Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: Fr. Mario Masangcay, CSsR

  • Jesus Prayer

    Jesus Prayer

    October 23, 2022 – 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102322.cfm)

    A story once told about two robbers were caught stealing. While trying to evade the chasing police and dogs, one of them said to the other: “Pray”. But the other snapped back in reply: “I don’t know how to pray”. Then, the first one persisted on: “Just pray any prayers you know, anyway, your God will listen”. The second wondered: “Any prayer will do?”. The first pushed: “Ya, any prayer”. So the second prayed the only prayer he knows, this way: “Bless us, O Lord, for these thy gifts, which we are about to receive from your goodness through Christ’s our Lord. Amen”.

    Here, they are. Chased by the dogs and police. About to be apprehended and punished for stealing. And the only prayer, one could think of is the formula-Prayer before Meal. Well, nice words, but surely not the right & appropriate prayer for that very moment.   

    Prayer is our Chat-talk with God – our exchange of words with God. Praying then is more than just mumbling words from subscribed formula or -prayer-format, because it is the opportunity for us to be who we are before God and to express our hearts’ desires to our Father. Better then for us, in praying before God – to say what we mean, and mean what we say, than just reciting formulas which we don’t really mean and thus does not say who we really are and what we really mean before God. Meaning, pray your heart’s desire before the Lord in you own words.

    Perhaps this is what Jesus is teaching us today about prayer. Through the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, Jesus teaches us that in prayer, God listens to us. God hears our cries and satisfies our heart’s desires. What is required of us, however, is our real selves humbly longing for Him – saying what we mean and meaning what we say to Him. Unlike the Pharisee, we should pray not for what we have done and what we have been doing, but pray instead in humility for what we need before God and for what God can do for us. Prayer is not our exhortations and exaltations of what we have done for God but our humble supplication before God’s presence for what He can do to us better & further in life.

    We also hear in our gospel today, the simple humble prayer of the tax collector: “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner”. This is the simple prayer-words that God as well as Jesus approves, for these words profoundly express who we humbly are before God, and what we mean, say, and desire from Him.

    “Lord, Have Mercy on me a sinner”. Perhaps the simplest yet most effective prayer words in our Christian life are these words: “Lord, Have Mercy on us” “Ginoo, kaluy-I kami”, “Panginoon, Maawa ka sa Amin”. Junim, Jabirul Bepusoso.” These words, (traditionally also  known as “Jesus prayer”) are not only prayed by the tax-collector in our gospel today, but also in the Scripture, as cried out in prayer by the ten lepers, the blind Lazarus, and others. These people were all healed, forgiven, and redeemed for they have prayed to Jesus: “Lord, Have Mercy.”

    To pray then the Jesus prayer: “Lord, have mercy on me” means and says a lot. It reveals our very identity of who-I-am or who-we-are before God. First, it is a Cry for God’s Help, that is, it is our way of saying: “I need God’s help”. To ask for help today is considered as weakness and dependence. To pray then for God’s mercy is to rely not on our own but to depend on God’s strength and power. Second, it is a declaration of faith, i.e. our way of saying: “I believe in God’s will and I trust in God’s way”. In our world of distrust and unbelief, and toppled with individualism, to pray for God’s mercy is to believe and trust in an-other greater authority/power than ourselves. And lastly, to pray, “Lord, have mercy” is our humble obedience to God, i.e. it is our way of saying: Lord, I rest my case. I now listen to you. It’s now, not mine, but your will be done. Bahala na. Kabay pa. Siya Nawa.” This means that finally, after all has been said and done, prayer leads us into total respect and reverence to divine will & providence as well as peaceful silence before God’s presence.

    Remember then that God rejects the prayer of self-righteous persons, but listens to the prayer of sinners who are aware of their inner poverty. God hears the prayer of the humble who are aware of how poor they are before God for “the Lord hears the cry of the poor.”

