Baaaaaaah

Isa sa mga partikular na characteristics ng tupa ay ang paglalakad lang ng pasulong at hindi sila marunong lumakad ng paurong or sideways. ...

Basilica di Sant'Agnese e Mausoleo di Santa Costanza

Isa sa mga partikular na characteristics ng tupa ay ang paglalakad lang ng pasulong at hindi sila marunong lumakad ng paurong or sideways. Kaya nga ang Greek word for “sheep” is “πρόβατον” na ibig sabihin ay “forward-walking”. Another katangian ng tupa ay yung pagiging faithful sa kung anu man na nakagisnan niyang tunog o pamamaraan ng pagtawag sa kanya ng kanyang amo, ng nagpapastol. Usually sa isang herd, may isa o ilan sa kanila na may kalembang sa kanyang leeg para ung tunog na iyon ang susundan ng mga iba pang tupa. Nung nasa Spain ako, I had the chance to stay sa aming youth center na nasa paanan lang ng bundok at may mga sheep herds sa paligid at gayun din sa tuktok ng bundok na lagi kong inaakyat. And since ako'y isang dakilang pasaway, ninais ko one time, twice, thrice na guluhin ang mga dumadaan na tupa or ang mga nananahimik na mga tupa sa damuhan. Kung sa bikol pa "inabutan ning pagkadurdimunyu". Just for an experiment lang naman to see whether its true na di makikinig sa akin ang mga cute na tupa. Well, its true. They all just ran away from me. Yung iba naman ay deadma lang. Pinagtawanan lang ako ng pastor.

Ang mga kambing naman on the other hand, ay halos parehas sa sheep sa laki at aspeto. Pero ang pinagkaiba ng kambing ay usually iba't-iba ang kulay nito at may sungay na tamang tama sa ugali ng mga kambing. Dahil ang kambing ay hindi lahat ng oras nakikinig at sumusunod sa kanyang pastor. Burara, malikot, parang sumasayaw ng cha-cha paminsan, at susuwagin ka kapag nilapitan mo ito. At madalas sumasama kahit kanino. Kaladkarin. Kaya nga ang mga Kastila, ang tawag nila sa mga matitigas ang ulo o sa mga taong pasaway o sa mga nangangaliwa, etc ay cabrón, And the word itself is a vulgar word, just in case you do not know.

We are presented this Sunday with the text from Jn 10:27-30 na mas maiintindihan natin ang buong contexto nito babasahin natin ang buong Chapter 10 ng John. Eto kasing 27-30 ay mga katagang sinabi ni Jesus sa tanong sa kanya: “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly” (Jn 10:24). Ang text natin ngayon ay isang sagot na naging insulto para sa nakarinig kung kaya't sa verse 31 ay sabi "The Jews again picked up rocks to stone him." The whole chapter speaks about the Good Shepherd and it starts by saying that "whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” The sheep will only listen to his voice.

LISTENING TO THE VOICE. There are a lot of strange voices around us. Voices sometimes would just lead us astray, to lose our way. Listening is a very important act all throughout the Bible. Because actually the opposite of it is SIN or DEATH. Remember ADAM and EVE? They have listened to the VOICE OF THE SERPENT who asked the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You shall NOT EAT FROM ANY of the trees in the garden’?” (Gen 3:1). The serpent DISTORTED the Word of God. Tingnan ninyo maagi ang kaibahan ng sinabi ng Dios sa pagkaformulate ng ahas: “You are FREE TO EAT FROM ANY of the trees of the garden EXCEPT THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die” (Gen 2:16-17). Resulta: si Ate at si Kuya na kick-out sa garden. Kapag hindi kasi tayo nagiisip in front of a situation, (fast to hear but not slow to decide) we tend to forget to analyze first the situation or the problem at basta nalang din tayo sumasabak. Tapos kapag may nag advice na mali naman, yun na. Kaya tayo napapahamak kasi iba ibang boses ang ating pinapakingan. In the end magsisisihan.

