Let us not kill Jesus

Binhi sang Pagtuo

December 28, 2009

Dear Centralians and Friends,

Greetings from Iloilo!

Traditionally, December 28 is celebrated in the Philippines as Innocents’ Day – a memorial day in honor of the massacred children during the week when Jesus was born. The slaughter was ordered by King Herod – a power-hungry leader who will do anything to maintain his position.

Oftentimes Niños Inocentes is celebrated as a day to make pranks and jokes, and when the hapless victim fell for it, the prankster will proclaim “Happy Innocents Day.” This memorial day has sometimes become like an April Fools Day. It is good to laugh but not on the expense of others. We dishonor the memory of the innocent children if we will not celebrate their martyrdom.

In retrospect the first Christmas weeks were probably not as joyous like our celebration today. Hundreds, if not thousands, of families were mourning the death of their innocent children, and Joseph, Mary and Jesus were forced to escape the wrath of Herod to Egypt.

At the end of this year, let us ask ourselves some questions – “Am I trying to kill Jesus because I don’t want him to be the king of my life?” “Am I forcing Jesus to flee from my life because I don’t want him to change my way of life?” Let us hope that we can answer it honestly, and let us ask God’s forgiveness on our murderous intent on Jesus and in our refusal to accept his message.

May God bless us all! Let us have a happy new year as we celebrated God’s faithfulness, mercy and goodness in our lives!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on

Assistant Chaplain

p.s.

Thank you very much for reading our weekly reflection. I appreciate your comments through email and facebook. To those who emailed and bounced, I’m very sorry. I’m going to check my googlegroups account. Kindly email me directly at cpuchaplain@gmail.com

Christmas message from the Shepherds

Binhi sang Pagtuo

December 21, 2009

Dear Centralians and Friends,

Greetings from Roxas City, Capiz!*

In the Christmas presentation of the Kindergarten Department last week, my son – Kairos, was one of the angels. He had a speaking part as the Angel of Hope. He was saying something like, “There is hope because Jesus brings a new life, a life that is better than this world can offer. Jesus is the hope of the world. Keep your hope alive!”

The angels during the birth of Jesus brought a message of hope. They proclaimed to the shepherds, “Glory to God in the highest! Peace on Earth and goodwill among people.”

This is a message of hope because:

Firstly, the angels are reminding us that nobody should be above God. During those times, the emperor cult worship was practiced. King Herod felt that nobody should be above him. He killed four of his sons, one of his wives, and even his in-laws. Tradition also tells us that Herod massacred 14,000 innocent children from 2 years below when he heard from the wise men that a king was born. This is one of the worst political killings.

When the shepherds worshipped the new born Jesus, it was telling us a revolutionary message – they are turning away from the rule of Herod. In turn, the message for us is that we should not worship ourselves, the political leaders or any other so-called “powerful people.” God is the only one worthy of worship, and all glory must be given to God alone.

Secondly, the angels are reminding us that peace on earth can be achieved if there is goodwill among people. This was a message of hope for the shepherds because they know that Israel was beset by violence for a long time. When the shepherds decided to spread the good news, they were telling the people that peace can be achieved. But sad to say, the gospel according to John records that “he came into his own but his own received him not.”

Conflicts are still happening nowadays because we refused to believe in the way of life that Jesus taught us. We are still rejecting the message of Jesus.

May this Christmas week be a time to reflect on the message of the shepherds to us.

May God bless us all!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on

Assistant Chaplain

*I am coaching the CPU Table Tennis Women’s Team representing the Province of Iloilo in the Western Visayas PRISAA Meet. We got the championship just this morning. National PRISAA games, here we come!

Give a gift that truly matter

Binhi sang Pagtuo

December 14, 2009

Dear Centralians and Friends,

Greetings from the campus!

