Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: Fr. Mario Masangcay, CSsR

  • IN-HOUSE GUEST

    IN-HOUSE GUEST

    April 27, 2025 – Second Sunday of Easter; Sunday of Divine Mercy

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042725.cfm)

    Happy Easter to all. Last Sunday we celebrated Easter Sunday. We celebrated and proclaimed our Christian faith that our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed risen into our lives.

    Today we are now on the 2nd Sunday of continuing celebration of Easter season. So, how is life after Easter Sunday?

    After the preparations of Lent and the celebrations of Holy Week – after Easter Sunday surely, we are back to our normal ways – back to our usual routine, schedules, activities, programs, tasks, and responsibilities. But as we go along our normal ways and live our usual lives, we also wonder how is the message of resurrection of the risen Lord make sense and become more real now in our day to day living. Yes, we believe that the Lord has risen. But how and in what ways the risen Lord has resurrected and can be resurrected into our ordinary lives today? Paano Siya naging at maging Buhay’ng-Muli sa buhay ko at natin ngayon? This is the very challenge of Easter to us Christians during this Easter season.

    While reflecting on the revival of Lazarus from the dead, Pope Francis once in his homily said that each one of us has a small tomb inside our hearts – that somehow somewhere in our lives, though still alive and breathing, is dying and dead inside. Yes, somehow, we are still & get used with isolation in our small caves, even after pandemic lockdown & quarantine. Our small tombs are usually our dark secret holes and shadowy caves where we usually hide and bury our anger, hurts, pains, sufferings, failures, frustrations, anxiety, fears and addictions from ourselves and others.

    And inside our small tomb, we do have the choice whether to be alone on our own, miserably struggling and grieving with the “why’s of life”… OR to invite the risen Lord to be part of our search for answers and sense for all these happenings in our lives.

    For Pope Francis, we need to recognize our dying and dead self-inside, and invite the risen Lord to be our Guest inside our small tombs and allow Him to be part of our death and dying within, and be resurrected into our New Life with Him.

    Brothers and sisters, the empty tomb of Easter reveals to us that the risen Lord is not in his tomb. But out here and there revealing Himself into our ordinary normal lives and offering us life and life eternal. The same way as He appeared before His disciples, the risen Lord is showing & will appear Himself to us in our ordinary lives anew with a promise of not only new normal but more so, of Life Eternal.

    The mistake of Thomas in our gospel today is not so much for doubting the Lord’s resurrection but more so for being absent – he was not there when the Lord appeared the first time. Thomas at first did not recognize his own small tombs and invite the risen Lord to be part of his ordinary life. Only when he was with the other’s disciples in locked door room – present in their own tombs and allow the Lord to be part of His Life that Thomas came to recognize and believe in the risen Lord.

    Meaning, the risen Lord only wishes to be invited and partake into our own isolation inside our small tombs and in our ordinary lives so that He can share to us New Life with Him. No more being alone – on your own in your own tombs. Thus, no more hiding, navel-gazing, just looking into oneself – licking wounds, brooding, and sinking in anguish & despair.

    For the Easter message of Lord’s resurrection to be more real and meaningful now in our lives then, we must invite the Lord into our small tombs and allow Him to be part of our usual day to day struggle with life. The Lord is risen and has indeed resurrected again and anew in our lives now – if and when we invite Him to be part of our small tombs and our ordinary lives. He also can only resurrect and bring our death and dying back to life anew nowadays if only and whenever we invite and allow the Lord to be part and be with our normal life’s-struggles and triumphs, especially influencing and guiding us in our day-to-day decisions, as we elect & vote for our political leaders ahead.

    To have a more real and meaningful celebration of Easter Season then, let the risen Lord in and allow Him to be our Guest – to be there and be part of our small tombs and our ordinary lives these days. And perhaps ask ourselves once again: What is the risen Lord offering me now here inside my tomb, inside my isolation? What is His resurrection in to me and what’s in for me? What are benefits and the purpose of letting Him be part of my life now: Healing, Peace, Mercy, Forgiveness, Hope, Mercy, Love, Release, Liberation, New Life, Holy Spirit… A chance to choose & do things right for our country…..?

