Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: Homilies

  • BEWARE

    BEWARE

    April 12, 2023 – Wednesday in the Octave of Easter

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041223.cfm)

    Easter proclaims that the Lord has risen. Let us be glad & rejoice. We, Christians proclaims our faith that our Lord Jesus Christ has risen from the death & now with us offering new life in Him. However, we may ask ourselves: “Has the Lord really risen now? Who & where now is the risen Lord?  How do we recognize the risen Lord in the midst of our daily lives now?”

    Surely our disciples in our gospel today must have asked the same questions. After they have witnessed the death on the cross of their Lord Jesus, they decided to just go “nalang” back home with a heavy heart & question: “Has the Lord truly risen?” Some of them have already seen & testified that the Lord has risen indeed. But these two disciples have some doubts & could not believe what they heard about it.

    On the road back home, to their ordinary lives, lo & behold, the risen Lord appeared to them, went with them on the journey, be with them in their grief, sorrow & hopelessness, explained to them the meaning of what they have experienced & experiencing, and stayed with them for dinner.

    From their experience along the road back to Emmaus with the risen Lord, we could have a glimpse as to how we could experience now the risen Lord in our day to day lives. First, the Lord joined & walked with them in their journey. Meaning, the risen Lord IS & will be in our normal ordinary day to day life, & not so much on big & special events. Second, as He joins us in life, we might not recognize at first the risen Lord with us. He usually comes then to us as a stranger to us. Meaning, we should be open ourselves to the unfamiliar/strange, unusual events in our ordinary life.

    So, whenever we sense something ordinary yet particularly moving, (like, feeling the cold breeze, hearing moving music, loosening up as we see and hear playing children, reminded of some memories, finding yourself talking to a stranger), perhaps the risen Lord is making Himself known to you. And above all, the risen Lord appears to people who believe in Him. However strong or weak our faith in God may be, the risen Lord can be recognized in & with the eyes of our faith in Him.

    So as we celebrate Easter season, let us be more sensitive & beware of the presence of our risen Lord in our midst, as we live our ordinary normal day to day lives, open to something new & unfamiliar things to happen & see these with the eyes of faith.

    Again, Easter invites us to brace ourselves for with the risen Lord, there are more things to come & happen in our lives ahead for the better. In other words, “Abangan ang susunod na kabanata.”

    So Be it. Amen.

  • REFUSING TO GIVE UP

    REFUSING TO GIVE UP

    April 11, 2023 – Tuesday within the Octave of Easter

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041123.cfm)

    Mary Magdalene went into the tomb and was weeping. Mary was filled with sadness and pain. The tomb reminded her of that painful and scandalous death of Jesus on the cross. Yet, what is interesting in this scenario was the movement of time. In the first verses of the Gospel, we were told that Mary “went to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark.” However, at this time, the dawn was breaking. The sun is soon to come out. And what Mary will witness was definitely the glorious victory of light over darkness.

    Mary who developed a close relationship with Jesus, was a faithful disciple. She remained at the side of Jesus thus, the reason of her grief and pain. Nevertheless, despite the grief and sadness, Mary did not just go away and give up. She actually refused to give up.  The sadness, disappointment and pain that she felt, urged her more to seek Jesus even in times of so much confusion and darkness in her life. But, those emotional and spiritual burdens in her also prevented her to immediately recognize the Lord. Jesus has to call her by name to make her realize that it was him.

    Thus, in that desire to seek the Lord even in darkness and seemingly ugly scenario in her life, Mary was filled with the goodness of the Lord. Her friendship with Jesus helped her to seek the Lord and see grace beyond pain and darkness. This is something to learn from the friendship Mary Magdalene had with Jesus. Her friendship was beyond physical attraction and emotional attachment but was built on trust, faith and confidence of being loved by the Lord.

    Such experience of fullness is what the Psalm also proclaimed today. “The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” This is what Mary was holding on in her heart. She must be a believer on this that indeed the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. Even though there was so much pain and confusion in her heart, she believed in the goodness of the Lord that fills the earth.

    True enough, Mary received this fullness of God’s goodness as Jesus revealed himself to her. This was captured beautifully through her words, “I have seen the Lord.” This is a testimony of a person who believed and experienced fully the goodness of the Lord.

    Like Mary, let us also develop and nourish a close and intimate relationship with the Lord that will make us more attuned to his voice and presence. When we are gripped by grief and sadness, or by pain and failures in life, may we find ourselves holding on to hope and in the goodness of what is around us, rather than in giving up or running away from our painful realities. Let us allow the Lord to be with us in those moments, and allow him to encounter his liberating presence in every moment of our life. Hinaut pa.

