Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: Liturgical Year A

  • Responding in gratitude

    Responding in gratitude

    January 26, 2020 – 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time: National Bible Sunday

    Click here for the readings http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/012620.cfm

    Homily

    I am sure that each of us here has our own experience of God, an experience that made us confident and changed us to be more grateful to God and to respond with grateful heart to the Lord.

    In this mass, a member of the Redemptorist Youth Ministry shall give a witness of God’s generosity in his life. Let us welcome Paul Mark Divino.

    Paul’s Sharing

    I’ve been with the ministry for more than a decade now, and looking back 10 years ago, I was chosen to be one of the participants for the 1st Redemptorist Youth Encounter held in Cebu City. And I had my first air flight (sounds exciting right?). As I arrived in Cebu, my heart was filled with excitement and joy, and eager to experience the youth encounter and meet other young people from different Redemptorist Parishes in Visayas and Mindanao. But During the 2nd day of the encounter I felt that something was really missing in me. I realized that since I arrived in Cebu, I did not receive any text message nor phone call from my parents, unlike my other companions. Most of them, as soon as they arrived in Cebu they received phone calls from their parents. From this, I felt jealous. So I ask GOD, why? Have my parents forgotten me already? 

    I was so hurt that I felt so down. Yet, on that same day, I found a peaceful place for me to reflect better. As I sat in an open area that overviewed the city of Cebu, all of a sudden my phone rang, “may nag text.” Yes! It was my father asking “Nak, kumusta man ka dira sa Cebu?  And tears were falling from my eyes. I felt ashamed of myself for even questioning God. That moment, I realized that GOD is truly there, always listening and assuring me that I am never alone.

    I felt the presence of Jesus. That simple experience reminded me a great lesson in life that God is always present even when we start to doubt and question him. God reveals his presence in us in most surprising and perfect time, Ika’ nga”

    Speaking of Gods Perfect time, there was this time too that I was so inspired and amazed at the sharing of my co-youth who attended the World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia in 2008. Through those personal sharing of experiences, I became more inspired to serve in the Youth Ministry, to meet new people and to dream that one day I would also be part of the World Youth Day Gathering, “beke nemen”. 

    That has been one of my inspirations and motivations that time. Yet as time went by, I already forgot about that dream. I continued to enjoy my service in the ministry. Instead of being sent for the World Youth Day, I was sent for the National Youth Day 2011 in Manila, and to the Youth Mission in Tacloban. 

    However, last October 2018, “may tumawag, hindi na text.” I received a phone call from our Youth Provincial director that time, Fr. Julius Martin informing me that I was chosen to be one of the delegates, (guest what?) of the World Youth Day in Panama. This sounded exciting again but I was reluctant. Why me? Again I questioned GOD. I went to a series of interviews and at the end? Boom!!  I got the crown . Again, that was another 1st experience taking a plane this time outside the country. Big thanks to RYM.  

    My WYD experience was again another God’s perfect timing. Before this grace was given to me, I was molded by the ministry to be ready for this graceful gathering and to experience and encounter such a big crowd of young people from different countries with different cultures and languages but one in faith. 

    These experiences I shared to you are just few things that I encountered while being in the ministry. These experiences made me realize that God is indeed with me, that God is the Light who shines upon me and has blessed me with so many things.

    Because of these experiences I have become ever grateful to God. I continue and renew my service in the ministry as my grateful response to the Lord. It motivates me to be a better and a good youth leader and to inspire others. I am sharing my experiences with you not to brag myself, but to tell you how good God is to me despite everything, and how God has let me experience that I am truly loved and blessed in so many ways. 

    What we have just heard from Paul is a personal experience of God’s presence. That God-experience inspired Paul to also respond with a grateful heart.

    This kind of experience reminds me of the wonderful image in the first reading from the Book of Isaiah. The people who walked in darkness because of sin, of misery, of depression, or sickness and of oppression have seen a great light. What Isaiah proclaimed to us was God’s presence being experienced by the people. 

    As the Lord has come to visit his people, God’s presence also brought the grace of freedom and peace, of reconciliation and joy. This is beautifully sang to us in the Psalm, “The Lord is my light and my salvation.”

