Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: Homilies

  • SEEKING OUR HAPPINESS AND FULFILLMENT

    SEEKING OUR HAPPINESS AND FULFILLMENT

    August 1, 2023 – Solemnity of St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

    Readings

    From the Book of Prophet Isaiah (61:1-3)

    The spirit of the Lord is upon me; because the Lord has anointed me;

    He has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners;

    To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God;

    To comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion –

    To give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

    The mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.

    They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.

    Responsorial Psalm : Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

    From the Gospel of Matthew (9:35-10:1)

    Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness.

    When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without shepherd.

    Then he said to his disciples,

    “The harvest is plentiful, but he laborers are few;

    Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

    Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.

    Who would not want to be happy? Who would not want a fulfilled life? To be happy and to have a fulfilled life is everyone pursuit in life. This is the very reason why we dream, aspire things for our life and others, hope for a better and comfortable life.

    And in our search for happiness, we also realize that there can be actually many reasons to make us happy from small things to the big and great things. We may also do many things just to make ourselves happy or make other people happy. We can also actually make our life busy in pursuing happiness. This is not just true among adults or old people but even among the young generation. Yet, in making ourselves busy to find happiness we might also lose the opportunity to be really happy. The question now, is on the quality and endurance of our happiness.

    There are many young people today, who entertain themselves with a lot of things. Many are drawn towards online or mobile games to experience a surge of happiness in winning a game. Others would also keep their eyes on the screen to watch Korean TV Series and be entertained with the Korean Idols. Others make themselves busy on everyday TikToks and selfies to be uploaded on Facebook and Instagram.

    Though these are forms of short-term happiness but they can also lead us to what would really make truly happy and fulfilled. However, in our sear, we may be prevented by many things as well especially when expectations from our families and friends are different from what we truly desire. People around us may have something in mind for us, believing that what they think is better for us. Yet, this is not always the case. That is why, there would be individuals whose lives become miserable because they have to follow the desires from others for them.

    This reminds me of the life of Alphonsus whose feast we celebrate today. That is why, I also wonder of the kind of life Alphonsus had when he was young and what led him to affirm his vocation by giving his life for the poor and the most abandoned.

    Alphonsus came from an aristocratic family in Naples, Italy. As the eldest in the family, his father had so much expectations from him. We were told in his biography that an early age he had books on his hands instead of toys. He must have been deprived of playing with other children because as an aristocrat, he needed to receive instructions from various teachers. He was an exceptional boy who even finished his studies in both civil and ecclesiastical laws at the age of 16. In his twenties, he was already a known lawyer in Naples. Not just that, he also excelled in arts and music and authored many books.

    With all these things on him, I am very sure that Alphonsus had felt so much pressure from the family and particularly from his father. His father expected him to succeed and follow him as what had been practiced in their family. His relatives and the whole clan had surely expected him also to follow the footsteps of his father as an aristocrat. This was the reason why at an early age he was expected to follow whatever was told to him. Alphonsus was very careful to follow everything and not to commit any mistakes.

    At that time, any mistake will not go unpunished. We could imagine how Alphonsus had to endure the corporal punishments and the shame, every time he would commit a mistake or a failure. This kind of upbringing had actually a deep influence on the spiritual life of Alphonsus. He was a very scrupulous man. Alphonsus was very afraid of hell and of eternal damnation. He was very careful not to sin and not to commit any mistake because he believed that God would not be able to forgive him.

    Being scrupulous prevented him to be free from shame. He was always haunted by guilt too. Now, we understand how family pressures and his severe upbringing affected his relationship with God. In his lifetime, he struggled to believe that God could forgive him. No matter how small was the mistake or the sin he committed, he would go anxious and worried. Somehow, Alphonsus struggled to find what truly makes him happy and what would truly fulfill his life.