    Although we are back to our usual normal lives & usual ways after Easter Sunday, we also know and believe that with the risen Lord in our lives now, LIFE will & should never be the same again and as usual, but ours would now be a new normal life and better than before, IF and Whenever we invite and allow our risen Lord to be part of our small tombs and our daily ordinary lives, as our in-house guest.

    Siya Nawa. Hinaut pa unta. Kabay pa. Amen.

  • PISTIS

    PISTIS

    April 20, 2025 – Sunday of the Resurrection of our Lord

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042025.cfm)

    Our gospel today proclaims that the disciple saw and believe …. Though they did not understand yet.

    When was the last time you find yourself in this situation? Seeing & Believing, yet not understanding. Though it happens to us occasionally, we do have experienced situations in our lives that we find ourselves seeing & believing, though not yet understanding what is happening.

    Come to think of it. Just for these past few recent years, we saw and still seeing a lot of challenging things happening in our lives. We have witnessed lately to life-threatening & life-changing experience of massive infections, sickness, & death caused by Covid pandemic that rendered our lives. Constricted with lockdowns, quarantine, protocols of social distancing, isolation & immunization. We saw also the devastating effects of the natural disaster of typhoons, heavy rains, landslide, & flooding into our livelihood. We saw also the influx as well as the lack of humanitarian & government response. We see also the threat of world war & the political turmoil in both local & global level. We have seen & still seeing the best & the worse of humanity & the world unfolding before us.

    As we saw & still see a lot of things happening in our lives lately, we also yet to understand why all these things are happening to us. We still yet to understand the sense, meaning, or purpose of the life we had & having, are now being challenged & changed. We are yet to understand the losses, worries, anxieties & fears that we have gone through a lot those years. We are yet to understanding why we idolize (make God of) others to somehow save us, while we also demonize (make devil of) others to blame of our present predicament.

    As things happen & still happening, and we not yet understanding all these, be as it may, we cannot help but find ourselves believing not only on our own & other’s capacity to rise & respond to the occasion & be responsible for all these. Above all, we cannot help but find ourselves bowing & knelling down in humility before God, believing that He has better plans than what we had, in store for us in our life ahead.

    Consider then that, in our gospel today, as they witnessed themselves the passion, death & burial of our Lord, the disciples had just lost hope & meaning of their very life – Jesus Christ. And worse, in the midst their hopelessness & despair, what they saw then is an empty tomb. Jesus was not only gone, but worse His dead body is also gone missing. Their experience of empty tomb & missing body may have been devastating, non-sensical & incomprehensible to them. But they saw & believe, without even understanding yet. They see & believe. They have seen & will forever believing.

    Same way as disciples of Jesus-then, this is also how we will now experience the Lord’s resurrection into our lives now & always – by trustingly seeing & believing in God’s Plans for us, though not understanding yet.

    Easter, the Season of Our Lord’s Resurrection, challenges us then to trustingly see & believe, even yet to understand the life we are going through at this moment now & will about to happen, for our God has a lot better life in store for us ahead.

    As we celebrate the Lord’s resurrection this year in our lives, we are invited to view anew the things that are happening to us now & about to happen ahead in the near future, in Faith in God & with Our Risen Lord Jesus Christ. For in Greek the word “Faith” is (PISTIS), which means trusting the person of risen Lord than just believing even without understanding.

    Be reminded then that Easter season is our yearly reminder of God’s everlasting love for us. God assures us that “I have love you with an everlasting love”. His love for us then is from eternity to eternity. He loves us long before & ever since from the beginning, until now & always be forever. And as Henri Nouwen would say: “Life is just a little opportunity for us during a few years to say, “I love you too, My God.” What we have and having now then is just our short chance in life to trustingly see & believe in His love & to love Him in return.

    Though life nowadays may not be comprehensible, or no-sense at all, we do know deep inside & in faith that there are more better life yet to be seen & believed with Our God & our Risen Lord Jesus Christ.