    This reflects in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus has appeared publicly and began to preach, calling the people to “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”

    Those who have met him and heard him, have indeed seen and experienced the light of the Lord. The first disciples who were Peter, Andrew, James and John were actually disciples of John the Baptist. This tells us that these men were also in search of God and hungered to experience God’s presence in their life. They have been in search of God.

    With that disposition, they made themselves open to Jesus. They allowed Jesus to come to them. In fact, as they have encountered Jesus, they too experienced God’s generosity in them. They realized how good God is to them despite everything. They too realized that it was only Jesus who satisfied their hunger and thirst. With that experience, they have become grateful to the Lord.

    Moreover, that gratefulness in them molded their hearts to also respond in gratitude to the call of Jesus. They left their old self because they have found that God offered something new to them and it is through service by bringing more people closer to Jesus.

    Thus, as we also celebrate the National Bible Sunday, the Bible tells us of this invitation – and that is, that we recognize our God-experiences, those moments of light where God has expressed his generosity and goodness in us. By being able recognize them, we also allow our heart to be ever more grateful to the Lord. 

    And hopefully, by being grateful to God, then, we can also respond to the Lord, to his invitation to us, not just because we are indebted to God or out of duty as Christians, but we respond out of our gratitude to Him just like the disciples. We respond to Jesus’ call to follow him in our own context and capacities and in our own status and situations in life, as young persons, as parents, as workers, as professionals or as respected senior citizens. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Repentance: A call for everyone

    Repentance: A call for everyone

    January 26, 2020 – Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/012620.cfm

    Homily

    If and when given another chance in life, would you do it again or would you do it anew? Would you live life as before or much better than before?  Surely, if and when given another chance in life, we would hope for life anew than life again, we would aspire to live life much better than before rather than as it was before. We know however that for this hope and aspiration to fulfill, we must change our old ways and try to live life differently as before. 

    The first call of Jesus is the call to repentance. Jesus began his public mission with an invitation: “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” His preaching begins by calling on all people to repent and embrace the Good News of God’s kingdom. It is easy for us to understand that this call to repentance is directed toward sinners. Even Jesus himself had difficulties to communicate this call to good people than with sinners. Why? Because the hardest people of all to change their ways are the good people. They simply don’t see any need of conversion. They only think that as sick people need healing; only sinners need repentance. But actually the call to repentance is a call for everyone, an invitation for all, good or bad you may be.

    For what does repentance mean?

    To repent means to feel dissatisfied with oneself and longing for something better with one you have right now. There must be a sense of something is wrong, or at least something is lacking or missing in one’s life – A feeling of discontent with what is happening with one’s life.  To repent is not only to be sorry for what we have done but also what we have failed to do for our lives. Usually repentance begins in the realization that we are not what we could or should be; or we are not what we choose to be and supposed to be. Repentance then is borne out our longing for a much better life than as it is now. 

    To repent would also demand openness, honesty, and above all courage with oneself – Courage to put on end to self-deception, and courage to confront painful self-reality. Surely, it takes a lot of courage for a person to line up for confession, admitting one’s guilt, asking forgiveness, and resolving to change. And sometimes, it is easy to be sorry for one’s sins than to admit mistake, saying: “I sorry, but…”. It is more difficulty to admit one’s mistake or shortcoming, “ I am wrong..” than to ask forgiveness, “I am sorry”. Repentance then is to take responsibility for your own being wrong, unwell and lacking. 

    To repent is to make a decision to conversion that is to change oneself. And to make such decision is not an easy task, for it entails a lot of responsibilities. Human as we are, we do tend to pass the bucket to others. As much as possible, we tend to escape from making a stance or commitment. We rather blame others for the faults, which we should have been ours to make. However, whatever your decision today, whether to choose life or death, to help or exploit oneself or others, to do good or evil deeds, to accept responsibility or blame others, mirrors your very own identity, your conviction and commitment as human persons. As the saying goes, “Kon gusto mo ng pagbabago sa buhay, umpisahan mo sa sarili mo. If you long for change and a better life, begin with oneself. Conversion, Renewal or Redemption starts with oneself. 

