Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: Homilies

  • General House Cleaning

    General House Cleaning

    December 5, 2021 – Second Sunday of Advent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120521.cfm)

    To clean the whole house. A family activity and exercise that should be done regularly but rarely done, because it is demanding & requires a lot of work.

    To do general house cleaning is difficult indeed, but if & when we do it occasionally, we can learn a lot of good things & may promise some changes in life. Simply because, we know that general house cleaning is not only about cleaning things in our home.

    General house cleaning could be our chance to treasure the treasures-found. As we go through daily lives, eventually we collect a lot of things received, bought, and possessed along the way. As we clean our house then, we got the chance to re-evaluate, i.e. to give value again & anew the treasures what we have owned & collected, to let go the excess & what we do not really need, & share these now to those who are in need. Through this, we may able to recognize, count and share our blessings, and may able to declog & make our lives easier & lighter from unnecessary burdens & concerns.  

    General house cleaning may also be our chance to review our life. As we clean our things in the house, it could happen that we remember our past experiences & memories, become in touch once again with the spirit, values & principles-held in life, recognize our present realities & state of life (like, kids are not anymore kids but now teenagers, & teens are becoming adults), & realize the new changes & challenges required to adjust with our current status of life.

    General house cleaning may also be our change to rearrange our lives (not only our home). By responding & planning for the challenges of the new changing realities in life, we may update, upgrade, reconfigure or reformat our outdated systems & ways within the house that would best suit to our changing & growing family. In other words, to do the things rightly in order to make things right in life now.

    To re-evaluate, review & re-arrange may just be some of the good things & benefits of doing general house cleaning. Demanding it may be, but if & when we do it, it offers us ease & direction in living our lives.

    During this 2nd Sunday of Advent, we are challenged to, through the witness of St. John the Baptism, from the words of Prophet Isaiah: “Prepare for the way of the Lord.” But we may ask: “What is more to prepare? What more we should prepare? Come to think of it, we are already prepared. As early as before October, we already decorated our house. Christmas trees & decors are already placed. Gifts to be given, food for celebrations are being prepared. Some have their parties & reunions already. Some were already tired & impatient waiting for their gifts & bonuses. What else is & should be prepared? 

    The preparation we are challenged to by the Sacred Scripture is not our usual preparation of decorations, gifts, food, parties, bonuses & others. The expected preparation required of us is “to make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain & hill shall made low. The winding road shall be made straight & the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of the Lord.” Simply put, To do General House Cleaning – to clean our whole home, to make things right rightly for the Lord. What is asked of us then is – an update, upgrade, reconfiguration & reformatting of lifestyle suited for the Lord, us & others now.

    The Lord become one of us & being with us is not just a decoration in life where we only use when needed or where we only maximize when we wanted it. Christmas – the birth of the Lord, God’s incarnation into our lives should be the suited Center, Way, Guide & Direction of our Christian lives. Meaning, what preparation expected of us is not house decoration but general house cleaning.

    Now, when was the last time you had your general house cleaning? When is your general house cleaning?

    As the year about to end & we are now fast approaching Christmas, why not do your general house cleaning these days? Ask nobody to do it for you, but rather do it yourself, so that, you may have a new perspective, meaning, & purpose in life, and thus, may have carved a new space for God’s word, Jesus Christ into your life. Amen.

    NB. Say a little prayer for me as I also celebrate my 25th year of priesthood today on  this year’s 2nd Sunday of Advent.

  • LIFE-lived In & With CHRIST

    LIFE-lived In & With CHRIST

    November 14, 2021 – 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111421.cfm)

    Corrie Ten Boom, a Nazi concentration camp Christian survivor, now a well-known inspirational writer, once said: “If you look at the world, you will be distressed. If you look within yourself, you will be depressed. If you look at God, you will be at rest.” These words of wisdom are learned from her life-experience of the cruelty of war and racism, not only before her captivity in Amsterdam while her family were helping in hiding escaping Jews, and during her captivity in the concentration camp of Germany, and after her release and liberation, but also based from her experience of life struggles and faith journey in general, as Christian.

