Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: Homilies

  • Quality Common Relationships

    Quality Common Relationships

    July 17, 2022 – 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071722.cfm)

    Once, a mother approached and asked me for advice regarding her growing children. She was so worried about her children who according to her becoming irresponsible. One comes home late at night without any permission. Her teenage daughter doesn’t anymore go to mass with them, but spend more time with her non-Christian boyfriend. One likes to go out often, as if not anymore living with them. She even suspects that her son is involved now with drugs and drinks. All her children now know how to answer back and not so serious with their studies. In her frustration, she asked me “Father, what have I done wrong? We do everything for them to have a better life. My husband and I work seriously to provide them good nourishment, education, and lifestyle. But how come it happened this way?”

    As for my advice, I told her: “yes, it is true, Maam that it is hard to parent growing children. A number of families nowadays are into such difficulty. But may I ask you, do you have common activities as family?” She was so confused with the question, so I asked her: “Do you have meals, pray, and recreation together as family?” She replied, “That’s impossible for us because we are busy with our work. Our children also have their own different schedules and friends that is why usually we cannot be together during meals, prayers, or activities.” Then I told her, “Maam maybe that is what is missing in your family life. You don’t give time to one another. You become so busy with your own individual activities in serving one another that you forget to whom and why are you serving. You have wasted the time and opportunity to intimately experience and know one another as family.”

    If we reflect deeply in our lives today, it could happen that we become so pre-occupied with our concerns FOR our family, that we don’t have anymore time WITH one another. Yes, it is true that whatever we do is for God and others, especially for our family. But it could happen that we hide ourselves with our work and activities, so that our relationship becomes cold and shallow. It could happen, like that mother, because of our own individual concerns and responsibilities in life, our relationships with others becomes cold and shallow, no more bonding and love for one another.

    Just like in our gospel today. Martha and Mary must have felt great joy and privilege when Jesus paid them a home-visit. Martha was right to do what should be done – to do things right in order to welcome and accommodate their honored guest. However, because of her great worry and concern to do things right for Jesus, Martha missed the right thing to do before the Lord’s presence, which is to be with Jesus: to listen to the Good News the Lord is intending to share with them in his visit, and to have a quality and common time with them. Meaning, beyond their hospitality, Jesus expects from them an opportunity for friendship and bonding with them. He needs more than just their humble service and hospitality but to enjoy and celebrate their love and friendship with Jesus. Thus, Jesus rebuked Martha when she complained about Mary, to remind her that what matters is not her lack or excess of service, or her responsibility or Mary’s irresponsibility, but such humble service and responsibility to Him should be born out of their intimate relationship with Jesus and with one another.

    As Christians, in the same way, our humble service to others, our responsibility to one another must grow out of our faith relationship in Jesus, not of our human endeavors. Our salvation then is primarily God’s grace or gift to us that doesn’t only require our response of humble service, but more so gives us the opportunity to experience, unite and be intimate and one with God and one another. Yes, to follow Christ is indeed a responsibility. But responsibilities are built out of and based on our relationships. What matters in life, then are our relationships with God and one another over & above than our responsibilities to each other. And doing the right thing in our relationship is more noble and important than doing things right responsibly.

    In every relationship there is corresponding responsibilities. But fulfilled responsibilities are meaningless if and when it is not grounded on our quality and intimate relationship.

    Perhaps, we ask ourselves: “if and when God pay you a home visit, what would you do? How would you respond? Will you be listening to Him and of His agenda for His visit? Or will you be busy or occupied with responsibilities to do things right than to do the right things with Him?

    Perhaps our life amidst Covid Pandemic nowadays challenge us to improve the Quality of our family, social & faith life as we cope & do our part in rebuilding of our lives during these trying times.

    Brothers and sisters, as we follow Jesus in our lives anew, like Mary, may we build up & strengthen our common relationships with Him and one another by spending quality time to listen, experience and grow intimately with one another, as Filipino Christian family, nation, & church. So May it Be. Amen.

  • WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?

    WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?

