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Category: Fr. Mario Masangcay, CSsR

  • Chance to Be At Home

    Chance to Be At Home

    March 27, 2022 – Fourth Sunday of Lent; Laetare Sunday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032722-YearC.cfm)

    In the Gospels, Peter and Judas Iscariot are two of the outstanding characters in the life of Jesus and His disciples. Both are trusted leaders of Jesus: Peter as the manager, and Judas Iscariot as the treasurer. Both have also sinned and failed the Lord: Peter denied the Lord three times, while Judas Iscariot betrayed the Lord. But what makes him worse than Peter is that Judas Iscariot did not allow the risen Lord to forgive and love him again. By killing himself, committing suicide, Judas Iscariot remains far and away from the Lord, missing and not even giving himself the chance to be forgiven and welcomed by the Lord again and anew. Peter, on the other hand, though guilty of his own offenses, remains near and close waiting for the risen Lord, thus giving himself and the Lord the chance to welcome and love him again and anew. Simply put, the Lord forgives, welcomes, and loves those who are near, close, listens and believes in Him. 

    Once again, we hear the parable of Jesus about the Prodigal Son. Surely hearing and reflecting again the parable of the Prodigal Son could offer and bring us a lot of lessons, messages, and challenges in our faith-life as Christians. But among the good news we can learn from this parable, the main theme here is all about “Home-coming”.

    Jesus told us the parable of the Prodigal Son because many sinners were coming near to listen to Him, and he was even criticized for welcoming and eating with them. To make sense of the spirit of what is happening (sinners coming near and listening to him) and of His action (welcoming and eating with them), Jesus shared us the parable of Prodigal Son to teach us the message about Reconciliation: our homecoming or our coming home to God.

    Through the parable, Jesus reveals to us that our God has a special regard for the lost, outcast, and sinners. Our God is thus more concern about and especially loves those of us who are lost, least, and last in life. Like the Father in the parable, God waits, loves, and welcomes back those of us who experience being lost, last and least, as well as estranged, left-behind, marginalized, disregarded, and downgraded in life. At the same time, His love and concern for us can fully be experienced and enjoyed through our homecoming to God – by coming Home again and anew.

    Meaning, God’s love is and can be savored (taste and see) once again if and whenever we give ourselves as well as God a chance to welcome us again and anew. Like Peter, we are forgiven, welcomed, and loved again, if and when we give ourselves and God a chance to be reconciled and be in relationship and covenant with Him anew. As shown to us, the prodigal son enjoys the father’s love and home by coming home, and the resentful elder son may and could enjoy the father’s love and home again if and when he comes back home again.

    Jesus also teaches us how to come home with God. God welcomes and enjoys with those who come near to Jesus to listen. Coming near and listening to Jesus is our way of coming and being at home with God’s love. Homecoming to God is then all about believing and having faith in Jesus who will guide and leads us back to our Father.  Hence, by our homecoming to God through our faith in Jesus (near and listening to Him), we come to experience the promise of God’s love and salvation.

    The sacrament of Reconciliation or the Confession is our Church’s chance & way for us to be reconciled to God. By going to church, confessing our sins, asking and receiving forgiveness, we come back home to God our Father and be near and listening to Jesus in faith, and so be forgiven, welcomed, and loved again and anew. Like the Father of the Prodigal Son, God awaits for our homecoming, and most willing to forgive and love us again if and when we and God gives another chance to make things right with Jesus in life.

    In this Lenten Season, through confession of our sins, may we come nearer and listen to Jesus as He leads us and allow ourselves back to our Home with our Father. Amen.

  • Only IF & WHEN

    Only IF & WHEN

    March 20, 2022 – Third Sunday of Lent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032022-YearC.cfm)

    How do we make sense of a lot of things going on with our lives nowadays? Still adjusting with the life-threating Covid pandemic, we are also now amidst violence, terrorism, disasters, and killings along with the imminent threat of world war, oil price hike, dwindling geo & national politics. Is there and can we still hope in life?

    As some people reported to Jesus about disasters and killings happened in Galileans in our gospel today, the central issue raised is also about Hope in life. “Can we still hope for God’s salvation?  Is there still a hope and meaning in life?” Sometimes with a lot of miseries happening in our world today, like calamities, wars, poverty, disasters, exploitations, corruptions, and injustices, we do find life hopeless and meaningless.

