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Category: Fr. Mario Masangcay, CSsR

  • In GENEROSITY

    In GENEROSITY

    November 10, 2024 – 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111024.cfm)

    Once on a Sunday mass, after I preached in our Redemptorist church in Dumaguete about the boy  in the gospel on the multiplication of Loaves (our so-called accidental hero), a small boy went up in the sanctuary during the offertory bringing with him his offering. He did not quite know where to put his fifty pesos offering. So, when I noticed him coming up, I postpone preparing the altar. Instead, I fetched the boy and led him to our collection box.

    For me, it was a moving experience. Here I was, preaching about the boy in the gospel who gave up everything (his two loaves of bread and five fishes) to Jesus as his generous contribution for the people’s need, and calling people to share something themselves for the mission of the church. And right there after, a little boy coming up in the sanctuary, offering his everything generously (n.b. for a four year old boy, a fifty pesos bill is not only something but everything) for the mission of the church. Such gesture for me is not only something (because that little boy and his family heard my homily and responded to it), but EVERYTHING because it is Good News manifested right before my very eyes. Gospel preached & responded as witnessed right before me.

    As you might notice, for the past Sundays, we have been reflecting about Christian Values fitting for Christian discipleship.

    Blind Bartimaeus reminded us of the importance of seeing again & anew God’s will in our lives. Then, Jesus emphasized the commandment of loving God, others and ourselves as our right faith response to God’s grace & blessings. Then, particularly today, we reflect about Generosity.

    Moving from the whole issue of what is the greatest commandment, here in our gospel today, Jesus discussed with his disciples about the whole issue of who or what can truly please God. By comparing the rich and the widow’s offering, Jesus pointed out to His disciples that what matters most is not what but HOW we give our offerings to God.

    The rich people gave from the excess or surplus of their plenty – out of duty & obligation as well as  others may notice them, while the poor widow contributed from her poverty and helplessness everything that she has as her sacred offering & humble contribution for others.

    As Jesus upholds, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more that all those who gave offerings. For all of them gave from their plenty, but she gave from her poverty and put in everything she had, her whole livelihood.”

    For Jesus then, what could truly please God is our Generosity. God is please with generous people who wholeheartedly contributed and gave up & share everything they got for the betterment of others, (if not all).

    This is clearly portrayed by the poor widow who gave her family’s food to Elijah in our first reading; by the temple offerings of the poor widow in our gospel, by that boy in the multiplication of loaves, by that little kid who offered his five pesos for the mission and by Jesus who laid down his life for the redemption of many. They all wholehearted gave up and share everything they got to the point of denying themselves for the good of others. Well, that is Generosity, that is Christian charity and love.

    And generosity usually happens whenever we have sympathy & empathy towards others. Whenever we have the heart to feel with others (sympathy) & to feel for others (empathy), generosity happens in our lives & grace abounds. We give credit to the spirit of generosity as we face the challenges of pandemic & natural disasters (like the recent typhoon Kristine). In our generosity via our sympathy & empathy with one another, somehow we are able to withstand in faith these trying times.

    And so, what truly pleases God is not what we offer Him but How we generously offer Him our gifts with others. We have much to learn from the window’s mite for in her gratitude for God’s graces, she generously offers & shares her everything in empathy & sympathy with others. Remember then: God appreciates a grateful beneficiaries & acknowledges generous sharers of His Gifts with others.

    We pray then with St. Ignatius of Loyola as he described what Generosity is, through his Prayer for Generosity.

    Dearest Lord, teach us to be generous. Teach us to serve You as we should. To give and not to count the cost. To fight and not to heed the wounds. To toil and not to seek for rest. To labor and ask not for reward. Save that of knowing that we do Your Most Holy Will.

    Amen. Hinaut pa unta.

