Ang PARABOLA NG MGA DAMONG LIGAW SA MGA HARDIN NG MAKAPANGYARIHAN

ANG PARABOLA NG MGA DAMONG LIGAW SA MGA HARDIN NG MAKAPANGYARIHAN
Para kay Bishop Ramento, CM Edison, at sa mga martyr ng bayan
(IFI UCCP Ecumenical Worship Service, 3 November 2019, Kowloon Union Church Space, Hong Kong)
Mula sa mga Igorot ng Cordillera hanggang sa mga Lumad sa Mindanao, hitik ang ating kasaysayan at kolektibong karanasan sa mga taong nag-alay ng buhay dahil sa pag-ibig sa kapwa, sa bayan, at sa Dios. Marami sa kanila ay mananampalataya-- mayroong humawak ng sandata upang ipagtanggol ang bayan, ang mga anak, ang buhay laban sa mga puwersang mapang-api at sakim; mayroong namang hindi. Si Andres Bonifacio ang pangunahing halimbawa ng unang grupo, si Jose Rizal naman ang sa pangalawa.
Maliwanag ang koneksyon ng mga kuwento ni Rizal sa kanyang pagkakabaril sa Bagumbayan bilang kaaway ng imperyong Kastila. Ang hindi maliwanag sa maraming Kristiyano ay ang koneksyon ng mga kuwento ni Jesus sa kanyang pagkakapako sa krus bilang kaaway ng imperyo ng Roma. Lumaki tayo sa mga parabola ni Jesus subalit ang nakagisnang interpretasyon ng karamihan sa atin, na galing sa mga paborito nating Amerikano at Europeong iskolar at komentaryo, ay makalangit ang mga kuwentong ito at walang koneksyon sa pang-araw-araw na buhay at pakikibaka ng mga tao.
Hindi kasi tayo mahilig magbasa ng bibliya. Ang binabasa natin mga libro tungkol sa bibliya. Sa halip na basahin natin ang Lumang Tipan, ang alam na alam natin ang interpretasyon ni Bernhard Anderson. Sa halip na basahin natin ang Bagong Tipan, ang halos memorize na natin ang komentaryo ni Raymond Brown. Marami sa ating mga simbahan, lalo na sa mga UCCP sa siyudad, “Purpose Driven Life” ang textbook!
Now if we read our bible and prayed every day, unti-unti nating mapapansin na tuwing nagku-kuwento si Jesus, nagpupuyos sa galit ang mga lider ng relihiyon at politika. Kagaya ng mga prayle noong panahon ni Rizal. Sabi nga ng maraming eksperto sa kuwento, “myths are stories that create order, parables, on the otherhand, are stories that subvert order.” Parables are subversive speech. Ang parabola ay nagbabaligtad ng status quo. Ang mga kuwento ni Jesus, hindi tungkol sa langit, kundi tungkol sa kaharian ng Dios dito sa lupa. Ang mga kuwento ni Jesus ang mga bida yung mga kontrabida sa mata ng mga lider ng relihiyon at politika. Ang mga kuwento ni Jesus nangangako ng bagong umaga sa mga kapus-palad at inaapi, nagbibigay ng babala sa mga nasa-posisyon at sakim sa kapangyarihan.
Ang mga kuwento ni Jesus ang isa sa mga dahilan kaya siya pinapatay ng mga nasa poder.
At huwag na huwag ninyo itong kakalimutan. Nang pumasok si Jesus sa Jerusalem, 5000 libong lalaki ang kasama niya. Nang hulihin si Jesus sa hardin ng Gethsemane, 1000 namang mga sundalo ang humuli sa kanya. At nang siya’s patayin ng imperyo, dalawang rebelde ang kasama niya at isandaang sundalo ang nagsagawa ng crucifixion.
Sabi ni Gaius Plinius Secundus (aka Pliny the Elder) sa kanyang Natural History 19.170-171, ang mustasa sa parabola ay damo. Sabi niya, that “mustard [sinapi kokkos] …grows entirely wild… and when it is sown, it is scarcely possible to get the place free of it, as the seed when it falls germinates at once.”
