Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: AUTHORS

  • Rejoice, God is near and working even in our waiting    

    Rejoice, God is near and working even in our waiting    

    December 14, 2025 – Gaudete Sunday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121425.cfm)

    We, Filipinos, know what it means to wait. We wait in long lines for government services. We wait for traffic to move. We wait for our salary and benefits to come in. We wait for relief goods after a disaster. We wait for healing when sickness enters our home. We wait for loved ones who work abroad, praying that they come home safe.

    Even in our personal lives, we also wait for many things. We wait for our parcel to arrive. We wait for our relationships to be repaired. We wait for our friend to speak to us again. We wait for our anger to cool down, for peace to return to our hearts. We wait for our debts to be paid. We wait for our dreams to come true. We wait to be loved, accepted, and embraced again.

    However, we also realize that some people wait longer than others. And the longer we wait, the more discouraged we become. And so we lose patience. We lose peace, become anxious, irritated, tired. Some even begin to stop moving forward, to stop dreaming, to stop hoping because it has been already exhausting to wait.

    These are our very real experiences. Many are exhausted emotionally. Some feel lifeless, controlled by bitterness or guilt within the heart. Others feel stuck, as if nothing will ever change.

    This is why today’s readings are so beautiful because God speaks directly to people who are tired and exhausted of waiting.

    The prophet Isaiah, in the first reading, spoke to a people who had suffered for decades. The Israelites were exiled to Babylon. It was about 1,700 miles away. They were forced to walk for months in misery. They believed it was because of their failures and the failures of their leaders and forefathers.

    They waited for God to rescue them. But years have passed and nothing changed. They felt abandoned and miserable. Yet, deep within the heart, there was that voice of hope that continued to pray, “Lord, come and save us!”  This is what our Psalm proclaims today.

    Indeed, many of us could have felt that way too. And so Isaiah stood  up and proclaimed with a loud voice, “Be strong, fear not! Your God will come and save you!”

    And then Isaiah painted images of hope, “the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the lame leaping, deserts blooming, sorrow and mourning fleeing away.” These images are God’s promise of healing, reconciliation, restoration, and freedom. This is why Gaudete Sunday is all about JOY because God has not forgotten His people. In fact, this is symbolized by the third candle in pink which reminds us to rejoice!

    St. James, in the second reading, taught us something important, “Be patient.” He used an image we understand well referring to the life of a farmer. A farmer cannot harvest tomorrow what he planted today because everything takes a process.

    And certainly, healing is a process. Forgiveness is also a process. Reconciliation is also a process. And so growth takes time. Healthy relationships take patience.

    James taught us now to trust God’s process and to trust God’s grace working slowly but surely in our lives. Powerfully, James also added, “Do not complain about one another.” Why? Because complaining, bitterness, and negativity in the heart blind us. They make us forget that God is actually moving and working.

    Moreover, John the Baptist in the Gospel was also tired and discouraged. John was already in prison this time. John was surely suffering. And he asked Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come? Or should we look for another?”

    This is the cry of hope from a man who is barely holding on, at the brink of giving up. Have you also ever prayed like this? “Lord, are You really there? Are You really coming to help me?”

    Jesus replied in the most tender and powerful way; “Go and tell John what you see: the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, lepers are healed, the poor receive good news.” In other words, Jesus was saying: “John, do not lose hope. I am already working. Salvation is already happening.”

    We realize now that Gaudete Sunday is not a denial of suffering. It is not pretending that everything is fine. Gaudete Sunday is courage. It is choosing to rejoice even when life is difficult not because our problems are solved, but because God is already here, moving quietly, faithfully, and lovingly.

    Realize this too because there is an even greater truth that Jesus becomes present today when we become more like Him. Meaning, when we choose to heal instead of hurt, when we choose to reconcile instead to remain angry, when we choose honesty over corruption, when we help the poor and encourage the discouraged, then we become signs of the Messiah in our communities. We become Christmas for others. And that is a real reason to rejoice.

    I leave you now three concrete invitations as your takeaways on this Gaudete Sunday.

    First, encourage one person who is tired of waiting. Send a message or make a short visit and remind the person, “God has not forgotten you.”

    Second, do one small act of healing. Forgive someone, greet someone you avoid, or pray intentionally for someone you struggle with.

