Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: Homilies

  • Happy Birthday Jesus

    Happy Birthday Jesus

    December 25, 2019 – Christmas Day

    Click here for the readings http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122519-the-nativity-of-the-lord-day.cfm

    Homily

    Why do we celebrate birthdays? It is to “remember” a happy day, like the day of our birth. It is a happy day because our parents and relatives had been “waiting” for us. We also celebrate because we give “thanks” to God for the “gift of life.”

    There are two words that are very important here. First, “to remember” – memory is humanity’s greatest treasure. Memory makes us “who we are.” It makes us connected with others, with our friends, family and relatives. Thus, our memory makes us “rooted,” to let us know where we come from. 

    Second, “giving thanks” – it comes from our grateful hearts. This is our response to God who has been so generous to us in so many ways. And because of our memory we are able to remember the goodness of God and so we celebrate and give thanks. The act of saying “thank you” to God is a statement of our dependence to Him, of our faith to God who is so good to us.

    This is basically what we are doing right at this moment in this Holy Eucharist. 

    Eucharist means “Thanksgiving” – we thank the Lord as a community of faith as we also REMEMBER the greatest gift that has been given to you and to me – and that is, the birth of Jesus, the Emmanuel, the God-with-us.

    That’s why, Christmas, like our own birthdays is a very happy day because we remember how God fulfilled his promise to be with us. Today, we remember as a community how our almighty and powerful God took the form of a defenseless baby to tell us that he is with us in our weaknesses, in our failures, in our problems and sorrows.

    Our Gospel from St. John has described to us this mystery of the birth of Jesus, he said, “and the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…” Yes, God has at last come to us. He is here in our midst. He lives among us. It means that our God is not someone who is so far away and so distant from us. No, in Jesus, God assures us that he is truly with us! That we can easily find him, feel him and call on him.

    This is the message of joy, of peace and comfort in this Season of Christmas. God has come to us and so let us all come to him! Let us visit him, look at him and cuddle the Lord. But how do we do that? How do we visit, look and cuddle the Lord now? 

    God makes himself present in the lives of the homeless, the poor, the weak and vulnerable, the bullied, with the victims and the oppressed, with the broken-hearted and the depressed, with the lonely and the grieving, with the inmates and the sickly, the problematic and the dying, the addicts, refugees and the victims of war and calamities.

    Our God is He who identifies himself with the weak and the poor and chooses to reveal himself with the powerless and insignificant people in our society.

    My friends, God is waiting for you and me. Jesus is born and is right there in our own stables, there in the helplessness of our neighbors. Jesus is there in our lonely and alone friend. Jesus is resting there in our hungry brothers and sisters. God is there in the person whom we have not forgiven, whom we have hated for so long. The Baby Jesus is there in our loved ones who distanced from us. Let us come and visit Jesus in the lives of others.

     In this Season of Christmas we may be filled with joy, with smiles on our faces as we proclaim to our neighbors, classmates, co-workers and relatives the goodness of God, his faithfulness and love for you and for me. 

    A blessed Christmas to all!

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Christmas: Meeting God in the most unusual place

    Christmas: Meeting God in the most unusual place

    December 24, 2019 – Christmas Eve Mass

    (Readings are taken from the proper of Mass during the Night. Click here for the readings http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122519-the-nativity-of-the-lord-night.cfm)

    Homily

    Click this Video: Eating Twinkies with God.

    It was an encounter with God in a very surprising manner. But how about you? Especially when you first watched this video, were you surprised by that? I am personally surprised by this video especially towards its end when the mother of the boy asked him if he ever found God. It was also surprising when the woman herself said that she too found God on that day. 

    For the boy, what was surprising was to realize that God was a woman and she was there waiting and sitting at the park. The boy was in search for God and so he did search for God and only to find God sitting on a bench in a park. Perhaps the boy did not know that that woman was homeless and lonely but through her, the boy encountered God, through the beautiful smile of the woman the boy has witnessed God’s most beautiful smile he has ever seen.

    For that homeless, hungry and lonely woman, what was surprising was to realize that God was a boy, much younger than what she has expected. The woman was waiting for something to happen, waiting for some coins to be dropped, perhaps. She might have been waiting for some miracle. And indeed, a miracle happened before her eyes. A boy sat beside her, offered her a cake and ate with her. That moment, the woman witnessed God’s generosity and encountered God’s self through the goodness and innocence of the boy.

