Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: Fr. Jom Baring, CSsR

  • TREATING EVIL WITH GOODNESS

    TREATING EVIL WITH GOODNESS

    June 14, 2021 – Monday of the 11th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061421.cfm)

    Our common response when we are hurt is to react in retaliation. Among animals or even insects, when they are hurt suddenly they bite or attack us. Even when their territories are invaded, animals or insects react to protect themselves from possible threats.

    A similar reaction would also happen with us. Even among children, when they are hit or experience hurt, to hit in return is the usual response. This is most common even among adults. There are even people who naturally fight back when they are hurt. Even in some cultures the principle of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” is still observed.

    However, in today’s Gospel we have heard a different way of responding when we are hurt and when we experience the pain and suffering that evil brings. Indeed, Jesus tells us of a different response towards hatred and evil. Jesus said, “offer no resistance to one who is evil.”

    What Jesus is basically saying to us is not to repay evil with evil or not to respond to violence with violence. As Jesus addressed this to his disciples, and so he does also to us now. Jesus calls us not to allow hatred, anger, violence and evil to control us.

    Thus, not to resist to one who is evil, is not allowing evil to control us. Meaning, once we resist to one who is evil, this may bring us into the same position of the one who is evil. We shall respond to the same violence, then. Hence, responding evil with evil or responding to violence with violence will only bring us into an endless cycle of evil and violence.

    The wisdom of Jesus lies in the offer of peace. To offer the other cheek when someone strikes us on the right cheek, though this sounds ridiculous for many of us, is an opportunity for the one who have hurt us to embrace peace and reconciliation. Peace and reconciliation is truly a difficult path. A very unpopular one. However, this is the way to end the cycle violence and evil.

    But this will not be possible with our own ability to assess a situation. Our wisdom may not be enough to remain calm in a hostile environment. That is why, Paul is his second letter to the Corinthians reminds us, “not to receive the grace of God in vain.” Yes, we have been graced by the presence of God and it is by acknowledging God’s presence that we will be able to embrace peace and also offer peace.

    Moreover, this is not an excuse to remain passive to the abuses and other forms of oppression. It does not mean that when your spouse is physically abusing you, or a family member is sexually abusing you, or a friend or colleague is exploiting your goodness and generosity, that you remain passive and indifferent. The teaching of Jesus is meant to keep violence at the minimum and not to escalate more violence towards others and ourselves. In such situations, we are called to get out from the abusive relationship and to demand justice and show mercy.

    To demand justice then is to make the perpetrator take the responsibility and consequences. To show mercy is to get rid of hatred and anger within our hearts. This is our key to live free by offering peace and reconciliation towards those who have wronged us.

    God invites us today to live freely by not allowing evil to control us or to have an access to our hearts by holding on to grudges, hatred, anger and selfishness. Hinaut pa.

  • GROWTH AND FRUITFULNESS

    GROWTH AND FRUITFULNESS

    June 13, 2021 – 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061321.cfm)

    Have you ever witnessed the actual growing of a seed, or any plant or of a person? We could have claimed that we have witnessed it just as parents looked closely as their child grows, or just as a farmer tends everyday his plants and animals. Yet, because growing is a process, it takes time and it’s very slow. That is why, we don’t usually see with our own eyes how a seed begins to sprout and becomes a tree, or how a flower begins to grow and bloom or how a person develops physically and grows old. We only notice the gradual changes as time also goes by.

    Thanks to our latest technology because a camera can capture this process of growing particularly of a plant or changes that happen in our nature. Through a photographic technique called “time-lapse” we can witness how a seed begins to sprout, take its roots and come out from the soil and become a full bloom plant. This always amazes me to see that.

    (I want you to watch this short time-lapse of a growing seed in silence to bring yourself also into reflection and into calmness in the midst of noise, stress and anxiety that are around us today.)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyRw597JBVg

    With this amazement and wonder of the process of growing, this brings me into reflection for this Sunday’s Gospel. Jesus tells the people about the two parables of the Kingdom of God. These are the parable of the seed scattered on the land and the mustard seed.

    In these two parables, what is common among them is the theme of growth and fruitfulness. From here, I would like you to see and recognize how God is growing in us and inviting us to be fruitful.

