Had to go... take charge here!

John 17:6-19
17:6 "I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
17:7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you;
17:8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
17:9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours.
17:10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.
17:11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.
17:12 While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled.
17:13 But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.
17:14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.
17:15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.
17:16 They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.
17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
17:18 As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Today’s Gospel reading is about Jesus praying to God to protect us from the evils of the world. Jesus is about to go back to the Father and he is making sure that when he leaves this world that his followers will be guided on how to carry on the work. It is just like how we work here in our department here in the hospital. Our chairperson has other stuff to attend to and we know that she can’t be with us all the time. But before she leaves the office in the morning, she instructs those who will be left on what to do the rest of the day and the following days that she won’t be around. Our chairperson makes sure that the activities and services offered by the department will continue smoothly despite her absence. Our chairperson knows that problems may arise in the course of our work and so she prays that we will have the wisdom and courage to overcome them. Just like how Jesus prayed to the Father to ask for protection from evil. We must continue to do our work and not be delayed by problems and challenges we face. Us residents are given different tasks to make sure that the work must go on.

As Christian doctors, we are also given by our Head Doctor (that is Jesus) what we need to do to continue his ministry during his “absence.” The first thing that Jesus asks the Father in heaven is to protect us from potential evils that we will encounter that may delay or prevent us from doing our work. What challenges do we face in our workplace that sometimes pushes us to quit and not do our job? What evils have made us stumble in our responsibilities as Christian witnesses? What evils have made us neglect our duty to become the extension of God’s healing ministry?   

  When Jesus called us to be his instrument of healing, he had a tasked us to do his work. Just as Jesus had given work to the disciples when he went back to heaven, we are also given work to accomplish. What are the task that Christian doctors must continue to do? As Christian doctors, what concrete ways can we witness to our faith?

As we continue to celebrate Eastertide, let us not forget that the resurrection of Jesus does not end in his victory over death. Christ victory means our victory. It is the beginning of the fulfilment of the promise.  The return of Jesus to the Father also highlights to us the task that has been commissioned to us. Just as the Father has sent Jesus, so are we being sent to continue the work of God. Just like what our Chair reminds us as she leaves, I hear Jesus saying, "had to go... take charge here!"

Tell me about your friend

Tell me about your friend

The Gospel text this week is from John 15: 9-17. It is the story about Jesus calling his followers as his friends. He gives a distinction about how they used to be slaves who do not know about what is in the mind of their master to becoming friends of Jesus who knows his plans. I want to highlight here the shift of the followers from slaves to friends. They are the same people. The followers did nothing in themselves to warrant them to be called friends of Jesus. These followers did not win the lottery or became richer. They did not get promoted or had top level jobs. They are of the same stature from how Jesus knew them until that moment. Yet, Jesus recognized a change of his relationship with them. They were no longer slaves but now his friends. The shift could mean many things but obviously it means as slaves, they belonged to a lower relational level with Jesus but now elevated to a higher relational level of being Jesus’ friends.

It is an interesting thing to ask the reason for the shift in the relationship. Looking closely at verse 16, Jesus said that he chose and appointed his followers to be his friends. It was not from their own doing. In his commentary, Barnes said that Jesus calling his followers as friends “refers here, doubtless, to his choosing or electing them to be apostles. He says that it was not because they had chosen him to be their teacher and guide, but because he had designated them to be his apostles.”

I am interrupted by a thought from a fellow co-worker, “so what does this mean to us?”

It is often the most difficult part. As pastor and friend of Jesus, I am expected to offer some insights to my colleagues how does the Gospel speak to us today.

I was thinking this. As Christian workers in the hospital, we are the followers of Jesus. Jesus called us to be his friends not out of our own reasons or doing. We are his friends because Jesus chose us to be his friends. Not because we are doctors. Not because we have helped many sick people. Not because of our good deeds. Nothing from our own merit is the reason. It is simply because of Jesus.

Now I realized, I do not have to be the one always sharing reflections on the Bible. We are all friend of Jesus and you all also have the same mind of Christ. So, FRIENDS, tell me… what does the text mean for us today?

BV (Branch of the Vine)

This weeks Gospel lesson is from the Gospel According to John 15:1-8.
15:1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower.
15:2 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.
15:3 You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you.
15:4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.
15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
15:6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
15:7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
15:8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

Becoming a better Christian in the workplace has many unique challenges especially in the hospital. One of the common scenes we find in our job as doctors is the trust and appreciation our patients, especially when they get cured from their illnesses, give to the word MD (Medical Doctor). Don’t get me wrong, it is not wrong to trust and appreciate the doctors, in fact trust is important and the appreciation doctors receive is also appreciated. But what become problematic are the overflowing trust and the never ending appreciation that encourages doctors to begin looking at themselves highly for having an MD attached to their name. For oftentimes, an MD seems to give doctors license to glorify themselves.