    Perhaps we ask ourselves now, when was the last time we utter those words: “Lord, Have Mercy on Us” Panginoon, Maawa ka sa Amin; Ginoo, Kaluy-I kami; “Junim, chabirul bepusoso”? Did we say what we mean? Did we mean what we say? Are we saying those words, as a Cry for His Help in our lives, as declaration of our faith and trust in Him, and as our humble obedience to His plans and will for our lives? OR we said those words, like any prescribed formula-prayer inappropriately and without meaning it?

    Before God then, to pray the simple words of Jesus prayer, said with meaning and humility – is but enough and appropriate at all times.

    Whatsoever then happened, is happening and will happen at every moments of our lives, we own up our humble poverty before Him, and pray with full consent and intent the Jesus prayer: – “Lord, Have Mercy on Us sinners.” Amen.

  • Lambing

    Lambing

    October 16, 2022 – 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101622.cfm)

    Resentful of his neighbor’s humble faith, a local bully would usually make fun of the old lady’s religiosity. At times he would mockingly insult her, saying: “Waay ka gid makuha sa imo pag-ampo” – You gain nothing from praying. The old lady would just keep silent & smile instead. One day, the bully overheard the lady praying this way: “Gratitude O Lord for all your blessings. My food-supply though is just enough for this week.  Hope my hard-up children could extend assistance. Though I believe you would take care of me as you always have been. If it is your will, Lord, grant me enough of what I need. So may it be.”

    Hearing this, the bully bought some enough food-supply at the grocery. Then, next day, he went to his old lady’s house, placed a bagful of grocery in front of her door, hid somewhere and waited for his neighbor’s reaction. When the neighbor found the bag outside, she was happy and all praise to God for the graces right in front of her. Suddenly, the man intervened and said, “Aha, got you. That bag of food is not from your God but from Me. See, your God doesn’t care for you“. The old lady just smiled & loudly prayed, “Lord, many thanks for these food you have provided me today and….. for letting my good neighbor pay for it“.

    Praying to God has always been part of our faith-life. And in our efforts to pray, there will always a discontent within us with the way we pray – that somehow there is something kulang/inadequate or missing in the way we pray, and we don’t know what and how. There is always a desire and longing for the best way to pray. Deep inside, we do cry: “Lord, teach us how to pray”. Our readings today are all about prayer, and teaching us how to pray.

    In our first reading, we hear that Israel won the war against Amalekite as long as and because of Moses persistently raising up his hands to heaven to pray – not without the help of others. St. Paul in the second reading appeals for constancy and never losing patience in proclaiming and sharing our faith to others. Jesus in our gospel today points out that the same kind of widow’s persistency to the judge moves God to respond to our pressing needs and concerns.

    Meaning, prayer is our humble, trusting and persistent expression of our appeals, requests – of our heart’s desire to God before His presence. In other words, our readings today are teaching us that prayer is basically our persistent & constant lambing  “Kakulitan” “Pamaraig” “paang-ga” to God, our Father.

    Here, we are reminded that God always listens to our prayers. God as our parent wants to listen to our heart’s desire. He knows and understands our needs and concerns. At the same time, he wants us to come near & be constant in our prayer-lambing to Him.

    Also, God always answers our prayers in His own time and ways. Yes, sometimes we do feel frustrated with God for not answering our prayers. But same way we experience our own parents, God seems silent or passive with our prayers but actually He is discerning and planning what is best for us, better than what we prayed for. We are only to express our prayers – our pamaraig persistently, wait patiently and trusting that not long for now we receive more and better than what we expected.  Like what happened with our story above, God has His own ways and time to grant our prayers… & perhaps, even allow others to pay for it.

    Our readings these past few Sundays have taught us also a lot about faith. We come to learn that Faith is not something we can demand, for it is God’s gift to us. Faith also is rather our response in gratitude & in return for such gift of faith we already have. And today, we are taught that our faith is also our constant loving Lambing to our father, as he reminded us in our gospel to “pray always without weary”. Meaning our faith is our constant, consistent & persistent entrusting of ourselves to Him in lambing-prayer. 

