MACAO – May 02, 2013. Having been asked these days by some brothers about the global issues, such as environmental crisis, terrorism, disease, weapon of mass destruction (WMD), debt and poverty, and so forth, the topics were simply following me to the morning meditations when I thought of the Dominicans’ contemplative life as a possible solution to those issues.
 As I see it, all the global issues could be rooted in the local and individual issues of the self, which are very often more selfish than selfless. Paradoxically, human beings, on the one hand, would like to come together in unity, for there, by sharing the same values in the community, they find it happy; on the other, out of their over-ambition, self-importance and self-interest, people turn out to be the active causes of all negative issues towards the others, which later spread globally and affect the dignity and rights of all humanity, including their own. Hence, an approach to the so-called global issues from a communal perspective – that all their possible repercussions may destroy our common good – would be more Christian, relevant, and resonating with the human conscience.
 Contemplation is regarded as the foundation of the Dominican life, where the spiritual fruits rooted would then be shared for the salvation of souls, which is in fact the raison-d’être of the Dominicans. Yet, what is contemplation, one may ask, according to the Dominican tradition? Saint Dominic, the Founder of the Order, has already given us a prototype of how to act: Speaking to God and of God only. Contemplation, therefore, means speaking to God.
 Speaking to God, of course, entails the real love of God and the ability to discern the presence of God, to listen to God and to live in God. Friar Vincent de Couesnogle, when discussed about the contemplative dimension of Dominican life in 1983, saw it “a living relationship with God which, when it is intensified and prolonged, becomes a looking, a loving, a listening and welcoming of God.†A living relationship with God as such should urge God-lovers to recognize God and listen to the truths of God just around the corner, in the persons beside us. “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen†(1 John 4:20). Indeed, the truths of God are objectively true in themselves, not merely in or interfered by any human authorities, properties and sympathies. Listening and being readily to listen to the truths of God is also the Dominican profession, though!
 Truly speaking to God would oblige the contemplator to speak of God. “Seed when scattered fructifies, when hoarded, rots†– said Saint Dominic. Speaking of God alone thrusts aside the temptation to speak of oneself, usually boasting or presenting of one’s concerns, which may bore the audience and at times cause conflicts. Habitually speaking to God and of God would then give the contemplator no time falling into trivial gossips, which very often result in prejudiced judgments and hateful actions. On the contrary, a transcendental encounter with God would allow the contemplators enough charity to “do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than themselves†(Philippians 2:3). Speaking of God undoubtedly compels certain work of prophecy, fraternal corrections, and just criticism for the good of the beloved, not political correctness for the sake of our own selves.
 As we have seen, Dominican contemplation would lead the contemplator to a dynamic encounter with God – the Truth, the Beauty, and the Goodness. Knowing God is the beginning of knowing and realizing oneself. By way of the Divinity humanity can thus overcome any shortcomings, differences, be connected and reunited – the common good that humans themselves at times cannot make it. Dominican contemplation is quite unlike other oriental methods of meditation, which aim at single-pointed concentration, or single-pointed analysis, or simply for a relaxation of mind. Dominican contemplation aims an intimate communion with God and a spiritual conversion of oneself out of loving God.
 In a world that is widely globalized yet deeply divided by individualism like today, an actual practice of the Dominican contemplation allows one to constantly stay in touch with God, in which relationship they certainly find solutions to their communal issues, I believe. For no one claims to really love God, saying, eagerly listening to the Truth, yet fails to recognize the truths in their neighbors, looks down on them, “kisses up, kicks down,†thinks first of their own interests and disdains the others’. In the hustle and bustle of this secularized world, Dominicans even need to practice contemplating more than ever, so that they may always be on clear conscience, able to sense the sacredness in daily life, to keep up their identity and to live up their vocation properly.
 Yet, contemplating would only be possible in solitude, in tranquility of soul, “in poor spirit†(Matthew 5:3), where those who truly long for God (cf. Psalm 42:2) can thus be satisfied and renewed in God. Suitable environment is needed for the seeds of contemplation. Positive role models are needed for the progression of contemplation. Fellow companions, as long as they are upholders, not distractors, are needed, too, for the fruits and sharing of those fruits of contemplation.
Peter Thoại, O.P.
 I wish to reflect with you on my identity as a human being and as Christian. I shall narrow down my inquiry to three simple questions: Who am I? Who are you for me?  Who is God for me?