  • CHRIST IS TRULY ALIVE

    CHRIST IS TRULY ALIVE

    April 10, 2023 – Monday within the Octave of Easter

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041023.cfm)

    Truth can indeed be easily manipulated or even covered especially when those who are faced with truth become threatened and disturbed by it. This is what we have heard on this Easter Monday as told to us by the Gospel of Matthew. The truth about the resurrection of Jesus was manipulated by people in power who also desired to advance their personal agenda. The soldiers who were witnesses of the Resurrection were paid not to tell what really happened but to create another story. These soldiers must have been captivated with awe and wonder in the event of the resurrection. Light must have pierced into their unbelieving hearts. However, what was sad in their story was when they were presented with the immediate comfort of money.

    They were willing to cover the truth of the resurrection and create fake news for the sake of money. They accepted a corrupt offer to spill the untruth to people rather than to tell others of God’s power and mercy. Why was that? Is money more powerful than God? Certainly not. It is just deceiving and very tempting especially when people need it.

    Nevertheless, apart from this sad story, we still have the women who showed to us how the resurrection of Jesus changed their life. The Gospel tells us that they were still fearful yet overjoyed. This means that despite the darkness they have experienced in the past days and the fear that enveloped them, the presence of Jesus filled them with so much joy.

    The women did not succumbed to despair and fear unlike the soldiers who succumbed to money and corruption. The women continued to believe in Jesus in spite of the confusions and even in pain and suffering that they witnessed. They never lost their hope in Jesus.

    This kind of attitude in them was showed in their action as they went to the tomb early in the morning. The tomb surely would remind them of the death of Jesus, meaning, of sadness and failure, of pain and disappointment. However, even in the midst of all of these, they found a reason to find light in the midst of darkness, to find hope in the midst of hopelessness and to find life in the midst of death.

    And true enough, as they desired to see Jesus, they indeed saw and witnessed the glory of resurrection. This was how they also found their mission, and that was to be Jesus’ witnesses to others.

    Now, as Jesus called them to tell other disciples about him, each of us now too is called to tell others of Jesus’ presence in our very life. With this, there are two invitations for us on this Easter Monday.

    First. Money is not everything though money and riches can be deceiving and tempting when we are in need of it, that it will lead us to become dishonest, corrupt and abusive. This happened to the soldiers who exchanged for money the truth. They settled for their own comforts. However, that did not made them truly rich or satisfied with life. In fact, they are now seen like the “paid trolls” who merely repeat lies and fake news to deceive others and bring others to corruption and death.

    Second, preach Christ and preach what is only true. Never be afraid to tell what we have seen, what we have heard and what we have witnessed. Tell others not just through our words but also through our actions that Christ is truly alive. Even a simple gesture of generosity to a person in need or a simple act of kindness to others is a way of sharing that Christ is truly alive in us. Kabay pa.

  • Shake Well Before Using

    Shake Well Before Using

    April 9, 2023 – Easter Sunday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040923.cfm)

    What is the purpose of life? What is life all about? Why do we have to suffer through life? How can we move on with life? Where is God in all these?

    During pandemic times & even now in the New Normal period, I have been confronted with these questions from people, especially young people, who are looking and searching for meaning and directions in life. To be honest, I too had raised these questions and have grappled with finding answers. Not without difficulty however I somehow discover an answer that makes sense and suits me. I found it from a book called The Gospel according to Peanuts by Robert Short that was based on Peanuts comic strips with characters like Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and others, created by cartoonists Charles Schulz. In one of its comic strips, it simply says: We are like a bottle of medicine where God puts a label on it to make sure: “Shake Well Before Using”.

    If we really come to think of it, such simple line says a lot about these questions in life.

    Yes, indeed we are like a bottle of medicine. On our own and for our own sake, we are no one… we are nothing. But with others and for the sake of others, we are someone…we are something. And to be and remain something effective and someone important in life, we have to go through a lot of shaking and moving. Even we like it or not, we need to be shaken and disturbed once in a while,… or else we remain nothing and worthless. So to make sure our value and sense in life, God has to shake us, not for the sake of shaking itself, nor only for our own sake, but for the sake of Him and others – that we may be a medicine to others and each other. The spiritual guru Henry Nouwen calls this “wounded healers”, in which, with and through our wounds and woundedness we also become healers & medicine of others and for others.

    If we also come to think of it, being shaken well by God has always been part of the story of our faith and life.

    Last night’s review of our salvation of history in the scriptures reminds us that shaking and to be shaken well has always been part of our growth in faith and life. Ever since the creation of the universe from chaos to order, the rescue of Israelites from the power of Egypt, the building of Israel as nation, the establishment of covenant with Israel, the empty tomb and the resurrection of the Lord, and our baptism now and again in Christ, we are continually been moved and shaken by God well, not for our own sake but for the sake of Him and others. The symbol of Fire and Water, the reading of scriptures and the celebration of Eucharist in our liturgy last night are witness to the whole passage of shaking we go through in life for us to have meaning, direction and worth in life.

