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Category: Homilies

  • To be Touched by the Grace of the Holy Spirit

    To be Touched by the Grace of the Holy Spirit

    October 19, 2024 – Saturday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101924.cfm)

    Do we find it difficult not to move forward from our past? Does our past experiences affect greatly how live today? Indeed, some might find themselves trapped in this kind of situation when one cannot let go of our past.

    Our thoughts and actions and even our perspectives in life may have been tightly tied up by our painful memories or by our glorious past. When this becomes our way of life, we also become detached from the realities of the present.

    Our perception of the reality in the present may become distorted because what we see and recognize were always in the past. Our relationships could suffer greatly because we will fail to appreciate and affirm what we have at present. We would always compare what was before or we could also be suspicious with an air of mistrust to others because of something ugly that happened in the past. It will be a challenge also to correct our misconceptions and wrong practices because we are so disconnected with reality. We refuse to listen, to believe to what others see and thus, refuse to change.

    This is the image of finding ourselves in the difficult situation of moving forward, finding healing, peace and freedom. When we are trapped in the cycle of the past we might believe that we are beyond hope. This is precisely how a psychological trauma can also affect a person.

    Now, the invitation for change and transformation, for healing and forgiveness can be quite challenging because such actions can also be interpreted as threats to what we have been used to. This was how Jesus’ call for conversion was actually treated by those in power and the influential. The Pharisees and the scholars of the law were threatened by the call of Jesus and so they too denied him and did not recognize the presence of God in Jesus. In fact, they too became hostile towards his presence.

    Yet for Jesus, this  kind of reaction can still be forgiven. But, when one blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, then, this is beyond forgiveness.

    What does it really mean? Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a conscious denial or rejection of the presence of God. This is a willful act of rejecting God. This is not even about the belief in the non-existence of God. In fact, the person believes in the presence of God but deliberately denies God’s presence and also of God’s grace.

    The person chooses to be separated and alienated from the grace of God, thus, becoming indifferent towards God. This surely is blasphemy because such decision and action worship not God but something or someone else. It cannot be forgiven because the person does not ask or welcome the grace of forgiveness. Total indifference, indeed! However, being separated from the grace of God will only bring us into oblivion and endless misery, to meaninglessness and hopelessness.

    However, the Lord does not want this for us. God’s desire for us is to live life in its fullness. This will only be possible when we too our open and welcome the Divine Presence to work in and through us, to challenge and change us.

    This is what Paul means in his letter to the Ephesians, as he said, “ I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you…”

    The call and invitation for us today is to allow the Lord to reach out to us and so allow our hearts to be touched by the grace of the Holy Spirit. May our hardened and callused hearts caused by pains and hurts, anger and hatred, be renewed by the power of the Spirit that we may be able to bring transformation and healing, forgiveness, freedom and peace. Hinaut pa.

  • Healing, Friendship & Blessing

    Healing, Friendship & Blessing

    October 18, 2024 – Friday; Feast of St. Luke, the Evangelist

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101824.cfm)

    For the past days, our sub-mission team in Barangay Opong, in the Municipality of Catubig, Northern Samar (Diocese of Catarman), has been visiting houses and conducting house blessings. Since Monday, the Sacraments of Anointing of the Sick to several old and sick persons, Reconciliation/Confession to countless residents, Baptism to 4 children, Confirmation to 2 couples and their Marriage and the First Communion of elementary pupils and several high school students were celebrated this week. The participation in the Holy Eucharist celebrated daily since Sunday increased day by day as well.

    Despite the short days spent in this Christian Community, the many encounters I had with the people, allowed me as well to develop rapport and some kind of friendship among them and not just with the team. This is the wonder and the beauty as we bring and share the Gospel and encounter Christ who is already there in the hearts of the people. As one of the Mission Volunteers, Rizza Mae Malalay, has shared, we are “meeting God in between.”

    This very encounter, indeed, allowed me to meet God in the “in between” where the Lord brings healing, friendship and blessings. I am certain that this is also the very ground experience of St. Luke, an evangelist, whose feast the whole Church celebrates today.

    St. Luke who is known as Patron of Physicians and Surgeons, was himself a healer, a doctor. Though it was believed that Luke was actually a slave, but it was common at that time in the antiquity that even slaves were educated in the service of their masters. Hence, Luke as a healer met God in his ministry of healing. This must be the very reason why Luke recorded many healing stories in his Gospel. Luke realized that healing not just in our physical bodies but also our spiritual and emotional healing bring us to the fullness of life. Salvation and the promise of freedom is certainly integral and whole.

