Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: Fr. Jom Baring, CSsR

  • LOOK AND FIND

    LOOK AND FIND

    July 7, 2021 – Wednesday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070721.cfm)

    Egypt as a wealthy nation at that time, responded to the needs of the known world. Many nations and peoples came to Egypt for they have prepared themselves to face the great famine in that age. Joseph played an important role for the world at that time and for Egypt in particular.

    Despite the bitter and painful experiences of Joseph of being sold by his brothers as a slave, being maltreated and imprisoned in Egypt, Joseph remained free. His heart was free of bitterness and revenge. If Joseph had remained his heart imprisoned in bitterness and anger, he would not be able to gracefully and generously help Egypt and all other people. Because of such grace in his heart, Joseph became a dispenser of grace.

    Through him, God worked miracles and wonders so that people will be saved from the suffering of famine. And Joseph proved this as he met his brothers who committed a grave sin against him. Though he appeared unmoved by the situation of his brothers, but deep inside Joseph missed them.

    The tears in Joseph’s eyes as he wept could have been from the pain in his heart of being hurt by his brothers, but he must have understood also that that painful memory in his past, became God’s way to work wonders through him. Indeed, this happened. Joseph became the savior to his brothers, to the entire family.

    As Joseph was able to share their abundant resources to the refugees at that time, Jesus also sent his apostles to go and gather to lost sheep of the house of Israel. The apostles whom he called were given authority to drive out demons, to cure every disease and illness. This means that they were about to give freedom and healing to those burdened by sin and sickness and oppressed by the power of evil.

    Through Joseph, the people found sustenance in the midst of food and economic crisis and through the apostles those who are lost, sick and oppressed shall find healing and freedom.

    God’s invitation for us today is to look and find that will give us true sustenance in the middle of our crisis and difficulties. The celebration of the Holy Eucharist may become our source of spiritual nourishment then. Look and discover too that will bring us back closer to the Lord, that will give us healing and true freedom. Let the celebration of the Word of God become our help to bring healing and freedom in our hearts.

    In return, we may also become like Joseph, to become graceful and generous in sharing what we have to the needy for everything that we have are not ours but gifts from God. May we also become daring as the apostles to take the risk in going as the Lord invites us – that our person and presence will become God’s sign of grace to bring freedom and healing in our homes and communities. Hinaut pa.

  • WHEN WE WRESTLE WITH GOD, WE FIND BLESSING

    WHEN WE WRESTLE WITH GOD, WE FIND BLESSING

    July 6, 2021 – Tuesday 14th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070621.cfm)

    When we are in the middle of a crisis in our relationships, or in terms of our health, financial and economic etc., this brings us to fall into our knees and call for God’s help and blessing. Such need would make double our prayers. Some would visit churches and offer candles to the saints so that their petitions will be heard. Others would call their friends and ask for prayers too. However, our anxieties and fears could crush us to the point of losing our peace of mind.

    This is not totally strange. A person who feels uncertain what lies ahead would certainly be disturbed. This situation is told to us in that story of Jacob, who wrestled with God.

    Jacob was troubled and was in great distress. He was with his two wives and children but chose to be left alone to spend time with himself. He was about to meet his twin-brother Esau who had 400 men waiting for him. Jacob felt that his brother must be desperate to kill him to avenge the deception he did with his mother, Rebekah, by stealing the blessing from their father, Isaac. Aside from this, he must have been disturbed by his guilt for that crime he committed.

    Because of this, Jacob must be looking for comfort from God. However, instead of comfort from the Lord, a man came and wrestled with him. This was not what Jacob expected. Yet, Jacob also wrestled with all his strength to seek the blessing from that man. Jacob did not surrender though his hip was dislocated.

    This showed the determination of Jacob that despite the difficulty of the situation and the pain that he endured on his hip, he did not let go. This amazed God!

    Jacob realized that it was God who wrestled with him. In seeking God’s blessing, Jacob was persistent until God blessed him. This is the reason why he was renamed from Jacob (which means deceiver) to Israel (which means who wrestles with God).

    Now, Israel realized that he had a face to face with God, and with that he had been transformed by the Lord. This tells us that our struggles and every wrestle with God is an opportunity for us to have a face to face with God. Remember, God makes himself more present when we are vulnerable and weak. This is signified by the dislocation of the hip of Jacob.

    God uses our weaknesses, illnesses, fears and anxieties as windows for the Lord to reveal his power in us and his blessings for us. This is what we find as well in the Gospel today. A man was brought to Jesus. He was made dumb, he could not speak because the demon in him prevented him. But when this man had a face to face with Jesus, he was transformed. The demon was driven out, and the man found freedom and began to speak. This is another story of blessing and transformation.

    The encounter with Jesus was the blessing and that blessing transformed the man to be free and his sickness was that window to let God’s power be manifested.

    This is the invitation for us today. We might be wrestling with a particular issue, problem, challenge, or sickness or concern at this very moment. This could have caused us with sleepless nights, feelings of fear, desperation and weakness, loneliness and anxieties. However, God comes in a surprising way, as he did it with Jacob.

