Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: Fr. Mario Masangcay, CSsR

  • AUDIENCE

    AUDIENCE

    January 14, 2023 – Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011424.cfm)

    Whenever we are interested to know more about a person, we usually ask for their name, address & contact number. Same way, whenever we are interested about a person, we give them our information: name, address & contact number. But rarely we invite them or get invited by them right away home, Diba? We don’t expect invitations right away whenever we want to meet someone. And we don’t readily invite someone interested or interesting into our home.

    However this is not the case with the disciples of John in our gospel today. Somehow they were star-strucked with Jesus when John introduced Him as the Messiah to them. They followed Jesus & got his attention.

    Meeting Jesus, they ask for His usual information. They are  interested to know Him more. And they got more than they hope for. Not only they got his address, they get an invitation “Come & See” – an audience with Jesus, his undivided attention in his own home for the whole day. After their encounter with Jesus, they are not anymore the same but now  changed persons, and moved them to share Jesus with others.

    The same could happen with our Christian faith & life. Whenever we are interested to consider Jesus to be part of our daily life, whenever we want to know Him more personally, be careful with what you ask for, “what you are looking for?”, because Jesus will not only give you an address information but an invitation. Jesus will not only give you advice, solutions & encouragement on your concerns, but moreso would offer you friendship, love, life-changing challenges & spirituality with Him & others.

    As we are just starting the year, perhaps healthy for us as we meet & encounter Him during prayers, to consider  Jesus asking us now: “What are looking for?” Ask ourselves & reflect: “What do we want & need from Him at this juncture of our faith journey? Are we in it with Him for just our petty-concerns, conveniences, & personal interests, OR are we in for the whole-deal of what Jesus can offer us for the better & the best for our life anew? Would we be with Him at a distance, just observing what he is doing OR would we be near & close with Him & be changed by His love & friendship? If now God is with us, are we with Him?

    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

  • ALTERNATIVE

    ALTERNATIVE

    January 7, 2024 – Epiphany of the Lord

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010724.cfm)

    During confession, we also make an act of contrition by saying these particular words: “I firmly resolve, with the help of thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance & amend my life. Amen.” In saying these words, we are not only regret our mistakes but we are also making a resolution to change & improve our ways. Meaning, it is not enough just to be sorry of our mistakes, but we have to do something about our mistakes by doing our best because we know that we are much better than our sins, faults & shortcoming, and that God’s mercy is much better than our sins, faults & shortcoming,

    Making an act of contrition then reminds us that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is not only about being sorry for our sins, but moreso giving oneself & God a chance to do things right & do the right things for the better than we usually do. It is useless then to do monthly individual confession if & when we don’t change our ways & resolve to improve, but rather go back to our sinful & corrupt ways. Salvation is all about God’s grace in us rather than our sins. Reconciliation then is allowing God’s mercy & forgiveness work in us, rather than finding & counting our woes, sins, faults, mistakes, shortcoming & others. It is all about receiving God’s grace than accounting our faults.

    Today, we celebrate the feast of Epiphany. This is our celebration of our remembrance of God’s loving act of reaching out to us (God making himself known to us) and our acceptance of Jesus, as God’s self-revelation. We, Christians believe that God has given us His only Son, Jesus Christ, as His first gift to us for our salvation. By sharing us His Sons, we become related to Him and become His adopted sons and daughters, and sharers of His divine life. Indeed, Jesus is God’s greatest gift to us. God’s offer of salvation & our reception of Jesus into our lives give another alternative meaning, directions & ways in our life. Because of Jesus, we are blessed & graced by God

    Here in our gospel today, we are reminded us of what happened when the three kings found the child Jesus lying in the manger in Bethlehem. Guided by the star, in great joy, they saw the child Jesus and they did him homage. Their encounter of Jesus and the Holy Family in Bethlehem brought the three kings great joy for they have finally found what they are searching for. The birth of Jesus brought new promise & purpose, not only to the local Jews, but also  to  the migrant magis & to the whole world. With this, like us now, they are grateful, and offered their gifts in homage and thanksgiving to God’s greatest gift to all.

    But let us not forget that after they have witnessed & accepted the Son of God into our lives, they returned by a different alternative way. This is not because they were afraid of Herod, but because of their encounter with Jesus has also changed their lives. Because of their experience with the baby Jesus, their lives were never the same again. They did not follow the usual path, but they now tread an alternative way, perspective, and attitude to life. After they have recognized God in the child Jesus, the lives of the three kings were never the same again. The child Jesus brought them great joy as well as great changes in their way of life.

    The same with our experience of God’s mercy & forgiveness during confession. After celebrating the Sacrament of confession, we know deep inside that life now & ahead could & should not be the same again. We have to change our ways & paths. Like the three kings, we have to take an-other, an alternative path of life-journey, much better than our usual lifestyle. The usual King Herod-road to Jesus, our sinful corrupt ways are not anymore safe to tread through again. We cannot help but change our normal ways, or else we find ourselves again with our usual unhealthy drama, blame & excuses – away from God’s grace.