    St. Paul in his Second Letter to Timothy expressed the many difficulties and struggles he went through. Many had left him and persecuted him because of the Gospel, yet, only one remained to support and help him. It was Luke who became a faithful friend and companion of Paul. Through Paul, Luke also met Christ. Even though Luke was a Gentile, a Greek from Antioch, Syria, yet despite the cultural and religious differences between them, Christ became the bond of that friendship.  Indeed, this very friendship formed between these two great men made them more convinced of their friendship and closeness with Jesus, whose Gospel they preached with joy.

    St. Luke was also well-educated in classical Greek. He himself was a writer, no wonder, why the Gospel was written and the Acts of the Apostles. Thanks to him we have another angle of the life and ministry of Jesus. This was how Luke brought blessings to many until today. In fact, the very Gospel on his feast tells us of the 72 disciples sent by Jesus two by two in order to bring peace and blessing. The visitations of the disciples were to prepare the people of the coming of Jesus. This is meeting God.

    Celebrating now the feast of St. Luke also calls us to these three points. First, we too are called to bring healing. Let our words, our actions and presence become channels of healing especially to a friend, family member, co-worker or anybody who need healing. May we not be a source of pain and hurts in homes and communities and so we ask the Lord himself also to heal any wounds in us so that we can bring that grace to others.

    Second, we are called to develop and nurture friendship. Our presence may also become a source of comfort and assurance to those who feel alone and lonely. Let us also develop our friendship with Jesus through the sacraments and Holy Scriptures. May we not be a source of division and tension then.

    Third, we are called to bring blessing. Let our presence also be a blessing and not curse. May our encounter and visits to people then, will also become God’s visitation to others. We do this as we also allow the Lord to work wonders through us.

    Indeed, may we be channels of healing, friendship and blessing. Hinaut pa.

  • How do I respond when confronted?

    How do I respond when confronted?

    October 17, 2024 – Thursday 28th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101724.cfm)

    When another person confronts me because of my mistakes and failures, how do I respond? When a friend or a colleague tells me of my weaknesses, how do I feel? When we are confronted of our wrongdoings and sins, how do we react?

    Being confronted, corrected or even reminded of our failures and weaknesses may not be easy to accept and embrace. It is even more difficult when the one who does it is someone who is not superior to us. When we too feel that we are superior and above others in many ways because of our achievements, entitlement or position in the company or community, the more it becomes difficult to accept such criticisms.

    Moreso, when our heart becomes arrogant, believing that we are far better than others and that our ideas, decisions and actions are superior, then criticism are almost unwelcomed. Our mind and heart will be rigid and unwelcoming and at the same time will also become vicious and violent towards those whom we believe are threats to our image and person.

    We experience this even at home from own parent or sibling. The family will then feel tensed and any other voice is suppressed because of one family member who believed that he or she has the monopoly of making decisions and making actions. This also is a reality even at our workplaces, organizations or communities – civic or religious. A colleague, or co-worker, or co-member or confrere, who think highly of himself/herself finds it difficult to accept feedback. It becomes a tension as well in our relationships. This is how manipulations, violent words and actions and malice towards those who would dare to confront them will be experienced.

    This is not far from what Jesus did and experience among the leaders of that time. Some of the Pharisees and scholars of the law who grew entitled and influential at that time thought and believed of their superiority and righteousness. Because of their meticulous observance of the law and superior knowledge, they thought that they were perfect enough.

    Nevertheless, their hearts where filled with malice. Hence, Jesus confronted them how their actions were inconsistent with what they taught and believed. Like their forefathers, these men remained hostile towards the prophets whom God had sent in order to correct and bring them back to God. They murdered all those who confronted them of their sins and failures precisely because they did not want to be corrected.

    Likewise, Jesus did again what the prophets did in the Old Testament, and in the same way, the hearts of these men were filled with malice. The Gospel reminds us that they were hostile against Jesus.

    Indeed, the Lord continues to confront us not in the sense of humiliating and bringing us down, but to correct us and brings us back to the grace of God. Thus, humility and honesty are very important as well in our Christians life. To be humble and honest enough to recognize our failures, mistakes, and sins would even help make ourselves better and our relationships healthier.

    Today, Jesus comes to us to confront us and the Lord does it in many ways. We are, then, called to be welcoming of others who would dare to confront, correct and give constructive feedback and criticism to us. We ask the grace from the Lord that we may be humble and honest enough.

  • Live in the Spirit, Follow the Spirit

    Live in the Spirit, Follow the Spirit

    October 16, 2024 – Wednesday 28th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101624.cfm)

    Each of us is a person capable of THINKING, FEELING AND ACTING. With what I think and how I feel, how do I act? We know for a fact that our actions are most of the time influenced by what kind of ideas we develop and feelings that we foster. This is how the kind of relationship and treatment to others are being molded. This also include the kind of decisions that we make; the kind of passions and ideals we express; and the kind of intentions and desires that we try to fulfill are being realized.