We start our reflection by facing the first question: Who am I?
- MY PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
   I am a human being. I am different from the other living beings and the irrational animals. I belong to the human species. I am an individual, body-soul, different from other individuals. I am a person, that is, a rational being: with body to feel, intelligence to understand, and will to want and to love. As a person, I am open to other human persons and beings, and to creation. I am an ecological being, too, part of the universe. I am a religious being closely related to God as Supreme Being.
   As a human being, I have a personal conscience that tells me that my happiness is found radically in goodness and my basic responsibility is to form well and obey my conscience that tells me what to do (do good) and what not to do (avoid evil).
I am in the world, but what for? What is the purpose of my life? The purpose is to search for happiness, to be happy. What will make me happy? What makes my life meaningful? I need money; it is useful, but happiness is somewhere else. I may like power, but usually power corrupts unless it is used to serve others. I love pleasure, but if pleasure is harmful to me or to others it cannot be the source of my happiness. I search for knowledge and realize the help of science and technology, but these may be well and badly used: only if morally used they may help us be and improve our happiness. In classical philosophy and theology, only true wisdom, virtue, above all, the virtue of love can make us relatively but truly happy in this life..
What is happiness? Happiness is another name for love, for the Supreme Good, or for God as Love. In our imperfect world, happiness is hope – hope that tomorrow will be better, and it will be if we journey by the path of wisdom, virtue and love. In this life, genuine love, faithful and hopeful love gives meaning to my life, in particular the love of Jesus. For the Christian, Jesus Christ is the meaning of life and the happiest person to walk on earth. Blas Pascal says: “No one is as happy as the authentic Christian.†(Incidentally, are there many authentic Christians, or Jews, or just authentic persons?)
What am I doing to myself? I am asked by my humanity and my faith to care for life in the universe, in particular for my own life. As a human being I have a right to life and the responsibility to care for it. I am, therefore, against suicide.
Who am I? I am a human person and therefore, a human being with great dignity. I am also a wounded human being – and a sinner. After all, what do I have that I have not received – from God, from family and friends? Realizing my constant need of God and of others makes me – should make me humble!
I am a Christian who tries to be a happy Christian. Christ is my life: “I am the way, the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6). He came to the world so that we all may have life, and have it to the full (Jn 1:10). He keeps giving us life through the Spirit (Jn 3:5). The Beatitudes portray the life of Christ. The life that Christ brought and keeps bringing to me – to us – is the life of grace, which initiates eternal life on earth: Jesus came down so that everyone “may have eternal life” (Jn 3: 16); “God has given eternal life and this life is in his Son†(I Jn 5:11-12). Thus, human life is a journey to heaven by the way of Christ who suffered and died on the cross and rose again to life. It is rooted in grace and witnessed in love, a love which is one and means loving God and all neighbors, and the whole creation.
Who is the human person for Jesus Christ? For Jesus Christ, “man is a being whose greatness consists in his openness and offering to God and brethren, and whose destruction stems from self-enclosure in his own selfishness; for Him, to be a human being is to loveâ€(J. L. Martin Descalzo). In every human person, the Christian sees a son or a daughter of Him who wants to be called “Our Father†(Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC, 2212).
I continue my meditation with you, dear readers, by facing the second question: Who are you for me?
- Â MY SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
As a human person, I am a social being, a member of a family, an ethnic, a citizen of a nation and of the world. The other can be for me an “it,†a “nobody,†a “he/she,†or a “thou,†or a you. If I consider the other as an “it,†or an object, then I depersonalize, disrespect him/her, consider him or her a ‘means’. I must consider the other as what he/she is: a human person, who should never be made an object, a ‘means’ because he/she is an end (Kant).
As a human being I am not alone: “No man is an island.†As a Christian, I am not alone at all. The first Christians say, “Solus Christianus, nullus Christianusâ€- a solitary Christian is not a Christian. The Christian is also a member of the Church of Christ, that is, the community of faith, hope and love. The Church is the People of God composed of the Pope, bishops, priests, religious women and men and lay faithful. All the members are equal in dignity, for there is one Lord, one Spirit, one baptism for all.
If I consider the other as a “nobody,†then I am indifferent to him/her, and this is inhuman. If I take him/her as he/she, then I respect them in justice only, but I may not love them yet. If the other becomes a “thou†then I understand him/her as an equal and as a member of the human family. And I love them. In religious perspective, particularly in Christian perspective, the other is not just an equal but a brother or a sister in Christ. As a person, as a social being, the purpose of my life is to live with others in justice and love: to live with and for others. Only true justice and forgiving love lead to integral peace.