Sabi ng mga Bible scholars, yung musta sa sa kuwento ay isang uri ng damong ligaw, na umaabot ng 5 talampakan ang taas. Kapag may ganyang damo sa anumang hardin ay siguradong magdaratingan ang maraming ibon. At kung may ibon ay may ipot ng ibon. Ayaw ng mga hardinero ang damong ligaw, ibon, at ipot ng ibon.
Sino man ang nakakita na ng mga hardin ng mayayaman, sa mga hardin ng mga nasa poder, sa mga hardin ng mga malalaking simbahan, hotel, o opisina, hindi puwedeng may damo, hindi puwedeng may mga ibon, hindi puwedeng may Tae ng ibon. Kaya, malimit ang unang ginagawa ng mga hardinero, alisin ang mga damo. Kung walang damo, walang ibon, walang Tae ng ibon.
PERO ITO ANG TOTOO. ANG DAMONG LIGAW, BUNUTIN MO MAN NG BUNUTIN, LAGING BUMABALIK!!!
Ganyan daw ang kaharian ng Dios. Parang damong ligaw. Parang mustasa. Tumutubo kung saan hindi ito tanggap. At kapag tumubo, ay nag-aanyaya ng mga hindi rin tinatanggap. Mga ibon na kailangan ng pahinga.
Damong ligaw ang tingin ng mga nasa poder kay Jesus. Damong ligaw na lumago at tanggap lahat ng hindi katanggap-tanggap: mga maysakit, mga dukha, api, aba. Mga makasalanan. Mga taong tanging Dios lamang ang pag-asa. Damong ligaw na hindi maaaring lumago sa mga hardin ng mga nasa poder. Damong ligaw na hindi maaaring bumulabog sa sistema.
Kaya nagtulung-tulong ang mga hardinero (ng Imperiong Roma at ng Templo) na bunutin ang damong ligaw. Huwag na huwag po nating kakalimutan, si Jesus ay pinatay ng mga nasa poder. Hinuli sa gitna ng gabi, tinorture, at ipinako sa krus.
Noong Biyernes ay Todos Los Santos, All Saints’ Day, at inala-ala natin ang mga mahal natin sa buhay na nauna na. Huwag din Sana nating kalimutan ang libo-libong tao na nawala, nawawala, at pinaslang sa ilalim ng administration ni Marcos, ni Cory, ni Ramos, ni Estrada, ni Arroyo, ni Aquino, at ni Duterte. Huwag nating kakalimutan na ang ating mahal na bayan ay iniluwal ng dugo at pag-ibig ng napakaraming bayani at martyr.
Silang lahat, mga damong ligaw, kagaya ni Jesus, na inalis ng mga hardinero ng mapang-aping uri at gahamang sistema ng mundo.
Noong taong 2006, lampas sa 20 UCCP ang pinaslang ng rehimeng Arroyo. Noong Octubre ng 2006, pinaslang si Bishop Alberto Ramento. Robbery daw, sabi ng mga pulis. Walang naniniwala ng robbery ang nangyari kay Bishop. Murder ang tawag doon. Pinatay siya dahil sinusundan niya ang kanyang Panginoong Hesu-Kristo. Nabubuhay para sa mga aba, abi, at IP.
Mga kapatid, hindi titigil ang pagbubunot ng mga damong ligaw. Pero, sabi ko nga kanina, ang damo, habang binubunot, lalong dumarami!!!
Buhay si Bishop Ramento. Buhay si CM Edison Lapus. Buhay si Eden Marcellana. Buhay ang bawa’t isang martir ng bayan sapagkat buhay ang kanilang pinaglalaban. Buhay ang kanilang pangitain. Buhay ang paglago ng kaharian ng Dios sa gitna ng lahat ng gustong pigilan ang paglago nito.
Huwag nating kakalimutan.
Sa bawa’t isang tao na mag-aalay ng buhay para sa bayan, para sa kalayaan, para sa kinabukasan, sampu ang ibabangon ng Dios. Sa bawa’t sampung babagsak, isandaan ang ibabangon ng Dios. Sa bawa’t isandaan, isang libo ang ipapalit ng Dios.
Ang tawag dito? RESURRECTION.
Amen.