    What matters then, for Jesus is not our desires, longings, needs, hungers, and cravings for gifts, but it is our persistency, patient waiting and trust and confidence in God, our Father. Praying to God, then is about not what we pray, but how we pray; not what we ask for, but how we ask it from Him that matters. It is the manner of prayer – the lambing, kakulitan, pamaraig, paangga: is significant “For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” In other words, it is the FAITH – the asking, seeking, and knocking – and not the content, outcome, or perks are most important.

    May our prayers then be expressions of our persistent faith & without weary lambing, heart-desire to the Giver of the gift rather than our mere longing for the gifts we want & need.

    Amen. So be it. Siya Nawa.

  • As Thanksgiving in Return

    As Thanksgiving in Return

    October 9, 2022 – 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100922.cfm)

    A man once never thought that he would donate blood in all of his life. Once, however, his child got very ill & hospitalized, and badly needed blood transfusion. Luckily, they were able to get a blood donor for his sick child. Now, as he watched the donated blood dripping through into his child’s veins, he suddenly realized that someone had shared & donated the blood that is keeping and helping his child alive. Straightaway he made up his mind to become a blood donor, himself, and he was as good as his word – regularly as needed donating blood as thanksgiving for the gift.

    Last Sundays’ readings were all about `Faith’. Particularly, in last Sunday’s gospel, we heard the apostles’ request to increase their faith. But Jesus reprimanded them by pointing out to them that God has given them enough faith and no need to ask for more because it is already given. In a way, Jesus directed us now and his disciples then that we cannot demand God to grant us the gift of faith because faith is God’s grace. It is God’s free gift given to us voluntarily of His love, and not out of our requests, wants or needs, or even payment for our good deeds.

    Today’s readings are also about FAITH but faith not only as God’s gift but faith as our response in gratitude and thanksgiving to God’s love.

    Naaman in our first reading, having cured of his leprosy, in return comes to believe in the true God and commits himself to praise the God of Elisha. St. Paul in our second reading resolves to preach the Good News to others despite persecutions, oppositions, and hardships so “that they, too may obtain the salvation given to us in Christ Jesus and share eternal glory” – meaning, that others may also share what is given us. In our gospel, ten lepers were cured of their leprosy, because of their faith in Jesus. But only one Samaritan came back to thank him and praise God – only one is grateful enough for what God has done to his life.  

    All of these would mean that inasmuch as faith is a gift from God, faith is also our commitment to respond in return to God’s generosity and goodness to us. Faith is then our personal decision to commit ourselves in resolving to give something back in gratitude to God’s love and goodness to us. Like that of the man & the healed Samaritan leper, our faith should compel us to do something in response to God’s love and grace-given us.

    Having faith may have saved us, healed us, cured us and… it thus also makes us acknowledge God’s grace in us anew, and challenges us to change our ways and be renewed in our relationship with God. Inasmuch as faith without action is useless, God’s gift of love and generosity to us are also useless without our faith-response. It is not sufficient then to have more than enough faith. But as we receive God’s gifts & miracles of faith in our lives, we need also to express our faith as thanksgiving in return.

    To share in God’s grace then, it is not only a matter of having faith, but also a matter of how we live out and practice our faith in Christ as our response in gratitude to God’s grace. Rather than being worried about how we can avail of, how we can benefit more from & be entitled of God’s grace, we should be more concern on what return can we make to God in gratitude, and how can we reciprocate or “pay-forward” God’s goodness to us with others.

    But still, many would like most to avail of the generosity & benefit from the help of others, but few are willing to give something back in gratitude. Remember, out of ten lepers who were cured, only one came back to thank. Thus, gratitude is so important. Gratitude makes us want to give something back in grateful response for such great gift. Gratitude makes us help others and celebrate-exchange our gifts-received with others.