What am I doing for others? I live with others, but what for? What is my responsibility facing the life of others? My fundamental responsibility is to respect and defend the right to life of every human being from the moment of conception to natural death. Therefore, and based on my humanity, I defend human life against procured abortion, direct euthanasia, direct homicide and the death penalty.
My responsibility for the other’s life is to defend it and even promote it: not only his/her physical life but also a dignified life in the world. To a certain extent, I am responsible for the other, and his/her life in the world. I have to be just and promote justice, to be in solidarity with all, particularly the needy and weak. With others, I am obliged to work for the freedom of all and for peace in the world. I have to work for truth in love. I am not free to lie because authentic freedom is grounded on truth: it is freedom in the truth not freedom from the truth (John Paul II).The God of Jesus Christ is Love and Truth.
The responsibility for my life and the life of others is based on human dignity, which is expressed in human rights. Human dignity – a unique excellence of the human person – is equal in all human beings. Likewise human rights, the rights that belong to every human person by the fact that he/she belong to the human species. These rights include the right to education, to basic health, to freedom, including freedom of conscience and religious freedom.
As a human being I am asked by our humanity to promote the human dignity and the rights of all, in particular of those who live – or merely survive – as if they had no rights!
What is the meaning of my life with others? What makes us truly happy? It makes us happy, it gives meaning to our life this: to become more what we are, that is, to become flourishing human beings living with others and for others. To be and become more what we are may be considered the two poles of human existence. The Asian Bishops say: “We Asians are searching not simply for the meaning of life but for life itself… We speak of life as a becoming – a growing into, a journeying to life and the source of life†(FABC, 1997). Life is trying constantly – and often failing – to become what we are as human beings and as Christians: as ethical and theological beings. I am totally convinced in my mind and in my heart that only doing good gives us some happiness and leads us to more happiness. On the contrary, doing evil makes us unhappy and disposes us to more unhappiness. In this context, the aid of virtues, or good operative habits, is important, very important, for, as St. Thomas Aquinas says, “Happiness consists in the practice of virtue†(I-II, 55, 6).
Last October 2011, Steve Jobs, Apple creator, passed away. Jay Elliot, ex-vice president of Apple says: “Steve was the most ethical and moral person I have known. This added to his passion for his projects was a combination that I had never seen before (…) He never did anything which was not proper to the most noble among human beings†(From ABC Newspaper, October. 9, 2011)
Also last October 2011, the Forbes Magazine published the results of a survey conducted by the University of Chicago. The main question the researchers asked was: “Who is the happiest person?†The most common answers were: The happiest is the priest or pastor. Second, the fire-fighter; third, the physiotherapist, and thereafter: the professor of special education, the teacher, artist (sculptor and painters), psychologist, etc. Who is for me – and for you – the happiest person? This conclusion stating that priests are the happiest among other calls and professions confirms the results of many other researches on the same problem. Priests and pastors are the happiest, above all, by reason of their relationship with God and others and their usual inner peace. (See Stephen J. Rossetti, “A Happy Priest and the New Evangelization,†The Priest, Vol. 68, No. 3, March 2012, pp. 19, 21, 22, 51) For me, the saints or the poor in spirit are, after Jesus, the happiest human beings. As someone says, the greatest of their gifts is their smile!
What is then the purpose, the meaning of life? It is love, for love gives meaning to our life and increases our happiness. Indeed, as the great R. Tagore writes, “life is given to us, and we deserve it by giving it back†– to others, in particular, to our own family and the needy.
Finally, we try to answer the third question: Who is God for me?
- MY RESPONSIBILITY TO GOD
        After trying to answer the questions on my personal and social identity, we need to touch on another question, the most radical one: Who is God for me? As I said earlier, I am a religious person (is not so the great majority of people?). I am a Christian. My God is my Creator, the Creator of the whole creation and of all its creatures. He is my – our – Father.
It is becoming clearer theologically, philosophically, even sociologically that faith in God (religion in general) helps much in being and becoming happy, in particular in being able to carry the cross of our life, which is part of every human life on earth. God is the only Absolute of my life – and prayerfully yours!