GOD COMES AS A STRANGER

Who were the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick, the unwelcomed, and the prisoner that Jesus challenges us to serve, to take sides with, to love? Yes, the stranger.

Who were the widows, the orphans, and the foreigners that, over and over, the Law and the Prophets enjoin us to care for, to hold dear, to treat as sisters and brothers? Yes, the stranger.

God comes as a stranger. God did when God shared the promise of Isaac's birth. God did when God judged the arrogance and inhospitality of Sodom and Gomorrah. God did when God wrestled with Jacob at Jabbok.

God does as the Risen One: waiting for us to meet up in Galilee; reminding us that we will never be alone; calling the rich among us to sell everything we have, to give the proceeds to the poor, and to follow...

God always comes as a stranger. This is why we welcome the dispossessed, the displaced, the disenfranchised. This is why we open our homes, our churches, our spaces to Lumads, to People Living with HIV and AIDS, to refugees, to Palestinians, to those whose only hope is God.

This is why we always, always offer sanctuary.

DIVERSITY AND THE BIBLE

In many “Christian” countries like the US and the Philippines, the Bible has been used to legislate sin, to criminalize dissent, and legitimize tyranny. It has also been used to birth solidarity, resistance, and revolution... 
https://outragemag.com/diversity-and-the-bible/

Jesus has AIDS

If I said Jesus has cancer. Or diabetes. Or asthma. No one will give a fuss. I have, in the past, argued that Jesus might have been gay, a woman, a Palestinian, and an African.

But most of us have problems when we hear that Jesus has AIDS. Because we have been socialized to identify AIDS with promiscuity, with illicit drug use, with divine punishment, with sin. And the Jesus many of us worship cannot be promiscuous, will not touch or even be in the same room with weed, and, of course, is a perpetual virgin, and sinless.

What is the international symbol for HIV AIDS prevention?

When you turn the red symbol on its side, what does the symbol represent?

My dear friends, the world has AIDS. Close to 40 million of our sisters and brothers are living with HIV. About 1% of all our sisters and brothers, aged 15 to 49, are living with HIV.

Since the beginning of the epidemic, over 35 million of our sisters and brothers, each one created in God's image, have died. One million last year.

"For God so loved the world with AIDS that God sent God's son..."

Do we have problems with that interpretation? Or we only think that the world that God loves in our favorite Bible verse is that part without AIDS?

And what did God's Son say, the One God sent to a world with AIDS?

For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.

I have AIDS and you, like the priest and the Levite, do not stop to help me and pass on the other side of the road.

I have AIDS and you abandon me to die, on the street, alone, full of sores, like Lazarus.

Jesus has AIDS.

He is the two-year old orphan whose parents died from the disease. He is the young prostituted woman victimized by human trafficking. He is in San Lazaro, in RITM, at the Lung Center waiting for a blood transfusion. He is the one wrapped in your embrace this very moment. He is the one whose face you see in the mirror.

Jesus is a person living with HIV and AIDS and he is one of us.

And he is here with us right now.

Amen.

#WorldAIDSDay
#PreventionNotCondemnation

Parables book now on Amazon!

Reading the Parables of Jesus inside a Jeepney.

Thank you very much for all your generous support. Maraming salamat po!

In its first week the book was #1 in Hot New Releases in New Testament Criticism and #11 in the 100 Bestselling Books in New Testament Criticism.  After 30 days the book was #2 in Hot New Releases in New Testament Criticism. And #5 in Hot New Releases in Jesus, Gospels, and Acts.