    July 10, 2022 – 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071022.cfm)

    I grew up in a community where people know everybody. I have enjoyed playing and fighting with other kids. As kids, we were welcomed to take something to eat and even sleep no matter whose house would that be. I have enjoyed very much my childhood when we have to make our own kites and toy cars, build our small houses, running around and getting hurt and dirty with other kids. Those days that I had were the foundation where I was able to relate and socialize with others. And most importantly, the early years of playtime and growing up as a child are the opportunities also where a child will develop his or her sense of responsibility, creativity and sensitivity to people around him or her.

    This kind of development in us is being nurtured within the environment where we are in. In this case also, we understand that our neighbors play a vital role in our everyday life. Our encounter and everyday exchange of gifts, stories and even quarrels and gossips make as animated and alive.

    That is why, we also find neighbors helping one another in times of need and sorrow and sharing their joys in times of abundance and blessing. We understand that our neighbor is someone who is close to us, somebody we know and someone we are familiar with. And we consider those outside this circle as strangers to whom we could easily show an indifferent attitude. However, this kind of understanding of neighbor is being challenged today. This is what we have heard from the Gospel of Luke.

    And so let us explore now the invitation for us this Sunday through our Gospel.

    There was a lawyer who asked Jesus on how he would be able to attain eternal life. What he asked was not just actually about what lies after death but also of the present moment. Eternal life then means eternal joy and this joy can already be found now.

    The lawyer knew the answer, that is why, he also answered his own question to Jesus. This joy can be attained by loving God and loving one’s neighbor. This love of God can only become concrete when a person also shows the same love to his or her neighbor. And so it means, that these two are inseparable.

    But, the lawyer asked Jesus again and clarified, “who is my neighbor then?” And Jesus’ answer must have left the lawyer speechless. In the parable that Jesus gave, a neighbor is somebody who is in need regardless of the persons’ belief, culture, race or status.

    This is the reason why the victim in the story was portrayed to be naked and unable to speak because he was half-dead. The person had no particular culture or race, or language or belief. The person then symbolizes anybody.

    Moreover, a neighbor is also a person who responds to those in need. A neighbor is a person who feels the suffering and pain of the other and because of this, a neighbor is moved to extend help and assurance to that person in need. This is done out of generosity and kindness.

    Thus, the priest and the Levite in the story who merely showed indifference to the dying person were not neighbors. Their fear of becoming unclean and not being able to enter the Holy Temple or perhaps fear to do something that it might be just a trap of the thieves, prevented them to extend their hands to the person. They must have surely felt pity for the victim but then they remained in the feeling and did not move into action.

    That is why, to only feel pity for the person in need without changing anything from us, is empty. True pity leads to mercy which also leads to kindness, a generous action.

    This is how we realize that being a believer of God, your faith and my faith does not mean to be static or passive. Faith is not dependent on letters or traditional practices and rituals as shown by the priest and Levite. But faith is dynamic and pro-active because it is about a relationship. This is what the Samaritan showed.

    Therefore, true faith builds relationship, friendship. It is sensitive and generates kindness, generosity, mercy and compassion. In other words, action!

    Thus, Jesus invites us today that to attain eternal life or eternal joy is also to build relationships. The Samaritan despite the discrimination against him by the Jews as heretic, impure and lowly was able to build relationship by recognizing that victim as his neighbor.  This was how the Samaritan extended his hands for the man who was in pain and suffering. His hands provided comfort and healing to the person. His presence became an assurance and security for the victim of abuse and crime. He did all those not because he was after some recognition or reward. He extended his hands and went beyond what was expected of him because he cognized the man as a person in need of help and healing and because he recognized God in that person.

    This is how Paul in his letter to the Colossians reminds us too that Jesus is the very image of the invisible God. As the Good Samaritan recognized God in the person of the victim and the suffering man, we too are called to recognize Jesus, the image of the invisible God among our brothers and sisters.

    And so for this Sunday, there are three take-aways that I want you to remember and to bring with you at home.

    First, make our faith alive. We have realized that faith is not limited with our memorized prayers, traditional religious practices and Sunday obligations. Faith is a way of life for us Christians that allows us to build relationships with God and with our neighbors. Let us not make our faith become stagnant and passive. Make our Christian faith alive by generating kindness and generosity, love, compassion and mercy.