The rocky grounding of true happiness or at least of less unhappiness is belief in God, and a life of prayer and compassionate love. Love means love of God and love of neighbor. Love of neighbor entails love of all: as God’s love is not selective, mine should also be universal. Among all neighbors and without excluding anyone – not even my enemies -, I try to love the needy and the poor. Why? Because each one of them is, in a special way, “Christâ€: “I was hungry and you gave me food; thirsty, and you gave me a glass of water; sick and you visited me…†(Mt Chapter 25).
My God is also the God of hope, the giver of hope. Life is a journey to him, and I hope that we shall be saved by his mercy. God is the object of my hope, and union with him and family and friends, the goal of this earthly life. In this life, I am – as we all are – a pilgrim journeying towards the house of the Father, of my God, who is the goal of my hope. On my journey of life, I am at time worried, at times forgetful of God, at times I may lose my way. Still, and always, God is there for me – for you – in Jesus Christ, who died for us. Why am I attached to persons, to things, to my selfishness when God is what matters most? In him everything has a sense: work, suffering, the cross, and hope! Here on earth God is in charge, and I am in the best hands I can be.
Every agent, Aristotle tells us, “Every agent acts for an end.†The human person, a moral and spiritual agent, acts for an end. The end of our life, the goal of our complete happiness is God. “Many keep saying ‘Who will put happiness in our eyes?’ let the light of your face (Lord) shine on us†(Ps 4:6). Our responsibility, then, is to give glory to God (1 Cor 10:3; see Rom 1:20:21). (See Jordan Aumann, OP, Spiritual Theology, 1979) The Christian gives glory to God through Jesus Christ: Through him and in him, all things were created (Col 1:15:16). Jesus, the Beatitude of God, proclaims to us the Beatitudes to attain complete happiness (see Mt 5:1-12). After all, the Beatitudes are eight forms of happiness (J. M. Cabodevilla, 1984).
At the level of grace, the human being is a theological being. He/she is, or can become, a child of God One and Triune. Created by God, wounded by sin, redeemed by Christ, renewed by the Holy Spirit, called to heaven, to rise at the end from the dead, and live with God, and in the company of the saints. For the Christian, every person is a brother or a sister for whom Christ died (I Cor 8:11; cf. CCC, 1931); every neighbor is “as another self†(GS, 27).
As a theological being, the human person is an eschatological being: Destined from its conception to eternal beatitude (CCC 1703). But he or she is a wounded creature – a sinner! The human person is a being towards death: finite – mortal being. Heidegger defined the human being as “a being for death.†For him, the proper name of the human being is “mortal.†For me, and for many of us, the human being is not only mortal, but also “immortal.â€
I believe in God, in the God of Jesus Christ. Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us, that is, the presence of God in us and around us. I am a Christian! Who is a Christian? A Christian is a baptized person who is faithful to his/her baptism. A Christian is a person who knows God as Father, confesses Jesus Christ as Son of God and a Man-for-others, and experiences the Holy Spirit, who tells him or her that Jesus is alive, that we are called to live in him, and that outside him there is darkness (O. González de Cardedal, 1979). The Christian believer is a follower of Christ, the perfect human being.
How essential it is for me to question myself often: Who is God for me? Saint Catherine of Siena knew this well. God told her: “You need to know two things to be happy: Who are you, and who am I?†God is the beginning and the way and the end of my life. St. Thomas Aquinas identifies ultimate end and happiness, and these with God. St. Augustine puts it well: “Thou have made us for thyself and our hearts are restless until they rest in You†(Confessions). Indeed, for a believer, “God alone sufficesâ€: “solo Dios basta†(St. Teresa of Avila, Poem).
- LOVE IS THE VALUE OF LIFE
After trying to answer the three questions I have addresses, I come to the conclusion.
Who am I? I am a human being with a great dignity, but also a wounded human being who needs others to live a flourishing life in communion, who needs God and his Son, our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Certainly, “to be is to love†(E. Mounier).
Who are you for me? I am a human person who cannot live a fulfilling human life without you, who are my equals in dignity and rights, my brothers and sisters on the journey of life. I am called by God through Christ to be united to him and to live a life of universal love. Yes, “to be a human being is to be a fellow human being† (Martin Buber).
Who is God for me? He is my God and your God, my Father and your Father. God is love. In this life, my love for God is a love permeated by hope. I am a pilgrim, and my God is the God of hope here on earth and the God of happiness here and hereafter.
