Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: Fr. Mario Masangcay, CSsR

  • BEST Person

    BEST Person

    December 15, 2024 – Third Sunday of Advent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121524.cfm)

    In a PTA meeting of the graduating class, the guidance counselor asked the parents: “What do you aspire for your child in life?” Some parents wants their children  to be happy. Others aspire for success. Others would hope for righteousness.

    How about us now? What would we aspire in life? What do we aspire for our children?

    Success, happiness, and righteousness are three great and nice aspirations in life. We all wish to have all these dreams in life, but we do also know that we cannot have always all these in life. That is why it is important for us to recognize our own dreams and aspirations in life, as well as what is proper for us, as Christians.

    To aspire for success in life today is never easy, because there are many options and standards. As a consequence, we are not easily contented with life. In order to succeed, we have to aspire for more and better than others. Thus, making others easily discouraged in life because they are not the dean’s lister, cum laude, boss, or millionaire, and hopeless because they are “not-yet but only a” from what they aspire to be. Others may have been already successful in life but done through corruption, lie and deception, and still not happy and still discontented in life.

    Nowadays, to aspire for happiness is also difficult because there are endless and unsatisfying possibilities. Like, a simple telephone or watch is not enough, it has to be a smartphone or smartwatch. Some would even be willing to lie and exploit others, just to keep up with Jonesses, with the latest and fashionable trends. That is why Gadgets are getting smarter while the people getting stupid. Others even may be enjoying a happy life now but at the expense of others by being a burden and dependent on others.

    Yes there are demands and shortcomings in life, but to aspire to be right and worthy before God and other has always been close and gentle in our hearts. To behave rightly before God and others is not only expected of us but also usually satisfy our hearts-desire.

    Thus, it is not our worldly success or happiness, but our worthiness before God and others is our deepest hearts-desire and God’s wish for us, and what should be proper aspiration for us Christians, as believers and followers of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    When asked how to be and what to do before God’s offer of salvation, John the Baptist in our gospel today teaches the people then and us now to aspire and to be worthy and righteous as we are before God and others.

    What is required of us then in God’s salvation is our worthiness before God and others, and not our successes and happiness in life. He said, “If you are rich, share what you have. If you’re a tax-collector, don’t take advantage of others. If you’re a soldier, be fair and just with others”. In other words, Be worthy and righteous as you really are now before God and others.

    John the Baptist knows himself. He is not the Messiah Himself. He is only the voice and just the precursor to prepare the way of the Lord. But he also aspires to be a worthy friend of the bridegroom. He is not the Groom but the Best Man for the Groom. This is also what John wish for us – that We become the Best (worthy and righteous) Person for the groom before God and others.

    We may aspire to have a successful and Happy Christmas this year and Life next year, but may also not be righteous and worthy before the Lord. Or, we may have an unsuccessful and unhappy Christmas and Life ahead but still worthy and righteous before Him, as we behave rightly as we are called & lived to be Christians to others.

    Rejoicing at the Lord’s coming and being into our life now, is not because we being happy and successful in life, but rather because we behave and act rightly and worthily before God and others in life. To be worthy and righteous before God and others then is what we should and are we to do in life,  for us to once again and always openly received God’s continuing blessing of grace to us in life through His son, Jesus Christ.

    And so, healthy for us to perhaps ask ourselves nowadays: “what do we aspire for in life?” “Is our priority in life … happiness, success OR righteousness?

    Lord take away everything that distance us from you. Grant us everything that bring us close to you. Detach us from ourselves to bring our all to you. (Nicholas of Flue’s prayer) So May It Be. Amen

  • Operation: LINIS

    Operation: LINIS

    December 8, 2024 – Second Sunday of Advent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120824.cfm)

    To clean the whole house : a family activity and exercise that should be done regularly but rarely done, because it is demanding & requires a lot of work. To do general house cleaning is difficult indeed, but if & when we do it occasionally, we can learn a lot of good things & may promise some changes in life. Simply because, we know that general house cleaning is not only about cleaning things in our home.