    Today we proclaim Jesus has risen, Alleluia. We Christians remember, celebrate, and believe that Jesus has risen indeed in our lives. We can even dare to proclaim that He has risen Again and Anew in our life today. Again, because in almost every year of our Christian faith and life, we celebrate His resurrection.

    But he has also risen Anew with us now, because our encounter of His resurrection will never be the same as before. Yes, Jesus always resurrects in us, and He reveals to us as uniquely as before. Nabanhaw siya kanunay kanato apan lahi ra sama kaniadto. He is still Jesus, but He is now Christ, the risen Lord.

    Every Easter seasons, we may say then, are God’s time of year of shaking us before using. Just as the women & the disciples found an empty tomb and met the Lord on their way back, and the way we struggle & cope with the trying times of Covid-19 pandemic these recent past years, during this years’ Easter season, same as ever, there will be more shaking going on, and more to happen in our Christian faith and life.

    Let us not forget then whatever happens and how the shaking ever happens, all of these will not be on our own and for our own sake but with and for the sake of Him and others. Remember, We are part of His great plan of scheme. Let us be open and allow ourselves to be shaken, to be moved, to be disturbed again and anew, for in this way, we participate in His work of salvation in our lives. If and when however we get lost along the way and find life meaningless and without direction, perhaps we may be consoled by Charles Schulz words: We are like a bottle of medicine where, God puts a label on it to make sure: “Shake Well Before Using.”

    Happy Easter to All. At Abangan ang susunod na kabanata.

  • A Defiant Hope

    A Defiant Hope

    April 9, 2023 – The Resurrection of the Lord

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040923.cfm)

    In the popular Netflix Series, The Sandman, an episode portrays how the Lord of Endless Dreams (Morpheus) went to Hell to retrieve his tools. In Hell, Morpheus faced Lucifer in the duel through the “Oldest Game” where each one has a turn to use a concept from their imagination to defeat the other. As each one used a concept, Lucifer at the end, used Anti-Life. In this, Morpheus was down and weak. He was asked by Lucifer, “What can survive the anti-life?” Yet, slowly, Morpheus tried to speak, until he was able to utter, “I AM HOPE.” With hope, Lucifer was defeated for nothing kills hope.

    On this Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of Jesus, we are reminded of HOPE. However, we as Christians now, do we really believe in the resurrection?

    Well, on that Sunday morning, as the Gospel of John told us, when the women wanted to visit the tomb of the dead Jesus, his body was nowhere to be found. They believed that the body was stolen. However, the other disciples whom Jesus loved, when he saw the cloth that covered the head of Jesus was rolled up in a separate place, HE SAW AND BELIEVED! The Lord indeed, rose from the dead!

    Jesus’ resurrection sums up everything in the Sacred Scriptures. The resurrection of Jesus is the very essence why the Church continues to live until today. If not because of the resurrection, there is nothing to believe, nothing to hope for. Hence, the resurrection of Jesus is the “DEFIANT HOPE, a hope, hoping against hope.”

    With all those suffering and gruesome death of Jesus, the disciples ran away, hid and believed that that was the end, and there was nothing more. However, the Lord is more powerful than death, more powerful than our frustration and disappointments, or of our failures, more powerful than human sin, more powerful than human violence and greed.

    God’s commitment to us and his love for you and me is so great that it makes the dead back to life, to the glory of resurrection, to new life, to a blessed and joyful life.

    Thus, friends, remember too, if you find yourself at the brink of giving up, or at the edge of losing your desire to live and to dream, or when you are at the end of hopelessness and despair, God will never let go of us. God will never surrender on us. Remember that! Believe in that!

    Jesus went through all those suffering and even the loneliness on the cross, because Jesus believed that there is more in you and in me, in each of us, and that there is more in our broken and wounded world caused by human sin of greed and indifference. We may also consider ourselves as terrible sinners, or others may condemn and think that we are hopeless and worthless, but the Lord will always see hope in us. God sees a joyful and blessed life in each of us, in all of us, as a community.

    Thus, the power of the resurrection tells us now of the Church’s mission and commitment to life and to freedom. The Church, and that is US, is a believing community who is being moved, touched and taught by the Lord.

    As the Lord dwells in each of us and in our community, we are now called to become EASTER PEOPLE or PEOPLE OF THE RESURRECTION. This means that what we preach and what we live is the joy and hope that the resurrection brings. But, remember too, that to be become a people of the resurrection, we also become a contradiction to those who want to act like God and become like God and those who are anti-life, like Lucifer. Just as Jesus was a threat to them, we too shall be. Yet, the glory of the resurrection will bring us into hope and joy which can be experienced not just after our death but can be tasted, felt and lived even today.

    How would that be possible? By becoming the presence of Jesus today to people around us through our very life that gives and expresses hope for others. Kabay pa.