The greatest value of human live is love. This is why many Christians and other human beings give their life out of love for others. What really count in my life should not be: “I†but “You,†and “You,†and “You.†It is not the “I†what is truly important but the “We†formed by you and me. We are members of a family, a community, a nation or tribe, of the world. As Timothy Radcliffe, OP says well (2005): the true community “helps each one of us to say “I†because I have learned to say “Weâ€, and the other way around.†Indeed, “I am because we areâ€!
 When all said and done, what really matters in life – in your life, in my life, in our life – is to love with a genuine love that includes freedom and justice and truthfulness – and a great respect for life. Love is the primary moral principle, value and virtue of life. “In the evening of life, we shall be examined on love (St. John of the Cross).
(Life Today, Manila, June 20-13, pp. 13-20)
v FAUSTO GOMEZ, O.P.
 
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
“Bending downâ€
 Christ has risen alleluia!
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ!
 Today is Easter Sunday. We commemorate Christ’s victory over death but also our redemption and new life in Christ. Last night Fr. Prior’s homily told us that Easter is the culmination of our Lenten observances. The end of our Lenten journey so to say. True we have ended our Lenten journey, but we can rightly call the “first leg†of our journey to the Father; for with Easter, we commence another “leg†of our journey now as the people of God saved in the faith in Jesus and as a people: sons and daughters of the light.
 Last Good Friday, while we were taking lunch at the refectory, one of the student brothers asked me why do we have to add the fifteenth station of the way of the cross, because usually we end the way of the cross with the entombment of Christ. I tried to explain to him and to convince him of this arrangement because I believe that it would be more theological to end the meditation of the passion and the death of Christ with our sights upon his glorious resurrection. His resurrection is the key to understand and comprehend all of Christ’s teachings and the mystery of his person. I do not know if I was able to convince him, though I could still foresee he would still have his querying eyes. With this dilemma, I began this reflection.
 Why must Christ die and rise again? This had been the question since the news of the death of Jesus spread among his followers. Why must he die? This was the question that haunted the disciples who had opted to leave to save themselves as Jesus underwent his arrest, trial, death and burial. Questions that brought them fear, and even horror since without Jesus their master in their midst they began to realize that they were just a mere collection of fishermen, illiterate, insignificant and forgotten portion of a society that had lost their interest on their teacher. Time and time again, Jesus reminded them of his impending fate: that he has to go to Jerusalem, face his enemies, fall in their hands, die and rise again… but the shimmer and the glitter of his popularity, the adulation of the populace made them deaf to the teachings of the master as they enjoyed basking in the shining sun of Jesus’ popularity among the people.
 In today’s Gospel, John relates to us what had happened three days after the tragic death of Jesus. It was a normal Sunday but suddenly Mary Magdalene came to convey a very strange news: the body of Jesus had been taken away… The disciples who had been hiding in the upper room were filled with consternation and horror with such news. Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved ran out of the city to see for themselves the report made of Mary and the other women disciples: what happened here?
 John as a good story teller tells us what happened: the two disciples ran to the tomb where Jesus was laid. Perhaps the disciples whom Jesus loved—identified in tradition as John himself —ran as fast as he could to the tomb, while Peter, perhaps older and heavier, came too himself, but was a few paces behind the agile youth. They came to see for themselves the empty tomb as reported by these hysterical women. The gospel continues: the younger disciple “bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go inâ€. Peter came and entered, saw the telltale signs of something strange … evidence that the story of Jesus does not end with his death, but it is just beginning….The younger disciple “saw and believedâ€; And further concludes that they did not understand the scripture that he to rise from the dead.
 A phrase that struck me in the passage “ he bent down…â€, which was the same phrase used by Luke which we had proclaimed last night when he said: “Peter got up and ran to the tomb, bent down and saw the burial cloths…â€
 “Bend downâ€â€¦. “Bent downâ€â€¦was this perhaps that one has to bend down to enter the narrow door of the tomb Joseph of Arimathea had donated for Jesus’ burial? What does it mean to bend down? Because if you will observe in both narratives… after bending down.. can they see the signs… the evidence of the resurrection…only after bending down can they see the empty tomb, the face cloth and burial cloth rolled beside… What does it mean to bend down for us in order to believe and understand?
 “Bending down†is the only attitude for us to comprehend what had happened that fateful morning, and to understand the mystery of Christ.
 “Bending down†is the attitude of faith, of recognizing our ignorance, our littleness, our vulnerability and our need for Christ.