    However, there was something in Alphonsus that really desired for freedom, to be free from pressures, from shame and guilt, and from that severe childhood upbringing. Deep within, Alphonsus desired to express what he really wanted. He searched ways were he could truly express his true self without any pressure or expectation from others. Alphonsus was searching to what would really give meaning and true happiness in his life. This was the reason why he excelled in many things but most importantly with his encounter with the common people.

    It was with the patients at the House of Incurables, the prostitutes of Naples, the men and women in the marketplace and later on with the people in a remote area of Scala, that he found himself, and found God more alive, where he found happiness and fulfillment of this life.

    This was the beginning of the continual conversion of Alphonsus. By becoming more in touched with his struggles and questions, he too became more aware of God’s desire for him more than the pressures of the people’s desire around him. Hence, Alphonsus gave up his profession and his status as an aristocrat by becoming a poor priest. With this decision, it greatly upset and broke the heart of his father to the point of disowning Alphonsus as his son.

    However, God’s desire for Alphonsus cannot be prevented by anybody. God has so much plan for Alphonsus. And for Alphonsus, he willingly sought God’s desire and he found it among the people. This was where Alphonsus also found how good God is to him. He realized how God loved him so much despite his imperfections and weaknesses.

    Our Psalm today proclaims to us, “Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.” Alphonsus was indeed singing the Lord’s goodness not just expressed in his paintings, music and writings but also in his person, in the way he related with people. This happiness and fulfillment in Alphonsus touched many men and women including his father. Later on, his father discovered also how God worked in the life of his son and that God had a bigger and better plan for Alphonsus than him.

    Despite the deprivation Alphonsus had and the strict upbringing in his childhood, he did not become a bitter person but rather, his negative experiences allowed him to become understanding and generous to those who were deprived with many things in their life. Consequently, Alphonsus affirmed that the spirit of the Lord is upon him because the Lord anointed him and chose him.

    Today, on this blessed feast day of Alphonsus, the Lord is inviting each of us to continually seek our own happiness and fulfillment , and in our search, we may also be continually converted into God’s heart. Let our search leads us deeper and intimately into God.

    Let us allow the Lord then, to unfold before us his desires for us by being open and welcoming to his invitations to change and to be converted in his ways and thinking. May our encounter with people allow us to affirm God’s desire for us whatever that may be in bringing happiness, joy and peace not just to ourselves but also to people around us. Hinaut pa.

  • Not Remain But Change

    Not Remain But Change

    July 30, 2023 – 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/073023.cfm)

    There was once a man suffering from hyper-acidity and severe stomachache. He had already consulted a number of doctors about his sickness, but in vain.  He is still suffering from his hyper-acidity and stomachache. He had also undergone a lot of surgeries, medicines, therapies, and food supplements. But still nothing happens, except he has already consumed his entire budget. He only wished that he be cured from his severe illness.

    One day indulging himself for a new pair of pants at least before he died, he went to see his tailor and ask to make him a pair of pants. When his waist was measured, the tailor announced, “36”. But he insisted, “30, not 36. Ever since, I always have size 30 for my pants”. The tailor asserted, “Well, if you insist, 30 it will be, as long as you don’t blame me if you always experience hyper-acidity and severe stomachache.”

    He could have healed from his hyper-acidity and stomachache, and have saved a lot of money from medicine, if and when he is willing to leave behind and change his lifestyle of size “30” and learn to accept the new reality that he is already size “36”.

    As per our experience, we know we cannot have, own, and possess everything in life. But though not having everything in life, we can still fully benefit and enjoy what life can offer us at the moment, if and when we only change our way of life – if and when we change our lifestyle. In other words, for us to grow and fully enjoy life, we cannot remain what we are and what we have been. We have to let go and move on with a much better & promising life before & ahead of us.

    The same radical lesson we learn from Jesus in our gospel today. While teaching his disciples and us about the Kingdom of God through the parables of the treasure and the pearl, Jesus simply points us that what God offers us is so precious that is worth more than everything we have. And for us to fully receive its blessings and graces, much is required of us, and much has to be done by us – and that is to change our ways, to change our lifestyle.

