Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: AUTHORS

  • Our True Hope and Freedom

    Our True Hope and Freedom

    September 11, 2022 – 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time     

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

    Where do we go in times of despair and hopelessness? Where do we find ourselves when we are confused, broken-hearted and afraid?

    The Hebrew people were looking for a “god” to worship, to lean on from their desperation. They were in the desert for many years since their liberation from the Egyptians. They felt hopeless and directionless.

    When Moses was nowhere to be found, they made themselves the “golden calf” and worshiped it instead of the TRUE GOD who brought them out of Egypt. The people had very short memory that in times of great difficulty, they turned to a false god believing to find security in it. Indeed, the people forgot God’s promise to them and God’s faithfulness in them.

    We are not also far from these people in the bible. We might have our own false gods too that offer false hopes. We may ask, who and what is our golden calf that we worship? Is it  ourselves or some others other than the Lord God? When we become desperate our minds and hearts may become crowded that we tend not to recognize the Lord who is at work in us.

    Thus, in times of difficulties in life we may develop some forms of attachments to compensate and appease our anxieties and the emptiness that feel from within. And so, a person who felt unloved by a mother may seek affection from many women. Or a woman who is rejected by a loved one, may retreat to loneliness and depression. A child who lacks the security of love and affection at home from parents may succumbed to drugs or alcohol addiction. A child who has been deprived of material things in the past may become a hoarder of things or worst a thief.

    These are forms of unhealthy attachments that only bring us to greater and deeper despair and misery. Consequently, there is a need for us to reconnect ourselves to God who gives us true hope and freedom.

    This was how Moses pleaded with God to show mercy to the people who turned to worship a false god. The people were lost because they were desperate. They attached themselves to a false security because of their overwhelming misery. However, as Moses pleaded with God, the Lord relented and embraced again the people to be his own. Such story of desperation, hopelessness and of being lost but, then, of being showed mercy, of being loved and of being found again by God, is the very invitation for us on this 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

    In fact, St. Paul also recalls the story of his life in his First Letter to Timothy. His past life of being a blasphemer, persecutor and arrogant made him so lost. It was a denial of God. Yet, God continued to search for Paul until they had an encounter. Paul’s encounter with Jesus turned Paul’s life completely because when Jesus found him, the Lord was so merciful to him. That experience of mercy led Paul to gratitude. And that gratitude inspired him to give glory to God by becoming a minister and servant of the Gospel.

    Moreover, in the parable, Jesus tells us of a shepherd who sought his lost sheep until he found it and a woman who lost her coin and searched for it until she found it.

    This image of God tells us of a God who searches for the lost. We are the sheep in the story who is driven by our selfish desires. We are the lost coin that has been longed by the owner.

    Nevertheless, God never tires to search for us and embrace us again. God invites us to be with Him, to join with Him and enjoy His abiding presence in our sacraments, in our liturgy and in our daily prayers, and in our community.

    Indeed, Jesus teaches us of a God who invites us and searches for us not just once but in every opportunity of our life.  And this is the truth; God searches for us and desires to embrace us so that we may find true hope and freedom. Kabay pa.

  • WELCOME BACK HOME

    WELCOME BACK HOME

    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.

  • Blessing in God’s Perspective

    Blessing in God’s Perspective

    September 7, 2022 – Wednesday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090722.cfm)

    How do we understand being blessed? Our usual understanding of a life being blessed has something to do with material wealth and prosperity – like having a good family, a prosperous business, a successful career, a good paying job, or having a good health. Thus, we think that being blessed has something to do with success and material possessions.  

    That is why, poverty is never a blessing; being persecuted, being sick and being rejected is never a blessing too. If we are experiencing such life, we consider ourselves being unlucky or worst being cursed.

    However, what Jesus told us today is quite opposite. Our human understanding of being blessed is different from God. Indeed, there is a need for us to understand blessing and our life from God’s perspective.

    In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus warns those who in the standard of the world are blessed such as the satisfied, the rich, the powerful, the popular and the influential. The danger lies in the attitude of the heart that becomes independent from God, a heart that rejects God’s mercy and love. In fact, Jesus warns us when we tend to accumulate more wealth for ourselves at the expense of the poor, or when we gather fame and influence at the expense of others.

    Such attitude of the heart is filled with arrogance and self-centeredness that has no need of God. True enough, when we are so filled with ourselves and too satisfied of what we have gained and achieved, we don’t need God anymore. Our successes and we, ourselves, have become ‘gods.’ This leads us to worship our achievements, wealth, our power and ourselves. But then, all of these corrupt us because we will never be satisfied. We will thirst and hunger for more wealth, recognition and fame which will also lead to our own destruction and those who are around us and those blocking our way to gain for more, as any form of addiction will also result in this way.