    If and whenever we reflect on these words, we somehow can relate with her on how we also experience our life-struggles and faith-journey as Christian in general. Though we may not share the same experience of life with her, but her words offer us a realistic but still hopeful view of our Christian life: “If you look at the world, you will be distressed. If you look within yourself, you will be depressed. If you look at God, you will be at rest.”

    True indeed, distressing it is to look at world today. With a lot of things going on – war, racism, discrimination, alienation, poverty, moral decadence, corruption, crisis, natural and human disaster, migration, pandemic and other, we cannot help but be distressed, upset, worried and be bothered with life nowadays and in near future. And while looking at our world today with distress, we cannot also help but be depressed, helpless, and hopeless within ourselves as we try to adjust, adopt, and respond to our troubling world. Addiction, crimes, sex, violence, drugs, suicide, abortions, marital breakdowns are just mere manifestations of how depressed we are and we can be within ourselves, due to the reality of our world outside and our life within. These are the common pains we are experiencing life nowadays as it is.

    Worse, Jesus in our gospel today even warns us of these on-going and coming distressing and depressing realities of life in the world to happen. We cannot help but be bothered of Jesus’ cosmic depiction of the end-time, “Sun will be darkened, moon will give not its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” We may not have yet experienced end-time as Jesus described it, but with our experience of our life’s common pains nowadays of increasing fatality & sickness, easy for us to see that at most we are already on our way towards destruction and end-game of life.

    We might have been experiencing life at its worse nowadays, however, Jesus promises us a life, not as how we look and experience it, but Eternal Life with God. Jesus proclaims and promises us: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Lilipas man ang Langit at Lupa, ngunit ang aking mga salita ay hindi lilipas: Mahanaw man and langit ug yuta, apan akong pulong dili gayud mahanaw).

    Here Jesus is teaching us that eternal life is not about life without end, or endless life, or our life/world now not passing away. Eternal life with God is not the extension and expansion of our life as we look and experience it. Surely, we desire not the extension and expansion of our common pains & struggles in life. But what Jesus promises us is eternal life that gives us meaning and purpose as we experience life’s common pains.

    In & with our experience of life’s common pains, Jesus is thus offering us eternal life of common purpose. He is offering us Himself as our Way, Truth and Life that would give us meaning, direction and purpose as we struggle with life and journey in faith amidst our common pains of life. Jesus wants us to live our Life In & With Christ.

    In other words, Jesus offers us Common purpose and meaning amidst common pains of life. Common pains thus take place and will happen in our life here on earth, but rest assured, Jesus, God’s word, and love for us remains for us and with us forever. Ika nga: (Matupok man lahat ang buong daigdig, hindi magmamaliw ang aking pag-ibig.

    So, whenever we find our life distressing and depressing, and as we long for rest and peace in life, just be reminded of and learn from the wisdom-shared to us by Corrie ten Boom: “If you look at the world, you will be distressed. If you look within yourself, you will be depressed. If you look at God, you will be at rest.”

    Siya Nawa. Hinaut pa unta. Amen.

  • GENEROSITY IN OUR POVERTY

    GENEROSITY IN OUR POVERTY

    November 7, 2021 – 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110721.cfm)

    At the beginning of this pandemic, if you can remember, there was a kind of panic buying that happened. When the government announced to impose ECQ then MECQ in major cities, people lined up in markets and supermarkets to secure their food supply as well us vitamins and sanitizers. There was even a time that it was too difficult to buy alcohol, even bread and canned goods. Malls, supermarkets and pharmacies have regulated the purchase of food and medical supplies. There was even a time here in Cebu when the Provincial Government regulated the purchase of oxygen tanks because of panic buying.

    What really drove people to panic buying? What also made people to hoard things? It must be the thought of running out of supply and of fear for not having enough. There might not be enough for us that leads us to get what we need as much as we can, but not minding the needs of others.