    Second, touch to bring healing. As the Good Samaritan took the risk and the time to touch and bring healing to the man in pain, let our touch bring healing as well to people around us. Let not our touch be a cause of pain and suffering to others like what the robbers did to the man. Their touch was oppressive, cruel and abusive. Rather, let us make our touch become a source of healing and comfort by being gentle and kind.

    Third, be a neighbor. This is what Jesus is trying to tell us today that our very presence with one another will also become a source of support and understanding not judgment, be a source of comfort not gossip and intrigue, be a source of solidarity and empathy not indifference and to be a source of life and joy in our community and not of abuse, corruption and death. Kabay pa.

  • Neighbors Among Us

    Neighbors Among Us

    July 10, 2022 – 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071022.cfm)

    Once a man happened to fell on a rather deep manhole. He really had a hard time to escape from his difficult situation. So he called for help. It happened that a lawyer passed by, so the man shouted out: ‘Help’. The lawyer replied: ‘Sorry I cannot help you now. I’m on a hurry for a court hearing. Here is my calling card. Call me later and we will sue the company who dug this pit – Pro bono/ for free.’ And so the lawyer took off. Then a doctor came by, but said, ‘Hey, I cannot help you now since I have a scheduled operation. Here are some prescriptions for your bruises. I will call for help. Surely I will help you at the hospital.’ And then the doctor left. A priest also came and said, ‘Sorry, so, I cannot help you right now. My mass is about to start. Here is a rosary, pray till the rescue arrived. We will pray for you also.’ And the priest rushed off.

    Now, the man got a lawyer’s calling card, a doctor’s prescription and a priest’s rosary, but still trapped in a manhole. Eventually his poor neighbor came, and right then and then, jumped into the pit. The man said to his neighbor, ‘How stupid you are. Now both of us are trapped in this pit’. Then replied the poor neighbor, ‘Yes, but I know a way out.’

    Once again we hear the Lord’s commandment to Love the Lord our God and our neighbor as we love ourselves. However, based on our experience, this commandment to Love… are nice words to hear but hard to follow, especially on loving our neighbor as ourselves.

    That is why, not satisfied knowing the commandment the teacher of the law raised the question: ‘And who is my neighbor?’ Like him, we know the commandment to love but we also like to know who is our neighbor worthy of our love.

    In response to this question, Jesus told us the parable of the Good Samaritan. For Jesus, the neighbor who is worthy of our love is our immediate neighbor. The very person  we are with – in the here and now, is the very neighbors in your midst who we should love. We don’t need for someone absent and far to be our neighbor to love. But the very persons before and with us now, who need our help and love is our very neighbor we ought to love.

    To help and love our neighbor, then, we don’t need to look for them somewhere. Just be aware and conscientious of the people around with you in the here and now, and respond lovingly as you can.

    Once in our Redemptorist parish in Dumaguete,  we had a program where we give Christmas gifts to poor parishioners. What makes this program unique is that we arranged the gift-giving wherein the donors themselves go and visit the home of the poor beneficiaries nearby, and give their gifts. A donor once told me: ‘Many Thanks, Father! It is only now I become fully aware of the poverty of our neighbors nearby, especially of Nong Berto’s family who used to drive me to school when I was a little girl.’ Our neighbors worthy of our love are the very people amongst us nearby we immediately see, smell, feel and hear.

    Through the parable, Jesus also teaches us the proper way to help our neighbor: Before we try to help others, we should immerse and be in solidarity with their difficult situation. In helping others, dole-outs, give-aways, and reaching-outs are not enough. We need to dive in, get wet or dirty along the way, and journey with them, to free one another from the situation.

    The Samaritan is good because he fully involved himself in helping the needy. He knew the best way to respond because perhaps he was also once needy and in such worse situation himself. Like, the poor neighbor of our story can help the man because he may have been in the same situation before, but he knows a way out. Others (lawyer, doctor, priest or levites) cannot and was not able to help because they don’t want to be involved and they cannot sympathize because they were not in that situation before, and don’t know a way out. In other words, only swimmers can rescue a drowning person. So, love your immediate neighbor in your midst as lovingly as you can.