    General house cleaning could be our chance to treasure the treasures-found. As we go through daily lives, eventually we collect a lot of things received, bought, and possessed along the way. As we clean our house then, we got the chance to re-evaluate, i.e. to give value again & anew the treasures we have owned & collected, to declutter the surplus & let go of what we do not really need, & share these now with those who are in need. Through this, we may able to recognize, count and share our blessings, and may able to declog & make our lives easier & lighter from unnecessary burdens & concerns.

    General house cleaning may also be our chance to review our life. As we clean our things in the house, it could happen that we remember our past experiences & memories, become in touch once again with the spirit, values & principles-held in life, recognize our present realities & state of life (like, kids are not anymore kids but now teenagers, & teens are becoming adults), & realize the new changes & challenges required to adjust with our current status of life.

    General house cleaning may also be our change to rearrange our lives (not only our home). By responding & planning for the challenges of the new changing realities in life, we may update, upgrade, reconfigure or reformat our outdated systems & ways within the house that would best suit to our changing & growing family. In other words, Simply put, a chance to review our expectations & realistically align these with the new challenges & conditions.

    To re-evaluate, review & re-arrange may just be some of the good things & benefits of doing general house cleaning. Demanding it may be, but if & when we do it, it offers us ease & direction in living & improving our lives.

    During this 2nd Sunday of Advent, we are challenged to, through the witness of St. John the Baptism, from the words of Prophet Isaiah: “Prepare for the way of the Lord.” But we may ask: “What is more to prepare? What more we should prepare?

    Come to think of it, we are already prepared. As early as before October, we already decorated our house. Christmas trees & decors are already placed. Gifts to be given, food for celebrations are being prepared. Some have their parties & reunions already. Some were already tired & impatient waiting for their gifts & bonuses. What else is & should be prepared?

    The preparation we are challenged to by the Sacred Scripture is not our usual preparation of decorations, gifts, food, parties, bonuses & others. The expected preparation required of us is “to make straight His paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain & hill shall made low. The winding road shall be made straight & the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of the Lord.”

    Simply put, To do General House Cleaning – to clean our whole home, to make things right rightly for the Lord. What is asked of us then is – an update, upgrade, reconfiguration & reformatting of lifestyle suited for the Lord, us & others – to be better now & do improve our way of living our life.

    The Lord becoming one of us & being with us is not just a decoration in life where we only use when needed or where we only maximize when we wanted it. Christmas – the birth of the Lord, God’s incarnation into our lives should be the appropriate Center, Way, Guide & Direction of our Christian lives. Meaning, what preparation expected of us is not house decoration but general house cleaning.

    Now, when was the last time you had your general house cleaning? When is your general house cleaning?

    As the year about to end & we are now fast approaching Christmas, why not do your general house cleaning these days? Ask nobody to do it for you, but rather do it yourself, so that, you may have a new perspective, meaning, & purpose in life, and thus, may have carved a new space for God’s Word, Jesus Christ into your life.

    So May It Be. Amen.

    ———-

    n.b. Say a little prayer for me as it also happens I celebrate my birthday today. Much house-cleaning to do here. 😊

  • Faith-Bearing Witness

    Faith-Bearing Witness

    December 1, 2024 – First Sunday of Advent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120124.cfm)

    Once a friend of mine shared with me his family problem. Particularly, it was about his sister who decided to change her religion. My friend and the whole family were very sad and hurt about his sister’s decision to change her religion from Catholic to Born-Again Christian. He still cannot understand why her sister, raised in a Catholic family, was educated in a Catholic school and an active youth leader of their parish, could bear herself to change her religion, totally different from their family’s Catholic faith.

    What really happens to my friend’s life only reflects the present crisis in our Christian faith. Though most of us, Filipinos are Catholic, we cannot deny that in our community and our church today, quite a number of our brothers and sisters have been influenced by other religious sects, already changed their beliefs, and even lost their faith in the Church. It is true, not only our nation is going through a political and economic crisis, but it is also alarming that our Catholic Church today is also facing a crisis in faith.