    The passage of the Letter of Paul to the Galatians reminds us of this reality in our humanity. And in the language of Paul, he told us how the “works of the flesh” and the “Spirit of God” will mold and influence the human mind and heart. This is at the same time a warning and a call for every Christian.

    Paul warns, “if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” This is the law of death, of corruption and misery. As what the Apostle reminds us such “works of the flesh” are filled with selfishness and utterly centered on the ego of the human person. It feeds and nurtures what would separate us from others and from the grace of God.

    This is the very reason why Jesus, in the Gospel of Luke rebuked the Pharisees and the scholars of the law who were only filled with their selfish desires and ambitions. They thought nothing of others, but only what was only beneficial, advantageous and comfortable for them. They may have looked like righteous and pious people on the outside, as they were very concerns of appearance and elaborate rituals, however, their hearts were filled with malice and indifference.

    In consequence, their mind and heart were prevented to see and recognize the presence of God in the person of Jesus. They even felt threatened by the mere presence of Jesus and his way of life and teachings. They rejected him because they allowed their minds (thinking) and their hearts (feeling) be influenced by works of the flesh. Thus, their reaction (acting) towards Jesus and his message of conversion was filled with violence and hatred.

    This will also happen to us. When we too are only concerned of ourselves without minding the needs of others and if those people around us, we become so self-centered. When we want to only think and feel for ourselves then our actions become selfish and indifferent. When we only foster anger and hatred in our hearts, refusing to let them go, then our actions and words will surely be violent and malicious. When we linger only to our pains and hurts, we will certainly remain suffering and hurting ourselves and others. When we too are only concerned of seeking comfort, advancing our selfish desires and ambitions, then, the more we become indifferent, removed from what others would feel and experience.

    Paul rather calls and reminds us to “live in the Spirit and to follow the Spirit.” And the Spirit of God, that raised Jesus from the dead and made us children of God will bring us to love, to joy, to peace, to patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

    We pray and ask for this grace then, that in all things, our thinking, feeling and acting will be filled with the Spirit of God, that we may follow Christ more closely, know him more clearly and love him more dearly. Hinaut pa.

  • Faith is Loving

    Faith is Loving

    October 15, 2024 – Tuesday 28th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101524.cfm)

    In every group or organization there is always this desire that in order to express their identity, there should also be uniformity in language, ways of doing or even appearance. And so we create initiations when there are new members and introduce to them those ways and things so that they become like us, identifiable and one with the group or organization.

    This is also true in many cultures, as we belong to a particular culture it is almost expected that we follow what is proper to that particular culture. Anyone who does not follow or adhere to the cultural beliefs, ways, costumes and customs are considered an outsider or foreigner. And so people who want to be identified to a seemingly more superior and cool culture, we try copy and mimic their ways so that we can say, “we belong.”

    Though there is nothing wrong with this, however, such desire to make everybody else to look like us or to impose on others our ways of doing before they will be welcomed can also be problematic.

    This is what St. Paul in his Letter to the Galatians told us about. At that time, there were some Christian Jews who demanded that those Gentiles who accepted the Gospel of Christ must also follow the religious and cultural practices of the Jewish people. This demand became a tension in those times of the first Christians. For them, one is being justified by the law of Moses.

    Nevertheless, Paul, a Jew and a Pharisee himself, reminded the Christian Jews that one is justified not by law but by faith. Thus, Paul said, “For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.”

    There is no need for that kind of uniformity before the non-Jews will be accepted and welcomed. It is Christ Jesus and faith in him that we are justified and welcomed. Moreover, this faith is expressed in love not in indifference or in our superiority and righteousness over others. Therefore, our Christian faith is not kind of affiliation like in organizations or associations that we create. Our Christian faith is rather a relationship expressed in and through love!

    This is what Jesus also emphasized in today’s Gospel as he encountered a Pharisee who was rigid and meticulous over man-made religious practices. Jesus directing at the heart of the matter, rebuked the Pharisee with all frankness, “Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil!”

    The rigidity and meticulous observance of the law was only a cover-up, a façade of a plunderous and evil heart. But Jesus sees that heart and his words pierces through the heart.

    Hence, what Jesus asks of us is not uniformity but consistency in our words and actions, not mere observance of the law but charity and integrity, not in merely being obliged but by being in love. We ask the Lord today that indeed, our faith will work through love. Hinaut pa.