    Indeed, dependence on these forms of material satisfactions is a mere arrogance and a false sense of security. This is actually the promise of addictions, in whatever form that may be, whether addiction to drugs, alcohol, sex, influence and fame, wealth and power (political or economic power).

    However, in God’s perspective those who are poor, sick, persecuted, those who failed and rejected are blessed because it is in their poverty and difficulty that they also realize their weakness and need of God. Such insecurities bring us to understand that we are so small in this world and we are in need of God’s grace. That is why; Jesus addressed these Beatitudes to his disciples, assuring them of his presence. His disciples left their families and jobs. They went to places where sometimes they have to sleep without roof. Authorities ridiculed them and insulted them for following Jesus.

    Thus, the very presence of God in our life is what makes us “blessed.” Since God favors those who are weak, poor, suffering and struggling in life, they are the ones who are blessed because they understand their need of God. God comes to us when we are ready to accept God in our life and to let God be our God.

    God invites us then, to recognize our own poverty and anxieties because God blesses us with His presence. This is also the message of St Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians. Though at that time, they must have believed that the second coming of Jesus was about to happen during their lifetime as he said, “for the world in its present form is passing away.” Paul reminded the people of the need to be more attached to God rather than to what was material and temporary. Paul recognized the importance of ones dependence to God and complete trust in God’s providence. Through the presence of God present in their life, they were indeed blessed.

    So, how blessed are you? The material wealth that we have gained, the influence and fame that we have received, the successes that we have achieved, our good health, our talents and abilities, our knowledge, intelligence and competence are signs of God’s grace and generosity. When we have these, these may lead us to humble ourselves and to recognize that these are gifts and we ought to share them to others. Thus, if you have received much, share the blessings to those who are in need, if you are enjoying success in life, share the experience with those who failed. It is in this way that the Kingdom of God will truly be present among us, and that we ourselves become God’s blessing to our communities. Kabay pa.

  • Not for ME…

    Not for ME…

    September 4, 2022 – 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090422.cfm)

    Recently a Facebook post catches my attention. It is about a young man named Seth Adam Smith who realized, after being married for a year and a half, and said that: “Marriage is not for me”. Why? After all these months of marriage with his teenage sweetheart, he comes to understand now what his father’s advice to him before his wedding day, is becoming true and right before his very eyes. His dad once said to him then: “Seth, Marriage is not for you. You don’t marry to make yourself happy. You marry to make someone else happy. More than that, marriage is not for yourself. You’re marrying for a family and for your future children. Marriage is not for you. It is not about you. Marriage is about the persons you marry to.”

    Surely married couples here could relate to this realization or advice. For marriage is indeed not really for the sake of oneself but for the sake of your lifetime partner. Eventually married couples have to learn along the way that marriage is not all about me or about I but about us. And surely such realization is a hard-lesson to learn where learning happens only through trial and error experience.

    To be selfless, i.e. to be not selfish and self-centered then is the very challenge of committed love we called marriage. For love is more than just a feeling or emotion but a commitment and decision to go beyond and give up oneself for the sake of the other. In other words, in marriage – in committed love, couples are to love their own spouse as much and as more than they love themselves and they love one another.

    This is the very kind of love Jesus asked of us in His commandment of love when he said: “Love one another as I have loved you”. A love much and more than our kind of love, but a selfless love for the sake of the other, and a love that leads us to a life and a world that is not the same as it is, but for the better of you.  A married life committed in love not for your own but for the sake of your loved ones and of loving them, and above all for our Lord Jesus Christ.

    It is indeed easy nowadays for people to say: “Not for me”. Priesthood? Not for me. Religious life? Not for me. Marriage? Not for me. And even perhaps, Christianity? Not for me. But come to think of it, Priesthood, religious life, marriage – following Jesus is indeed not for Me nor for You, but for Him; not about Me or You, but about Him whom we love & follow in life as Christian. And faithful who opted for Christ is saying that their discipleship is SELFLESS – not for them but for Him whom they choose to follow in life.

    For what it is to be a Christian? What does it cost to be a disciple of Christ? To be a Christian, as Jesus taught us today is like marriage, more than just a preference but a commitment. To follow Christ is not just we prefer Christ in our dealings with life – that we want and like Christ to be part of our lives, but it is to commit ourselves to the Christian way of life. To commit to Christ then is to be selfless, i.e. let go of ourselves and let God be God in our lives.

    On one hand, to commit is to LET GO, that is to renounce – to give up everything. And this is not easy for usually we prefer to have, possess, acquire, and own everything. But Jesus reminds us that the Kingdom of God is more than what we prefer and desire (want and like) in life, but it is what God’s wants and wills what is best for our life. Like Seth who realized that “Christian Marriage is not for me…not for my sake but for the best and sake of my partner, and my own family”, being His disciples is not about being self-oriented, self-centered & inward-looking, but rather being other-oriented, other-centered & outward-looking. And the Kingdom of God is then not about You and I, not even about yours & mine. But God’s kingdom is all about We and Ours, and above all about HIM, as our Lord and we, as His disciples.