    That video shows us that encountering God and being able to experience and witness God’s presence happen even in our common and ordinary dealings with others. The video brings us into that experience of surprise from God because God reveals his presence in ways that we do not expect.

    This is the good news being preached to us tonight. There was a great surprise from the shepherds when the angel appeared to them announcing the birth of the savior. But they were more surprised to have found God in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes in a form of a vulnerable and defenseless baby.

    What does it mean to us now? For me personally, what the video showed us and what the Gospel told us were quite disturbing for me at the beginning. I found it hard to reconcile the almighty and powerful God with that encounter of God in the image of a homeless woman or a young boy and worst in the image of a defenseless and poor baby in the manger. If we have been looking for God amidst the world’s power and riches, we might not see God. In these days, if we have been looking for God in our endless Christmas parties, in our extravagance and in our shopping spree at SM, Abreeza or G-Mall, we might not find God there. In fact, we might miss God in our Christmas celebration.

    Tonight, God reminds us where to find him. God is right there on that bench, in the person of a homeless woman. God is there in that generous boy. God is there in that baby in the manger. Yes, God makes himself present in the lives on the homeless, the poor, the weak and vulnerable, with the victims and the oppressed, with the broken-hearted and the depressed, with the lonely and grieving, with the inmates and the sickly, the problematic and the dying, the refugees, the victims of war and calamities.

    Our God is he who identifies himself with the weak and the poor and chooses to reveal himself also with the powerless and insignificant people in our society. This is symbolized by the shepherds in the Gospel. They were the first ones to have heard the good news. These shepherds who were considered as outcast and irrelevant to Jewish culture and society were favored by God because of their standing in the community. Our God reveals God’s self to them because God is making a statement. God is saying to us that he is the God of the outcast and the insecure, the God of insignificant people, the God of the weak and the powerless, of the poor and the broken-hearted.

    This is the good news that the angel proclaimed to the shepherds and reechoed by the shepherds themselves when they encountered the baby Jesus with Mary and Joseph. God is telling us now that “He is truly with us.”

    My friends, God is waiting for you and me. Jesus is born and is right there in our own stables, there in the helplessness of our neighbors. Jesus is there in our lonely and alone friend. Jesus is resting there in our hungry brothers and sisters. God is there in the person whom we have not forgiven, whom we have hated for so long. The Baby Jesus is there in our loved ones who distanced from us. Let us come and visit Jesus in the lives of others.

    When we are able to do this, we will surely encounter God, his generosity and goodness to us like that homeless woman. We will surely be delighted with the most beautiful smile that we shall ever see like that little boy. We shall surely find peace and comfort like what the shepherds found.

    In this Season of Christmas we may be filled with joy, with smiles on our faces as we proclaim to our neighbors, classmates, co-workers and relatives the goodness of God, his faithfulness and love for you and for me. Hinaut pa.  

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • John is his name, because God is Gracious

    John is his name, because God is Gracious

    December 23, 2019 – Monday of the 4th Week of Advent

    Click here for the readings http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122319.cfm

    Homily

    The Lord promised to send a Messiah who will come to us in order to save us. But before the Messiah will come, a person shall be sent first to serve as a herald who will prepare God’s people for the coming of the Messiah. This herald will not only announce the coming of the Messiah but he too will lead the people to recognize who the Messiah is.

    In the prophecy from the Book of Malachi, this person shall lead and gather the people to see God. He will be like a refiner’s fire who will teach and correct the wrong of the people. In this way, this person will lead the people to repentance to fully welcome the Lord. The birth of this person is not by accident but planned well by God.

    We have heard in the first reading how Malachi described God sending the messenger who is also the message himself of God. This means that the life of this person is the message of God to make the people prepare themselves for God’s coming. This is God’s promise that is  to be first fulfilled through the participation of humanity, through us.

    The Gospel reveals further to us how God planned everything so that we will be able to recognize Him. The birth of John was announced to an old couple, to Zachariah and Elizabeth. For the Jews, if a couple has no child, it means that they are not favored by God and worst they too believed that the couple are cursed. 