    So, Brace Ourselves. Abangan. For there are more yet to come & to happen, as the Lord has risen into our lives now & always.

    Alleluia. The Lord Has Risen, Indeed. Amen.

  • Beware of MICE

    Beware of MICE

    April 15, 2025 – Tuesday of the Holy Week

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041525.cfm)

    Holy Tuesday marks the beginning of the treachery & betrayal of Judas Iscariot that has led to the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    We have heard in our gospel today the circumstances that lead to the passion of Jesus Christ. Here Jesus exposed of Judas’ betrayal as trusted finance officer of the disciples of Jesus who corrupted their funds & conspired with the “bashers,” detractors & enemies of Jesus that led to His arrest & execution.

    We may have known how painful it is & would be, if & when we are betrayed by our own trusted people. Betrayal of trust is surely a difficult & traumatic experience for us that breaks people’s hearts & lives. But we may wonder, what moves people to betray others?

    It has been said that in the espionage world or the world of spies, there are four factors that moves spies to defect & betray their loyalties & people. Its acronym is MICE (Money, Ideology, Compromise & Ego). Somehow we might say that these are the four reasons that we & other may cause to betray ourselves, others & even God – Betrayals then always involved with Money, Ideology, Compromise & Ego (MICE).

    These are very true in the case of Judas Iscariot. Definitely, he was in  to betray Jesus for the M-money (30 pieces of silver). He was in for business-influences & market-consumerism I – ideology, willing to C- compromise his faith, beliefs & values, & to conspire with the enemy. And above all, His selfish E – ego, self-centeredness cause Judas to betray his Lord. This simply explain why we always associate people who betrayed us as Judas & we consider Judas as betrayer.

    However, let us be aware of MICE (Money, Ideology, Compromise & Ego) that cause people & even ourselves to be like Judas Iscariot in betraying ourselves, others & our Lord that is making life difficult, harmful & traumatic for all & everyone. These are the pitfalls & warning signs that may fall & lead us to the temptations of betraying & betrayals. Same reasons MICE (Money, Ideology, Compromise & Ego) make us betray our suffrage – our right to vote & betrayal of public trust that lead us to vote-buying & vote selling.

    So, beware of MICE (Money, Ideology, Compromise & Ego) for it could lead us to betray our faith in Jesus Christ, & ourselves as Christians.

    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.

  • Let God BE GOD now

    Let God BE GOD now

    April 13, 2025 – Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041325.cfm)

    For us Filipinos, there are three occasions in the year that we come home, get together, and spend quality time with our family: Christmas, All Souls’ Day, and Holy Week. These are the moments when and where us Filipinos BE with each other – that is where and when we experience, encounter, and meet each other again as family and community which usually lead to renewal, deepening and strengthening of bonding and relationships among family. While during Christmas, we are with our family and friends, and during All Souls’ day, with our family and relatives remembering our beloved dead members of the family, Holy Week is particularly our time and space with God.

    Today, Palm Sunday marks the beginning of our Holy Week this year of Faith & Hope. These days in this week of this year of faith is our time and space to BE with our God. This week is our God-time and God-space. Particularly this week is more than just our chance to be with God but more so God’s chance to be with us. Meaning, this week is not only our time and space with God but more so GOD’s time and space with us. It is more like God must be first and foremost Be with us rather than We must be with God. The center or focus of this week then is not ourselves but God. This week is not about us and ourselves but about HIM and His being with Us now. This is our chance then to experience, encounter and meet God in His own terms and not on our own terms. The best attitude then is to let Him set the agenda, activities, schedules, and venue of this week. Meaning, to let Him takes the steering wheel – let Him drive your life this week. Let God BE God, not be a god as we want or need Him to be, but as HE chooses to be with us now at this very juncture of our faith & life.

    To do this and make the best of this week, allow me to suggest some appropriate approaches & attitudes.

    First, REMEMBER. As I have said, this is not about us but about Him. So, once again be reminded, that is to put into mind – God’s story with Us which is the Jesus story. We are to remember (to make it member or part of ourselves) what God did, does and is doing to us through the life and mission of Jesus Christ. So, time and space to Recall, Remind, Remember God’s story with us through Jesus, rather our story with God.

