God of All Peoples
Behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”
EPIPHANY Cycle A
When Jose Rizal was imprisoned at Fort San Santiago just before his execution, he was visited by a Jesuit priest since was an alumnus of Ateneo de Manila. He was still a freemason then the priest told him “Outside the Church, there is no salvation” to convince him to confess and return to the Catholic fold.
But is it true that outside the Church there is no salvation? It depends on how one understands the Church. Lumen Gentium 16 of Vatican II gives a much wider description of the Church. The Church includes not only the Catholics who are ruled by the pope. It also includes Christians like the Orthodox, Anglicans, and Protestants because they also all believe in Christ. It embraces all others like the Jews, and Moslems since they too believe in God although they call Him by another name like Yahweh or Allah. Even the atheists could be considered part as long as they do good and do not harm their neighbors which is an important teaching of Christ. Only those who do evil under the bidding of the devil could not be part of the Church.
Today the Baby Jesus was visited at home by the Magi coming from the east three years after the Shepherds have left. They were not Jews and thus foreigners but were received nonetheless in the presence of the Savior. This shows that the Messiah has come for all peoples of all times and places. He discriminates no one of different color, race, or even religion.
A man and his wife were picking up their son at a catholic school after class. On his side, the man saw another father, a Muslim wearing a skull cap. Immediately he pulled his wife away whispering “terrorist” into her ears. Sometimes catholics forget that their name means universal or accepting all types of people discriminating none.
Pope Francis said :
“Think of a single mother who goes to church or parish, and says to the secretary: I want to baptize my son, and the attendant says: “No, you can’t, because you’re not married…” “
Let’s keep in mind that… This mom had the courage to continue with a pregnancy — and what is she finding? With a locked door!
And so, if we continue on this path and with this attitude, we are not doing the people, the People of God, right.
Jesus created the seven sacraments and with this kind of attitude we created an eighth: the sacrament of pastoral customs!.
“WHOEVER APPROACHES THE CHURCH MUST FIND OPEN DOORS AND NOT PRISONERS OF FAITH.”.
“We need saints without veil, without veil. We need saints jeans and sneakers.
We need saints to go to the movies, listen to music and hang out with friends.
We need saints who will put God first and stand out in University.
We need saints who find time to pray every day and who know how to fall in love with purity and chastity, or who consecrate their chastity.
We need modern saints, 21st century saints with spirituality embedded in our time.
We need saints who are committed to the poor and necessary social change.
We need saints who live in the world, who are sanctified in the world and who are not afraid to live in the world.
We need saints who drink coke and eat hot dogs, who are internet users, who listen to iPod.
We need saints who love the Eucharist and are not ashamed to have a beer or eat pizza on the weekend with friends.
We need saints who like cinema, theater, music, dance, sports.
We need sociable, open, normal, friends, cheerful, companions saints.
We need saints who are in the world and who know how to savor the pure and good things of the world, but without being worldly.”
That has to be us!!!
Disclaimer: This section of the website is a personal creative writing of the author and does not necessarily reflect the official views, opinion, or policies of the Salesians of Don Bosco – Philippines South Province. For concerns on the content, style, and grammar of this piece, please contact us.