    On the other hand, to commit to Christ is also to LET GOD BE GOD, that is to submit to God’s will. Human as we are we like to be in control, to lead and to be the master. In a way we prefer to take the driver’s seat and take the steering wheels, and go where we want to go. But following Christ means to commit and submit to God’s will for us, and let God control, lead, guide, and form the direction of our lives. This means that we become passengers, and let Jesus takes the wheels and brings us to place and time in our life beyond our imaginings.  

    Again, be reminded what Jesus is saying to us in our gospel today: to BE HIS disciple is to hate our life, carry our crosses & follow Him, and renounce all our possessions… all for the sake of and because of HIM. Jesus himself, by his words and examples, has shown us how to be selfless by letting go and letting God be God.

    In the same way, for us to fully fulfil God’s kingdom in our lives, as Christians, pray we must that we selflessly commit our lives to Christ (as Christian husband, wife, mother, father, priest, religious nuns or brothers, sons and daughters, family) by letting Go and letting God be God with total commitment for Him (and, not for the sake of me, you, & ours alone) in faith & life. AMEN.

  • The Humble and the Arrogant

    The Humble and the Arrogant

    August 28, 2022 – 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082822.cfm)

    In the first reading from the Book of Sirach, the author advices us to be humble because humility pleases God and because humility is God’s attitude. It says, “My child, conduct yourselves with humility… humble yourselves the more, the greater you are.” This was an advice and a reminder to Israel who had become powerful and rich. Their kings and princes were given honor and titles, power and riches, yet, it was not be forgotten that everything comes from the Lord.

    It is only in humility that the people will stay grounded and connected with God and with the people, who they were called to serve.

    Humility, therefore, acknowledges our nothingness before God and that everything we enjoy in this life are gifts from the Lord. We are not to hoard power and riches or material wealth for our own benefit alone but must be shared to all and especially to the least. This will make a nation, a community lifting up one another.

    Hence, this reminds us that not in pride and not in arrogance that we will be truly confident and assured. Pride and arrogance only reveal our insecurities and evil desires. The proud and the arrogant person expresses an unquenchable and insatiable desire to hoard and to have more, demanding others to be served, thus, becoming self-entitled. This attitude leads to corruption, to abuses, to oppression and hence, to destruction of the self and of the community.

    In fact, in the Gospel, this is what Jesus was saying in his encounter with the proud and arrogant Pharisees. The Pharisees, who at the time of Jesus, were at the pedestal of the Jewish Community enjoyed privileges, titles and honor. Indeed, in many encounters of Jesus with them, Jesus would challenge them to look beyond themselves, beyond their comforts, beyond their secured places, and beyond the letters of the law.

    Moreover, Jesus, with the parable he gave, now, challenges the Pharisees to look beyond their entitlements that made their hearts proud and arrogant to the point that they have become indifferent to those in need, and ungrateful to the Lord the giver of everything.

    The Pharisees in the Gospel, have become an image for us who have grown self-entitled, proud and arrogant. We may not be far from this because the moment we use our position, our status, our social class, our educational attainment, our influence, in order to advance our self-interest and to demand praises and honor from others, then surely, we do that at the expense of others. We, therefore, would not think of others, but only ourselves. Thus, having a bloated ego and a self-entitled heart is surely ungrateful, unkind, can be cunning and malicious, and even abusive and corrupt in his or her relationships and dealings with people whether in work, business and daily affairs with others.

    Thus, the parable in today’s Gospel reminds us of the advice in the first reading, to be humble – not to seek places of honor and the recognition of others through our pride and arrogance.

    This paves the way for us to be more connected, grounded and aware of the needs of others and not just our needs. That is why, we also find in the parable the call to be generous and kind particularly to those who cannot repay our generosity. This means that when we make ourselves humble enough, then, we are also able to see and recognize the least in our community by being generous and kind.

    There are now three invitations on this Sunday for us to be humble.

    First, be grateful. A grateful heart humbles a person because we will be able to recognize that we are not entitled at all to receive God’s graces in life. God remains good to us not merely because of what we have done but because, God us simply loving and kind to us.

    Second, seek love not praises. Remember, no matter how rich and powerful we have become, no matter how educated, influential, or famous we may have been, at the end of our life, people remember us on how loving we have become and how much love we have given for others.

    Third, give out of generosity, and not with the intention to gain favor, to seek praise nor to merely advance our self-interest because when that becomes our intention, then, it is not generosity. It is rather the work of the abusive and corrupt, the arrogant and of the evil one.

    So, be grateful, seek love, and give out of generosity. Kabay pa.