    God invites us to wrestle with him in those moments of difficulties. Not to be afraid but to find our strength in the trying moments of our life.  As we would wrestle with God in our prayers, let us be open also to God’s surprises because his blessing may not be in the way we expect it to be or would imagine it. But, like Jacob, at the end we shall blessing and transformation in the way God desires it to be. Like the possessed man who was healed and freed, our face to face with Jesus in our moments of desperation and trials, will also bring us healing and freedom. Hinaut pa.

  • KNOW THAT ‘I AM’ WITH YOU

    KNOW THAT ‘I AM’ WITH YOU

    July 5, 2021 – Monday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070521.cfm)

     Know that I AM with you. This is the promise and assurance to Jacob as revealed by the Lord to him in his sleep. The Lord knows that the journey Jacob will take will not be easy. The journey will not just be filled with ups and downs on the road but Jacob shall also encounter trials that will shaken his faith. As Jacob will experience prosperity he too will be haunted by his guilt of the crime he committed against his brother, Esau.

    However, despite his guilt, God saw something beyond Jacob’s sin. There in his heart lies the devotion and love to the Lord. Beyond Jacob’s sin, there was God’s mercy. This what made Jacob attuned to the revelations of God to him. Even in his sleep, God communicated to him and revealed the plan and promise to Jacob.

    “Know that I AM with you,” is both an invitation and constant reminder to Jacob. It is an invitation for him to always seek the Lord who is always with him and has shown mercy to him. It is in seeking the Lord that he and his descendants shall become blessings to others. It is also a constant reminder to Jacob that he is not alone in his journey. As he fled his home after he deceived his father, Isaac and cheated his brother Esau, he left alone and with nothing. Indeed, it is when a person grows in his consciousness of God’s abiding presence that he also becomes a blessing to the communities and peoples around him. This is the promise Jacob also received from the Lord.

    For us today, as we go through our own individual and common journey in faith, we too are invited like Jacob to know that God is with us. The words “I AM” is pregnant with meaning. This is the name that Moses received when we asked the name of God. “I AM” which is in present tense reminds us of God’s presence dwelling in the present moment. God, indeed, is always with us.

    Know then, that no matter how difficult, confusing and tiring our journey and life at this moment, God is with us. Thus, for us, we are invited and reminded today to “know that I AM with you.”

    As we rest in God’s promise and presence for us today, we may also discover how God unfolds His blessings for us in surprising ways. Hinaut pa.

  • INTERRUPTIONS INTO LIFE-GIVING ENCOUNTERS

    INTERRUPTIONS INTO LIFE-GIVING ENCOUNTERS

    June 27, 2021 – 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062721.cfm)

    As this pandemic brought significant changes in our lifestyle and way of gathering, the online platform is now commonly used. However, I cannot help but get irritated of the many interruptions happening during our online seminars, recollections or meetings. A knock on my door, a telephone call or unnecessary noises in the background, or a participant who still struggle to use the online platform would get into my nerves. I get irritated by these interruptions.

    Speaking of interruptions, honestly, I hate it also when I am interrupted from my work. Yet, there were times also when some interruptions and disturbances turned into life-giving encounters that made me wonder and reflect deeper.

    I remember while I was busy with office works in our parish in Iloilo City, I was interrupted by a young lady brought by her father. This young lady was shaking and I thought she was having seizure. However, she became hysterical. Her eyes turned red and her finger nails were scratching the walls of my office. Her face showed fear and claimed that “they” were there around watching her. She seemed to see evil spirits that I could not see.

    I have to stop from what I was doing. If people would judge what was happening at that moment, certainly, they would say that it was a devil’s possession. The father actually thought that her daughter was possessed by the devil. If one would look at her, she really looked possessed. The father begged me to help his daughter. He did not know what to do with her anymore.

    I was terrified having encountered such case for the first time. Yet, when she calmed down, I ask the father to leave us in the office so that I can talk to her personally. I addressed her by her name but she just looked at me, fiercely. I asked her if she believed that God is with her. She responded with a big, NO! She did not believe that God is with her. She was filled with so much anger. She claimed that there were people haunting her. And they were there at that moment in my office.

    That was creepy! And so I asked her, who are they? She did not answer and seemed so fearful. I asked her again but with a different question, “Who are these people hurting you now?” There was a long pause from her and she began crying, with tears in her eyes she named them. The people who were hurting her was her mother who abandoned them when she was little, her father who was so controlling to her, her siblings who did not respect her, her classmates who bullied and shamed her. In her imagination these people who have hurt her, turned into evil spirits, haunting her day and night even when she’s asleep.

    She suffered so much trauma and pain from family and friends. She felt unloved and unaccepted.  She felt empty. She could not believe that there is God who loves her. She opened up and it was her first time to talk to someone and shared her pain and anger. It was when she was able to name those people who caused pain to her that she began also to relax. She began to understand her pain.

