Posted by The WORD in other words (2021) by Fr. FLORANTE S. CAMACHO, SVD (HNU, Tagbilaran City, Bohol)
Monday 19th Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s liturgical readings provide us with a snapshot of Jesus, the faithful Jew! He knew the “Shema” from Deuteronomy. He paid His temple tax of half a shekel! As a good leader, He gave His early followers an example of “walking the talk”! He, Jesus, is the anointed one, the Christ whom we follow. A significant Jewish mark of faith expression is attaching the “Shema” on doorposts or entrances of buildings. In Tagbilaran City, Bohol, many visitors are amused to read Biblical quotations printed on the sidecar of every tricycle-for-hire! In other places, we find blessed palms in the form of crosses attached to the doors of their homes!
The above are external symbols of our religious affiliation. But do we Christians consistently “walk our talk”? The Jewish religion is a noble profession that the Jews are the chosen people of God. Christianity, on the other hand, is a religion of Love. How do we practice this day by day! Do we pattern our lives after that of Jesus, the Christ, the anointed one?
The Second Plenary Council of the Philippines, January 20 – February 17, 1991, described our Filipino Catholics as mostly sacramentalized but not evangelized. Thirty years ago, it tried to evaluate our Catholicity after the Vatican Council in 1965. The transformation from being sacramentalized to indeed being evangelized people is the work of the Holy Spirit. Let us humbly ask Him to make us effective witnesses of the Risen Christ! And make us His missionaries in Asia and beyond!
– Fr. FLORANTE S. CAMACHO, SVD (HNU, Tagbilaran City, Bohol)