    All the people in our parable have clearly shown these. When they have found their treasure and pearl, they went and sold everything they have, and bought their precious – their hearts desire. Meaning, for us to fully possess the treasures of God’s kingdom, we need to leave behind, let go our usual lifestyle, and be open & ready to receive changes and new realities in life. In the same way, for us to fully own the treasures of God’s life and salvation, we must let go of what we have, free ourselves of our previous attachments, and change our life in compatible with the better life God is offering us now. In other words, to fully live and own the life God offers us, we cannot remain but change.

    This is very true in life. For that sickly man to live his life fully, he cannot remain size 30 but change his ways and accept that he is now size 36. To be a better family man, one cannot remain a bachelor and waste his and his family’s life, but now change to be a better man for his own family. To build-up one’s own family, one cannot remain dependent on one’s parents but be more responsible and independent for one’s own family. To be a dignified and respected person, one cannot remain a spoiled brat, an addict and a loser but be more responsible for one’s life.

    Perhaps we might ask ourselves now: have we already found the treasure of God’s kingdom in our life? If so, have we gone to sell what we have, have we changed our ways in order for us to fully acquire and own God’s graces? If not, time for us to do the right things – to do what needs to be done so that God’s graces will not be wasted. Remember God offers us a life so precious that we cannot help remain but change.

    So May It Be.

  • JESUS’ ADVICE

    JESUS’ ADVICE

    July 16, 2023 – 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071623.cfm)

    As we struggle with the day-to-day challenges of CoVID virus has posted on us, somehow, we also wonder what would be the best guidance and advice God is giving us at new normal times. Yes, life during CoVID virus has been constricting and stressful. We find ourselves mostly reactive to the reality that we think about whether our actions are in sync with God’s will and plan. So, what would be the best way for us to be always online & in sync with God?

    Our Scripture and Christian faith tradition have a very simple advice & protocol: LISTEN TO HIM.

    We remember many instances in Jesus’ life that the challenge of us listening to Him has been clearly given importance. At the beginning of His public ministry to proclaim the good news of salvation, Jesus said: “Today these words come true as you listen.” Also, during the Lord’s transfiguration, the disciples heard God instructing them: “This is my beloved Son, whom my favor rests. Listen to Him”. And in our gospel today, in telling and explaining to us the parable of the sower, Jesus challenges us “Whoever has ears ought to hear”.

    Our listening is indeed crucial to our faith-life. By listening to Jesus – God’s word for us, as our first reading suggest, we are part of and in line with God’s work of salvation and can benefit from the fruits of His labor. Paul reminds us that being connected with Christ assures us that “the suffering now are nothing compared with the glory to be revealed.” Jesus in our gospel made known to us how blessed and privileged we are for our faith makes us see and hear what “many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.” Same way as any loving relationship, good listening and communication are very important to our faith relationship with God

    Simple as it maybe, but we do have some problems with listening. Experience teaches us that in life it is not always easy to listen. We may have heard what has been said but we may have not listened to it. Or, it could happen that the other have not yet fully said what he wants to say or we may not yet have fully listen to him, we are already thinking of what and how are we going to respond to the other. It could also happen that while we are listening to the other, there are a lot of noisy things and concerns that we are also listening to and hearing with.

    It is very true that we do have limited listening span and selective hearing. Meaning, we listen only in our limited ways, and listen to what we want to hear from what was being said. That is why selective and limited listening or not enough listening would resort to conflict, tensions, and misunderstandings. We heard what has been said but do we listen to it? We may have heard it but are we listening to what has been said?

    For instance, our gospel today is not anymore new to us. We are already familiar and have known about the Parable of the Sower. Surely many times we have already heard this parable. In fact, of all the parables that Jesus have already told us, the parable of the sower is among the few parables which he gave an explanation. True we may have already heard this parable before and may have already understood its meaning. But did we listen to it? Are we listening to it? If we don’t see and hear it calling us to listen, then we are not listening and don’t get it.

