Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: Liturgical Year C

  • Discerning Authenticity

    Discerning Authenticity

    May 11, 2025 – Fourth Sunday of Easter

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051125.cfm)

    Once the late-Philippine lady senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago while giving a graduation speech made this joke. She said…

    Beside a swimming pool, two girls are having this following convo. G1 said to G2: Know what? You are going to float (Alam mo. Lulutang ka). G2 to G1: Why? Is it because I’m getting slim, light & sexy? (Bakit? Dahil ba, magaan, slim at sexy ako? G1 replied: No, it’s because you are Plastic (Dahil plastic ka). Funny & rude it maybe, but it tells a lot.

    Now, we might ask nowadays, how do we distinguish a GOOD parent, teacher, friend, politician, leader, mentor, or coach from a BAD one? How do we know if that person is real, true, deep, honest & trustworthy? How do we know that person is fake, shallow, liar & unreliable? In other words, how do we discern authentic from artificial?

    Nowadays it is normal for us to suspect things, simply because it is not easy to know whether it is real or fake. Because it is difficult to detect the authentic from artificial or plastic, the durable from disposable, nowadays we do tend to be suspicious of things & even of one another.

    Same way with our relationships with others, we rather suspect, doubt, and distrust one another, than believe and trust others because it is more challenging to distinguish who are real, honest & smart from fake, deceitful, & shrewd people.

    Jesus in our gospel today introduced and made Himself known to us as The Good Shepherd who knows His sheep and His sheep follows Him. As Jesus distinguished Himself from a Hired Worker who work for pay and no concern for the sheep, He reminds us here that as OUR good shepherd, He is a hands-on and committed caretaker/caregiver of His sheep who maintains a personal intimate relation with His sheep, and will commit His life to live and work with His fold in life & we, His sheep has a deep faith in Him, our Good Shepherd.

    Be reminded the risen Lord reveals Himself in Person & in Flesh for real. Jesus then is authentic, not artificial.

    In the Gospel few Sundays ago, as the risen Lord reveals Himself in the midst of the disciples, he showed and asked them to touch and see His wounded hands and feet.

    Thus, the risen Lord reveals Himself not as ghost but in flesh and bones with wounds. The risen Lord, our Good Shepherd thus knows us & we know Him personally for real, & not for fake or as plastic.

    We Christians proclaim that our risen Lord Jesus Christ is OUR good shepherd. We believe that He is our Shepherd, who knows and loves us personally. We also believe that we know Him personally for we know His voice & we follow Him faithfully in life.

    Particularly For us Filipino Catholic, we do have special or unique take in knowing our Good Shepherd personally. We know Him not only because Kilala natin siya but because Dama Natin siya – not only because we know Him but moreso because we feel Him.

    Culturally sense-feeling perceptions are important to us, Filipino Christians. Like,… I may know you, but I may not feel you. I may feel you though I may not know you. (Kilala kita, pero di kita ramdam. Ramdam kita kahit di kita kilala). This is how we distinguish real from fake – authentic from artificial or virtual & how we discern good & bad person.

    Same way as we Filipinos have this natural felt-instinct & sense to distinguish the real from fake, to discern the good from evil, we also come to be familiar with & know more the shepherd’s voice through our gut-sense and feelings.

    Same way as the mother knows the child instinctively & the child knows the mother by sense & instinct, we do come to know the risen Lord as our true Good Shepherd in life not only by our volition, consent & reasonings, but most of all through our sense & feeling perception (damdamin at kalooban).

    Feel/Ramdam ko Siya/Bati Nako Siya. Feel/Ramdam natin Siya/Bati nato siya. By our sense-perception & feeling-gut insights, we come to know the risen Lord with us – in person & in flesh. Knowing the Shepherd is thus not only for us an intellectual or cognitive familiarity but moreso a deep felt-sense knowledge and insight of His presence, love & blessing.

    Same deep-sense knowledge and insight would also guide us in tomorrow’s National & Local Election as we choose & vote for our coming political leaders. By the same gut-feeling insight, we know who will be good or bad, real, or fake, sincere or corrupt for the future ahead of us.