  • LONG In Faith

    LONG In Faith

    October 27, 2024 – 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102724.cfm)

    We cannot deny Life during Covid pandemic times had rendered our lives unstable, unclear, and unknown. With the challenging reality upon us then, we found ourselves  disable & limited. Somehow someway, not unlike Blind Bartimaeus in our gospel today, if not blinded by the overwhelming difficulties we were facing, we were sightless & without a vision.

    And when the Lord would ask us then, “What do you want Me to do for You?” without a doubt, we do have a lot of wants and needs from Him, to at least save our day. But over & above our urgent needs & wants from the Lord, we do want always some clear vision & direction as we face the life-challenges. Like Blind Bartimaeus, our difficult condition calls for more than just sympathy, concerns & assistance but most of all, a new clear set of meaning, ability & purpose in life. Like Bartimaeus, deep inside we cry before the Lord praying: “Lord, I want to see”. Somehow this is what we want the Lord to do for us: “Lord, we want to see.”

    Without question, the Lord will show us & reveal to us life amidst, behind & beyond challenging realities. He will give us sight, direction & vision in life as we struggle with it now and ahead. But we also have to do our part for the miracle to happen & blessings to be revealed to us, for us to see not only in sight, but in Faith. And we have much to learn from Bartimaeus here.

    First, same way as he listens of the Lord’s arrival, we do need to be sensitive of the Lord’s presence in our midst. Second, we do need to call the attention of our Lord & others about our own presence: “Lord, have pity on Me.” Third, we need to throw ourselves on His mercy & express our needs & intentions, praying: “Lord, I want to see.” And above all, we must trust & have faith in Him with His plans, ways & will for the grace of sight, vision, inspiration & direction to happen.

    The LORD’s Presence, OUR presence, our Needs & His Graces with our Faith are somehow the essential ingredients for us to taste & see God’s greatness in our lives despite challenging times. Same as Bartimaeus, somehow we are to (L.O.N.G. : L-ord’s, O-ur presence, in our N-eed of His G-races) LONG in FAITH for miracles to happen in our lives.

    Lord, as we look in sight what is going on with us & ahead of us, make us also long to SEE in faith what better You in store for us now & always.

    So May It Be. Amen.

  • WANTED: Responsible Stewards

    WANTED: Responsible Stewards

    October 20, 2024 – 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102024.cfm)

    In Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word governance is synonymous to the word “stewardship”. This is to signify that to be involved with governance is to be a steward. Stewardship is a charge and responsibility entrusted to someone, an office appointed to or a mission delegated to a person who is to manage, administer and supervise the affairs of the master or superior individuals or community. A steward then is not the Lord master-owner himself but the OIC- the officer in charge, administrator, piniyalan, sinaligan, inkargado – acting in behalf of the superior Lord, body or institutions.

    St. Paul knew his place. His tasks and charge is not to lord over but to be God’s steward for the gentiles. He is God’s OIC – officer-in-charge for the gentiles with the task of making known to all that the gentiles are our coheirs, co-members of God’s body and co-partners in the promise of God’s salvation.  

    Jesus in our gospel today reminds us also that we are not lords, earls or señoritos/señoritas but just mere stewards-OICs of God’s salvation. Everyone of us who follows Jesus is the servant-in charge of His affairs & mission. In whatever capacity, talents and vocation, we are tasked to manage, entrusted to govern, commissioned to administer and charged to steward God’s concerns & blessings for All. Freed from sin, like Paul, as Christians we are responsible now to become disciple servant-witnesses of our Lord’s righteousness.

    And Jesus is quick to teach us that as God’s steward, more are required and demanded, and much is expected of us for we are not to abuse such charge since great power, blessings & talents come with great responsibility.

    Beyond then our preoccupations with being first in life, be reminded that we are mere servant-stewards task to be able “to drink the cup that has been prepared for us”. Ours then is to be responsible for our special charge to perform & our mission to fulfill what we are & ought to do in this life.

    We pray that we may be always truly and diligently responsible for our charge and mission as God’s stewards of redemption to all and for all.

    So May It Be. Amen.