     Third, spend 5 minutes in silence and say: “Lord, You are near. Teach me to trust Your timing.” Let this prayer soften your heart and make room for joy.

    And so, rejoice, not because life is perfect, but because God is near. God is faithful and God is already at work in our waiting. Hinaut pa.

  • Joyful WITNESS

    Joyful WITNESS

    December 14, 2025 – Gaudete Sunday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121425.cfm)

    After Eucharist, a man once approached me and asked for an advice. He said, “Father, my daughter is engaged to her boyfriend. But seemingly the guy’s family does not approve of their relationship because they have learned that I am now unemployed. They thought that I am lazy and irresponsible parent to my daughter. You see, Father, I am a retired seaman. I subsist now from the pension and time-deposit I’ve earned. I just wish to spend the rest of my life with my family after long years of absence from them. I really love my daughter and only wish for her happiness. Father, is it a sin to be unemployed, and enjoy my own family? What shall I do, then?”

    Like that man and John’s disciples in the gospel today, sometimes we become restless with life in anticipation for the Lord’s reign that we ask the practical question: “I believe that the Lord will come again, but what must I do, then?” Yes, we do believe that God so loves us that He gave his only begotten Son for our salvation. He has been good to us and continually showers us His love and blessings. But as faith necessitates actions, “what is the right thing to do then? What then does God require and demand of us?”

    If we reflect deeper on our readings today, we see that like any parents, God desires nothing much from us but our happiness. He simply wished us JOY in our relationship with Him. As what Jesus said to restless disciples of John, “Go and report what you see and heard here.” Meaning, Jesus wants us to see for ourselves and enjoy the great things happening and what God is doing us here and now.

    As God shares to us His life and salvation, He does not ask for our heroic acts or sacrifices but our whole being to enjoy, savor, and share his love and work with others. God does not demand of us so-called “holy” extra-works of doing physical penances, or attending or organizing bible studies, miracle crusades, or prayer meetings.

    But rather, He simply requires us to be as best Christian as we can be, that is, to love Him and our neighbor, follow His precepts, celebrate liturgies in worship, share responsibilities with our fellowmen, and make them feel and realize that we are God’s people. For God, then, what matters most are not our sacrifices but our obedience, not commandments but our faith – a loving & joyful relationship with Him, through Jesus Christ.

    Basically, God simply invites us not to be heroes, martyrs, or saints. But like John the Baptist, and the farmer who joyfully anticipates for the fruits, Jesus wants us to be His living and willing witnesses of the revelation and unfolding of God’s work of salvation. In other words, He simply wants us to joyfully witness God’s salvation here & now.

    For what is a witness? Like a best man in a wedding ceremony, a witness is someone, who first, let God’s work of salvation to happen before his very eyes, not controlling or programming, but simply experiencing the event. Second, a witness is someone who let the event disturb, influence, and affect His life, for God’s work is good news to those who recognize accepts & believes his experience. And a witness is someone who stand for, share & witness joyfully what he experiences and believes to others, for “Happy is the man who does not lose faith in me”.

    Through our faith-responses to God’s revelation and act of His love, by our encounter and acceptance of His son as Emmanuel “God-with-us” in our lives now, by being affected and changed by the person of Jesus, by sharing our faith to others, – in other words by being His living eye, ear & heart joyful witnesses of Christ, God’s blessings begin and continue to prosper within us today and forever.

    And so, in response to that man’s questions, I said to him, “it is never a sin to be unemployed. You are not only what you have or what you have done in life or what others say about you. But you are who you are before God now – His beloved child. Just Be the best and responsible father and husband you can be. Let God do the rest, and never to forget to enjoy the moment.”

    We began our advent journey with His challenge to: “Stay awake & Be prepared”. Then we are invited to “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand”. And today, the Lord calls to “Go & tell others what you hear & see”. And what are we to do then? Awareness, repentance & joyful witness.

    As we continue our advent journey in preparation for the birthday of our Lord in our lives nowadays, may we open our hearts, minds, body, soul, ears & eyes in joy to recognize & believe in Him always in our midst, & hope for another spirit & grace-filled year with Emmanuel, the God-with-us now & always. Amen.