    We pray then that the Easter Season this year be our moment to enhance and improve our special felt-sense of knowing our True & Good Shepherd, so that we may not be gone astray from His fold but rather have a much deeper relationship with Him, and be always attuned with His will & plan for us now, for the future of our society, nation & world ahead.

    So Help Us, God. So May it Be. Hinaut pa unta. Amen.

  • IN-HOUSE GUEST

    IN-HOUSE GUEST

    April 27, 2025 – Second Sunday of Easter; Sunday of Divine Mercy

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042725.cfm)

    Happy Easter to all. Last Sunday we celebrated Easter Sunday. We celebrated and proclaimed our Christian faith that our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed risen into our lives.

    Today we are now on the 2nd Sunday of continuing celebration of Easter season. So, how is life after Easter Sunday?

    After the preparations of Lent and the celebrations of Holy Week – after Easter Sunday surely, we are back to our normal ways – back to our usual routine, schedules, activities, programs, tasks, and responsibilities. But as we go along our normal ways and live our usual lives, we also wonder how is the message of resurrection of the risen Lord make sense and become more real now in our day to day living. Yes, we believe that the Lord has risen. But how and in what ways the risen Lord has resurrected and can be resurrected into our ordinary lives today? Paano Siya naging at maging Buhay’ng-Muli sa buhay ko at natin ngayon? This is the very challenge of Easter to us Christians during this Easter season.

    While reflecting on the revival of Lazarus from the dead, Pope Francis once in his homily said that each one of us has a small tomb inside our hearts – that somehow somewhere in our lives, though still alive and breathing, is dying and dead inside. Yes, somehow, we are still & get used with isolation in our small caves, even after pandemic lockdown & quarantine. Our small tombs are usually our dark secret holes and shadowy caves where we usually hide and bury our anger, hurts, pains, sufferings, failures, frustrations, anxiety, fears and addictions from ourselves and others.

    And inside our small tomb, we do have the choice whether to be alone on our own, miserably struggling and grieving with the “why’s of life”… OR to invite the risen Lord to be part of our search for answers and sense for all these happenings in our lives.

    For Pope Francis, we need to recognize our dying and dead self-inside, and invite the risen Lord to be our Guest inside our small tombs and allow Him to be part of our death and dying within, and be resurrected into our New Life with Him.

    Brothers and sisters, the empty tomb of Easter reveals to us that the risen Lord is not in his tomb. But out here and there revealing Himself into our ordinary normal lives and offering us life and life eternal. The same way as He appeared before His disciples, the risen Lord is showing & will appear Himself to us in our ordinary lives anew with a promise of not only new normal but more so, of Life Eternal.

    The mistake of Thomas in our gospel today is not so much for doubting the Lord’s resurrection but more so for being absent – he was not there when the Lord appeared the first time. Thomas at first did not recognize his own small tombs and invite the risen Lord to be part of his ordinary life. Only when he was with the other’s disciples in locked door room – present in their own tombs and allow the Lord to be part of His Life that Thomas came to recognize and believe in the risen Lord.

    Meaning, the risen Lord only wishes to be invited and partake into our own isolation inside our small tombs and in our ordinary lives so that He can share to us New Life with Him. No more being alone – on your own in your own tombs. Thus, no more hiding, navel-gazing, just looking into oneself – licking wounds, brooding, and sinking in anguish & despair.

    For the Easter message of Lord’s resurrection to be more real and meaningful now in our lives then, we must invite the Lord into our small tombs and allow Him to be part of our usual day to day struggle with life. The Lord is risen and has indeed resurrected again and anew in our lives now – if and when we invite Him to be part of our small tombs and our ordinary lives. He also can only resurrect and bring our death and dying back to life anew nowadays if only and whenever we invite and allow the Lord to be part and be with our normal life’s-struggles and triumphs, especially influencing and guiding us in our day-to-day decisions, as we elect & vote for our political leaders ahead.