Doctors are supposed to improve the health of people, cure the sick and heal those hurting. This is the task that the general population expect us to do. Of course, as MD we will do that. But for us Christian doctors, we know that we are mere instruments of God’s healing ministry. It is the touch of God that heals the brokenness of the human body. It is the One True God of Medicine who is the Ultimate Physician where we only take part. We doctors should not glorify ourselves for having an MD because we know we are just BV (Branches of the Vine). It is only through the vine where we the branches can bear fruit.

As Christian Doctors, we are reminded that our task (healing) in the workplace is to be part of the healing ministry of Jesus – to be the branch of the vine (BV). The overrated recognition of the doctors’ superb knowledge and skills in treating patient neglects the fact that the doctors’ gift is possible only because of God. The Christian Doctor knows that the good fruit of healing the sick comes only from being a branch connected to the vine who is Jesus Christ. The recognition the doctor receive should be given back to the source of the gift. Glory must not be to us doctors but we should tell our patients and their family to bring back all the glory and praise to God. For it is only being connected to the vine of Jesus that we doctors, the branches, can bear good fruits. The text reminds us as we bear witness of our faith in the workplace, that an MD does not give us reason to glorify ourselves rather it is our witness that we are a BV.

What I think as the General Conference 2012 ends

As the General Conference 2012 concludes today, many people will have mixed feelings. Some will reflect on what happened and some will be disappointed. Others will be hopeful for the 2016. There will be different responses about the GenCon that has been and the GenCon that will come in the next four years. But for me, my concern will be the safe trip of my family. My prayer is that my sick mother will have the strength to travel halfway across the globe with a failing kidney. That my now-retired father will still have enough physical, mental, spiritual and most especially emotional strength to face the several scheduled Annual Conference after the very tiring General Conference. And that my sister will be able to bear with the two. God bless us all.

Are you buddies with the Shepherd?

(This Bible Reflection was done in Ospital ng Maynila - Department of Family Medicine)

Opening Prayer

Our most loving God

You are the good shepherd

Who leads us to the green pasture of life

Guide us today in our study that we may be nourished in our spiritual life

Amen

Gospel: John 10:11-18

Reflection:

The Gospel text tells of Jesus describing him. Jesus uses the story of a shepherd and the sheep. Who is the shepherd and who are the sheep?

It is understandable that sheep are common animals in Jesus time but there should be a reason for Jesus to use them as an image. Now there are different characteristics of sheep, what are some that you know? Of the many traits of the sheep, Jesus points to one particular characteristic of the sheep that defines the relationship of shepherd and sheep, the recognition of the sheep of their shepherd. Jesus said, “I know my sheep and they know me.”

Now, here is the assumption: we are all Christians here. If Jesus is the good shepherd, with us being called Christians, we are the sheep. The question for us now, how well do we know our shepherd? Are we really like the sheep that Jesus said “know me (Jesus)?”

To know Jesus means to be close to Jesus. Imagine your best buddy in high school; you can say that you know that person inside out because you are close to him/her. How did you get close to him/her? You probably spent most of the day with your friend. You constantly talk to your friend about any stuff. You may even be conversing or talking in the phone until dawn. You probably did stuff together, especially the crazy stuff of your teenage life. But how about now, are you still as close to your friend? If your best friend already has a family of his/her own or is now living abroad, you probably felt you are not as close as before. Although once you get together during reunions, it’s like the old times again. To know someone is to be close to that person. But how close are we to Jesus?

John Wesley, an Anglican priest and founder of Methodism, used a spirit meter to gauge one’s closeness to Jesus. He uses this meter everyday to reflect how he fared in his journey towards Christ-likeness. From the spirit meter, he can better assess his efforts in responding to God’s grace. Let us try to use the same meter and see how close are we to Jesus today? One is farthest and ten is closest to Jesus.

 

Now, in the midst of our work and in the middle of the week, most of us will answer that we are 5 or 6 in our spirit meter. Obviously, we want to say our score is 10. That is our goal, to be super close to Jesus. How can we be closer to Jesus to say that we know him?

To be close to someone means to know how one speaks, thinks and act. To know someone well, we have to be constantly exposed to him, communicates with him, acts like him and be with him. This is also true with Jesus. We need to dilute ourselves of Jesus like joining in Christian fellowship and attending mass, we need to talk to him – by praying always and reading the Bible, and we need to act like Jesus like doing random acts of kindness. Let us always be in the presence of Jesus to know our good Shepherd. We need to be buddies with the shepherd to say we know him. We need to spend a great time with Jesus to be close to him and to know him even more. That is our challenge – exert more effort to spend more time with Jesus.