Remember what happened to the people who did not listen to the message of God that Noah had announced? Remember what happened to Pharaoh’s people when he did not listen to the plea of the Hebrews? Remember what happened to the Jews in the dessert when they did not listen to Moses? Remember what happened to the wife of Lot when she did not follow the instructions during their flight while Sodom and Gomorrah is being destroyed? etc. etc.

A sheep is like a child told to stay away and not to talk to strangers

We have to listen only to the Voice of God and not to other voices. Because the voice of God LEADS TO PASTURE, TO SATISFACTION, TO DIRECTION AND TO SECURITY. Remember the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Book of Daniel? They were unharmed when they were thrown into the furnace because they did not listen to the voice of Nebuchadnezzar and remained in the Word of God. Remember the dead Lazarus when he heard the voice of Jesus? He was raised back to life. Jesus’ voice leads to eternal life. Remember the voice that Peter, James and John heard when a cloud hovered Jesus and there was Elijah and Moses beside Jesus?

To hear the voice of Jesus is not just to pick up the sound waves that strike our eardrums. He is asking for more than just passive listening. HEARING HIS VOICE ENTAILS ACTION, an ATTENTIVE LISTENING that is equivalent to FOLLOWING. The Word of God is not just to be heard, it has to be lived, it has to be preached. Paul, who heard the voice of Jesus in the road to Damascus tried to live it and preached it. He even led other people to the true voice. Many Jews and worshipers who were converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to remain faithful to the grace of God. As baptized Christians, we are also to follow the voice that we have heard, the Word of God that we hear. It is not enough to just hear the Word of God in the mass. We are invited to proclaim and be true witnesses even if we would be persecuted and even in times of trouble and distress. The second reading tells us of the multitude who stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands, the survivors during the time of great distress, those who had been faithful to the ONE AND ONLY VOICE even during times of persecution.

The readings invites us to pay attention to the shepherd, who is present to and guides his flock. WE ARE TO LISTEN TO HIM. If we hear and listen to His voice, we remain as part of his sheepfold, therefore: WE WILL RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE, WE WILL NOT PERISH, AND WE WILL BE PROTECTED.

Well, unfortunately we prefer most of the time not to listen and to do things on our own. Madudunong tayo e. Masyadong may alam. Maraming napapahamak dahil sa hindi pakikinig. Ewan ko ba, natural yata kasi sa atin na hindi sumunod. Mas gusto natin maging kambing kesa sa tupa. Kung sabagay, di naman talaga maganda yung nagpapauto, yung sunudsunuran, yung wala kang sariling mundo, yung hindi tayo malaya sa desisyon. It makes us somebody when we are acting like goats. Or maybe because we do not understand what has to be followed. Maybe because our minds are set to moral issues, to what is good and what is bad. Ang pagsunod kay Kristo ay hindi po nakabatay sa anung alam natin na tama o maling gawain. Nakabatay ito sa pagsunod sa kanyang utos: Mahalin mo ang Dios at mahalin mo rin ang iyong kapwa gaya ng pagmamahal mo sa iyong sarili. Punto. Tandaan natin na ang pagmamahal at pagkaawa, paminsan ay nangyayari din even if its morally wrong to do it or nasa hindi tamang panahon at hindi nasa tamang pagkakataon.

My dear friends, JESUS DOESN'T FORCE ANYONE TO FOLLOW HIM. HE CALLS. THE DECISION TO FOLLOW HIM DEPENDS ON EACH ONE OF US. Nasa iyo at nasa akin ang desisyon kung gusto ba nating maging KAMBING o TUPA.

P.S. Malapit na ang eleksyon sa Pinas, at bumoboto na ang mga naninirahan sa ibang bansa. Kung pipili kayo ng inyong kandidato, PILIIN NINYO YUNG KANDIDATO NA PAGNALUKLOK NA AY PAPAKINGAN ANG DULOG NINYO SA KANYA AT PAPAKINGAN NINYO DIN ANG KANYANG SALITA.