    However, to the surprise of this old couple an angel announced that they will have a son.  Elizabeth welcomed the message from God, but her husband, because it was too much to believe could not accept God’s gift. That is why, Zechariah was silenced by God. He only recovered his voice when his son was born. It was when he gave the name John to his son that the Lord opened his mouth again because the Lord is gracious. Yes, the name John or Johannes means the Lord is gracious. Zechariah realized that his son is God’s message to him.

    The birth of John is a divine manifestation that God is indeed gracious and faithful despite our unbelief and doubts. God continues to reveal himself to us even though we refuse to believe.

    This was the role of John and that was to bring people again to believe that God has never abandoned us. God remembers and He is here with us. This made John a great and important prophet because he reminded the people about God, made people recognize God and brought them close to God. He was indeed a refiner’s fire because he challenged the people’s way of life and called them to get out from their comfort zones of power, influence, abuse, sin and corruption.  Yet, because of this role of John, it caused John’s life. He was martyred, beheaded actually, because of this cause to make people recognize that God is gracious

    For all of us, we may ask ourselves, “What is God’s plan for me now? What does God want me to be now? Is there also a divine purpose of my life?” 

    We are called today to be the modern John the Baptist of God. Yes, you and me who have been baptized in the name of God have been called to proclaim God’s graciousness. We are called to lead people back to God and to discover a life filled with peace and love with God and with each other.

    How do we do it then?

    You as parents, you are in the best position to lead your children to God. You are there to prepare the way of the Lord in the hearts of your children. Teachers, educators and persons who are in authority, you too are in the position to influence your students, mentees and subjects to discover God in your authority. As friends, co-workers, and classmates we too are in the position to let those people around us to realize that God is in us. Through us, people around us may discover and be led closer to God.

    Let us include in our prayers today to make John alive in each of us. It also means that we make ever present God’s graciousness in us because we will become a witness to God’s grace. Hopefully, through this vocation of bringing people close to God, we as a community, will also journey closer to God as we struggle to recognize God daily in our life despite our unbelief and refusal to believe in God’s graciousness to us. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Looking for a sign from God? You are actually the sign.

    Looking for a sign from God? You are actually the sign.

    December 22, 2019 – 4th Sunday of Advent

    Click here for the readingshttp://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122219.cfm

    Homily

    Are you also looking for a sign from God?

    We usually ask a sign from God to confirm our decisions or to make us confident. We seek God’s sign especially in times of trials and when we begin to doubt Him. I have particularly asked God’s sign if I should be a Redemptorist priest. Many of my friends shared also to me that they too have also tried asking a sign from God when they have to make an important decision in life.

    However, what we have heard in the first reading is a different story because it was the Lord who asked a man, Ahaz, the King of Judah to ask a sign so that Ahaz may believe. Ahaz’s story seemed to be very good because he did not ask a sign from God. However, his refusal to ask a sign from God was actually a refusal to believe in God.

    Ahaz sold himself to another god, which was to the King of Assyria. He sold himself because he thought that Assyria will only be the one who can grant immediate protection and salvation for him and his kingdom. The kingdom of Judah was under the threat of two other kingdoms. Instead of trusting the Lord to protect and save him, he went to another god. 

    That is why, it was the Lord himself who offered Ahaz to ask Him a sign so that Ahaz may believe that God will bring salvation. Yet, even though Ahaz refused, God still promised a sign of salvation. This sign is through a virgin who will conceive a son. This son will be called Emmanuel, meaning, God is with us.

    This is the sign, that even in the midst of our own disbelief, doubts and even refusal to believe, God remains with us. Yes, God remains our God and continues to be for us and with us. God’s faithfulness in us despite our unfaithfulness, and God’s generosity despite our ingratitude is what our Gospel is conveying to us today on this 4th Sunday of Advent. 

    We have lighted the 4th candle that symbolizes love. The greatest sign that we have received is the sign of the Emmanuel, the Lord who is with us. This is the very sign that Joseph received in the midst of his confusion, doubts and intrigues surrounding the pregnancy of Mary.

    That is why the Icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help captures beautifully this great sign from God. The Virgin Mary who is carrying the son, the Emmanuel in her arms, is the great sign that God showed to us.