    Such attitude can actually still exist even without a crisis. We could believe that we always need to secure something for ourselves. Thus, people who tend to accumulate things, whatever that is, whether food, toys, clothing, gadgets or even attention and acceptance from others could suffer from a feeling of inadequacy and endless insecurity. Because of that feeling of being insufficient and insecure then, it would lead us to accumulate more and even to the point of becoming a greedy hoarder.

    Yet, this attitude of the heart prevents us to become generous and to become persons God desires us to be. However, our feeling of inadequacy and insecurity should not even prevent us. These are ways for us rather to become life-giving and to be truly generous.

    As a matter of fact, true generosity is expressed out of our poverty, out of our insecurities. This is what we have heard in today’s readings. So allow me now to bring you a bit deeper into the scriptures revealed this Sunday.

    In the First Book of Kings, Elijah asked for water to drink and bread from a widow. Remember, at that time, there was famine. Food was scarce. In fact, the widow expressed to Elijah her food insecurity. She only had a handful of flour and a little oil in her jug. Those must not even be enough for her and her son to be fully satisfied. She knew that after consuming that, there will be none anymore. This was the reason why she said to Elijah that their death was coming. Meaning, that will be their last meal for food has gone out.

    But the surprising event was, the widow out of her poverty and food insecurity did not even complain but gave her last bread to Elijah. And a miracle happened, the Lord repaid her generosity. Her flour never ran out and her oil never ran dry. For a year, they were able to eat and they survived from the famine.

    The same expression of generosity was told to us in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus observed how people gave their offerings or tithes and saw the difference between scribes, the rich and powerful people in contrast with a poor widow.

    The scribes or the scholars of the law were merely concerned of getting attention and praise. They want people to recognize and honor them. They sought for that, expressed in their lengthy prayers yet they would amass the remaining properties of the widows and indifferent to their struggles. These people just wanted and desired power, control and dominance. Hence, their contribution to the Temple was something of a show. What they gave was only something from their excess, not from the heart. They were concerned on what they can get and on what was beneficial for them. This was the warning Jesus gave to his disciples. Jesus, actually, denounced the three attitudes of the scribes and the powerful in that society.[1]

    The first attitude Jesus denounced was the desire for prominence and influence rather than the value of giving oneself to serve others. The second was the desire for recognition, esteem and control rather than promoting the good of others through humble service. And the third that Jesus denounced was the desire in attempting to use one’s position, one’s power for self-gain and self-promotion.

    However, in these three desires and attitudes of the scribes and the powerful at that time, there was no true worship of God. They could have been faithful in their attendance in the Temple and in their daily devotion, but then, their hearts were filled of themselves.

    They were not worshipping God. They worshipped themselves. They were not giving something to the Lord. They were investing to get something out of it.

    True generosity and true act of worship can be found in the person of that widow who offered her last two coins to the Temple. Her coins were greater in value than the many given by the rich and powerful.

    Why? Because what she gave was not an excess of her wealth. What she gave was her everything. She just gave all she had. That poor widow gave back to God what she has and gave out of her poverty, completely trusting God’s providence and being contented of what she has on that day. This is God’s invitation for us today that we grow in our desire not to accumulate more, not in our desire to be honored or to gain power and dominance over others, but to grow in our capacity to go beyond ourselves, beyond our poverty and insecurity by giving from our heart.

    Thus, share generously what we have now to those who are most in need and give to God out of our gratitude. We do not have to wait to become materially rich before we give, because even the poorest of among us can give something to others. A gift given out of our insecurity is our best act of generosity. Hinaut pa.

    [1] From the Homily of Bishop Manny Cabajar, CSsR, DD.

  • HOW IS OUR WAY OF LOVING?

    HOW IS OUR WAY OF LOVING?

    October 31, 2021 – 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/103121.cfm)

    HOW DO I LOVE? WHY DO I LOVE?

    Have you asked yourself this question? Or have you asked how is your way of loving?

    Kyle (not his real name) seemed to be so kind and warmhearted around his friends. He would always be there when someone would be in need of help. He was always filled with smiles. He was generous of his resources and time. Yet, he also tended to just please everyone around and very afraid of any conflict and tension. As a result, his pleasing personality would turn to become submissive to his friends and family members.