    However, if we reflect on our Gospel today, we realize that this crisis in faith we faced is a direct challenge for us to bear witness to our own Christian Catholic faith. We see that in the midst of this crisis in faith, our Lord Jesus Christ here in our gospel today calls us to make and strengthen our own faith-commitment, accepting Him as the coming Messiah and our Redeemer.

    Yes, it is true that like the apostles, our faith in Jesus was influenced by how our parents witness and our family practices our faith in Christ. But, as the faith of our family influenced and guides our own faith, eventually, one has to deepen and strengthen his own personal faith relationship with Christ, based on one’s recognition and acceptance of the person of Jesus, as our Lord Savior, Christ today, and of his Church.

    Just as Jesus in our Gospel challenged His disciples’ faith, “Stand erect for your liberation is near at hand,” he calls all of us today to a much deeper personal faith in His person and his salvation, and to hold on & remain steadfast in our Christian  faith, with his Church today. Though we sustain our faith with our own family, each and everyone of us need to make our own personal faith-commitment, as one’s own response to the challenge of faith and hope to God’s salvation, in the midst of this crisis of faith. In other words, “Pagmatinud-anon ug barugi ang imong gituohan, ayaw’g pagpalingpaling kay ang Gingharian sa Dios haduol na.”

    Our gospel then is Jesus’ announcement, not of the coming disaster and crisis but of God’s promise of salvation with our faith. Challenging realities of faith crises in our midst is also our very chance to give testimony to what believe & to God whom we believe, thus, our very own faith-bearing witness.  

    Remember, as the saying goes,  “Darkness gives the light of faith a chance to glow brightly.” True enough, in our darkness and life-crises, we start to rely in our faith in the Lord, to begin to believe, to have faith not in what we can see, but in what our hearts see, trying to see things in our eyes of faith. Life seems to be dark, hopeless and discouraging, but our persevering faith in the Lord, in the midst of these darkness can lead us to our complete healing and salvation.

    As we stand erect & raise our heads by our commitment and witnessing of our common & personal faith in Jesus as Christ of our lives, we are worthy to receive the dignity in being called as sons and daughters of God, in his Kingdom. Through God’s grace and our faith-response, we become worthy to receive and nurture our Christian dignity and God’s grace of salvation in our own lives at hand.

    As we celebrate today, the first Sunday of Advent, in the midst of crisis in Catholic faith we faced, the Lord Jesus Christ challenges us today, then to deepen our acceptance and recognition of his person and mission in the Church; and to strengthen our commitment and witnessing of our faith, trust and hope in His saving power in our lives.

    And so… Lord, take away everything that distance us from You. Grant us everything that bring us closer to you. Detach us from ourselves to give our all to you.Amen.

  • Life ANEW

    Life ANEW

    November 24 – Solemnity of Christ the King

    Click here for the reading (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112424.cfm)

    “If & when given another chance, would you do it again or anew? Would you do it as before or better than before?”

    2014, before going to Korea to minister our Filipino Migrants & workers, I was assigned as a parish priest in our big Redemptorist parish found at the very heart of Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental Philippines. However, amidst the busyness and burdens of my responsibilities then, I was more drawn to the challenging life-question: “At this stage of my life, if and when given another chance by the Lord, would I do it again or anew? – would I do it as before or better as before?” These questions challenged me to review (to look again) my life as it, to think outside the box and out of my comfort zone, and to openly consider once again another vocation God is challenging me to be at midway of my life.

    While I responsively considered “a life not again but anew, and a life not as before but better than before”, eventually I found myself in Gwangju Korea, serving God and the Church as Redemptorist missionary in an entirely distinct culture, working with new set of people, both fellow Filipinos and foreigners, doing migrant ministry, which specifically differ from what I was used to do in parish work. Because of this and since then, my life is never the same again. Never I could imagine then to live my life in Korea for five years then because I reviewed & reconsidered a life anew and better than before with our Lord. Difficult it may be but surely my life has been more fruitful, enriching and blessed than as before.