    I would like to begin with the parable of the mustard seed which brings us into the invitation of God to let us grow, to be mature and to develop. In fact, the first reading from the Book of Ezekiel has revealed to us how God would plant us so that we may become majestic and fruitful. Indeed, God allows growth and makes it possible for us to become what God wants us to be.

    In this process of growing, we now understand GROWTH to be dynamic. It involves changes, adaptations, shedding off of what was old and transforming into something new. Meaning, growing is a transformation.

    Thus, the parable tells us of the process of growth in a non-aggressive way because growth is gradual, silent and calm. Moreover, it is empowering and life-giving.

    This reminds us of the wonder of creation. Creation is silent and relaxed, yet, destruction is noisy, distressful, aggressive and violent. In destruction, there is no growing because it suppresses and destroys. Surely, this is how we would find life distressful, filled with anxiety and worries, because when we do not grow or when we stop growing then, it leads us to destruction and to death.

    God’s desire is that we develop into our full potential as what God desired us to be. We are called to continue growing no matter how our hair have turned into white or our wrinkles have become more visible.

    Likewise, growing leads us towards maturity which also leads us to fruitfulness. The first parable of the seed scattered on the land which grew in silence and bore fruit, leads us into this invitation, MATURITY and FRUITFULNESS.

    Remember, the man who scattered the seed did not know the entire process of the growth of the seed. The seed silently grew and became mature and bore fruit. This tells us how the Spirit of God works in our life silently. When we allow the Lord to work in us, then, God also make wonders in our life. God will surely transform us into persons that God desires us to be.

    This tells us that the Kingdom of God is already in us because God is with us. The seed has been planted on earth as Jesus was born for us. The Lord is already in our hearts as we are being baptized. Moreover, the Kingdom of God manifests in us when we also become mature in our faith and relationships with God and with others.

    How do we recognize that we have become mature? It is when we are able to give life to others, when we become persons for others. The seed produced grain for people to eat and the mustard seed became the largest of plants and puts forth branches where birds dwell in its shade.

    Now, these are the signs as well as the invitations for us to recognize the Kingdom of God and to let God to grow in us.

    First, as the mustard seed grows the Kingdom of God also begins in HUMILITY not in any form of aggression or arrogance. It is humble and simple. Thus, the kingdom of God can be very present in a family who makes the effort to pray together, in a couple who expresses their faithfulness despite their differences, in a person who shows true kindness and generosity to another who is in need of help, and of a neighbor who refuses to join in a gossip as his or her act of concern.

    Second, the kingdom of God is empowering and life-giving.  The kingdom of God is present when our community empowers the weak. A community that discriminates, judges, condemns and indifferent never empowers but it oppresses the weak. However, when our community empowers, then it also gives life. Let us remember, to be able to give life, we need to give more chances and opportunities for growth. To give life is to give hope. Therefore, our community is truly a kingdom of God when we uphold and protect every life to survive and to mature.

    As we recognize the Kingdom of God in us today, let us also allow the Lord to grow in us, to bring changes and transformation in ourselves, in our attitudes and relationships. As we continually grow and become mature, we may also become individually, a person for others and also a community for others that gives life, gives hope and allows opportunities for growth and maturity. Hinaut pa.

  • GOD’S RECONCILING PRESENCE IN THE HEART OF MARY

    GOD’S RECONCILING PRESENCE IN THE HEART OF MARY

    June 12, 2021 – Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Philippine Independence Day

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061221.cfm)

    “The love of Christ impels us.” Paul reminds us in his Second Letter to the Corinthians. This means that this love indeed urges and motivates us to go beyond and become the person God wants us to be. Hence, Paul also says, “whoever is in Christ is a new creation. The old things have passed away and new things have come.” This has been made possible because of God who came and initiated that we become reconciled with Him.

    Certainly, reconciliation with God transforms us from old into new, from death to life. Such transformation urges, impels and moves us to become a reconciling presence in our communities, in our Church and in the world.

    However, how does a reconciling presence influence others and bring change? Our Responsorial Psalm proclaims today of four main points.

    • First, it gives pardon to all our iniquities.
    • Second, it heals all our ills.
    • Third, it redeems our life from destruction.
    • And fourth, it crowns us with kindness and compassion.