    To have a more real and meaningful celebration of Easter Season then, let the risen Lord in and allow Him to be our Guest – to be there and be part of our small tombs and our ordinary lives these days. And perhaps ask ourselves once again: What is the risen Lord offering me now here inside my tomb, inside my isolation? What is His resurrection in to me and what’s in for me? What are benefits and the purpose of letting Him be part of my life now: Healing, Peace, Mercy, Forgiveness, Hope, Mercy, Love, Release, Liberation, New Life, Holy Spirit… A chance to choose & do things right for our country…..?

    Although we are back to our usual normal lives & usual ways after Easter Sunday, we also know and believe that with the risen Lord in our lives now, LIFE will & should never be the same again and as usual, but ours would now be a new normal life and better than before, IF and Whenever we invite and allow our risen Lord to be part of our small tombs and our daily ordinary lives, as our in-house guest.

    Siya Nawa. Hinaut pa unta. Kabay pa. Amen.

  • Let go of the stone of condemnation

    Let go of the stone of condemnation

    April 6, 2025 – Fifth Sunday of Lent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040625-YearC.cfm)

    Do we find ourselves rejoicing at the faults of others? Are we delighted upon learning that our sister or brother has failed? Do we feel victorious when others are found guilty and shamed?

    When we find ourselves rejoicing, being delighted and feeling victorious over the sins, guilt and shame of others – this tells us that something is also wrong with us. Our heart becomes an accuser to people who failed.  We feel righteous because we are not like them. Then, we make “labels” to others. These are forms of “name-calling or stereotyping” to magnify their guilt and shame. We become rejecting and condemning. We demand evil for evil.

    Yet, in the deepest of our hearts, are we indeed sinless, guiltless and blameless? Or do we only hide our own failures and sins by magnifying those of others?

    This very kind of attitudes that may be creeping in our hearts as well as in our culture have been revealed to us today. On this Fifth Sunday of Lent, the Lord invites us to look deeply into our hearts. And so let us explore the readings and embrace God’s mercy and forgiveness.

    The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus who committed adultery. This whole affair of the scribes and Pharisees with Jesus was filled with malice and hatred directed both towards the woman and also to Jesus himself.

    In that culture, women were the only ones who can commit adultery. Men can’t. Women were perceived to be deceiver and caused of sin. This was the reason why the man was not in the picture.

    This culture was influenced by their machismo and patriarchal society. Hence, it was only the woman who was brought in the middle of the people. The intention was to shame her and not to bring justice. She was also brought there in an effort to kill her by stoning her to death.

    Such condemnation was so cruel. Yet, despite its cruelty and violence, people found delight and joy over it. They even demanded for such savagery because it was what the “law” mandated them to do.

    With the leadership of those influential scribes and Pharisees, they condemned this woman. With this attitude, they refused to give another chance and opportunity for the woman to change and redeem herself.

    They demanded punishment from Jesus who could also confirm such penalty according to the Law of Moses. This was where their malice and hatred towards Jesus was also to be found. They were trying to find fault in Jesus so that they too can accuse him of blasphemy and then condemn him to death. The thought of it gave them satisfaction.

    However, the event was turned by Jesus in the way they did not expect it to be. Jesus said, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”  At this, Jesus redirected the condemning fingers of Scribes and Pharisees towards them. By saying that, Jesus brought them to themselves, to look at their sinfulness. To recognize who sick their hearts were.

    It was very interesting at how the gathered people responded. They began to look at themselves and found that each of them was sinful. Each one was not worthy to carry out such punishment towards the woman. Each one was also guilty.

    What was more interesting was the way St. John described to us the first initiative of the elders to leave first. The elders of that community left the gathering first because they realized that the length of their life also meant more sins committed.

    This Gospel scenario invites us now to look closely at ourselves and to examine better our intentions, thoughts and actions. We are invited also to be more understanding of those who failed but not in the sense of condoning such failures and sins. We are invited to be merciful rather than condemning.

    This is what Jesus showed to the woman. Jesus said, “I do not condemn you. Go and sin no more.” The beauty of the Gospel lies here. God has delivered his judgment and showed His mercy. Jesus freed the woman and was commanded to sin no more and not to go back to her old sinful self. She had, surely, found her way to freedom and peace in Jesus.