    Sharing you my life-experience somehow give and offer you a glimpse of the spirit and meaning of our celebration today of the Solemnity of the Kingship of Christ.

    Today on the Solemnity of Christ the King, we celebrate the reign of Jesus Christ in our Christian life. We, the whole Christian world proclaim and witness today to Christ’s leadership and sovereignty in our Christian lives. Jesus Christ our King is our Way, Truth and Life who is our leader, guide, and force in faith & life as it was, as it is, and as will always be. Also, today on the Solemnity of Christ the King marks the end of our liturgical year.

    For the past year of Christian worship, we have followed and journeyed with the Lord in our life as we praise, believe, proclaim, serve, love, and live our faith in God with Jesus. Our recent past year with the Lord amidst the new normal does have its own challenges, difficulties, sufferings as well as blessings, growth, and opportunities. As we bid farewell to liturgical year B (reflecting mostly on the Jesus story as told to us through the Gospel of St. Mark), better also for us to review our life with the Lord this past year, and be more open to consider another and a new chance to journey in faith with our Lord.

    Perhaps also consider the question: “At this stage of your life, if and when given another chance by the Lord, would you do it again or anew? Would you do it as before or better as before? Would you maintain life as it is or rather improve life as it could be?”

    These questions take into account two important considerations: the role of Jesus in our life and our choice to follow and journey with Him in our life always.

    On one hand, these challenges give importance to the role of Jesus in our life. The life that we have and live now is a life of chances and opportunities God has given and shared us. In simple words, our life is a gift from God – not made, built, and programmed by us.

    Now, consider how he live our life. Do we recognize, believe, and worship God, the giver & sharer of life, who gives us the chance to live our life now? Does Jesus have apart, a role in our daily lives? Or rather, we recognize, believe and worship only ourselves &/or our life now with others than with God? So, in humility, healthy for us to reconsider our life as “If and when given another chance by the Lord” for we don’t really know how this God-given life could and will be.

    On the other hand, these challenges give importance to our choice to follow and journey with Jesus in our life always. As we consider our life as God-given chances and opportunities, we should also have to make a choice and commitment to live, lead and journey our lives in accordance and in faith with our Lord Jesus Christ.

    Here we are to live our lives as Christians disciples – following and journeying with Lord in life creatively. Being Christian is our choice of lifestyle – our way of being & living our life as human in the world, and participating in God’s recreation of our world. Living our life as Christian then gives meaning, spirit, and direction to live our God-given life anew and better than before, as well as fully reveals to us the leadership and sovereignty of the Lord’s Kingship through our lives to the world.

    Thus, Ours is a LIFE now to experience God’s love in Jesus and our chance to respond  “With Jesus, I love GOD too”.

    Our gospel reminds us our Lord Jesus Christ is a rejected and persecuted King and Leader. His Kingship then is not based on his command and authority with us His disciples, but on our choice to follow and journey with Him in life – living our life with Him. More than honor, praise, prestige due for Him as our Lord and King, Jesus desires our companionship, participation, and commitment to be and live with Him in our journey of life. Ask not the Lord like Pontius Pilate: “Are you the King?” but rather ask “Is Jesus my King?” Rather than probing on His kingship, anew and better then recognize, believe, choose, and live our lives with Jesus as our Way, Truth and Life in our world. Jesus is Christ the King because He is OUR very-owned King.

    Again, as we say Goodbye to Year B and say hello to another chance, but a new year of living with and in the Lord’s kingship, healthy for us to reconsider this question: ““At this stage of your life, if and when given another chance by the Lord, would you do it again or anew? Would you do it as before or better as before?”