 “Bending down†is to throw away our airs of academic success and social position, in order to enter the narrow door of the sepulcher in order to see… to see in order to believe…
 Man’s tragedy today is that believing in Christ and even a Supreme God is out of his list of priorities. Many believe that “believing†or “bending down†to a supreme being is an atrocious affront to man’s dignity and that is why the denial of God, the denial of religious experience and religion itself. For us Christians, specifically Catholics, many leave the Church since they are appalled with the scandals wrecking havoc in the Church, both real and imagined, many are scandalized with the wealth of the church, the political struggle among church men and even among laypeople for power, glory and popularity, some leave the Church because they cannot accept moral and theological teachings since it is not in their liking and demand that they have to change their lives, their values and their outlook which might be anti-Gospel. These are problems and challenges all believers and needs to be addressed and that is why the constant call to renewal, conversion and more authenticity in our lives as believers. But on the other hand, there are also many believers who leave the Church at the drop of the pin. Examining their excuses, without judging their sincerity, a good number of them leave the church due to very trivial reasons and added to this is the rising tide of religious indifference, moral relativism among younger generations. Today to be secular is cool, to be an atheist is now the toast of the town. All seem to be walls but there seem not to have any entrance to the sepulcher… and if there is an opening, it is too small and it demands us to “bend down†to see the proofs of his resurrection.
 Today, the risen Christ invites us to “bend down†once again… to believe in Him and to believe that his immense power of love has conquered death and sin. Only by bending ourselves to enter into the narrow gate of faith, the narrow gate of transparency, of nakedness can be understand why did Jesus had to die… and why Jesus had to rise from the death… and why we believe. We believe because Jesus action of love has touched us, He has touched you and me and has transformed us to be men and women not only redeemed but now empowered to love and like Him has the power to transform our weakness, our sinfulness, our selfishness, our egoism and pride because of HIS love. If we are capable of bending down to see.. then we shall also be willing and happy to bend down to wash the feet of our brothers, bend down to help those who had fallen and lost all hope, bend down to understand. Comprehend and be one to those who are beaten down on their knees and on their taunt stomachs by the weight of injustice, of poverty, of unhumanity. Bend down to see the downtrodden, the forgotten and the marginalized. Bend down to see the real face of human drama: Who we are and Who God is.
 “Bending down†allows us to see the signs… the evidences… blind faith without reason lead us to fundamentalism, pietism and emotionalism… these threaten authentic faith… bending down demands from us to see the signs.. to read the signs and to process these signs to strengthen our faith. That is why a faith that is not formed, not constantly updated and strengthened with study, celebration through liturgy and sharing in the community will only make “bending down†a mere physical action, perhaps after an aching back, it will not linger in our lives.
 John ends his narrative with this beautiful words: “he saw and believedâ€. Perhaps instead of reciting a litany of patristic texts to the brother who wanted to know why the XV station had to be included in the way of the cross, I should have asked him just to “bend down†, it would have been easier to convince him… because like the beloved disciple, I too had bend down, saw and believed…
 How about you?
Jarvis Sy Hao, O. P.
St. Dominic’s Priory, March 2013.
 A human person is by nature a social being and needs companionship with his fellow men. Naturally, all men have the desire to love others and to be loved in return, sharing all the joys and pains they have.
So, here we are, brothers! We come from different parts of the world to live together in community, and share everything we have. It seems impossible to live with people who have different backgrounds, cultures and behaviors. But the truth is we have something in common, that is, following the footsteps of Christ by way of preaching the Gospel with humility and patience. Because we have the same vision we are able to live as brothers though we were strangers at the beginning. In fact, the place in which we live is our home, and all the members of the community are our family. So, all we have to do is to love, care and help the community the best we can because this is the place where we belong and to no other places may we wander.
Brotherly relationship is enriched by caring for each other in times of need, and by encouraging the brothers in times of sorrow. Brotherly love, understanding and forgiveness are the remedies that every brother should hold on throughout our lives to be able to live fraternal life. Understandably, in our communities there are at times conflicts, and argumentations arise among members. Of course, we are just imperfect human beings. But let us be aware of this: we achieve perfection through imperfection. Out of love, fraternal corrections are made in order to strengthen further relationship, if necessary.
