St. Expeditus: Patron Saint of Speedy Causes

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St. Expeditus:  Patron Saint of Speedy Causes The venerated image of St. Expeditus in  the Lipa Cathedral In the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Sebastian in Lipa City is a venerated image of a young Roman Centurion saint named Expeditus. Every month of April, a nine day novena in his honor is held in the cathedral that culminates in the celebration of his feast day on the 19th of the month. Who is this saint whose intercession was also invoked in the Oratio Imperata  to avert a catastrophic eruption of Taal Volcano prepared by the Archdiocese of Lipa when the volcano exhibited extra-ordinary activity early  in January, 2020?  St. Expeditus could have found affinity with the Lipenos since the martyr shares a lot of commonality with St. Sebastian, the city’s patron. St. Expeditus, like St. Sebastian was also a young Roman soldier who converted to Christianity and was also martyred as a consequence, during the period of Diocletian persecution.  Hence, a devo...
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Reflection: February 24, 2016, Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent

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February 24, 2016. Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent

Reflection on the Gospel according to Matthew 20:17-28 

As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem,
he took the Twelve disciples aside by themselves,
and said to them on the way,
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem,
and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests
and the scribes,
and they will condemn him to death,
and hand him over to the Gentiles
to be mocked and scourged and crucified,
and he will be raised on the third day.” 

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons
and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something.
He said to her, “What do you wish?”
She answered him,
“Command that these two sons of mine sit,
one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom.”
Jesus said in reply,
“You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?”
They said to him, “We can.”
He replied,
“My chalice you will indeed drink,
but to sit at my right and at my left,
this is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
When the ten heard this,
they became indignant at the two brothers.
But Jesus summoned them and said,
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and the great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.
Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.” 

Reflection (Sem. Eldrick S. Pena) 

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. These were the words that struck me most in today’s Gospel. It is an invitation to be Christ-like – to imitate and follow His example of leadership and service. For Jesus, there is no distinction between being a leader and a servant. 

A good leader is a good servant. It is through genuine and authentic service to others do we come to appreciate the kind of servanthood that Jesus is inviting us to adopt. In doing so, we do not just serve our neighbors, we glorify and pay homage to Jesus Himself, who commanded us to love and serve one another as He has done so. 

This season of Lent, Jesus asks us to re-examine the way we look at ourselves in relation to others. Are we becoming conduits of Jesus’ mercy for them or are we causing them to be far and wander away from Christ? Are we leading them to Jesus through our personal witness of His goodness, mercy and compassion for all? 

If we will only learn that each encounter with our neighbor is also an opportunity to personally encounter Christ in a more intimate way, it would not be difficult to love and serve the poor, the needy, the marginalized, and yes, even our enemies and those people who have hurt us.
With all these, I am moved to pray that in everything and in everyone, I may be able to see Jesus, touch Jesus, hear Jesus, taste Jesus, smell Jesus… only Jesus. Amen.

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