    Then, REFLECT. This is an invitation to mirror back or reflect back God’s story with & along our faith-story with God now. In other words, Manalamin. To look and see our faith-life experiences from the point of view of God’s story and less from our own perspective. Meaning, Be moved. Be Disturbed. Be influenced. Be shaken. Be Challenged. Be transformed by God’s story, presence, words, movements, plans, agenda and will for us, you and I now.

    And above all, eventually RESPOND to what, when, how, when and where God is calling, inviting, and leading us now in whatever faith-life commitment we choose to be. Meaning, whether you are ordained, married, professed, or baptized Christian, be a BETTER version of Christian as you choose and committed to be.

    Today we begin Holy Week. Remember, Reflect, and Respond to what God did, does and is doing in You and Us now by being with God, not in our own terms but in His own terms.

    For us to let God be God to us now & anew, perhaps concretely, in view of coming elections, during this week we also remember, reflect & respond on what we have gone thru & is going on in our faith-life pilgrimage now as a nation of Filipino Catholics & so be guided by His will & be in tuned with God’s ways for us in choosing wisely & voting conscientiously our national leaders.

    May we, you and I have a blessed meaningful and inspired week ahead.

    So Be it. Amen.

  • Life with HIM

    Life with HIM

    March 30, 2025 – Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/033025-YearC.cfm

    We hear Jesus proclaims to us, “God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.” This is to remind us of God’s deep love for us to the point of sacrificing His son, so that we might believe in Him so as we may share sacred lives with Him. Meaning, God suffered a lot for our Faith at the price of His son. He wants us to heed and do those challenging words of believing again & anew in His Son, so that God could always love and forgive us  again & anew. And above all, He challenges us now & always to do this, (why?)… because God wants to share His eternal life with us, His beloved children. God wants us to have Life with Him.

    Consider Judas & Peter, as to how and why the sin of Judas is more serious than Peter’s. We come to realize that Judas’ is more serious than Peter’s sin, because Judas did not give the Lord the chance to love and forgive him again & anew, instead he ended his life by killing himself. Yes, Judas repented but he did not believe anymore. Peter on the other hand, yes, have hidden himself… but repented & stayed on until the Lord’s resurrection and got the chance to be forgiven and loved again & anew by the Lord. Peter repented & still believes in God despite what happened. In other words, Judas’ sin is more serious compared to Peter’s because Judas, by committing suicide, did not give the Lord the opportunity, the chance to forgive and love him again. Both may have repented but unlike Judas, Peter believes and remains to have faith in Jesus’ resurrection, in effect, made him experience life – life eternal with God.

    So also if & when we still believe despite of what happened to us, we could share in God eternal life through the Lord’s resurrection.

    A story also once told that in God’s kingdom when everyone lives blissfully in the everlasting life, Peter finds Jesus standing near the heavenly gate. He goes near Jesus, and said, “Well, everyone is looking for you. How come you are here near the gate?” The Lord replied, “Actually, I’m waiting for someone. I’m waiting for my dear Judas to hopefully come back…. The Lord is thus still & always waiting for our coming home in repentance & faith.

    Remember then that God loves us not because and after we have repented and we are forgiven, but rather God forgives us because we are loved beforehand and eternally. As Paul would say of our Lord: “His death is death to sin once for all, his life is life for God. So also, You must consider yourself dead to sin & alive for God in Jesus Christ.”

    Like the Father in the Prodigal Son in our gospel today, the Lord Jesus is always waiting for us so that He could always love and forgive us again & anew. So, at this time, as we prepare ourselves to celebrate Easter, by our repentance & faith, like Peter & the prodigal son, let us give God now through Jesus a chance to forgive and love as again and anew, so that we experience eternal life with Him.

    With Our Mother of Perpetual Help, may the fruits of our honest repentance, righteous attitude & deeper faith in the Lord be upon us, & so for us to experience & celebrate Easter, as our foretaste of eternal life with God, now & always

    So Help us God. So May it be. Amen.