Christ is the good model of fraternal love. He himself showed brotherly love to his followers. For the sake of love, he took human form and became man like one of us. He, indeed, loved his people so much that this love brought Him to the altar of the cross to save all men from the slavery of sin and thus allow us to become co-heirs in the Father’s house. By washing the feet of the disciples, he showed simplicity and service that are needed by all. All Christ has shown to us is just purely love that overcame the power of death. By now, one can see that with love, everything can happen at any time. Love alone can soften a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. No hatred and evil can resist the goodness of love.
We ask the Lord for his blessings! May we serve each other regardless of age and status! May we have the strength to bear our daily cross in following Christ’s footsteps! May loving one another as we love ourselves and taking our personal responsibilities in the community please God, and inspire the people who are around us by seeing our way of life. Moreover, respect and fidelity are present as well. Then, there may be brotherly love among us and we may be at peace.
Bro. Francis Naw San, O. P.
St. Dominic’s Priory, March 29, 2013
 (The best homily today, Good Friday, is a silent homily. Let the Cross speak! Forgive me, Lord, for speaking, but I feel obliged to speak of silence, of the silence I long for)
On Good Friday, we commemorate the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. We contemplate in silence the Crucified Lord. Between the death of the Crucified Lord and his resurrection we are invited to listen to the sounds of silence coming from the naked Cross.
Word and silence are two ways of speaking. We need silence not to drown in words. We need silence to speak the saving word. We need silence, to empty our hearts of selfishness and be able to listen to others, to listen to God: “I hold myself in quiet and silence, like a little child in his mother’s arms, like a little child, so I keep myself†(Ps 131:2).
Good silence is contemplative silence: the silence of creation, the silence of the cross of Jesus. It is like the silence of Mary, who kept all the things happening around Jesus in her heart (Lk 2:51): in her, “all was space for the Beloved and silence to listen†(Bruno Forte). Like the silence of Joseph who, feeling the hand of God, accepts silently the motherhood of Mary and the mysterious life of Jesus (cf. Mt 1:24). Like the silence of Jesus during his public life, a silence that underlined his words, a silence the saints learned from him. We are taught by the saints to cultivate silence in our life, to appreciate the silent love of the mystics, the pregnant silence of St. Thomas Aquinas after his mystical experience on December 6, 1273; after this, no more words, no more writings – total silence! St. John of the Cross speaks of the silent contemplation of his Beloved without the noise of voices: the tranquil night, / silent music, / sounding solitude, / the supper that refreshes and deepens love (CB 14-15). Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta asked her sisters to practice first the virtue of kindness and second the virtue of silence, a silence she witnessed also by smiling – to conceal her great inner sufferings.
“The Church – all of us – must discover the power of silence†(Cardinal Luis Antonio de Tagle). The liturgy speaks of a sacred silence to allow “the voice of the Holy Spirit to be heard more fully in our hearts.â€
Good Friday! Jesus on the Cross is silent: his serene silence to the many questions of Herod; his calm silence to the cry of the people, “Crucify him! Crucify him!†his humble silence while he is horribly scourged at the pillar. Jesus is patiently silent through his whole passion – at times he pronounces a few words that dramatize his talking silence. Jesus, the Suffering Servant of Yahweh “never opened his mouth, like a lamb led to the slaughter-house, like a sheep dumb before the shearers, he never opened his mouth†(Is 53:7).
Jesus on the Cross faced also the silence of God. From the Cross, Jesus asked his Father: “Why have you abandoned me?†God’s answer was: silence. The silence of God, the mysterious silence of God yesterday and today in the midst of darkness, of desolation, of deadly natural calamities, of war… Why this silence, God? Where are you when we hurt terribly? Why do you allow so much evil in the world? Benedict XVI asked in his visit to the concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenaw: Why the Holocaust? Why, Lord, did you remain silent? How could you tolerate all this?†(May 28, 2006). I ask you, my dear God: “Why did you allow the terrible crucifixion of your Son†– of your Son? St. Dominic’s favorite book is the book of charity, that is, God’s love revealed in the cross – in the silent cross.  Dear God, “May we not forget that you also talk when you keep silent… In your silence as well as in your word, you are always the same Father, the same paternal and maternal heart, and you guide us with your love and elevate us with your silence†(S. Kierkegaard).
 “Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness†(from an Ancient Homily), the strange silence of Good Friday and Holy Saturday. It is the silence of the naked Cross, of the hopeful Cross of Christ! Our silence before the Cross of Christ is indeed the hopeful silence that is directed to Easter: from the loud silence of Jesus’ death to the sounding joy of his resurrection.