    This is the experience of the Hebrew Community of which the Psalm speaks about. God’s presence in the midst of His people is a reconciling presence because the “Lord is kind and merciful.”

    Such confidence and faith in God must have filled the heart of Mary, whose Immaculate Heart we celebrate today. Her heart is immaculate because what we find there is the Lord who is kind of merciful made into man like us. Yes, the heart of Mary is filled with Jesus.

    This is the reason why Mary remained calm and at peace despite the fear and confusion she felt at the announcement of the Angel Gabriel to her, during the arrival of the shepherds when Jesus was born and now of being baffled and anxious when Jesus was lost but finding him in the Temple.

    Though she did not understand fully everything at an instant but Mary would always “keep everything in her heart.” With all the complexities, strangeness and difficulty to understand the situation, Mary keeps the Lord close to her heart. She keeps all those revelations from the Lord close to her heart that she may be able to understand them in the way God desires them to be understood.

    This was how Mary would always find wisdom and strength because with the many events that happened in her life, she might not be able to bear them all. Mary will surely remain confused, afraid and unable to decide and do anything if she chose to distance herself from the Lord by reacting out of impulse or mere emotions.

    “Keeping all those things in her heart” really means that she tried to understand how God was uncovering and revealing to her the plan of salvation. Mary realized that God reveals Himself every day. Mary did not want to miss all of them.

    Mary was able to do that because within her heart, God is already there. She has welcomed the Lord and allowed the Lord to be always in her heart. This led her into understanding from God’s perspective and so she responded to every invitation of God for her, willingly and lovingly.

    This is how we find Mary’s presence reconciling in our Christian faith because her life is an example of a perfect communion with God. We now find comfort in her, as a mother, because her human heart is touched by the Lord who is kind and merciful. Mary, indeed, has become a reconciling presence to us because we find in heart Jesus, the Lord.

    In the same way, we are called today that our hearts be also touched by the Lord, that we become more welcoming to the Lord and allow the Lord to be in our heart. Like Mary, as we allow the love of Christ to touch our hearts, it may impel us to become a reconciling presence in our homes, communities and in our beloved country, the Philippines. Hinaut pa.

  • LOVE IS THE FULLNESS OF GOD

    LOVE IS THE FULLNESS OF GOD

    June 11, 2021 – Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061121.cfm)

    In the Book of Prophet Hosea, we have been presented with an image of God as a parent and as a healer. Hosea beautifully captures these images of God who only fills with love His child, Israel. God’s love, indeed, nurtures and heals, builds and forgives. Such way of loving from God is written in the whole Scripture that is why we are always reminded how God calls us again and again through love.

    This is best described in the Responsorial Psalm today taken from the Book of Isaiah. The Prophet expresses his confidence in God because he has experienced with God the love that gives strength and courage. God’s presence is water that fills and satisfies our empty heart, quenches the thirst in us for love and support.

    In the same confidence, Paul also reminds the Ephesians of the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge. This is love beyond idea or any ideology, but this is in its most concrete expression of love that sacrifices oneself for the sake of the beloved. This is love that gives life. This is how Paul affirms that the love of Christ truly fills us because love is the fullness of God.

    In that fullness of God, God only desires to share that love that will fill every empty but insecure and fearful heart. This is how the Gospel of John reveals to us the physical and literal overflowing of blood and water from the pierced heart of Jesus. The soldier who thrusted his lance into the side of Jesus witnessed this.

    The seemingly dead body of Jesus, flowed out blood and water which only gives life and joy, satisfies emptiness and also nurtures and heals, builds and forgives. This tells us that even when Jesus was being hurt, the Lord continues to bring out his love and only love.

    This is the very message of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This Solemnity is not a mere worshipping of an organ, “the heart” per se, but of Jesus himself who constantly showed us the love of God spoken about in the Scriptures.

    There are two invitations for us today.

    First. Be filled by that love of Christ. His love only brings fullness in us. Thus, learn to be confident in his love! Be overwhelmed by his love! Seek his love that will satisfy our every hunger and thirst for love and intimacy, for acceptance and support.

    Second. Learn from his way of loving. Let our expression of love to truly give life. Let our love nurtures immaturity, builds the confidence of the fearful, heals the brokenhearted and in pain, forgives the sinner and does not plant hate and violence. Hinaut pa.

