“It is finished,” and He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit. - John 19:30 

Death is always a painful experience. It is the moment when life comes to an ultimate end. It is the hour when a person is cut off from the world of the living. It means that between the dead and the living, comes a distance which goes beyond the farthest point of this earth. When death comes, it’s all over for the person this side of life. 

Let us admit there is something final in death which frightens us. No matter how miserable one’s life may have been, death appears always terrifying. Life is simply too enticing to end in death. But our faith teaches us that death is the necessary passage to eternal life. Jesus himself said, “Unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.” (John 12:24).

Fear of death is indeed inherent to man. Yet, such fear may be dispelled even as one’s hope for much more beautiful life increases. And if such hope is founded on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that by His own death on the cross, He won for us everlasting life. If we will abide by our faith, as Jesus commanded, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23), we will gain the promise of salvation. Only then, death will cease to be frightening. To those who have come to a much matured sense of faith, death even becomes something to welcome for, a moment to leave this hapless world to take our promised place with the Almighty Creator. We come to realise then that death would breakdown the wall that separates us from God, Who is the source of absolute happiness and of eternal life itself. 

We otherwise are aware that having “unpaid debts” in this life should make us tremble at the thought of death. It is hence terrifying because it ushers us to that place where full justice must be rendered. The fear of death is directly proportional to the sins committed in this lifetime. With greater “debt” comes the greater terror for death. When our respective time comes, the soul will be led to the halls of Divine justification where only the truth shall prevail. And each will eventually face God’s justice. In the awareness that in this life, justice is either imperfect or altogether absent, the evil man seems to thrive better than the good, as Jesus warned, “the sons of darkness are more shrewd than the children of light.” (Luke 16:8). This surely cannot last forever, as cited in scripture, “For justice will prevail and the righteous will be vindicated.” (Psalm 94:15). 

Somewhere, sometime, Divine justice will prevail. Good will triumph over evil and death shall be completely engulfed by eternal life through the merits of Jesus Christ, Whose passion and death freed us from eternal damnation. Let it be so! 

Dan Quetulio Brizuela 

Good Friday 2024

Jesus said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed. - Luke 22:40 - 41 

Prayer is the most essential practice of our faith. It is the act foremost to connect with the Almighty God. Anyone professing his belief in God but does not pray betrays the faith. 

Prayer is an act of the will. It is not a matter of finding the time to pray but whether do you want to pray. To find ourselves too busy to pray stems from our limited notion that prayer has to take too much time and effort. We may find ourselves in quandary thinking about the seemingly sophisticated ways of praying taught to us by the church. Yet we miss the whole idea that God hears even the simplest prayer, prayed in earnest. 

Thus, time is not the essence of prayer, it is faith. The true and lasting investments are those invested in times of prayer and contemplation. And the real wealth is in our faith. The times of prayer are treasures of opportunity to experience the unique and rich relationship that anyone shares with God. Prayer brings in enlightenment in times of confusion and wisdom that carries us through the most difficult moments. 

When we do our obligation to pray, we do so out of faith and love for God. It is when we feel uninspired; when we find it too tiring or when we are loosing faith that we should pray even more. These are the perfect time to tell God what’s in our heart. Oftentimes, we don’t even need to voice out our prayers especially when we are lost for words. It is in these time when we let our spirit soar to meet the Divine and express the yearnings of our heart. There is nothing complicated about prayer only if we acknowledge that it is the most natural thing to do; an act necessary to our temporal existence and essential to our passage to eternal life. 

Hence, even in the midst of our busy life, anytime should be prayer time. It has to be integrated in our lifestyle. God gave us time, we should offer it back to Him. 

Dan Quetulio Brizuela 

Maundy Thursday 2024

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” 

– Matthew 7: 1 - 3

Each life is a story,

every person his own role to play.

There's a reason why they're the way they are,

very distinct character yearning to be understood

Think about these…

before judging anyone.

Never judge by your own standards.

Every journey leads to different paths,

yet everyone is making their way home…

in the way they know best.

Pray then for one another…

to find the right way,

possess the truth,

and someday earn the life of everlasting bliss,

through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Dan Quetulio Brizuela

Holy Week 2024

 "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” 

- Colossians 3:23

The common concept of work is in terms of pay, salary or monetary profit. It is often in terms of temporal gains. Of course, work is the primary means by man earns his keep. Yet, there is much more in it than earning a living. There is something in work which makes man like God. There must be something in it which is more than mere grind or sweat. 

There is nothing as absurd in the meaningless toil, haphazard & random labor. While we are ordained to work in providing subsistence, moreso to sustain our aspiration for individual progress & the quest for the noblest purpose in life.

Work has been taken as too much of a burden since the fall of mankind from Divine grace when God, the Almighty Creator, destined man to work;  “By the sweat of your face,” God said to Adam, “shall you get bread to eat until you return to the ground from which you are made.” (Genesis 3:19)

Indeed, work without the creating & liberating element is unpleasant, drab & perhaps depersonalizing. None of us will remain human if we are either treated no more than an element of production or the extension of the machine we uses. And no human being would appreciate & enjoy work if his attitude towards it is reduced to what he gets from it.

From the beginning, work was supposed to be liberating, creative activity through which man found joy in being God's co-creator, until sin disrupted this order. Man afterall was appointed by God to have authority of all creation, having the capacity to subdue the earth & exercise “dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on earth.” (Genesis 1:26 – 28)

It is our fervent prayer, for the time to come when each of us would no longer be driven by greed and lust for possessions when we do work. Perhaps we would come to realize to see our respective jobs or business, as not just a manner of earning money, to be rich or amass wordly power, but as an affirmation of our dignity as stewards of the earth, to serve one another as Jesus Christ, Who labored the hardest to gain for us eternal salvation.

Dan Quetulio Brizuela 

Holy Week 2024

In our Holy Week observance, we particularly focus on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, His Gospel and the redemptive power He offers us. In this verse from the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 53, gives credence  to salvation history, that God in His infinite mercy has given His own Son, Jesus Christ as a ransom for our transgressions. 

This is the great message of Holy Week, as the Creator established the universe in 7 days, so does the Christ renewed the world in a week, to restore grace to mankind. 

Let us pray then for one another, to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and humbly ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us, keep us faithful, to encourage us in hope and for love to constantly abide in our hearts. 

Dan Quetulio Brizuela 

Holy Week 2024

 

"Out of the lips of babies and infants you have built up praise because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the rebel" - Psalm 8:2

As we go through reflective silence in the observance of Holy Week, please kindly meditate on the scriptures as it is the supreme universal force that sustains life. Its transformative power form our souls towards salvation. St. Francis de Sales warned us, "Never forget that souls are poisoned through the ear as much as bodies through the mouth".

Let us then guard our senses and mind by reading, hearing and sharing the Word of God. Moreso, live by it through the grace of the Holy Spirit. In our pursuance of righteousness we will gain eternal life earned for us by the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, for whom this holy season we celebrate and proclaim. 

May our Lenten reflection on silence, enriched everyone of you to begin experiencing new heart and spirit in things of God and humanity.

Dan Quetulio Brizuela 

Holy Week 2024