  • Continuing to shine even in difficult times

    Continuing to shine even in difficult times

    December 12, 2025 – Feast of St. Lucy

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121325.cfm)

    During the strong typhoon Tino last November, a young man volunteered with a group to rescue trapped residents. His team was assigned to help a community buried by a landslide. It was raining, muddy, dark, and there was no certainty whether anyone was still alive.

    When they arrived, they found several children and parents still alive. They wept in gratitude and relief because in the middle of darkness, hope has shone when help came.

    This story reminds us that sometimes, a small action, a willing heart, and a readiness to help can, indeed, become light in someone’s life.

    In the first reading, we heard the powerful image of the Prophet Elijah. He was described like a blazing fire, standing firm against evil and guiding the people back to God. He became the light of his time. Not because he was strong on his own, but because God strengthened him and filled him with courage.

    In the Gospel, Jesus said that Elijah had already come, referring to John the Baptist, a man who brought light. Yet, John was not immediately recognized by the people. His mission was not easy, but John remained faithful to how God called him.

    These two figures in today’s readings, Elijah and John the Baptist, show us that the light of God is not always easy to see and recognize. Sometimes it exists inside our shy courage, our silence, our small and random acts of kindness, and our perseverance even when no one notices. Yet, that light remains and continues to shine for others.

    And now we look at the life of Saint Lucy, whose feast we celebrate today. Lucy was a young woman, yet strong and unwavering in her faith. She suffered greatly, faced threats and even gave up her life for the truth she believed in. Tradition says that even when her eyes were taken from her, Lucy’s spirit shone even brighter. In her martyrdom, she became a light in a time filled with fear and cruelty to the Christians.

    Saint Lucy’s life and example tells us today that the light that comes from God is surely cannot be extinguished. This light can dwell in our hearts, when we also allow God to enter and lead us.

    So in this Season of Advent, we ask ourselves, “Who is waiting for my light? Who needs my help, my forgiveness, my presence, or even my small acts of kindness?”

    We realize that this season is not only about putting up decorations or making celebrations. It is a time to rekindle the light of hope and faith within us so that others may also see.

    After looking at Elijah, John the Baptist, and Saint Lucy, may we also have the courage to say and to live that “even when it is difficult, I will continue to shine.”

    To help you live this out in daily life, here are two simple things to do:

    First, before you begin your day, give God two minutes of quiet prayer: “Lord, let Your light shine in me and through me.”

    Second, do one small act of kindness today that brings joy or help to someone. Just one, but it may become a light for their day. Hinaut pa.

  • Let God Surprise You With His Nearness

    Let God Surprise You With His Nearness

    December 12, 2025 – Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121225.cfm)

    (A homily given to a group of Philippine Army.)

    The Season of Advent always carries with it a gentle sense of surprise. It is the kind of surprise you feel when something good happens in a place you never expected, or when someone shows up at a moment you had already resigned yourself to being alone. Advent tells us that God’s coming is never loud, never forced, but always unexpected but gentle. And that is the greatest surprise that the Almighty choosing to come close, choosing humility, choosing to enter our ordinary days, choosing to be within our human history.

    This is exactly what we hear in our Gospel today. Elizabeth did not expect a visit. She was living her normal, hidden life, bearing both her age and her long years of waiting. Then one day, Mary walks in simplicity, young, carrying not only her presence but the very presence of God Himself dwelling in her womb. The surprise was so overwhelming that even the child in Elizabeth’s womb leapt for joy. John recognized what words could not yet express because God had visited them through Mary.

    Our Lady of Guadalupe is another moment in history when God surprised His people. This is the feast we celebrate today. Through Mary’s appearance to Juan Diego, God showed the tender concern for the poor, the oppressed, and the overlooked. It was God’s way of saying, “I have not forgotten you. I see your suffering. And I come close to you.” Every true surprise from God is like this, it reveals God’s heart, especially God’s love for the weak and the powerless.

    This is what the prophet Zechariah announces in the first reading. The Prophet said, “Sing and rejoice, daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you.” Not from afar. Not in theory. But to dwell among us. The reading emphasizes that God does not live distant from the anxieties of His people. His promise is always presence which is also the gift to us.

    Brothers and sisters in uniform, this message is especially for you. Many of you will spend Christmas far from home, far from family, children, parents, and your familiar traditions. Some of you may have already spent many Christmases this way. And it is never easy. There is a loneliness in that kind of sacrifice that most people will never see. But the Lord sees it. And today, through this Gospel and through the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, God tells us: “I come to visit you where you are.”