    Thus, in this image also, Jesus is in fact the true perpetual help, whom the Father sent to be the greatest sign of his love and compassion to us. Mary is instrumental because through her, God’s sign has been brought to us. She allowed herself to be God’s instrument of help and compassion, to be the mother of the Perpetual Help.

    What is it to you and to me now, to us who are about to celebrate the birthday of Jesus, the greatest sign we have received? 

    You and I are called now to become God’s sign of help and compassion. It means that this Christmas should not only remain a mere devotional practice or a commercial event that encourages consumers to buy more things.  However, the spirit of Christmas must flow into our actions and words and into our decisions and choices towards becoming God’s sign of love and compassion for others.

    Thus, I would like to invite you to extend your help to someone who is most in need, perhaps your friend, co-worker, relative or even a stranger. Console and give comfort to those who are in pain. Support and promote life and oppose those who destroy it because these are the ways that we will truly become God’s sign. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • God’s gift requires big responsibility

    God’s gift requires big responsibility

    December 22, 2019 – 4th Sunday of Advent

    Click here for the readings http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122219.cfm

    Homily by Fr. Mar Masangcay, CSsR, a Filipino Redemptorist based in South Korea.

    Aside from the sin of disobedience, what is other sin committed by Adam and Eve? Many of us would think that by eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve have just committed the sin of disobedience to God. However, our first parents were also guilty of the sin of irresponsibility – for not taking responsibility for their action. When God asked about eating the fruit, Adam blamed Eve; and then, Eve blamed the serpent. Instead of claiming responsibility for their own actions, they blame each other and others, other than themselves; and because of this, sinfulness bound and begins to exist in their lives and our lives as well.

    This is very true with our experiences in life. Whenever we start not to take responsibility for our actions, try to run away from our responsibilities and start to blame others than ourselves, trouble, chaos and suffering is always present. But when we become responsible for ourselves and take full responsibility for one’s action, blessings, chances and mercies prevail.

    Today, we hear the annunciation of Jesus as experienced by Joseph. After Mary has taken the responsibility to be the mother of the son of God, Jesus, here now Joseph was invited to be the father of the child. Our gospel tells us how difficult it must be for Joseph to decide to accept the task of becoming a father to the child. Joseph was in a situation where Mary, his girlfriend is pregnant – “before they lived together, she was found with child.” But he knew that the child was not his. Why should he father a child whom is not of his blood? Would he let the child carry his name? Surely a dilemma for Joseph. It would be reasonable for him to deny and leave Mary and the child. But having heard God’s challenge and assurance, like Mary, Joseph accepted the responsibility, and as father to Jesus, he did his task in taking care and bringing up the word of God incarnated – becoming flesh – in our lives.

    The story of our Christian life started when God offers us a Present, a Gift of His only begotten son, Jesus. God’s priceless and most important gift to us is Jesus, the word of God made flesh. But Jesus is also our Responsibility. Accepting Him, as God’s gift requires big responsibility. Since God’s gift came as a child, Jesus needs human parents. Jesus needs a mother and father. Mary consented to be his mother and Joseph agreed to be his father. By taking responsibility for the child Jesus, they become parents to God’s gift, which eventually brings change and difference in their lives and our lives as well.

    Like, Joseph and Mary, we are also invited to take responsibility for Jesus in our lives. It is only by our acceptance of both the gift and responsibility of God’s gift to us; God’s redemption flourishes and continues to renew our lives. It is only by our being sponsors, benefactors, or poster parent to life and mission of Jesus in our lives, that God’s salvation continue to be present in our life today. Taking this responsibility entails us not only our sacrifice but moreso our total commitment.

    Which reminds me of about the hen and the pig. A hen and pig wish to please their caretaker. When the hen suggested that they will treat their caretaker a breakfast of “bacon and egg”, the pig argued: “Bacon and Egg” for you, might be a great sacrifice but for me, it’s a total commitment.

    We, Christian should then be committed to our responsibility and mission of making Jesus present and alive in our lives today.

    As Christmas draws near, may we become more responsible parent, sponsor, benefactor of Jesus, God’s son, in our lives now and forever. Amen.