    The Lord in our first reading however reminds us that: This command is not too mysterious and remote for you, not up in the sky nor across the sea. It is something near to you,  already in your mouths, and in your  hearts : you have only to carry it out.’ Meaning, we CAN love the Lord and our neighbor as ourselves because we are also loved by the Lord and our neighbor as ourselves.  We can love because we are loved by God and others. We can help and take care of our neighbor because we are also helped and taken care of by God and neighbor. We can rescue and save others because we are rescued and saved by God and others.

    For us to inherit eternal life, God directs us to do what needs to be done: “Love your God and your neighbor as you love yourself.” So, let us do our part in Loving Him and our Neighbor, as He and our neighbor loved us since before, until now & may always be as ourselves. So Be it. Siya Nawa. Kabay pa. Amen.

  • LIKE SERPENTS AND DOVES 

    LIKE SERPENTS AND DOVES 

    July 8, 2022 – Friday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time   

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070822.cfm)

    “Be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.” This is what Jesus said to his disciples and now addressed also to us. What does Jesus really mean about this?  In biblical understanding, the serpent is an image of Satan or of the devil. We remember, that it was the serpent that tempted the humanity to commit sin as told to us in the Book of Genesis. However, there are also other characters that the serpent possesses. The serpent is also believed to be wise, resourceful, flexible, adaptable, observant and cunning.

    This means that a serpent adapts to its situation in order to survive. It finds ways as it observes its environment. It is in this way that Jesus invites us to be wise as the serpent, that is, to have the character in us that is wise, resourceful, has the quality to adjust to a given situation, observant and discerning. Like the serpent, Jesus invites us not to react immediately out of our emotions only, or to make decisions imprudently.

    The dove is also understood to have the characters of being innocent, gentle, relax, peaceful, understanding and meek. The dove also represents the Spirit of God that brings comfort and peace, enlightenment and freedom. The dove reminds us of the gentle presence of God, never intimidating yet powerful, never imposing yet forceful.

    It is in this way too that Jesus invites us to be as innocent and simple as the doves. Like the doves, we are called to keep calm and to always claim our peace so that we may be able to respond to life with wisdom. We are also called to be gentle and to be simple in order to bring encouragement and hope to others around who are already troubled and anxious. Kabay pa.

  • Authority to Set Free and to Bring Healing

    Authority to Set Free and to Bring Healing

    July 6, 2022 – Wednesday 14th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070622.cfm)

    Exercising authority in our community gives us the opportunity and capacity to serve others. This is how we understand it in a Christian perspective. This means that when we have authority over other people, this does not give us the right to belittle or put people down just because we have power over them.

    Thus, in any community, organization or even in our workplaces, when we are given authority, it is rather meant to give us the ability in empowering others and facilitating others to be more productive, growing and maturing.

    The giving of authority is what we have also heard in today’s Gospel. Jesus gave authority to his Twelve disciples. This authority has two functions. First, to drive out unclean spirits that terrifies and imprisons people. Second, to cure every disease and every illness of the people to whom they were sent. Through the authority given by Jesus to the Twelve disciples, the Lord gave them the opportunity and capacity to serve others by setting people free and bringing healing to the sick.

    The Gospel tells us now that authority is a gift. It is given to us as an opportunity and giving us the capacity to serve others and not to serve ourselves or to serve those who are only close to us. Thus, exercising authority is a form of a loving-service. And we will know that it is a loving-service when in exercising authority it sets people free, inspires freedom, brings healing and creates a space for growth.

    However, when authority is also used as a means to serve oneself by manipulating and overpowering others, then, authority discourages and oppresses people just like unclean spirits or demons would do. Moreover, in this case, authority will also be the cause of divisions, wounds and toxicity in our community or organization just like a disease or illness would bring suffering to a person.

    Hence, Jesus calls us today that as we exercise authority in our own context and life-situations whether at home, at work or in our communities and organizations, we may always be able to inspire freedom, to allow others to be free and be agents of healing and growth. Kabay pa.