    Long before it was written and read, God’s words are primarily spoken and proclaimed to us and are meant to be heard and listen by us. The mission of Jesus is to speak, preach and proclaim the God’s Word, the Good News of Salvation. Meaning, our rightful response to God’s Word being preached to us is first to listen to it. Only through our listening that we could understand, and in effect benefit and enjoy the fruits of God’s salvation. Like David, if we want to taste and see God’s glory and salvation, we should learn how to listen intently to God’s Message and Plans through Jesus, His word. For those who listen well, they bear much fruits.

    Jesus has thus already done and doing His part in Proclaiming God’s words. Ours now is to do our part in listening and obeying God’s Word. Let anyone of us then who have ears: Listen, and heed what we hear.

    Amidst our now noisy worrisome and depressing so-called “New Normal” world, may we be more sensitive to listen God’s message & plans, thus be guided and inspired to rightly respond to its challenges for our trying times now & always. Amen.

  • What God Can Do with a “NOBODY”…

    What God Can Do with a “NOBODY”…

    July 9, 2023 – 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070923.cfm)

    Of all human vices, pride is the greatest and highest evil. Compared to selfishness, greed and lust, pride is more dangerous. For example, temper is what gets us into trouble, but pride is what keeps us in trouble. As what the man who caused a bad accident with road rage on others, said: “Good for him. He has been road-cutting & racing with me. See, who is the best of us, now?” (“Ahh, maayo ra pud. Sige man gud na siya’g mikiglumba nako. Na tagam. Unya kinsa may hawod nato ron, bi?)”

    Jesus in the Gospel gives praise to his Father for his love of the simple and the humble. After proclaiming the Good News to different towns & villages, and revealing Himself as the Son of God, Jesus was rejected & not recognized by most people except some few others. “I thank you Father,” he says, “that you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to simple people.” He said these words because of his experience of pride that corrupts the proud-hearted, and also those who are pained & devastated due to the pride of others. Jesus did not condemn intelligence; what he condemns here is intellectual pride, that does not only cause people to sin & in the state of sinfulness, but above all, blocks people to receive & recognize the Good News being offered right in from of them.

    Due to pride, our hearts, minds, souls, & persons may be corrupted, closed, stony & even beyond redemption. And whenever we think or consider ourselves better, more, or superior than others, the sin and vice of pride are at work, and always dangerous. And so, be warned & beware of our Pride for it would take lots of humbling experiences for us to finally swallow or surrender our pride.

    That is why Jesus praised the humble & simple-hearted little ones, because they are open to recognize & receive God’s graces & blessings in their lives. Because they know that they don’t know & accept their ignorance & limits, the humble & meek ordinary people are wise-enough to be familiar with & to readily recognize the Messiah-with-us whom God reveals to us. God’s grace is really upon us & remains always with us, in humility, not pride; with the humble, not the proud.

    Jesus also challenges us here to be humble, simple & ordinary with our faith in Him. He calls us to deny ourselves, carry our crosses & follow Him. Meaning, he simply what us to live our lives with Him. He does not require us to study or understand, but to accept, recognize & believe in Him. Not to bear Him in our pride & sinfulness, but to take on the cross & responsibility for His mission of redemption for all. And we can only fulfill all these by means of our humble, simple, ordinary faith & life witness, & not through our pride.

    A biblical scholar once said, “Moses spent forty years thinking he was Somebody, then he spent another forty years in the desert realizing that he was Nobody; but finally, he spent the last forty year of his life, learning what God can do with a Nobody! 

    Remember, even the most uneducated or illiterate among us could understand and live with the mysteries of God’s kingdom, if we are simple and humble of heart and mind before God and others. 