  • As PROMISED

    As PROMISED

    November 17, 2024 – 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111724.cfm)

    Corrie Ten Boom, a Nazi concentration camp Christian survivor, now a well-known inspirational writer, once said: “If you look at the world, you will be distressed. If you look within yourself, you will be depressed. If you look at God, you will be at rest.” These words of wisdom are learned from her life-experience of the cruelty of war and racism, not only before her captivity in Amsterdam while her family were helping in hiding escaping Jews, and during her captivity in the concentration camp of Germany, and after her release and liberation, but also based from her experience of life struggles and faith journey in general, as Christian.

    If and whenever we reflect on these words, we somehow can relate with her on how we also experience our life-struggles and faith-journey as Christian in general. Though we may not share the same experience of life with her, but her words offer us a realistic but still hopeful view of our Christian life:

    “If you look at the world, you will be distressed. If you look within yourself, you will be depressed. If you look at God, you will be at rest.”

    True indeed, distressing it is to look at world today. With a lot of things going on – war, racism, discrimination, alienation, poverty, moral decadence, corruption, crisis, natural and human disaster, migration, pandemic and other, we cannot help but be distressed, upset, worried and be bothered with life nowadays and in near future. And while looking at our world today with distress, we cannot also help but be depressed, helpless, and hopeless within ourselves as we try to adjust, adopt, and respond to our troubling world. Addiction, crimes, sex, violence, drugs, suicide, abortions, marital breakdowns are just mere manifestations of how depressed & depressing we are and we can be within ourselves, due to the reality of our world outside and our life within. These are the common pains we are experiencing life as it is.

    Worse, Jesus in our gospel today even warns us of these on-going and coming distressing and depressing realities of life in the world to happen. We cannot help but be bothered of Jesus’ cosmic depiction of the end-time, “Sun will be darkened, moon will give not its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” We may not have yet experienced end-time as Jesus described it, but with our experience of our life’s common pains nowadays of increasing fatality & sickness, easy for us to see that at most we are already on our way towards destruction and end-game of life (even to a point we say, nahugno na ang kalibutan)

    We might have been experiencing life at its worse these times, however, Jesus promises us a life, not as how we look and experience it, but Eternal Life with God. Jesus proclaims and promises us: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Lilipas man ang Langit at Lupa, ngunit ang aking mga salita ay hindi lilipas: Mahanaw man and langit ug yuta, apan akong pulong dili gayud mahanaw).

    Here Jesus is teaching us that eternal life is not about life without end, or endless life, or our life/world now not passing away. For Jesus, eternal life with God is not the extension and expansion of our life as we look and experience it. Surely, we desire not the extension and expansion of our common pains & struggles in life. But what Jesus promises us is eternal life with God that gives us meaning and purpose as we experience life’s common pains & sufferings.

    In & with our experience of life’s common pains, Jesus is thus offering us eternal life of common purpose. He is offering us Himself as our Way, Truth and Life that would give us meaning, direction and purpose as we struggle with life and journey in faith amidst our common pains of life. Jesus wants us to live our Life In & With Christ. In other words, Jesus offers us common purpose and meaning amidst common pains of life.  Pains & sufferings thus take place and will happen in our life here on earth, but rest assured, Jesus -God’s word and love for us remains for us and with us forever, as promised. Ika nga: (Matupok man lahat ang buong daigdig, hindi magmamaliw ang aking pag-ibig. And so, Jesus is calling & directing us to focus & center our life on Him, to prioritize Him, Our Lord & Savior, the Son of God in our daily lives than our world & selves.

    True enough, though Corrie’s experience happened few decades ago, but still we can also say, based on our experience & what is going on in our life today…. Distressing it is to look at our world… Depressing is our helplessness to look into ourselves…. But promising, assuring & hopeful it is to focus our gaze & look to God for meaning & sense in life.

    So, whenever we find our life distressing and depressing, and as we long for rest and peace in life, just be reminded of and learn from the wisdom-shared to us by Corrie ten Boom: “If you look at the world, you will be distressed. If you look within yourself, you will be depressed. If you look at God, you will be at rest.”

    Siya Nawa. Hinaut pa unta. Amen.