    This reminds me of a story about a beggar who had a rice bowl to beg. Every time he asks for some food or money from others, he would just stick out his rice bowl and beg for something. At times, he is too ashamed to beg; he cannot even look at them. But many at times, he becomes too rude to force others to give some scraps of food or some coins. Like other beggars, he dreams that someday he will become a millionaire. But he knows that such dream is impossible and just a wishful thinking because he got nothing but a mere dirty battered rice bowl he inherited from his family of beggars. Sometimes he would blame God for his life’s misery. He considers himself a hopeless and useless case.

    One day, while begging, a merchant noticed his rice bowl and asked if he could have a look at it. The merchant then examined his rice bowl and concluded, “You must be stupid begging for some craps. You should not be asking for others help because you are one of the most fortunate persons in the city. This rice bowl of yours is a priceless antique made of pure GOLD. Just wash it clean and it will cost you a fortune. Why don’t you sell it to me? I could give you five million dollars for it.” But the beggar just laughed off what he heard from the merchant. He simply could not believe that his useless rice bowl is worth a fortune. He dismissed everything the merchant said and continued to beg for some food or money using his dirty battered but priceless golden antique rice bowl. What a waste, what a shame.

    Sometimes, we are like that beggar. God has already given us a lot of His graces. He almost gave up everything for us – His life, His love, His salvation, His only Son. God has already endowed each and everyone of us enough of His blessings. He has given us not only a chance but a lot of chances to live life, and a golden rice bowl of faith in Him. But like that beggar, we rarely recognize God’s precious gifts to us. We rarely recognize our Faith. Sometimes we are not contented with our simple faith. Instead, we look for signs. We look for other substitutes. We beg for other scraps of beliefs. We dream for miracles but in vain. Then, we find life useless, and get hopeless with life.

    Like in our gospel however, as the gardener assured his master that there is always a hope for a dry fig tree to bear fruits again – only if and when given a chance, Jesus also reassured us that there is always hope in life, if & when we change our ways. Jesus in our Gospel today reminds us that God has given each and everyone of us a chance to live life to its fullness. He calls us to see all life miseries are not signs of a vengeful God, but a constant wake up call to repent, to conversion and Christian Living. For Him, there is still hope for those who repent and believe in the Gospel. 

    We began the Lenten season last Ash Wednesday, with the words: “Repent and Believe in the Gospel.” It simply means that the season of Lent is the time for us not only to prepare ourselves for the Easter but also to examine and purify our rice bowl of faith, and then to recognize and accept the preciousness, fortune, and chance it brings. In other words, there is hope only if and when we repent, we change our ways and believe in the Gospel, in the good news, in the golden chance to live God has already given us. Otherwise, there is no hope and meaning at all.

    As we struggle with our life-journey nowadays during these trying times, help us O Lord to acknowledge & responsibly accept your Gift of faith in us, for us to discover meaning, hope, strength, & direction through the challenges ahead.

    So be it. Amen.

  • Into Redemption

    Into Redemption

    March 13, 2022 – Second Sunday of Lent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031322.cfm)

    Coming back from his desert experience, a holy man was once asked to describe his experience of God. People asked him, “Tell us, how does God look like? How do we recognize God?” But the holy man was so confused, for how can he express to them his experience of God from his heart. Is it possible to articulate to them his God experience in few words? So, he decided to teach them a simple prayer to describe his God experience in the desert, knowing also that this prayer is limited and incomplete. He hoped however that through this simple prayer, people may become more open to experience God for themselves. People then accepted such prayer readily, made it sacred and holy, teach and impose it on others, and preach it to other nations. Some even gave up their lives to spread this Prayer to other people.

    The holy man however was so concerned and eventually regretted his actions because many things have been done already to his simple yet incomplete prayer, except to help people experience and encounter God for themselves. He realized eventually that it would have been better if he did not speak at all but stayed silent, than give people a few words of prayer. 