  • Friendship over a Meal

    Friendship over a Meal

    April 18, 2021 – Third Sunday of Easter

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041821.cfm)

    “Have you anything to eat?” Jesus asked his disciples. It was a very ordinary question from Jesus yet, this question brought the disciples into a deeper realization of themselves and a deeper encounter with the Risen Jesus in a meal, in a form of sharing food.

    In many cultures, a shared meal plays a vital role. Sometimes important decisions in the family happen over a meal because that will be a time where family members are gathered. It is also true with our friends, we gather, remember past experiences and share stories over a meal and drinks.

    It is when we are able to sit down and share the meal with one another that we come into terms, make decisions, connect with one another and become more intimate with our family members and friends. Indeed, it is over our shared meal that we come to understand each other.

    This is what we find in the Gospel. It was through that ordinary meal shared by the disciples with Jesus that the disciples were able to realize that it was the Lord. It was through this simple meal with Jesus that they have been commissioned to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins to all nations.

    It started with two disciples who were talking about Jesus who appeared to them. Yet, even though the Lord has revealed to them, these two disciples were still doubtful. They have recognized the Lord in the breaking of the bread but then, after that revelation, they seemed not so convinced yet.

    That is why, when Jesus appeared to them once again, the two were terrified and couldn’t believe that they were seeing Jesus. Because of their disbelief, Jesus has to give and assure them with peace! “Peace be with you!” is Jesus’ repeated gift to the disciples after his resurrection.

    After the death of Jesus, the disciples were filled with fear, disgust and shame for themselves. They all ran away and hid themselves while their master was beaten and crucified. Judas Iscariot betrayed the Lord, Peter denied Jesus three times and the rest of them were nowhere to be found. They might have blamed themselves for what happened to Jesus. They might have considered themselves failures and worthless because of what happened. They might have thought that what they did to their master was beyond forgiveness and mercy from God.

    The disciples must have believed that they failed Jesus. Consequently, they couldn’t believe Mary Magdalene’s testimony that the Lord is alive. That feeling of being a failure is also the reason why these two disciples still doubted and were terrified upon seeing Jesus once again. They couldn’t believe that they were forgiven, that they have been accepted and loved by Jesus.

    Despite what they did, Jesus has forgiven them and the resurrection of Jesus is God’s action of forgiveness. But because the disciples found it hard to believe God’s forgiveness, Jesus made the effort to let them understand that they have been forgiven. Jesus has to do it repeatedly to assure his disciples. Thus, Jesus did not just appear to them once but several times and each time he reveals himself to them, Jesus gives his peace – the peace of forgiveness, of mercy and of being loved. This is what Peter proclaimed to the Jews in the Acts of the Apostles and also what has been proclaimed in the First letter of John – God’s peace of forgiveness.

    This peace was concretely showed by Jesus in the breaking of the bread, in the shared meal with his disciples – which was in a very ordinary way of eating with friends. This is how eating with friends becomes symbolic in the Bible because Jesus made this event as an occasion where he reveals himself to his friends. At the same time, eating with friends becomes an occasion also for his disciples to lay down their fears, shame and doubts but to be accepting and open to God’s revelation to them.

    This is the hope expressed to us by our Psalm today, “Lord, let you face shine on us.” Like the disciples, we too, shall glimpse God’s face when we learn to accept God’s invitation to sit down and dine with Him.

    These are the invitations for us today.

    First, Jesus says to you and to me, “Peace be with you,” because Jesus is with us. We might have been so burdened right now because of something wrong we did, Jesus says to us, “Peace – because I am with you!” Jesus assures us that peace has come upon us because he is alive and we are forgiven.

    Second, Jesus invites us to dine with him, to sit down with him so that we will be able to recognize him in our life. The Eucharist is Jesus’ invitation for all of us so that like the disciples our minds will be opened too and will be able to understand his message for us.

    Third, like the disciples, we are called to become his witnesses to others, to be his preachers of forgiveness especially to people around us. Thus, each of us is also called by Jesus to dine with our friends, to eat with those who have hurt us, who have caused us disappointment and pain and show to them that they have been forgiven just as Jesus forgives us. Hinaut pa.