    Pope Francis in his homily on this Gospel story said, “Jesus forgives. But here there is something more than forgiveness because Jesus goes beyond the law. Though Jesus was pure and the only person who is worthy to cast the first stone against the woman, but Jesus did not because he showed mercy. ”

    Mercy, as the Pope says, is difficult understand. “Mercy does not erase sins. It is God’s forgiveness that erases our sins. But then, mercy is the way in which God forgives. ”

    Thus, unlike the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus saw more in the person of that woman. The limited awareness and refusal of the Scribes and Pharisees to see more, prevented them to discover that there was always hope in every sinner, and that there was more in a person’s weakness and imperfection. This is how Jesus defends us, sinners from the just condemnation of death.  And it is because God always sees goodness in us.

    We are all invited now to let go of the stones from our hands and in return embrace a family member, or relative or a friend whom we know have sinned against us. Only then that reconciliation will also begin in us. Hopefully, as we enter the Holy Week next week, may our hearts be ready to celebrate the Easter joy of Christ. Hinaut pa.

  • Life with HIM

    Life with HIM

    March 30, 2025 – Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/033025-YearC.cfm

    We hear Jesus proclaims to us, “God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.” This is to remind us of God’s deep love for us to the point of sacrificing His son, so that we might believe in Him so as we may share sacred lives with Him. Meaning, God suffered a lot for our Faith at the price of His son. He wants us to heed and do those challenging words of believing again & anew in His Son, so that God could always love and forgive us  again & anew. And above all, He challenges us now & always to do this, (why?)… because God wants to share His eternal life with us, His beloved children. God wants us to have Life with Him.

    Consider Judas & Peter, as to how and why the sin of Judas is more serious than Peter’s. We come to realize that Judas’ is more serious than Peter’s sin, because Judas did not give the Lord the chance to love and forgive him again & anew, instead he ended his life by killing himself. Yes, Judas repented but he did not believe anymore. Peter on the other hand, yes, have hidden himself… but repented & stayed on until the Lord’s resurrection and got the chance to be forgiven and loved again & anew by the Lord. Peter repented & still believes in God despite what happened. In other words, Judas’ sin is more serious compared to Peter’s because Judas, by committing suicide, did not give the Lord the opportunity, the chance to forgive and love him again. Both may have repented but unlike Judas, Peter believes and remains to have faith in Jesus’ resurrection, in effect, made him experience life – life eternal with God.

    So also if & when we still believe despite of what happened to us, we could share in God eternal life through the Lord’s resurrection.

    A story also once told that in God’s kingdom when everyone lives blissfully in the everlasting life, Peter finds Jesus standing near the heavenly gate. He goes near Jesus, and said, “Well, everyone is looking for you. How come you are here near the gate?” The Lord replied, “Actually, I’m waiting for someone. I’m waiting for my dear Judas to hopefully come back…. The Lord is thus still & always waiting for our coming home in repentance & faith.

    Remember then that God loves us not because and after we have repented and we are forgiven, but rather God forgives us because we are loved beforehand and eternally. As Paul would say of our Lord: “His death is death to sin once for all, his life is life for God. So also, You must consider yourself dead to sin & alive for God in Jesus Christ.”

    Like the Father in the Prodigal Son in our gospel today, the Lord Jesus is always waiting for us so that He could always love and forgive us again & anew. So, at this time, as we prepare ourselves to celebrate Easter, by our repentance & faith, like Peter & the prodigal son, let us give God now through Jesus a chance to forgive and love as again and anew, so that we experience eternal life with Him.

    With Our Mother of Perpetual Help, may the fruits of our honest repentance, righteous attitude & deeper faith in the Lord be upon us, & so for us to experience & celebrate Easter, as our foretaste of eternal life with God, now & always

    So Help us God. So May it be. Amen.

  • THE CALL OF CONVERSION

    THE CALL OF CONVERSION

    March 23, 2025 – Third Sunday of Lent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032325-YearC.cfm)

    Our fear of failure or our anxiety of what would others think can drive us to grow complacent, to settle down to comforts and even make us bored.[1] When we are unaware of these tendencies then the more we hold back. This would hamper us from maturing in our relationships and honing our talents and potentials.