    Perhaps the surprise of God this Christmas is not that you will be home because of you won’t. The surprise may simply be this: that even in a distant assignment, even in quiet duty posts or long night watches, God draws near. God dwells with you. God visits you through moments of peace, through your camaraderie with one another, through unexpected strength that rises when you feel tired, through simple joys that you recognize in the middle of your routine.

    But for God’s surprise to reach us, our hearts must learn to be less guarded. Advent invites us to put down our judgments, our suspicions, our indifference, our anger and hatred. This also includes even our inner defenses that we think can protect us. Sometimes we are too careful, too defensive, too close-minded or too hardened by life. And that prevents God from entering. When we allow ourselves to admit our limitations, our sins, our failures, our woundedness that is when God can finally surprise us with healing, joy and freedom.

    And when God surprises us, like John in the womb, may our hearts also learn to leap with joy. May that joy not end with us. If God surprises us with His kindness, may we then become a surprise of kindness to others especially in a season when compassion and understanding is needed most.

    I leave you now with two simple invitations which you can do concretely in the coming days.

    First, make one small gesture of kindness to someone in your unit. You can expressed this through a word of thanks, an apology, an offer to help, or a listening ear. Surprise someone with kindness.

    Second, spend five quiet minutes each day asking only one prayer: “Lord, surprise me with Your nearness today.” Let that simple prayer open your eyes to how God visits you. Hinaut pa.

  • Fear not, I will help you.

    Fear not, I will help you.

    December 11, 2025 – Thursday of the Second Week of Advent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121125.cfm)

    This season of Advent draws us once more into a kind of waiting. Yet, this is not just any kind of waiting but waiting filled with hope, longing, and readiness.

    In today’s reading from the Prophet Isaiah we hear the Lord say, “Fear not, I will help you.” This is not a distant promise, far removed from our lives but a personal and present invitation. Indeed, God does not speak to crowds only. The Lord reaches out to you, to me, to us, holding out His hand in love and assurance.

    Imagine a world shaped by God’s promise where deserts are turned into springs, where dry places become alive into gardens with trees uncorrupted by human greed for power and profit.

    This is God’s divine plan not only for the world but for each heart parched by fear, pain, loneliness, or doubt. God says to us, “I will help you. I will bring life where there seems to be no life.”

    Yet taking that divine help means also trusting. It means accepting that yes, certainly, we may feel like “worms” and “maggots,” as Isaiah says. We may feel unworthy, frail, and small but God promised and said, “Your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, will not abandon you.”

    What Isaiah proclaimed was set in a context when Israel felt being abandoned and discouraged. The people were exiled into Babylon after the war. They lost many things in their life including loved ones. This is how war create deep pain and anguish in the human heart. Yet, the Lord has promised salvation and freedom.

    And so for us today, as we also prepare for the coming of our Lord both in the memory of His Nativity, and in the hope of His coming again, God whispers to us, “Fear not, I will help you.” This is the heartbeat of Advent, a God who draws near, who rescues, who renews us.

    Indeed, we may be filled with uncertainty, anxiety, and suffering, yet the words in the Bible are not just ancient. These words give us a living hope. Each of us may know weariness, struggle with relationships, health, finances, and loss. Some may have felt like giving up. Some may have felt unseen and forgotten by friends and family. But God sees, God knows and God promises help.

    This means that advent invites us to trust again. To believe that even in our deserts, God can make springs. Even in our fears, God is our help and refuge.

    I leave to you now two simple and doable invitations for this Advent season.

    First, pause each day for a moment of quiet trust. Set aside few minutes maybe early in the morning or late at night and pray quietly: “Lord, I trust in You. I open my heart to Your help.” Let this be a daily turning toward God, especially in moments of fear or worry.

    Second, reach out and share hope. Choose one person, a friend, a neighbor, a colleague, or a family member who may be hurting or alone. Send a message, give a call, or visit if possible. Remind them that “God has not forgotten you and you are not alone.” In doing this, we become signs of God’s help to someone else.

    And so, may this Advent be for each of us a season of deep trust, renewed hope, and courageous faith. May we step forward not in fear, but in light because our God is our Helper, our Redeemer, our constant companion. Hinaut pa.