  • US being Married to God

    US being Married to God

    October 13, 2024 – 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101324.cfm)

    In a recent Facebook post, a young man named Seth Adam Smith who, after being married to his childhood sweetheart for a year and a half, realized, and said: “Marriage is not for me.” Why…? after all these months of marriage, eventually he comes to appreciate his Father’s advice before his wedding. Before wedding, His dad said to him: “Seth, marriage is not for you. You don’t marry to make yourself happy. You marry to make someone else happy. More than that, marriage is not for yourself. You are marrying for a family and for your future children. Marriage is not for you. It is not about you. Marriage is about the person you married.”

    Surely married couples could relate to such realization or advice. For marriage is indeed not really for the sake of oneself but for the sake of your lifetime partner. Eventually married couple has to learn along the way that marriage is not all about “I” or about “Me” or about “You” but all about “US”. And surely such realization is a hard-learned lesson, for such wisdom only happens through trial-and-error experiences.

    To be selfless, i.e. to be not selfish and self-centered then is the very challenge of committed love we called marriage. For love is more than just a feeling or emotion but a commitment and decision to go beyond and give up oneself for the sake of the other. In other words, in marriage – in committed love, couples are to love their own spouse and children as much more than they love themselves and one another. Their love should be other-oriented than self-directed.

    A married life in committed love is thus, not for your own but for the sake of your loved ones and for the sake of loving them, same way as Jesus loved us. Love then should not be a story of “I” nor a story of “me” or “you”, but is & should be a story of US.

    In our gospel today, wanting more than just observing and obeying God’s commandments, the rich man asked Jesus for an advice as to how to inherit eternal life. With and in love, Jesus counselled and challenged him to give up and share everything to the poor and follow Jesus. Instead, the rich man however went away sad for he had many possessions. With this, we hear Jesus’ well-known words, “Children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom” – harder than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.

    And sadly, we also unwittingly misquote & misuse these words as our usual excuse for our failures and shortcomings in life-commitment, as well as for thinking and even believing that God’s salvation and eternal life is difficult, impossible, and even exclusive only for the few.

    Nonetheless Jesus teaches us in our gospel today that Eternal life with God’s salvation is more than just our longing for sacredness and holiness in life, and our search for contentment and happiness in life. For Jesus, life with God is all about having and being in covenant & committed relationship with God. In other words, eternal life is all about being married to God, and also requires of us to have marriage with God. No wonder why ordained, consecrated, and married life are sometimes described as: “a life married to God” for it is indeed a marriage – a loving commitment to God.

    And since eternal life is our marriage to God, we may also say that our marriage to God is not FOR us, because committed life with God is not about us, and not for ourselves alone, but moreso for the sake of, and all about God’s glory and salvation for all others than just us.

    Jesus also somehow teaches us today that like any marriages, our life with God involves detachment, charity, and discipleship. Same way as the rich man is asked to give up and share everything to the poor. To live life with God, we must also learn detachment, i.e. how to give up, even deny ourselves, and share what we have to other and for others. As married to-God people, our life: our time, talent, and treasure are not for us alone but for

    God and others than ourselves. Life with God also requires us to be and do everything with and for charity, i.e. not for a prize or reward, but for free and out of love, and in responsibility for others. And above all, life with God is to be a disciple – a follower of Jesus in life.

    As people married to God, we must also then learn to lead our lives same way as Jesus lives, serves, and loves God and others. Detachment, Charity, and Discipleship are somehow key ingredients in our marriage to God, and as to any committed-relationship as well.

    As Jesus forewarned us, difficult and impossible for us it may be, such life in marriage to God is also possible, since “All things are possible For God”. In other words, Life with God is possible and meaningful, if and when we do things and have our being not for ourselves but for God’s sake, and for others than ourselves.

    Lord Jesus, guide us continually in life for us to know God deeply, love Him dearly, and follow Him faithfully especially now & always. Amen.