    True enough, we do aspire to know and experience God. Like the people in our story, through prayer, we hope to encounter God’s presence in our lives. Since prayer is all about the meeting between God and man. Prayer is our chance to experience God in our own lives. Meaning, prayer is not only our spoken-words and actions-done to express our needs, wants and desires for God, but more so, prayer is our way & chance for God to reveal, make himself known, and be experienced by us.  

    Our readings today describe to us what Prayer really is. In our first reading, we come to learn that by listening to God’s will, Abram in prayer received God’s promise of salvation. In our gospel, by accompanying Jesus in prayer, the disciples witnessed and experienced God’s presence & glory. Meaning, in prayer we come to experience God, and it is our experience with Him – the meeting/encounter matters most than the methods and words we used. Words and the manner of praying are just then but helps or avenues towards experiencing God in prayer.

    But usually while praying, we become more concerned about the Hows (methods) – on what is the righteous thing to do or say for us to experience God, and like Martha, on what do we have to do or say before the Lord. Remember, however: What God say to us is more important that what we say to Him.” What God wants from us and for us is more important than what we want from Him. What God does to us is more important than what we do to Him. In others words, God’s presence and glory is more important than our presence and glory. Simply put, while praying, God’s agenda and business are more important than our own agenda and business.

    Like for instance, while praying the rosary, we find ourselves tired and sleepy or at sleep. And then we find ourselves guilty for losing track or not completing our rosary. Consider perhaps that God is more concerned with our tired souls than completing our rosary. While praying, God is more concern about taking care of our tired and weary souls than we finishing off our rosary. Or at times, while we are praying the Lord’s prayer, we distracted and bothered with the word: “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sinned against us” because we are reminded of people who have hurt and pained us, as well as of people we have hurt and pained. Consider perhaps that those hurtful memories are the very agenda and business God wants us to address at that very moment to be eventually forgiven and healed.    

    Prayer and praying usually lead us into quiet and silence of our heart, eventually for us to become more open to God’s agenda and business as well as God’s presence. Abram in our first reading and the disciples during the Lord’s transfiguration experienced God’s glory and became sensitive to God’s will because they prayed in silence and open enough to be changed by God’s agenda and business for them.

    This Lenten Season, the Holy Church calls us to pray. And in the many ways and words we pray, be reminded that these prayers are just ways and means, but great help and aid for us to experience for ourselves God’s presence and will for us these days. Through our silent prayerful listening anew to God’s word & agenda for us these days is our sure path into our redemption towards God’s glory. As we respond readily to our Father’s call: to “Listen to His beloved Son” may we be, through our prayer and in praying more open and sensitive to experience God’s presence and revelations – greater and better things God in store for us in life ahead. Amen.

  • Into Temptation

    Into Temptation

    March 6, 2022 – First Sunday of Lent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030622.cfm)

    Three men and an elderly priest had once a discussion. The priest asked: “supposing a corrupt politician approaches you, gives you lots of money and promises to grant you more favors if you vote and support him in the coming election, what would you do?” Replied by the first man, “I will return him the bribe-money”. The priest told him, “You, stupid fool”. Then the second replied, “I will take the bribe-money. I will keep it in my pocket. Surely, I will not waste such fortune”. But the priest replied, “You, shrewd crook”. And the last man said, “I really don’t know what to do? Will I overcome my evil inclinations? Or will my evil inclinations overpower me to claim what is not mine and to do what should not be done? I really don’t know. But if God will bless me and strengthen me to go against all my evil inclinations, I will return the bribe-money back to the corrupt politician.” The priest then said, “You are right, and you are a wise man.”

    Why? The priest called the first man stupid fool because he doesn’t know himself. He believes that he is too strong to resist temptations in life. No men, by himself, have ever overcome temptations in life. Usually, temptations overcome us not because we are weak but because we are too proud to think that we are strong enough to overcome temptations. The second man was a shrewd crook because he is willing to claim what he does not own, and to do wrongdoing, without any qualms whatsoever. For such kind of men, temptations are opportunities for them to take advantage of others for their own benefits. The priest praised the third as good and wise man because he knows that like all of us, we are basically weak people. He hopes that in the midst of temptations, he will be strong enough to do what is right. But he also knows that he can only do this with God’s help and strength, and he is most willing to ask and pray for it. He knows that in dealing with life-temptations, there is always a struggle within as well as reliance and faith in God’s help. 