    Deep within, Kyle was filled with insecurities and fear of being left alone and abandoned by people whom he valued. Kyle, at a very young age was abandoned by his mother and left by his father at the care of their relatives. Kyle grew up believing that he has to earn the love of people around him so that he would never be lonely and alone again. This was the reason why Kyle would do anything, please his friends and as much as possible cling on them. However, his goodness and kindness was easily abused by opportunists.

    Like Kyle’s pleaser-submissive way of loving, we may also have our own ways of loving and reasons of loving. Thus, we may find ourselves loving others because we seek a similar response from them. This happens when we think that loving is like making investment and expecting many returns of investment. This is Love-Investment form of loving.

    Others may find themselves loving for the sake of self-satisfaction and self-gratification that a person receives from being kind and generous. Yes, it is possible that we can be loving to people around us to boast our ego. Yet, this is a ego-centered form of loving and an attention-seeker form of loving.

    There is also another way of loving that seeks control towards others. This way of loving believes that our ways, our values and our perspective are always better and superior than the one we love. For this reason, our way of loving does not give space for dialogue, does not welcome suggestion and uncompromising because we tend to control people and submit our loved ones according to our own ways. However, such kind of loving is controlling and suffocating.

    Another way of loving also can be in a form of a guilt-driven love. This means that our way of loving induces guilt or makes people around us to feel guilty if we are not loved. Such way of loving can make threats to people just like saying, “if you won’t love me or if you will leave me, I will kill myself.” Yet, this way of loving is manipulative and destructive.

    There might be more other reasons of loving but these forms of loving are called, “REFINED SELF-LOVE.[1]” Yes, merely for self-love and has nothing to do with others or with God.

    Indeed, when our way of loving is one of those refined self-love, our way of loving others, is devoid of love of God. In fact, God has no space in there because what we are after is just ourselves – “me, myself and I.”

    Nevertheless, such forms of loving are not ways of being free, of becoming who we really are and meant to be. We only become prisoners of our fears and insecurities in life.

    What God wants us is that our way of loving will become free which requires loving beyond our comforts even beyond our fears and insecurities. This is what we have heard in our readings this Sunday.

    Moses reminded the Hebrews how God saved them from their oppressors, defended them from their enemies and favored them as God’s chosen people. What Moses wanted was to allow the hearts of the people to grow in gratitude to the Lord God because God is faithful. It is in growing in gratitude that the people also shall find themselves to be transformed in love. Loving the Lord God, then, with all our heart, soul and strength is the expression of our gratitude to God.

    Gratitude to God in our heart heals our fears and insecurities because we become convinced and confident just as the author of the Psalm proclaimed to us today, “I love you, Lord, my strength.” Yes, it is when we find our true assurance of support and comfort in God that we are also able to build a healthy self-image who is being cherished and loved first by the Lord.

    This brings us concretely to love the Lord in return not because out of fear or out of obligation, but out of gratitude which is a free response of loving. Such response of loving has been deepened by Jesus in today’s Gospel of Mark.

    Thus, Jesus reminded us of the immediate result of loving the Lord. The love of neighbor is the concrete manifestation of loving the Lord. Remember, God’s image is in each of us. Therefore, if we love God, then, it also means that that love is being expressed towards ourselves and towards our brothers and sisters who are created in God’s image and likeness. The two commandments of love cannot be separated from one another. They co-exist with one another.

    Loving God calls us then, to love one another with all our heart, our soul, mind and strength. And we can begin today by being, first, grateful to God which would hopefully make us joyful persons. When we are joyful, then, God transforms us to be generous to others, both in our words and deeds. Remember this, joyful and grateful persons are truly generous because true generosity springs forth from those attitudes of gratitude and joy.

    However, like the pretentious scholars of the law and some Pharisees who wanted to trapped Jesus, we could also pretend to be generous but then having an impure motive, and that is to advance our personal interests. This is then, not a true expression of love towards others, but selfishness.