Giving of gifts is part of the Christmas tradition. Last Wednesday the Chaplain’s Office and the College of Theology headed the White Gift Service. Faculty, staff and students brought to the altar their gifts wrapped in white. The beneficiaries (work students, and those chosen by the Outreach Office) will be receiving their gifts in a ceremony to be held this afternoon.

As a young child, I was intrigued with the idea of exchanging gifts every Christmas. Later, as I was studying in the seminary I learned that most probably the idea of giving gifts during Christmas started with the gift-giving of the Wise Men or the Magi.

Traditionally, we interpret the gifts brought by the Wise Men in their symbolical meaning. Gold – this means that the receiver is a King, thus we connect this to the declaration that Jesus is the King of kings. Frankincense – this means that the receiver is a Priest since frankincense is used during religious ceremonies, thus we relate this to the declaration that Jesus is the High Priest. Myrrh – this means that the receiver is one who will sacrificed himself since myrrh was used in the embalming process, thus we link this to the declaration that Jesus is the Sacrificial Lamb.

Is there more to it aside from this traditional interpretation? Did the Wise Men really think of these theological meanings? They were probably astrologers who studied the stars, and they followed the star because they believed that there is a tremendous mystery under it. I told myself that the Wise Men may have done something wise to deserve the title of Wise Men. I started searching the practical uses of their gifts and I found out that indeed they were wise men.

Joseph, Mary and Jesus fled to Egypt to hide from the murderous intent of King Herod. The gold given by the wise men was most probably used by Joseph and Mary in their travel to Egypt, and to start a new life there. It was indeed a wise gift because Joseph, Mary and Jesus have no relatives in the land of Pharaohs.

Frankincense was used in ancient times, and even until now to ward off mosquitoes and flies. Jesus was born in a manger, a place swarming with mosquitoes and flies because animals are there. It was a very wise gift!

Myrrh was used in ancient times for its healing properties. It was sprinkled in the umbilical cord of a new born baby so that it will heal faster. It was also used to stop the bleeding of a woman who had just given birth. This was a very welcome gift for Mary and Jesus because they have to travel the arduous path towards Egypt just a few days after Jesus was born.

This may sound conjecture but I am comforted with this assumption because I believe that God sent the Wise Men to give gifts that were really needed by Joseph, Mary and Jesus.

How about us? What kind of gifts are we giving this Christmas? I hope that it will be a gift that would truly matter.

May God bless you!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on

Assistant Chaplain

Arise, Shine!

Binhi sang Pagtuo

December 7, 2009

Dear Centralians and Friends,

Greetings from the campus!

Last December 4, 2009 the CPU campus once again full of lights. Thousands of people witnessed the official opening of the Festival of Lights and Music at Central.

This annual celebration challenges us to reflect on the meaning of the words of Jesus when he declared “I am the Light of the world” and also the implication of the command of Jesus to “let your light shine to the world.”

Let me share some of my thoughts:

First, there is no hiding when the light is turned on. We are uncovered and out in the open.

Jesus exposed the evil deeds of the people during his time. Those who were exposed plotted to kill him. This means that Jesus is commanding us to be involved in the ministry of exposing and uncovering the wickedness of people and institutions. Let us be courageous in this ministry because our jobs and lives will be threatened. To be a Christian is not to be faint-hearted.

Second, the light that we received needs to be passed on. Evil people will try and try to extinguish the light. They will only become successful if we will not pass on the light to other people.

The people that crucified Jesus thought that they have succeeded in extinguishing the Light. They were wrong. The darkness of death was not able to enveloped Jesus. When the disciples saw this, they were emboldened to follow the “Great Commission” of Jesus to go and spread the light.

In the time of Jesus, light is generally referred to as the light emitted by a lamp – there is wick in a shallow bowl that rests in an olive oil as its fuel. Symbolically, this means that we should continue on putting oil in the lamp – making disciples that emanate the light of Jesus. In a modern setting, before the light burns out from a candle, we must light a new candle – this is one of the major reasons why Christianity still continues to spread out.

Let us continue in shining!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on

Assistant Chaplain