    As followers of Christ, the Holy Eucharist is our expression and celebration of our faith-response in praise and thanksgiving to God for all the blessings he has given us through His Son Jesus, in life so-far. We are supposed to be a Eucharistic people, a people constantly grateful to God. So, don’t be so pre-occupied with the beautiful things God has given us that we forget to thank the Giver of the gifts, and fail to share such gifts with others. What matters most then is not the gifts but the Giver of the gifts, and how gifts are shared and celebrated – that is how it is freely given and gladly received by one another.

    So perhaps every time and next time you attend Mass, ask beforehand not for what gifts you need and want from God, but instead, ask how God has been generous and good to you lately that made you grateful to celebrate & share with others now here in our celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

    And may our prayer now be: For all that has been… Thanks you Lord. For all that will be… Yes, Lord. Amen.

  • FOR Love than benefits

    FOR Love than benefits

    October 2, 2022 – 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100222.cfm)

    Once a boy approached his mother and demanded: “Mom, may I ask now for your payment. Give me now my rewards and prizes”. The mom asked, “Payment, rewards, prizes? For what?”  The boy replied, “for cleaning my room, for preparing the table, for washing the dishes, for passing all my grades, and for tending my brothers and sisters”. “Ahh, see”, the mother continued, “Son, for nine months I bore you in my wombs, for many sleepless nights worrying and taking care of you in your sickness, for washing all your clothes, for cooking your food, for making both ends meet for your food, clothing, and education – all of these things are done for free. I don’t expect payments, rewards, or bonus prizes, from you; not out of obligation but out of my special love for you.

    Perhaps some of us may be like that boy, thinking and considering God – not as our Father or parent, but as our master or boss, whom we work for & who should repay and compensate us of all the good things we have done for Him in life.

    We sometimes do find ourselves – consciously or unconsciously, demand from God payment or rewards for every good deed we have done, and punishment for every wrong or bad deeds we have done. We sometimes think that God should grant us bonus, payments, and rewards for every service we rendered, at the same time should judge and punish those who fail and done disservice. We cannot deny that we do have this kind of mentality – that salvation is due to rewards and punishment based on our deeds and services.

    Jesus in our Gospel today wants to correct this kind of mentality and perceptions. In Jesus times, this mentality of reward and punishment for human deeds and action has been a dominant theology of the Jews. When his disciples asked Him to increase their faith, here, Jesus clarifies to them that their requests must come and base from their deep faith and trust in God, and not in their expectation and aspiration to be rewarded and compensated for their good endeavors.

    For Jesus, it is not right for us to put God in a situation that He is indebted to us, that He has the obligation and responsibility to repay us for our good deeds and to punish us for our wrongdoings. We cannot force or coerce God to grant us His gift of salvation. We have no right to demand payment, bonus prizes, or rewards for our deeds, because the salvation He grants us is not payment or even our wages for our performances & deeds, but His grace, His free voluntarily given gift to us. Meaning, our salvation does not depend on our deeds, but on God’s generosity – not on our performances but on His great love for us.

    Consider then, Brothers and sisters, that God is our Father, our Parent – not our boss, our employer. We are His children, not His employees or workers. We know that children obey their parents because of their deep love and trust in them. We obey and love our parents not because of rewards and punishment but we choose to reciprocate the special love for us. Meaning, we don’t have to earn God’s love, because, like parental love, God has already loved us even in our sinfulness or even if we fail Him with our wrongdoings, and in whatever our performances in life maybe. We obey God’s commandments, we serve Him, not to earn His love, but because He already loves us, and because we love Him back in person and not out of benefits, payments, or rewards.  

    Brothers and sisters, our loving and generous God, as Parent always longs and hopes that we love and serve Him out of our love and faith, not out of obligation, fear and rewards or punishment. Our task now is to reciprocate God’s love with and by our deep love and faith for Him in person than just by services & functions.