    In as much as it is a heavy task to take or a rough road to travel, repentance is a very positive experience. True, to repent is to admit that all is not well with oneself and to change oneself. But to repent is also to discover something new and wonderful about oneself. It means opening up and acquiring new vision, seeing wider perspective, opening up others options and possibilities, challenging one’s values, not being tied up with biases and prejudices and seeing things anew. In other words, it opens up the way to a new life – to the kingdom of heaven at hand. Repentance could be an exciting and joyful adventure to follow Jesus.

    This is what repentance did to the apostles when they responded to Jesus’ call for repentance. Inasmuch as it staggered them from their old convictions, confronted themselves, left their nets and followed him, it offered them also a new heaven and a new earth, the Kingdom of God – a new hope in life. 

    Remember: Faith requires repentance, because to repent is to change our ways, our lifestyle and be converted towards the Lord’s way. To change is to grow. To grow is to live life to its fullness. And to live life is to believe in the Lord’s offer of eternal life. 

    By the way, in life we don’t live once. We die once in life. We live life everyday. So we are given everyday always a chance to live life anew and not just again, better than just same as before.

    As the Lord lives with us and we live with Him, may His offer of God’s kingdom dwelling in us be responded by our genuine conversion and repentance as well as by our discipleship. Amen.

    By Fr. Mar Masangcay, CSsR – a Filipino Redemptorist Missionary in South Korea.

  • We are God’s beloved Children

    We are God’s beloved Children

    January 19, 2020 – Feast of the Sto. Niño de Cebu

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

    In our Wednesday novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help, we always ask our mother to help us learn to adapt to our growing children. Praying this, we acknowledge before the Lord that as Christians and in particular as parents, we are imperfect. We recognize that we encounter problems and difficulties in dealing with our growing children and that, at times we fail to love and respect the children as persons and as God’s children. And for this, we implore Our Mother’s guidance and assistance.

    Filipinos love the Sto. Nino, the child Jesus, and today every third Sunday of January, we celebrate the Feast of Sto. Nino. Like the Sto. Nino, our children today are also God’s gifts and instrument of salvation for humanity. They are God’s blessing and signs of hope for our Christian families and communities. As gifts, children must be accepted, love and provided with the love and care they need for their growth and well-being. As God’s instrument, they must also be respected for what they are and will be, with talents and limitations, for in their own unique way children can contribute to the building up of Christian families, and communities, and in God’s kingdom as well.

    In our gospel today, we hear how Jesus greatly emphasize the value of us being God’s children, and of being children in God’s kingdom. For Jesus, our being beloved children of God is our very dignity and rights of our person. As God’s beloved children, we enjoy personal relationship with Jesus and the Kingdom of God. We have the right and duty to grow in faith, to grow in our own personal relationship with God. It is also our vocation to be a disciple – to come and follow Jesus Christ and express our response, by our love and respect for others. Today, Jesus invites us to love and respect our children, as much as we demand respect from them. Like us now adult Christians, our today’s children are also God’s beloved children.

    Now if we wish to learn how to adapt to our growing children – to respect God’s beloved children, take a good look at the picture of Our Mother Perpetual Help, a portrait of Mary carrying her child Jesus. By merely looking at the picture of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, we readily notice the relationship between Jesus and Mary – Mary as the mother, the parent of Jesus the Redeemer. As a mother, Mary presents to us the child Jesus, a child who like any other child needs nourishment, love, guidance, protection and care of a parent. We see Mary as the model of Christian Parenthood for she teaches us how to love and care and protect our children. The picture also shows us Jesus growing and gradually learning that in fulfilling his vocation in life, there will be coming great changes and suffering; and Mary has to adapt gradually to the changes going in her son’s life. As Jesus grew, so did Mary grow to respect and share the giftedness of the growing Jesus to others.

    As we honor today the Sto. Nino, Jesus want us to remember that our devotion to the Sto. Nino must reflect not only our deep joy and thanksgiving to God for sharing us His only Son, but also expressed our love and concern for today’s God’s little children, His ninos and ninas. And the most relevant and meaningful way of honoring the Sto. Niño is not so much by merrymaking, parades or street dancing, but by concretely expressing our Christian respect, love and concern to our growing children, especially the poor and abandoned little children. 