  • One-winged Angels

    One-winged Angels

    October 6, 2024 – 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100624.cfm)

    A wise man once said, “Each one of us are angels… But, with one wing. We can only fly by embracing each other.” Reflecting on these words, such wisdom somehow reflects our daily experience and journey of being human and Christian in this life. Human as we are, these words of wisdom affirm our being HOLY – our promise and desire to be holy and sacred in life, as somewhat angel-like. But Holy may we be, these words also reveal our being HUMAN – our limitations and constraints to become holy in life, as one-winged angel.

    “Angels with one wing” somehow describes our aspirations and our frustrations of being and becoming Human and Holy in this life, and highlights our experience of loneliness – of being alone in life, and our need for one another as well. However, as these words of wisdom suggest we can only fulfill our longing for sacredness in our human nature, by way of flying via embracing each other.

    This calls for us then not to be weighed down by our human limits, but to fly – that is to resolve and commit ourselves to rise up and respond to the occasion and chance to become angels in life. And also this calls us to do the flying together in relationship along and with one another. In other words, we are inter-related. (Magkaugnay). Only by flying-journeying with others – not by walking alone, each and all of us can reach the destination we are promised and we longed for in life, as “angels with one wing.”

    Surely our readings today can teach us a lot of things about our life-experiences of being Holy & Human. But aside from the themes of creation, marriage, divorce, adultery, parents and children, our readings today are all about our human need to have a committed relationship in life, i.e. to be in covenant relationship with God and with One another.

    We are told in our first reading today that as God created us, He also sees our human need to have a partner in life for “It is not good for man to be alone” and even animals and pets are not enough for us. He ensures a suitable human partner for us in life, so that we can leave our parents and be with our God-given partner in life.

    God thus has created us not to be alone and/or be with our parents, but to be with our own God-Given suitable partners, for us to live the life God has created us to be. Jesus in our gospel today reminds us not to block and be a hindrance in letting ourselves and others to come to God and live the life God has called us to be, and challenge us to remain faithful and steadfast in our relationship with one another as we live our life-mission God has called us to be as well.

    Both readings give importance to our human need to have and be in a committed relationship as God sees & wills it. More than just having a friendly, convenient, and secure relationship in life, God appreciates that we, human as we are, should be committed to the life God has chosen us to be, and to live such-committed life in relationship with our own suitable partner God has destined us to be with.

    In other words, though with one wing, we should be angels – flying, coming to God’s glory, rising up and committing to the occasion to live the life God has called us to be, and by means of interdependence, embracingly flying/journeying in relationship with our God-given suitable partners in life.

    Perhaps beyond our concerns for our civil status or even FB Profile status, whether we are Single-Married, in relationship, in love or complicated, we should moreso ask ourselves, “Am I committed to the life God has called me now to be? Am I also in a covenant-relationship with my God-given suitable partner in the journey?” Simply asked, “Am I committed and committing to where I am going and with-whom I am going with toward the life God has chosen me and us to be?”

    Nowadays we hear loud noises proclaiming “Walang Forever”, i.e. there is no promise of forever, eternity, constancy and always in life. True it may be for those who cannot commit, who refuse to rise to the occasion but be remain burdened by their limits and choose to be on their own and alone in their own life-struggles, still dependent on their own parents and others.

    But “There is forever, always, and eternal life”… for commit-able people, people who can commit, still committed and committing to live the life God has chosen them to be and to the partner they are to be with. We could say also that committed relationships are measured by faithfulness & not by success, for our journey in life is not about gaining heights but moreso about remaining steadfast/faithful in our efforts to fly & journey along with others.

    Though not of this world but in this world, Christian and human as we are, we are Holy and Sacred for we are also God’s children and Jesus’ brothers and sisters. And difficult it may be, we can always be holy and sacred in this life, if and whenever we commit to the life God has called us to be and to the suitable partner God has given us to be with.

    Again as the saying goes: “Each one of us are angels… But, with one wing. We can only fly by embracing each other.” With these words, may we learn and grow with holiness despite our human limits, in our Christian lives today. Amen.