    As we are beginning a new year, we make an act of contrition. We give ourselves another chance to grow & do better than last year life. As we again receive Jesus, God’s greatest gift for us, let us diminish our tendency to account& highlight our mistakes & faults, but be more conscious of God’s grace upon at work in us. And above all, let us amend & improve our lives for the better than our usual normal ways, and seek a new – an alternative path, roads, & ways for God’s blessing to be always with us today & our near future.

    In other words: “We firmly resolve, with the help of thy grace, to confess our sins, to do penance, & amend our life.”

    Amen.

  • BY CHOICE than Adoption

    BY CHOICE than Adoption

    December 31, 2023 – Feast of the Holy Family

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/123123.cfm)

    How many of you here have experiences with adopted children? Be might you an adopted child yourself, or have adopted a child in a family as son/daughter, or brother/sister or relatives. Child adoption has never been an easy experience within the family. It entails a lot of adjustments and complications not only to the adopted child but also to the parents and the whole family as well.

    I remember once I counselled a couple who have no child of their own and have decided to adopt a child. As the child grew and eventually learned that she is adopted, they observed that their child becomes problematic and difficult. I advise them to try to take care of the child even more, as well as to acknowledge the child not as adopted- someone taken on, which connotes someone who is “sabit o sakay lang” but as chosen “pinili”, as someone they have chosen as their own among other abandoned children.  The child might not be their own but the child is whom they have personally chosen as their own. Essentially, the child then is chosen – the one they have chosen, not only adopted.

    Either by natural birth or adoption, as a child, we are not only taken and accepted but moreso Chosen “Pinili” by our own parents and family. Thus as parent, your child then might be or not be your own, but basically you choose your child. We are chosen children then, not only of God but also by our own fathers and mothers, and our own family as well.

    Christmas reminds us that God comes into our lives as a Child – not as fully grown man or as superman or as god, but as a poor child on a manger. For a child to live and grow, God’s child needs a human parent and family like any other child. Jesus Christ, God’s son has to be taken, accepted, adopted and above all chosen by human parents and family. He grew up then in, with, through his family who adopted and chosen Him to be their own. And In a Family Jesus was born, loved, lived and have grown as a Person. Not in a Monastery or Convent. Once I receive a Christmas card that say: “A child is born in our midst”. Well that’s okay because that is the core message of Christmas. But what made me suspect then was that card was sent from the sisters’ convent. Imagine sisters’ sending me a message that a child is born in their midst”. Me batang ipinanganak sa kanila. Hmmm??? Yes, God’s son has a family, a foster parents and family who chose Him to be their own.

    Today we honor the Holy Family, the very first family who welcomes and willingly accepts the Immanuel “the God with us” into our lives. Mary and Joseph are the very first parents who adopted and chosen the child of God Jesus to be their very own as member of their family. Our gospel today gives us a description on how Mary and Joseph do their best to parent the child Jesus into their own lives as they observe their own local cultural and religious traditions, while conscious of the mysterious unique experience of adopting and choosing God’s blessing into their lives. Yes, with Mary and Joseph they are and become a normal human family; but with the child Jesus, they are and become a HOLY family – now member of God’s family.

    Honoring the Holy Family on Christmas season posts the on-going ever-present challenge for us, like Mary and Joseph to adopt and parent Jesus, God’s child by choice into our lives now and always. By willingly accepting Jesus into our lives to be our own, part of our own lives as family and community, we come to know also that we also are and becoming God’s adopted and chosen children and people, part of His Holy Family. Sa ating pag-angking kay Hesus na ating kapamilya, tayo ay naging at maging ka-anak rin ng Dios at kamag-anak ng anak ng Dios. As we consider Jesus as our chosen family member, we are and become God’s children and Jesus family.

    With the Holy Family, this Christmas season, and the coming New Year remind us always that God comes to us as a Child, who can brings us a lot of joys as well as uncertainties, but above all another chance to live our lives for the better, as His willing chosen parent and family. Have a Grace-filled Christmas and New Year to all us. Amen.

  • BAHALA NA

    BAHALA NA

    December 24, 2023 – Fourth Sunday of Advent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122423.cfm)

    “Bahala na.” Often times we Filipinos are criticized for this somehow fatalistic view of life that someway expresses desperation and defeatist attitude towards life’s difficulties and struggles. Even we ourselves Filipino are discouraged when we realize our fellow Filipinos behaving this way, although at times we find we ourselves also saying those words: “Bahala na”.

    So, what do we really mean when we say: “Bahala na”? Does it really mean: “Depende na sa kapalaran o tadhana”? Is it our really expression of resignation and submission to fate, destiny, or chance? Is it our reckless risk-taking attitude towards life? Perhaps out of desperation, others would mean it this way. But perhaps there is more in our saying: “Bahala na” than just out of desperation and resignation to fate.