With St. Bernard we pray to the Lord: “There is in your adorable Passion, Lord, a word that moves me and speaks like no other word. It is the word you have not uttered, the word of your silence. When, Lord, when will I learn your silence, and when will I know that You, only You justify and condemn? When, my Jesus, will I learn to keep quiet, to talk little with men and much with You? When shall I imitate your silence – humble, patient, adorable silence? Oh silent Jesus, give me the holy virtue of your silence!â€
Fausto Gomez, O. P.
St. Dominic’s Priory, March 2013
 The celebration of tonight’s liturgy marks the end of Lent and the beginning of the Easter Triduum. During the Easter Triduum or the holy three days, which is the longest Liturgy of the church year, we celebrate the greatest event ever taking place in the life of any believer, the event of our salvation. It begins tonight with the washing of the feet and the establishment of the Eucharist and priesthood, continues through tomorrow, where we all will accompany Jesus all the way to the cross and concludes with the Easter Vigil, when the glory of the risen Christ will be revealed to us.
Tonight celebration is not just a dramatization, or a historical look back at events in the life Christ. It is about bringing to life, making present the mysteries we celebrate: the celebration of Eucharist, the institution of the priesthood, and the mandatum or the new commandment.
If we thumb through the pages of the Holy Scripture we will see that for the Jewish people the Passover meal was one of the biggest feasts of the year. It was a time for the people of Israel to give thanks for their salvation. To remember the night they were saved from slavery. A time to remember how the Lord went through Egypt and passed over their houses, a time to recall how the God of their fathers opened the waters of the sea to bring them to the Promised Land.
This evening, we look back at how Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples, bringing the Passover Meal to its ultimate purpose and meaning. It was on that table where Jesus sat with his disciples that He began to reveal the real meaning of the Passover. He showed Himself as Son of God who would be sacrificed on the first Good Friday for our sins. On that night, on the upper room and in front of his disciples, He offered Himself; He gave His Body and Blood, in the great mystery of faith as our food for eternal life. It was on that gathering on the upper room that the meaning of this celebration changed from a recall gathering to a living gathering.
It is because of that change of essence in the meaning of the Passover meal that the Eucharist we celebrate, contrary to the Passover meal celebrated by the Jews is not just a recall of what happened in the past. We are not here just to remember, for if the love of God is not manifested through our life to the world by what we do here then it is not an authentic Eucharist. The food we receive here is not just for contemplation or adoration. It must be food for action; we have to become the new bread for the world.
It was also on that same room and at that same Supper that Jesus established, the Sacrament of Priesthood and commissioned the apostles, as the first priests of the New Covenant, with the command “Do this in memory of me.†When Saint Paul explains to Corinthians the institution of the Eucharist he says that this power is given to mere men, not because of any personal worth, but explicitly because Jesus Christ, who commanded, “Do this in memory of me†has chosen it to be so and he prayed to the Father for them “Consecrate them in the truth.†(John 17:17)
It was during this commission to service through the ministry of priesthood that Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. “Master, you will never wash my feet. Peter rebuked Jesus when He approached him and knelt in front of him. I guess Peter said this out of shock. The disciples were horrified. The washing of the feet was only done by the slaves and servants. It was a scandalous thing to do. Not only they did not understand what Jesus was doing, but they did not want to be part of it. “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.†Jesus answered and said to him and to the rest of the disciples. By his action Jesus symbolically overturned the whole social order. In that one significant act he showed his disciples and teaches each one of us that Christian’ greatness is not determined by position, or rights or education or title. Christian values are measured by a readiness to meet the need of the moment with an act of service and love.
My dear brothers and sisters tonight we recall the occasion on which the institution of the Eucharist, the establishment of priesthood and the washing of the feet took place. But we are not here just to remember. The Eucharist is the culmination of Jesus’ love for us, and our celebration of the Eucharist should send you and me out from here to minister, to serve and to love the Lord in others. “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.†(John 13:34). This commandment is not just a remembrance of what Jesus said but, a legacy for all Christians to follow. On this Holy Thursday through these mystical actions and signs let us make a living presence the mysteries that we celebrate.
 I wish you the richest blessing of God in these Holy Days. May all of us be sustained by the Bread of eternal life as we look with hope to Easter!
Fr Alejandro Salcedo, O. P.
St. Dominic’s Priory, March 2013