    Lord, grant us the grace to be contented with our Father’s Great Love for us His children, and of our child-like faith and love for Him. Keep our hearts & mind free to love & serve Him as we should & as we choose to be now and always…

    Amen.

  • Looking Glasses

    Looking Glasses

    September 25, 2022 – 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092522.cfm)

    Once a very rich man approached their parish priest for an advice. He said to the priest, “Father, I have a problem that is bothering me a lot. You know how rich I am. I have everything I need. I get everything I want. But how come I feel I’m not fully satisfied? There is always that emptiness & missing in me that do not satisfy. I maybe rich outside, but I am actually poor inside. What do you think of my problem, Father?” The priest invited the rich man in his living room and brought him near the glass window. And the priest instructed him, “Look out into the window and tell me what you see.” He said, “I see people walking around the plaza.” Then, the priest brought him in front of a large mirror and said, “Look into the mirror and tell me what you see.” “I see myself,” he replied. Then the priest explains, “You know what, both the window and the mirror are made of glass. But their difference lies in the silver paint. As you may notice, the mirror is glass coated with silver paint & the window is just a plain see-through glass. So, whenever you look through a plain glass window, you see people – you see others. But whenever you looked at silver-coated plain glass mirror, you will only see yourself – not others. You cannot see other & you even stop seeing others, but only yourself. So, whenever we start to only concern ourselves with wealth and riches, i.e. coating our plain glasses with silver-money, we start to become blind to see others but only see ourselves.”

    Reflecting on this story and our parable today, we can say that it somehow echoes our day-to-day life experiences. Conscious of the hard times we are going through these days – not only in our country & in our world but with ourselves, sometimes we wonder what causes the great gap between rich and poor. What makes poor poorer or desolate? What makes rich richer? What makes life difficult nowadays? What makes me poor or rich? What makes my life difficult or easy these days?

    This is what Jesus is trying to teach and convey us today. 

    First, Jesus describes us that our self-centeredness makes us blind, insensitive, & unconcerned to the needs of others. Just like the rich man in our parable today, he was too full of himself that he was unconcerned about the poor Lazarus at his doorsteps. He was too full of himself that even before God, he was more concerned with himself – his own thirst and salvation that he only perceived Lazarus as his errand to quench his thirst and to warn his own family about his fate in heaven. “Send him..” the rich man said, to command even God for Lazarus to do his wishes. So full of himself… conceited, & self-centered. Here Jesus warns us of the consequence of our self-centeredness. It makes us only see our own selves, making us blind to the needs of others, most especially the poor.

    Second, Jesus maintains also that our silver-coatings taints our plain glasses. Meaning, our material possessions, wealth, and riches make us self-centered and greedy. Like the rich men in our story and in our parable, money, and earthly possessions taint and distort our perceptions of others. Our materialism makes us selfish and blind to the needs of other people, making us only view life from our selfish mirrors.

    At the same time, Jesus is telling us today that all of these, our greed, self-centeredness, and earthly possessions do not give us meaning in life and promise us our salvation. For Jesus, God has endowed us with a lot of blessings not only for own sake but also for others. It would mean that we are not the sole owners but just stewards or managers of God’s graces. The blessings & graces we have now are meant not only for ourselves but to be shared with & to others. We are called therefore to be partakers & sharers of God’s blessings to others. In God’s Kingdom, sharing not hoarding is the name of the game, & the way forward.

    In a sense, God has already given us looking glasses to see. It is up to us then how we use our glasses – either as mirrors for our selfish interest or as windows for further growth in our relationship with God and concerns for others.  In other words, our mirrors – our self-centeredness makes life poor, difficult & empty, as well as our windows – our other-centeredness makes our life rich, easy, & meaningful.

    May the Lord continue to grant us the wisdom and audacity to make use of our God-given blessings be shared with others for the sake, not of ours alone, but mostly for God’s glory & other’s good. Amen.