Category: Fr. Mario Masangcay, CSsR

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.

September 18, 2022 – 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Click here for the readings https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091822.cfm)

Once a promising young entrepreneur was asked about his secret of success in his business. His reply was like this: “I could have profit up to 30 percent from every transaction I make. But usually, I offer my costumers up to 25 percent discount, thus me only gaining at least five percent. Yes, money-wise, it is bad business. However, I may have less profit from each transaction, but I have gained more business costumers, contacts, and friends, which thus offers me more business transactions and opportunities.” Clever, is’nt it?

Amazing it is how clever, smart or sometimes even shrewd we can be when making business deals.  Whether it’s buying a used car or selling a house, all of us learn how to get the most for our money and investments.  This is not something new.  It’s part of human nature to get the best deal possible.  Jesus was aware of this. 

The parable he told us about the steward who had to think quick to get himself out of a financial jam, recognized our human resourcefulness, and inventiveness in terms of our dealings with others in this life.

The Lord’s point is that we often demonstrate our intelligence, but we don’t apply this intelligence and shrewdness to the one thing that really matter: our Christian way of life now.   

Consider the number of times we have sat down and worked out how we can use our talents, time, and treasure to be better Christians.  Consider the number of times we have thought out how we can put ourselves in situations which would avoid moral problems we have had in the past.  Consider the number of times we have plotted out how we can implant and improve the practice of our faith in our families. If we were to add up the minutes spent a month doing this for God and our Christian life; and then compare them to the minutes a month spent working out our financial deals and investments, would there be any comparison at all? 

Some people, like those in the first reading from the prophet Amos may have perfected how they can outsmart others.  They cheat with their scales.  They inflate & launder money – or however, you call it nowadays. BUT, That is not why God gave us intelligence.  He gave us intelligence to make his PRESENCE & ACTIONS real in the world.  We must make use of the same cleverness, skill, and plain nerve that the manager used to save his skin, and the strategy and tactics that businessman used to secure more business contacts and clients, and all other ways and means to make God’s ways real in our world. 

Jesus tells us today in our gospel, “Make friends for yourselves through your use of this world’s goods, so that when they fail you, a lasting reception will be yours.” In other words, Jesus is telling us “You have the intelligence, resources and opportunities use it. Use all these to fulfill the mission you assumed and accepted when I called you to be my disciples. Be SMART for Me.” We thus must make use of our talents, money, and time not as an end but a means in attaining life worthy of God, and in sharing from God’s benefits given us through Christ.  We must be as resourceful, and dedicated in the ways of God as we are in the ways of commerce, politics, and social relations. 

In other words, Jesus’ parable challenges us to be SMART for His sake, that is – to be as eager, clever, and ingenious for the sake of God’s kingdom; to be as ready and willing to use our talents, time, and resources to accomplish great things for the Gospels as we are to witness & prosper in our Christian faith & lifestyle.

In whatever & however circumstances we find ourselves now & in the near future, for His sakes’ (beyond our own), may the Lord ever help us develop more our ingenuity, intelligence, and creativity to promote his Kingdom here on earth and in our world to come. Amen.

September 11, 2022 – 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091122.cfm)

We surely have heard and familiar with our gospel today. And hearing and reflecting again & anew today’s parable would still always be fascinating, for it offers us ever fresh insights into our Christian faith & life.

Now, if we are to give it another title, how would we call it?

Well, we all know that this parable is known to us as the parable of the prodigal son. But we also know that this parable is more just a story about the prodigal younger son’s misdeeds and repentance. The parable is also about the elder son’s bitterness as well as the father’s love. Surely there is more to this parable that it cannot be limited to the called only as: “the Prodigal Son”, or “the Merciful & Forgiving Father” or “Disapproving or Resentful Elder brother.” Perhaps we may also call it: “WELCOME BACK HOME”, I think.

WHY? We, Filipinos all know that Ours is a culture of strong family ties, and the basic representation of this strong family relation is the HOME. That is why family occasions such as leaving and coming home are important events in the story of the whole family. When someone leaves home, it is like death – a big loss or gap within the family. While when someone comes back home, it is like a fiesta – a thanksgiving, an offer of renewed life & energy within the family.

Especially for us Filipinos, there are three yearly events in our life that are occasions for homecomings – reflecting our family ties and our home life: the Christmas, Holy Week and All soul’s day. On these occasions, we usually find some time to come back home and spend some time and enjoy our own family. Surely you will all agree, that pasko or semana santa or kalag without kuya, ate, nanay or tatay would be “kulang,” guol o subo pud, murag namatyan. Feels like someone & somethings are missing & lacking.

These events are important occasions in our Filipino family life and culture, because these are the moments not only for family get-together, knowing and enjoying each other anew, but also reconciling our differences and renewing our family relationships and visions in life.

Our parable today has a strong appeal to us, Filipinos because it is all about “Homecoming.” It is about a loving father who receives his repentant son and appeases his resentful elder son BACK HOME. He invites both his sons to go back home. That is why somehow it is appropriate to call our gospel today as:  “Welcome Back Home.”  It is a homecoming, a reconciliation, a renewal of relationships.

This reminds us of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or what we commonly know as confession. Primarily the sacrament of reconciliation is a Sacrament of homecoming, an opportunity, an occasion for us Christian to be reconciled and be renewed with our relationship to God.

As a minister of the sacrament of reconciliation, I learned two things in confession. First, that like in the parable, there are two kinds of penitents coming in for confession: the repentant and the resentful penitent who both needed, invited & received to be at Home with God, others, and himself. And second, that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is more than just a Sacrament of sorrow but a sacrament of joy. Long lines of penitents coming for confession (especially in our Redemptorist churches during Wednesdays) are indications not only of people’s sinfulness and sorrow but more so, are stories & our-story of homecomings, reconciliation, God’s healing, forgiveness, love, mercy, joy, and above all, renewal of our faith-life relationships. 

Undeniably a few baptized Catholics nowadays have gone astray and have turned lukewarm in their relation with God in our church, especially during these Pandemic times. Our parable today is both a reminder and open invitation of Jesus for us Catholics, His people and follower, to COME BACK HOME to Him thru His Church.

Consider then our whole life now, as Christians, is our homecoming – our way back home to the Lord thru His church. Regardless of what happened & happening in our lives now, this parable son is OUR STORY – the story of our journey of coming back & being welcomed by God, our Father – who, like the father in the parable, always merciful and ready to forgive, invites, waits and welcomes us back to his home. He can only express His abounding love to us if you and I, in sorrow or resentment approach Him and ask for his forgiveness and healing, for as He said to Isaiah, “Come back to me with whole heart… for long have I waited for you coming home to me and living deeply our new life.” Siya Nawa. Kabay pa. Amen.