    Lord, remove pride in our hearts & keep us always humble & simple, and Your better plans, ways & will be done in us always & forever. Amen.

  • Of Being Social-Distanced

    Of Being Social-Distanced

    July 2, 2023 – 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070223.cfm)

    During these past few years, we come to experience and be familiar with the term: “social distancing”. To protect ourselves from Corona Virus infection, nowadays we normally resort to social distancing. To avoid being infected by others or possibly infect others as well, we now set apart and maintain a safe distance from others as we assume that the world around us is still sick, and we can easily get sick. Safe and practical it is and would be, social distancing is never been that easy as observed and practiced. Simply because social distancing is particularly painful to us  for it requires of us not only the physical bodily distance but also the  experience of being and feeling isolated, lonely and cast-out/cast-off from one another. Being physically quarantined, isolated, set apart, distanced, marginalized, suspected, and monitored could make us also personally feel marginalized, segregated, ostrasized, stigmatized, outcasted, feared, unwelcome, abandoned, lost and forgotten. With or without viral pandemic, physical and social distancing has always been painful and difficult (even traumatic) experience for all of us for it deprives us of our need for personal intimacy, closeness and relationships. In other words, social distancing hurts because it is not only physical but also personal.

    It is but natural and life-giving for us to connect, relate and interact as persons. More just being social animals, social inter-actions and interpersonal relationships are very important dimension of our lives. And a song would insist, “No man is an island.. No one stands alone.” We are not just being with others but we are human PERSONS with others. We grow, live and thrive in life as community of persons: Persons related and relating with others personally. That is why to live life alone, distance, and isolated is difficult, painful and discouraging indeed.

    Our readings today reminds of the great value of our interpersonal relationships both in life and faith. Jesus in our gospel today appeals for us to “receive me”, “love me”, “follow me”. He invites us to have a personal intimate relationship with Him. Like any of us, he wants us to be close to Him as much as He wants to be close with us personally. Being Christian, as Paul emphasized, we are WITH Christ: personally related with Jesus in death, life and resurrection. And like in the first reading, to be personally welcoming  and hospitable host to our guests would blessed and graced us with the gifts of their person, to receive and love the person Jesus in our lives personally is to personally be with and share with His divine life with our Father.

    Personal intimacy, closeness and connected with Jesus and with one another as community is indeed promising and life-giving. While social distancing and isolation is sickening and life-threatening indeed.

    While we suffer physically and personally with social distancing  for safety and protection from infection, we may take this trying times as opportunity for us to review, reflect and renew the quality of our personal relationships with God, with our family and friends and our community. Just because we are physically constrained and apart, it does not mean we are not and cannot anymore be connected with one another personally. Distancing thus could also be a chance to improve the quality of our faith, personal life and inter-personal relationships.

    For instance, social distancing may had deprived of us then to celebrate Sunday Eucharist and worship as community of faith, but it could also make us improve the quality of our Spiritual Communion with Jesus and our participation as we hope and look forward to the coming opportune time for celebration. We also may find more quantity and quality time and improved lifestyle with our own selves and with our loved ones now, and thus be in touch with most essential and important in ones life.

    In other words, since social distancing is personal, so let us make it more personal, let us get more and Better Personal…. And improve the Quality of our personal, social and spiritual life during this time.

    On my fifty-ish age and have gone thru my silver years as Redemptorist missionary priests, perhaps my musings below could be of assistance in reflecting about our experience of social distancing nowadays:

    “Paradox of being with others”

    Along the way, we suffer two things being with others: too much & too little – of closeness and distance. Too much and too little Closeness & too much and too little Distance. Coping with these both blocks our growth in relationships as well as forms and sharpens us to be better person for and with others. Ultimately it moves us to be intimately independent as well as independently intimate with one another.

    As we are personally in faith with the Lord, may we communally not be separated from Him and one another,  and  may we not lose life but rather find Life meaningfully. Amen.