the burial ground in jolly moods reminiscing the days of their departed family members. In the second floor of my mother-in-law’s house (we are now living very near a cemetery), we can see a lot of burning candles – a Filipino tradition of honoring the dead.

Life is a constant change. It is a transition from one segment to another. In a cemetery in Negros, there is a sign that says, “Kami subong, Kamo sunod” (roughly translated as “Us now, You Next”).

We all love to be in our comfort zones. We like the normal situations because our actions are always almost automatic. We are not comfortable with transitions. Changes are oftentimes painful. But whether we like it or not, there will always be transitions.

My family is still in the process of acclimatization. A few days ago we decided to transfer in my mother-in-law’s home after 10 years of living in a rented apartment near CPU. Our house helper and children’s nanny for many years left for Manila. Now, our two kids will also have to get accustomed being cared for by their grandmother (I hope she will not spoil them).

As we cope with life’s transitions – birth, childhood, youth, young adults, adulthood, senior citizen, dying, death, and life after death – let us remember that our God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Our God is a constant like the mathematical equation pi is always 3.14. If we embrace this truth, then we can always be ready to face whatever life may bring to us. We will not be afraid because God will always be there.

May God bless us all!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on

Assistant Chaplain