    I told her that her journey towards healing has begun. She won’t be haunted anymore and will not fear them because she already knew who they were. I assured her that I am her new friend whom she can trust.

    I told her too that we will pray together. So I asked her what she wanted to ask from God. She wanted peace, assurance of love and friendship, that the evils and her pain will go away and never come back. So together, we prayed for her intentions. Her tears were dripping while I was praying for her. After the prayer, I asked her, how are you now? Her response touched me very much, she said, “I feel, God is talking to me right now!”

    I myself have been touched by this encounter. It was not a mere encounter of a possessed lady but an encounter with a lady who suffered so much trauma and turned to be a person who found hope and love from a loving God.

    This interruption reminds me now of the Gospel today. Jesus was on his way going to a place when he was interrupted by an official of the synagogue. This man interrupted Jesus to beg him to heal his daughter. Yet, on his way to the house of the official, Jesus was again interrupted by another woman who touched the end of his cloak so that she may be healed from her sickness.

    This Sunday, Jesus is teaching us about these interruptions. When he was interrupted by the official and by that woman who suffered bleeding for 12 years, Jesus did not show an indifferent attitude to them. Jesus responded to them gracefully and generously. These interruptions actually turned into “life-giving encounters.”

    In the Gospel, it was not Jesus who touched first the sick. The father of the child, Jairus, called Jesus’ attention and Jesus was touched by that interruption. The sick woman also touched Jesus so that she may be healed. Jesus allowed them to touch him and that is why those interruptions became life-giving.

    My own encounter with that young lady taught me how powerful it is when we learn to stop for a person in need and discover how God works through us. This brings us now of Jesus’ invitation today and that is to be welcoming and to be life-giving in our many encounters with people, with our family members, relatives, friends and strangers. This calls us not to be indifferent with those who call for our care and attention, who seek our help and our presence. Like Jesus, when we are able to learn to stop and welcome interruptions, then we shall also discover how God unfolds His grace and healing power through us. This makes an interruption into a life-giving encounter. Hinaut pa.

  • OUR TOUCH IN THIS PANDEMIC

    OUR TOUCH IN THIS PANDEMIC

    June 25, 2020 – Friday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062521.cfm)

    How many of us who found it hard to observe the “no touching” protocol from our medical experts? It must have been very difficult at the beginning. But some might have been used by now. And because of the daily infections, we are still advised to refrain from touching people or things. Touch only when it is necessary.

    Yet, naturally, we have been so used to touch. In expressing our affection we touch. When we give comfort to a friend or a person we love, we touch. When we greet a friend or even a stranger, we also touch. In our religious practices, we also touch. When we pray and ask the intercession of the saints, we touch their sacred statues or kiss the holy images of our Lord. However, with this pandemic we are all advised to refrain.

    Today, many are still being confined at home but much better compared the early months of covid. Our movements are still limited and our desire to meet our friends and loved ones are sometimes prohibited or limited.  For more than a year, we long for a human touch and long for human encounters. Thus, we could also understand the frustration that we feel because of this significant change in our life.

    With all of these, we also realize the importance of human touch and of human encounter. There is a healing power in human touch. It can give comfort to a bruised and fearful heart. It could heal a painful part of our body. It can give confidence and assurance of support, love and trust.

    And with this pandemic, limiting and prohibiting us to touch others, it surely brought more difficulties to those who were/are infected with this terrible disease. But, more than the virus, the depression, the loneliness, the desperation and helplessness, fear and anxiety would have definitely haunted them too. I have friends who asked for prayers for their loved ones infected by the virus and friends who themselves got infected and were isolated from their loved ones. Those whom they loved, parents, siblings or children were prevented to visit them. This created so much stress and longing. Yet, they cannot help it because of the danger of infecting those whom they love.

    These frustrations and longing to be touched or to have a human encounter is innate in us. Not being able to touch and be touched by the people whom we love would give us emptiness.

    This is the story we also heard from the Gospel. A leper was discriminated and was socially isolated because of his illness. But he came to Jesus. He asked for healing. Yet, that was totally against the culture and belief at that time. The community despised lepers and they were always driven out of the city. They should and never be near with anyone.

    Yet, he must have longed for an encounter with another human being who understands and shows compassion. In his desire to be touched, through Jesus, he too was touched by God.

    Jesus knew the longing of this leper. As the leper longed for human encounter, for acceptance, he also longed to be touched, to be loved. Against the culture and belief at that time, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him.

    The touch of Jesus made this leper clean and healed. Jesus’ touch assured him that God has not left him and that God loves him. Thus, this reminds us that our touch can be a form of loving, can be an expression of healing, of freedom.

    This is the invitation today. Though physically it is difficult these days to touch others, but at least make an effort to let those who need love and understanding be touched by our presence. Though we may not be able to caress the back of a friend for comfort, let those who are grieving and depressed, those who are in pain and lost, to be touched by the assurance of our friendship. Let those who are hungry and suffering in dire poverty be touched also by our generosity. Hinaut pa.