    Because for us Filipinos, deep behind the words: “Bahala na” is “Nasa Dios ang Awa, Nasa tao ang gawa. “to be merciful is God’s, ours is just to do our part.” Meaning, “Bahala Fna” is actually more than just an expression of resignation to fate but moreso an articulation of our faith in God. It is not about “depende sa tadhana o kapalaran” but more so about “ipapasa-Dios ko na ang lahat”. It is our way not only of saying but also of praying to God and making a resolve for ourselves that, “Gagawin ko ang makakaya at nararapat ko habang nasa dios na ang lahat.” (I will do what is right and best thing, as the Lord will do the rest.) In other words, “Bahala na” is an expression of obedience to God’s will rather than submission to fate. It is our total participation and commitment to believe in God and to follow His ways rather than our reckless risk-taking suicide.

    Actually the words “Bahala Na” is a shortened version of the words “Bathala na” – Dios Na (Now, it’s God’s turn). It has the same meaning when we pray: Thy Will be done, Sundin ang Loob mo, Matuman ang imong Pagbuot.

    In the Annunciation – the story of the Lord’s birth as experienced by Mary, the angel Gabriel’s annunciation of the birth of the Lord in and through her must surely be very confusing – though awesome experience for a fourteen year old Mary. “How can this be, I have no relation with a man?” A big life-changing experience ahead of her, a totally new responsibility before her – becoming a young mother of the long-expected messiah.

    Despite this nerve-wracking, life-changing, doesn’t make sense challenges ahead, Mary gives her consent, her fiat, her approval whatever it may be, wherever it may lead her. She said: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it done to me according to your words.” In other words: “Bahala na.”

    Yes, Mary must have deeply said and meant: “Bahala na” when she consented to the task and mission given her. She might have meant in Filipino way: Yes, I will do what is right and best as God do the rest. Gagawin ko ang nararapat at makakaya habang ang lahat ay nasa Dios.

    Surely same “bahala na” spirit have made Mary endured in parenting her Son Jesus from birth even until His suffering & death at the foot of the cross, and beyond resurrection. Her spirituality of complete trust & faith in God’s will have & will continue to teach us to live our lives as followers, believers, and disciples of Jesus.

    Perhaps as we continue our life as Christians in faith & Marian in spirit, we might ask ourselves: When was the last time we say and pray: “Bahala na”? What do we really mean when we said and prayed those words? Are those words out of desperation or prayer of faith to God? Am I ready now to say and pray again to the Lord with us, “Bahala na” for the Lord in the coming year?

    Like Mary and Joseph, as we are nearing Christmas – the Lord’s birthday in us, we are always called and challenged to be God’ partner in parenting Jesus, His Son, the God with us into our lives today. May we take on the challenge and rise to the occasion of following, parenting, & representing Jesus to our world today.

    Hinaut pa unta. Bahala na. Sya Nawa. Amen.

  • MOTHER’S YES

    MOTHER’S YES

    December 20, 2023 – Wednesday of the 3rd Week of Advent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122023.cfm)

    Whenever we reflect on our childhood memories, our dear mother is always there present. Be she young or old, dark or fair, how else would we be here now, if our mother did not make our well-being her life and vocation. The relationship we share with our mother is special and sacred, and is based on a bond of mutual love. It was our mother, who is the first person loved us, took care of us, committed herself for us, assured us that she will always be there whatever happens, and would willing die for us so that we may live. It is our Mother, who first said, “Yes” for you. She is “the Mother of all “Yes”es in favor of you, who first opted and chosen YOU. Through our mother we also heard first God’s Promise, “I will be there for you always”.

    No wonder then that Mary is at the center of today’s gospel, which gives us a simple but moving account of the greatest message ever delivered to us – “the Lord is with us”. In it we are told simply and plainly that there was a young maiden, who knelt down at the angel Gabriel’s mysterious message and, in freedom of her heart, gave the total gift of herself to God, saying: “Yes, let it Be done unto me according to thy Word.”

    The Annunciation was the moment when God first revealed a mystery that he kept secret for endless ages. It is true that his love for us is so great that he wants to become one of us. And in doing so, Mary was needed by God. Mary was asked to co-operate with God, and be the mother of Christ. And the moment she said, “Yes” to the angel, salvation dawned on us all. However, Mary did not say “Yes” to God on only one occasion. She had to confirm that “Yes” many times during her life. The moment she said, “yes” to God’s invitation life was never the same again for her. She became a refugee in Egypt and some thirty years later, a witness her son die the death of a common criminal. And through all these events in her life, she did not abandoned her son, stood by Him, always present and supporting Him whatever it takes.

    Christmas is almost upon us and, our thoughts turn to our mothers who said “yes” for us so that we may live, and to our mother Mary who listened and responded in cooperation with God’s will. Mary’s life shows us that to be a Christian is to be a person who keeps our ears open to what God is calling us to do today, so that we can answer Yes to His call and to cooperate with His will.

    Perhaps we ask ourselves: To what extent are we available to God? Do we see what he wants us to do in and through us? If God asks you for favor now, how would you respond?

    Today we are shown the marvelous example of Mary. Even if she did not see clearly all it implied, she accepted her mission to become the mother of the Savior. Mary’s yes offers us salvation. Our own mother’s yes brings us life. May our Yes, our own response and cooperation with God brings life and salvation to others. We pray then that like Mary, we may have her listening and responding heart to God’s call so that we can be as ready and as willing to cooperate in bringing Christ into others. So May it be done to us according to God’s word. Amen