Closing Prayer

Our most loving and gracious God

You are the Good Shepherd

Who have called us to the good pasture to feed us with your living Word

Nourish us with your love and wisdom with what we have learned from our Bible study today

That we may be able to know you better. Amen.

He is alive!!!

(This Bible Reflection was done in Ospital ng Maynila – Family Medicine Department)

A Reflection on Luke 24:36-48.

Opening Prayer:

Jesus our Lord and Savior,

You are the eternal and Living God,

Who rose up from the dead on the third day

Make us recognize your living presence in our midst

That we may become your witnesses from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. Amen.

How would you react if you see somebody you knew was already dead? Imagine the patient you just pronounced dead a few days ago is now alive and up on his feet?

This is what the disciples experienced. Jesus died three days ago and now Jesus appeared before his disciples. The Gospel of Luke says the disciples were surprised, why? Would you be surprised too?

And then to prove to his disciples Jesus is really alive and it is really him, he shows his nail marks and wounds. And then after doing these, Jesus asks for food, can you tell me why?

The Gospel tells us that Jesus is alive. That is the good news. We have a risen Christ, he is not dead!

But, what does it mean to have a Living Lord? What does it mean to you?

As Christians in the workplace, we are like the disciples of Jesus. We are scared because we think our Lord is dead. And so our faith is also dead. It shows how we manifest our faith in our workplace. Can you tell me how do you show your Christian faith in your workplace?

Is your faith dead like you worship a dead God, or is your faith alive appropriate for a living God? As Christians in the workplace, our task is to be witnesses to our workplace – our own Jerusalem, that Christ is alive. My favourite analogy about Christian living is that our Christian life here on earth is like a training of what our life is in heaven. We start learning here on earth what we will be doing in heaven forever. If we have a living faith, we should act, speak and think everyday like Jesus would, then we get to experience a little of heaven.

Showing our faith is like prescribing medicine. We prescribe a certain Brand A of Co-Amoxiclav because we trust this medicine to be effective. Our trust in the medicine could be due to many reason. On the other hand, we do not prescribe the other Brand B because we know it will not be effective. Similarly, we show our Christian faith because we truly trust and believe that Christ is risen. If we have some doubts about Christ being the Son of God or of Christ being risen from the dead then we do not proclaim it just like we do not prescribe untrustworthy drugs. Therefore, we are witnesses thate Jesus is alive because we believe it to be so.

We can be witnesses of a living Christ through showing of a living faith. One Christian discipline demonstrating a living faith is prayer. But, how often do you pray? A living faith prays every time, everywhere. And so my brothers and sisters; be witnesses that Jesus is alive by showing in your workplace that you have a living faith. Practice being a Christian to show a living faith. Pray always.

Now, who wants to be a witness that their faith is alive? Who wants to lead us in closing prayer?

Closing Prayer:

Eternal and Living God

Who is the giver of all life

Breath unto us your Holy Spirit that our faith may once again be alive and dynamic

Awaken our sleeping souls and send us to become witnesses of the risen Christ starting in the Jerusalem of our workplace throughout the ends of the earth. Amen.

Prayer for Hire

I went to see a patient today who was dying of Gastric cancer, stage 4. Her daughter asked me to pray for the patient because she is now delirious and incoherent with her BP going down. The attending physician said the patient's prognosis is not too good. Part of the pastoral care was to intercede in prayer for the patient and her family. So, I asked the daughter and the sister of the patient what was their prayer request? The patient's daughter simply said, "just do your thing and pray."

At the back of my head, I was reflecting on what those words meant? What did she mean by that? She called mo to intercede, to pray WITH them in their difficult time but it turned out prayer was just "MY" thing. Yes, not "THEIR" not even "OUR" but "MY" thing. Was it because people do not know how to pray anymore or people do not want to pray? No, I think it was because people no longer see praying as part of their task as Christians. Praying now has become the thing only for those providing "spiritual care." People see praying as a task reserved only for the "religious workers." It seems prayers today are for hire.

Of course, prayer can be a complex thing. Just grab a book that talks about the theology of prayer and you wonder how can a simple conversation with God can become so complicated. But it is never difficult to pray. A heart that genuinely talks to God is in prayer. No matter what talk.

I called the daughter to come close. I asked her again, "do you want to pray to God and ask that God will comfort your mother especially in her pain?" She said, "Yes." I asked the daughter to come closer and hold her mother's hand. I said, "God heard your prayer and is comforting your Mom through your hands."