During its Holy Week Sale last March 22-26, the book went back to #1 in New Testament Criticism, #4 in Biblical History and Culture, and #7 in Jesus, the Gospels, and Acts.

Widows, Strangers, and Orphans

Most of us grew up memorizing the names of the Twelve Disciples. In the Synoptics they are all men. In I Corinthians and in the Gospel of John they are a collective, The Twelve. Better. 

When we are quizzed to name the best among the disciples, we would probably volunteer Peter, James, and John. Some will add Mary Magdalene. But only a handful would say Jesus's mother in John, the Samaritan woman in John, and the child who offered five barley loaves and two fish. Also in John. 

Yes, my friends, a widow, a stranger, and an orphan. The three kinds of people closest to God's heart. 

The Gospel of John celebrates the Discipleship of the Unnamed.  Whom do we see at the beginning, throughout, and at the end of Jesus’s earthly ministry in the gospel? It is Jesus’s mother. Motherhood is discipleship. For millions of people in the world, LOVE is spelled, M, O, T, H, E, R.

Among the four gospels, with whom does Jesus spend practically a whole chapter's length in conversation, in dialogue, in mutual exchange of ideas? A stranger. A Samaritan. A woman.

For so many people today who find themselves strangers in foreign lands; refugees because of war; displaced and dispossessed because of greed, hospitality is discipleship.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke do not tell us where the barley loaves and fish that led to the feeding of the hungry 5000 came from. John does. It came from one of the hungry 5000. A poor child. The rich in Jesus’s time ate wheat. The poor had barley. The child offered five barley loaves and two fish. Are these enough to feed thousands? Of course not. But these are enough to inspire and birth miracles.

From August 8 to 31, Union Theological Seminary received a special blessing from God. The Lumad Bakwit Iskul composed of those closest to God's heart: widows, strangers, orphans, and more came to live with us. To teach us. To challenge us. To test our convictions. To show us grace under pressure, selfless gratitude, and true grit. 

And to remind us of our promise. To go to Galilee. Where Jesus is already waiting for us. 

The International Day of the Disappeared and the Empty Tomb

We, who call ourselves Christian, should not forget that the One we call Lord and Liberator was an Executed God. He was abducted in the dead of night, unjustly tried, beaten, tortured, and executed between two rebels. Then his body was thrown into a borrowed grave. In the Gospel of Mark, at dawn on Sunday three of his disciples, all women, visit the grave to anoint his dead body. They find the grave empty. There was no body.

Jesus had disappeared.

The Gospel of Mark ends with the women described as silent and afraid.

Jesus had disappeared.

Today, August 30 is the International Day of the Disappeared. We are invited to stand in solidarity with friends, colleagues, comrades, and families of the missing who continue to seek peace based on justice, and in remembrance of the thousands of desaparecidos in the Philippines, in Palestine, in many Third World countries, and around the world.

Like the women at the tomb, many of us are silent and afraid. Like the women in the tomb, we want to find The Disappeared. We want to find them alive. Or if they are dead, we want to find their bodies. We want to anoint them with fragrant oils. Maybe build a monument or set up a memorial for them. We want closure.

But the message of the young man in the empty tomb is as real today as it was thousands of years ago… Jesus is not in the tomb. He is risen. He is in Galilee… Waiting for you.

We believe in the resurrection. We believe that good will always triumph over evil; that faith is stronger than fear; that love is greater than indifference; and that life will always, always conquer death… We also believe that The Disappeared will rise again in the tens, in the hundreds, in the thousands who fight and struggle for justice, for peace, for liberation.

The Disappeared are not here. Like Jesus, they are risen. They are in Galilee where the good news is preached to the poor, where the hungry are given food, where strangers are welcomed, where liberation is proclaimed to the captives…

The Disappeared are waiting for us.

[reposted from August 30, 2011 blog entry]