    We should also be very careful when we tend to become so stiff with our religious practices but having a growing indifference and malice towards people around us, then, our devotion to God is empty and merely motivated by fear. Going to mass and going to confession regularly may become a mere appearance of our ego-centered devotion when we deny what is truth and factual, and when we tolerate dishonesty and corruption.

    Our revered sacred images at home and daily rosary shall only become merely devotional show when we also refuse to recognize abuses in our community and choose to be silent and neutral amidst oppression and injustice committed against the powerless and the weak.

    We ask for the grace today, that our way of loving will be transformed into Jesus’ way of loving, that is free, grateful and self-giving. Hinaut pa.

    [1] https://www.associationofcatholicpriests.ie/2021/10/sunday-october-31-2021-thirty-first-sunday-in-ordinary-time/

  • EXPERIENCED LOVE

    EXPERIENCED LOVE

    October 31, 2021 – 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/103121.cfm)

    It was once said that the Dalai Lama was invited as the keynote speaker to a gathering of world leaders. The world leaders were looking forward for this gathering to hear from the Dalai Lama about his message to the world today. They had heard and have known a lot about the Dalai Lama. Now they are excited to meet the Dalai Lama himself, and hoping that he could offer some perspectives and solutions on our world of present conflicts, strife, and divisions.

    When the Dalai Lama arrived, he was received with great honor and applause. As he stood at the podium before the world leaders, he said: “My simple message to you and to the world is “Love one another”. And then he went back to his seat and kept quiet. The world leaders were all shocked with the simplicity of his message. They commented: “That’s all. We just came to hear to such familiar message? We have heard it before. There is nothing new about his message. Does he think we don’t know about it?” They were so frustrated that some of them started to walk out and even to a point insulted the Dalai Lama and the organizer. Amidst the commotions suddenly the Dalai Lama stood up, went back to the podium and addressed the plenum. He said to them, “If you find it difficult to practice love, try not to hurt each other.”

    In our gospel today, Jesus gives us also a simple and direct message: “LOVE”. The greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, your soul and mind. And to love one another as yourself.

    Like the Pharisees of his time and the world leaders in the story, we can say that we also have heard it before. There is nothing new about such message. Sad to say however Jesus has the same message for us now, especially now in the world of pandemic, division, conflicts, and political turmoil: LOVE. As it was from the beginning, now and always be, Jesus has the same message and challenge to us Christian and to the world today: LOVE.

    Be as it may nonetheless, for Jesus, to love is not just a commandment that we should be aware and conscious of. Love for Jesus is not a Concept or Idea but a Reality. Each of us have not only known about love but have experienced what and how it is to love. To love others and be loved by others then is not just a law that we should obey and observe in life, but a reality we experience and live through in life. As a song suggests, “we were born because of love”, therefore we must also live our lives in love. Because God loves us through others, we must also love God through others in return. Love is also an Action, meaning we must also do and practice love. It is not enough to just know and believe in love but we must put it into practice and proclaim love by our words and actions. To love God and loving others, then is a Decision. We love God and others because we are not commanded to do so, but because we choose to do so, we choose to love God and others.

    The commandment of Love asked of us is thus a real, active & decided Love for God and others, as experienced & lived out through our daily faith & life.

    Perhaps we ask ourselves: Do we love God with all our heart, soul and mind? Well, we might not be perfect in doing so, but that is what we are trying and resolve to do. But the best way to test our love of God is to ask, Do we love others and one another? The true measure and expression of our love for God is our love and loving others, as ourselves.  Do you love your cranky husband or wife? Do we still love our aging irritable parents? Can we still love our neighbor who cheated us, our friend who betrayed, our relative who hurt us?

    Yes, experience tells us that to love God in others is difficult. But for Jesus, in loving God, we must experience, put into practice, and choose Love in our lives and in our world today for when we do so, like the scribe who asks him, in loving we understand that we are not far from God’s kingdom.  As the Dalai Lama reminds us: “If you find it difficult to practice love, try not to hurt each other.” 

    Lord, as you have loved us, teach us also how to love you in return by choosing to loving others & one another. Amen.