    Concretely, I invite you spent a quality time with your children today. Listen to their stories, their concerns, and their hopes in life. Respect and Learn from them for they are also God’s children and messengers. As a Filipino song would say: “Itanong mo sa mga bata. Ang buhay ay hawak nila… at Ang sagot iyong makikita.” Ask the children. Life is in their hands… and you will find the answers.

    Through our children, may we discern and respect God’s ways and plans for a better life ahead of us.

  • You are my beloved child

    You are my beloved child

    January 12, 2020 – Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (End of Christmas Season)

    Click here for the readings http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011220.cfm

    Homily by Fr. Mar Masangcay, CSsR (A Redemptorist Missionary based in South Korea)

    I once received an inquiry about parish guidelines on child baptism. Particularly, they are asking for a so-called “Special” Baptism. Without a doubt the child must be very special to the family to request for a so-called “special” baptism. Only to found out later that what they really wanted is an exclusive and private celebration of the Sacrament of Child Baptism since the child is born out of wedlock.

    I cannot help but question their motivation for a so-called special baptism. Is it because the child is very special to them despite the circumstances of its birth or is it because they are ashamed of themselves to admit the child as unwanted by the parents and/or the whole family themselves? 

    I think we need to clarify and direct some of these distorted and questionable but trending views about Baptism in the Church nowadays.  

    First, there is no such thing as special, exclusive, or private celebration of sacrament of child baptism. The regular and proper celebration of baptism is and should be in public parish church before the congregation of Catholic faithful of where the child will grow in faith, and become a member. Except for emergency baptism where the child is at the risk or danger of death, baptisms should be done in the church with other children to be baptized and before many baptized Catholic faithful, again where the child will grow in faith, and becomes a member parishioner. Church liturgies and sacraments are communal public church prayer-worship, and never should be an exclusive, private family, organization, or office party-program, event or entertainment. In other words, Baptism is the moment when we become members of our parish church as well as of the Universal Church. 

    Second, as the child as well as we were baptized, we become God’s children in Christ. In baptism, we are consecrated, identified, accepted, dignified and affirmed to be beloved Children of God, like Jesus. When he was baptized in the river Jordan by John the Baptist, Jesus needs to hear the words and confirmation from the Father, himself saying, “You are my beloved on whom my favor rests”. Such words emphasize his very spiritual identity before God and the vision of God’s kingdom.  Here, he is reminded in a deep, deep way of who he is, of his very being before God and people – that among anything else, He is God’s beloved Son. This is the very affirmation and confirmation of his identity before God.  

    In the same way, when he carried out his mission and public ministry, Jesus wants us also to hear the same message from the Father that “You are my Beloved on whom my favor rests”. Jesus wants us to be aware and hear of the very reality that before God, it is not only Jesus but we, you and I who believe in Jesus are also essentially God’s beloved sons and daughters.

    In God’s heart and eyes, we are His beloved children. And by virtue of our baptism, we are consecrated to be God’s children. We are His beloved, not because we did anything, not because we proved ourselves or not because of what we did and have achieved in life. God still and always loves us whatever we do or whatever happens in our life, whether born out of wedlock, adopted, unwanted, or raised by irresponsible parents. 

    And in our baptism or in the day of our baptism, we  first hear God’s words saying to all of us throughout our lives: You are loved, you are beloved. He even love us more, whenever we also proclaim in our life to Him and all that, “Yes, Lord, I love you, too”, and love Him and others in return. Baptism is the moment that we become Beloved Children of God.

    And baptism is all about our taking responsibility for God in our lives now. Same way as God commits Himself to us by loving us, in response to God, we commit ourselves to Him in loving God. In other words, same way as Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan marks the beginning of his Mission, our Baptism is the beginning of our Mission in life for God’s sake, since we are His masterpiece for the world.  

    Being baptized Christian then, means that we become members of God’s church as God’s beloved children doing our part and mission in life for God’s glory, and Kingdom.  