    We can say the temptations Jesus experienced in our gospel are still very much present and true in own lives today. To live in humanistic and materialistic life, to strive for our own self-glorification and not for God’s glory, and to worship not God, but worldly power and honor are still very present and true in our lives today anywhere, both at home and abroad.

    Surely the migrant workers and their family today can attest to the reality and experience of temptations, struggles and reliance on God within themselves and their own family. They know the better and the worst realities and effects of how to live within the context of a Christian migrant family. Yes, our ability today to live and work abroad either as migrant or worker presents us great opportunities to make and build up our lives. But it also presents us great temptations to break and destroy our lives. Wherever we are, whether we are at home or abroad, we confront the same temptations and struggles as well as we need to rely and trust on God’s strength and power.  

    And how do we act in respond into our experiences of temptations in life? Like the stupid fool, we could resist & reject. Or like the shrewd crook, we could give in to it. Or like the wise man, we could struggle in faith with temptations & evils in life.

    It is easy for us indeed to fall into temptations. The biggest problem in struggling with temptations is our lack of self-knowledge, our lack of recognizing and overcoming the evil within ourselves. We struggle with the evils of others and in our society but the toughest struggle is to acknowledge and overcome the evil within our own selves – the evil within our own hearts. We were born with conflicting goodness and evil within. That is why we can be good and can do good… but not easily, since there are always tensions and struggles within ourselves. Moreover, we can only withstand these difficulties, if we are wise enough to rely and have faith not only in our own strength but in God’s help and power.

    Like the stupid fool, if we think we can overcome these life-temptations and evils only by and through own strength and power, we are surely wrong and are doomed to failure for we don’t have the power and capacity to resist temptations. But like the wise man & Jesus, if we are wise enough to acknowledge and ask for, and have faith on God’s help and strength, we surely can overcome evils and temptations in others as well as within ourselves; – hoping not to be a shrewd crook falling into temptations.

    St. Augustine is wise enough to say, “Through temptations, we come to know ourselves. We cannot receive the crown of salvation if there is no victory. And there is no victory if there is no struggle. And there is no struggle if there are no enemies and the bearers of these temptations.” This means that we can bring about salvation through and as we struggle with life-temptations and we recognize that human as we are, we are weak, but in faith with God, we are strong enough.

    With our Lord in our struggle with life-temptations & trials, we pray most especially during these trying times of pandemic, threats of war & political division: “Lead us not into temptations”

    So be it. Hinaut pa unta. Kabay pa. Siya Nawa. Amen.

    (P.S. Fr. Mario Masangcay, CSsR is a Filipino Redemptorist Missionary who worked with & for our Filipino Migrant Families and Workers in Gwangju Archdiocese in South Korea.)

  • Fasting

    Fasting

    March 4, 2022 – Friday after Ash Wednesday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030422.cfm)

    Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence from meat. Though not obliged but encouraged for below 18 & above 60 years old faithful, Catholics during Lent practice abstinence from meat during Fridays of Lent.

    We should understand that fasting is not only our penance – our way to be repentant for our sins and be reconciled with God, but most of all, fasting is our way & chance to help those who are in need and hungry. St. Augustine once said: “Don’t think that fasting is enough. Yes, fasting may be a form of penance but it will not save our neighbors. Righteous is your fasting and abstinence if it helps the needs of others. How many poor hungry people be satisfied by the food you fasted and abstained today?”

    Image from http://www.self.com

    Meaning, fasting is not for our personal gains but for the salvation of others. Our bishops even remind us that it is poverty, not politics is the greatest problem in our country today. Whatever savings, then we have acquired from our fasting during Lent & during Friday abstinence from meat could and should be our contribution and extended help to those who are in need. In this way, Lent would be real sacrifice for it would personally and deeply affect our stomachs and pockets.

    Our Lenten practices of fasting, prayer, and charitable works during this season then are not for our sake but for the sake of other than ourselves.

    We hope and pray then that the food we fast and the things we abstain from having within this season be converted and become rice, clothing, and food for our poor and hungry neighbors, especially during these trying pandemic times.

    So be it.