    On this Third Sunday of Lent, let us allow ourselves to be challenged and to embraced the call of conversion.

    The first reading from the Book of Exodus tells us a wonderful story of the call of Moses. His call from God captures the invitation for each of us as we are now on the third Sunday of Lent. Let us explore together our readings today and see how God invites and calls us.

    The first reading tells us of the conversion of Moses. It began through the “burning bush” which led Moses to encounter God.

    Moses noticed the flaming bush but was not consumed by fire. This made Moses to become curious. His curiosity led him to come nearer to the burning bush. It was at that moment too that he heard his name being called. With that, Moses responded. He became aware of the holy presence of God as he was standing on a holy ground.

    Moses had to remove his sandals and to present himself in bare foot before God. That led him to a personal conversation with God because he was more grounded. By removing his sandals, Moses felt and became more connected with God. Moreover, this encounter brought Moses to a mission. God sent Moses back to Egypt to bring freedom for his fellow Israelites.

    This encounter of Moses allowed him to know God and be more aware of God. God’s name is “I am who am” or basically means, “I am with you always, all the time.”

    Moses realized that God is relational. This means that God does not remain remote or alien to human suffering. In fact, the Book of Exodus described God’s words in this way, “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so I know well what they are suffering.”

    This conversion story of Moses tells us that God disturbs us from our comforts, fears and complacency. Remember, Moses fled Egypt because he killed an Egyptian soldier who had beaten a Hebrew slave. The burning bush then, became the opportunity for Moses to encounter and know God, and being called and challenged by God as well.

    In the second reading, St. Paul reminds us of this call towards conversion.  The history of unfaithfulness, of the grave sin committed by the people in the past must be a learning experience. That cannot be forgotten. St. Paul calls us, definitely, not to grow complacent and to just be secured with what we have in this world. He even expressed this in these words, “whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall.” 

    In the same manner, the call of conversion is also revealed in today’s parable in the Gospel of Luke. In that parable of the fig tree, Jesus tells us that the Father is a God of many chances. God gives us many chances to change our ways and to come nearer to him so that we may find fullness of life.

    This is described to us as Jesus expressed in the parable how the owner visited the fig tree. Yet, in the person of the gardener, Jesus tells us that indeed, God gives us another chance when we fail and commit mistakes, when we grow complacent and refuse to be life-giving. The gardener expressed hope to the owner as he asked him to give the fig tree another year. The gardener promised to cultivate it so that it may bear fruit. The gardener saw hope for transformation and hope of being fruitful in that tree.

    Indeed, God always sees hope in each of us too. This was how God saw hope in Moses who left Egypt to hide and to make him as God’s messenger. God also saw hope among his people who were made slaves in a foreign land to give them the fullness of life.

    Out of these things, there are three invitations that I want you to remember on this Third Sunday of Lent.

    First, be more conscious of our own “burning bush.” This “burning bush” could be an experience where we also became curious about God. Discover and affirm those moments of your personal encounter with God.

    Second, remove our sandals, as what Moses did. Let us remove anything that is not helpful and toxic. Remove and get rid of those that prevent our growth.  We are challenged to remove and let go any unnecessary things, attitudes, behaviors, opinions, beliefs and lifestyle that prevent us from becoming a life-giving person.

    Third, go beyond. This is the message of hope and the call of conversion. We are not limited by our failures and mistakes in life, not even by our sickness, struggles and difficulties that we have at this moment. God sees hope in us and it is God’s desire that we are able to enjoy life and celebrate life in its fullness. Thus, go beyond from our protected shells of pretensions and complacency. Go beyond  from our fears and sins by seeking peace and reconciliation. Go beyond from our insecurities, anger, hatred, disappointment and trauma by making ourselves confident with God’s gift of healing and of his faithfulness. Hinaut pa.

    [1] https://ryanestis.com/why-do-we-become-complacent-comfortable-and-bored/#:~:text=Fear%20of%20failure%20or%20the,%2C%20relationships%2C%20happiness%20and%20fulfillment.