    Today we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ. Today officially ends the Christmas season and we continue with the Ordinary Time of the Liturgical Year. As we are now in this transition in liturgical moment, we are reminded of the Baptism of the Lord wherein Jesus publicly proclaims His identity and commitment with God’s affirmations of Him to be the Beloved Son of God. As baptized believers of Christ, we Christians today are also reminded of our identity and dignity as publicly proclaimed and acclaimed to be like Jesus, also sons and daughters – beloved Children of God during our baptism, fulfilling our life-mission of proclaiming God’s glory and building up God’s kingdom in our lives always. 

    As we continue on with our New Life-Year with the Lord, may we always hear again and again, and be at rest always on God’s words to all of us baptized followers of Christ and members of Christ’s church: “You are my Beloved Child on whom I am well pleased.” Amen. 

  • God making himself known to us

    God making himself known to us

    January 5, 2020 – The Epiphany of the Lord

    Click here for the readings http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/010520.cfm

    Homily shared by Fr. Mar Masangcay, CSsR – a Redemptorist Missionary based in South Korea.

    Once a woman asked me to bless her Rosary beads. After blessing it, I said, “Surely, this rosary must be very precious & now would be a good companion to your prayers.” She replied, “Yes, father, this is very dear to me. My daughter gave me this from her recent pilgrimage in Rome. But, I will not to bring it with me, for it might be misplaced or lost. So, I will put this Rosary on my altar at home, like my other valuable rosaries. It would be much safer if I keep it there. Anyway I rarely use and pray the rosary.”

    As we are starting a New Year, this would be the time for us to review the gifts we received during the Christmas season, and to sort out those gifts we happily received, from the gifts that are of no great value to us. Usually in doing this, we give importance to the gifts that are pleasing and less demanding. Then, we put aside gifts, which are important but not-so-urgently needed, time consuming and demanding. It is like receiving a rosary. We know that praying the rosary is important to our Christian faith and life. But because having a rosary beads demand us to set a time to pray the Holy Rosary, sometimes it would be easy to use the beads, as decoration on our altar rather than as a means for prayer – an aid to encounter the Lord. Yes, using the beads as altar decoration is a valid expression of faith but surely, it would diminish the very value and purpose of Rosary beads, which is to lead us into prayer.

    Today, we celebrate the feast of Epiphany. This is our celebration to honor God’s loving act of reaching out to us (God making himself known to us) and our acceptance of Jesus, as God’s self-revelation. We, Christians believe that God has given us His only Son, Jesus Christ, as His first and best gift to us for our salvation. By sharing us His Sons, we become related to God and become His adopted sons and daughters, and sharers of His divine life. Indeed, Jesus is God’s greatest gift to us. 

    However, like the rosary beads, as God’s gift, Jesus is given to us with a purpose, that is to bring us closer to God. Accepting Jesus in not only accepting him as a valuable gift which we can put aside and decorate, but letting us also be influenced by the grace Jesus can offer and become His responsible witnesses. To accept Jesus, as God’s gift to us, is also to accept with total commitment the responsibility of continuing His mission, which is to present and bring all closer to the Father. Like the three kings in our Gospel, we are called to wholeheartedly accept Jesus, and become responsible witnesses of God’s love. This would mean to let our lives be changed and renewed by the presence of Jesus, and to share and make Jesus and His mission known to the whole humanity.

    Here in our gospel today, we are reminded us of what happened when the three kings found the child Jesus lying in the manger in Bethlehem. Guided by the star, in great joy, they saw the child Jesus and they did him homage. Their encounter of Jesus and the Holy Family in Bethlehem brought the three kings great joy for they have finally found what they are searching for. With this, they offered their gifts in homage and thanksgiving to God’s greatest gift to all.

    But let us not forget that after they have experienced and witnessed Jesus, the Son of God, they returned by a different way. This is not because they were afraid of Herod, but their encounter with Jesus has also changed their lives. Because of their experience with the baby Jesus, their lives were never the same again. They did not follow the usual path, but they now tread a different way, perspective, and attitude to life. Like our experience with a newly born baby, after they have recognized God in the child Jesus, the lives of the three kings were never the same again. The child Jesus brought them great joy as well as great changes in their way of life. 

    In the same way, the moment we recognize and accept the Lord, life will never be the same again. As we receive and welcome Jesus into our lives now, may we be responsible beneficiaries of God’s gift of revelation as well as sharers and witnesses of God’s offer of salvation to the whole world. Amen.