Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: Marian Homilies

  • BY BEING TOGETHER, NOT IN SUFFERING ALONE

    BY BEING TOGETHER, NOT IN SUFFERING ALONE

    September 15, 2025 – Monday, Memorial of the Our Lady of Sorrow

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091525.cfm)

    Having a wisdom tooth growing can completely destroy your day. Having a headache can affect your daily activities. When pain becomes unbearable, it affects our daily routine and activities, our work and studies, even our relationships.

    Who would really want to be in pain? As much as possible, we avoid pain. The medical science developed pain relievers to take away gradually or instantly the aches and pains we feel in our body. Anesthesiologists are there to assist patients who will undergo surgery through the use of anesthesia.

    Yet, no remedy can be given to a heart that is bruised, abused, betrayed or humiliated. No doctor can inject anesthesia to a deep emotional pain. It can even linger and worsen with time. Emotional pain can also be unbearable and life-threatening when it is faced alone.

    On this memorial of Mary, the Our Lady of Sorrows, we are reminded that pain in itself is part of life. No one can escape pain. All of us will meet pain in different degrees and aspects of life.

    However, this celebration reminds us of the wonder and comfort in facing and enduring pain when we are with others.

    Remember the prophecy of the old Simeon as told to us in the Gospel of Luke. When the baby Jesus was brought by the couple, Joseph and Mary to the Temple, Simeon had caught sight of Light, the salvation of the world. However, this child will be responsible for the rise and fall of many in Israel. This means that the humble, the poor and those marginalized by the society will rise into the heart of God. Yet, he will be the fall of the powerful, the self-righteous and the corrupt.

    Hence, the infant will be a contradiction, a counter-culture. The child will bring change and transformation to all that can be painful to those who seek comfort and power, titles and riches.

    Being a contradiction to the world, the child himself will undergo a terrible pain of betrayal, of dying and death. With this, no amount of pain reliever or anesthesia can aid. The same amount of pain was also given to the mother of the child, to Mary.

    Simeon prophesied, “you yourself a sword will pierce.” Mary’s heart will be pierced with so much sorrow and pain. Every blow to Jesus, Mary also endured. Every insult to her Son, Mary also suffered. Every agony of Jesus, Mary also agonized.

    However, despite all these gruesome and painful events in the life of Mary, she did not hide. Mary did not escape into dreams and denial. Mary bravely confronted pain by being with her Son, by journeying with him until his last breath.

    Unlike the men disciples of Jesus who hid and ran away from pain, Mary bravely faced that sword piercing her heart. She suffered in silence along with her Son.

    Yet, what made Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows to have the courage?It was love that sustained Mary. It was her deep concern and affection to the person whom she loved that moved her to be with Jesus and to also suffer with him. To the suffering Son on the cross, the presence of her mother was the best comfort he had. The presence of Mary was more powerful than any pain reliever and any amount of anesthesia to the dying Son.

    Although, Mary’s presence did not take away the pain, but her presence made Jesus to be more resolved that there is hope in humanity.Mary’s presence on the cross is a testament to God that humanity can show so much concern and love to a suffering person. That’s why pain is never the end, suffering is never the last thing in life. The glory of the resurrection of Jesus tells us of that freedom from pain and promise of joy.

    We can attain that, by being together, not suffering alone. It is in allowing others to suffer with us or by allowing ourselves to suffer with others. We realize then, to live life will bring pain in us, but it will also bear fruit joy because of being with our friends and loved ones.

    On this feast of Mary, we are also called to be an instrument like Mary, to give comfort to those who are suffering and in pain in many ways, physically, spiritually or emotionally. Let our presence be an assurance of friendship, of love and concern to those who are in terrible pain this moment. For those who are in pain also, never retreat, deny or hide the pain or escape from pain, but allow others to journey with you. Allow those who love you to hold you and to embrace you. They may not take away the pain you are feeling, but let their presence, friendship and love be your source of comfort and confidence in your painful moments. Hinaut pa.

  • How do I pray? What do I pray?  

    How do I pray? What do I pray?  

    June 19, 2025 – Thursday 11th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061925.cfm)

    (Homily on the Fourth Day of Novena for the Feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help at St. Clement’s Church, Iloilo City)

    How do I pray? What do I pray? What are those that I usually ask from the Lord?

    Others pray spontaneously asking what they want and desire for themselves and for their loved ones. Others are more comfortable using the memorized prayers as forms of meditation and deeper reflection on the mystery of God.

    We too ask many things from the Lord. Others would even have a litany of requests and petitions. And as a form of asking God’s favor we even observe number of days of prayers. This is what we do in observing our Novenas, or the 9 days Misa de Gallo during December, believing that God would grant ones desires and prayers.

    In fact, this is what we do now as we prepare for the Feast of Mary, Our Mother of Perpetual Help, on this Fourth Day.

    Thus, it would be good to take a look in the way we do our prayers, to look at the intentions we make in our prayers. Let us also include the kind consciousness that we have in our prayers. This is something important because this will help us to evaluate our personal relationship with God and with others.

    Now, in today’s Gospel Jesus reminds his disciples of the importance of prayer and also of the importance of the kind of consciousness in their prayers.

    Jesus mentioned about the way the pagans prayed. These pagans loved to use many words in their prayers. They believed that it was in that way that they would be able to get the attention of their gods and goddesses. At the same time, pagans believed it would appease them. They believed that these gods and goddesses were unforgiving, impulsive and frightening. These pagans babbled in their prayers in order to get the favor from these difficult and terrifying deities.

    However, Jesus reminds his disciples that our God is not like that. God is not vengeful. God is not inconsistent. Our God is not terrifying. The Lord God is rather loving and forgiving. Hence, to use many words would not be necessary because God knows the desires of our heart.

    Moreover, as Jesus reminds his disciples, he also tells us now that our prayers are not meant to appease an angry and hateful god or to gain favor from a terrifying god. This also means that the content of our prayers should not be self-centered. To pray is not just to ask something for ourselves but also for others. That is why Jesus taught us his own prayer. His prayer expressed intimacy and closeness with the Father in heaven.

    This prayer starts with these two words, OUR FATHER. It did not say “My Father” and not even “Their Father.” This tells us that when we pray, we always remember others. We are always together as people, as brothers and sisters. Our relationship with God though can be personal but it is also founded in our community. That is why it starts with “OUR” because this includes you and me and everyone else.

    This prayer (Our Father/Lord’s Prayer) tells us that God is a Father. God relates to us personally. God is not somewhere out there who is so far away from us but God is here with us. God as our Father is, indeed, loving and faithful to us. This is evident at how the Lord God continually revealed the divine presence to us throughout our human history. This means also that we are invited to seek God’s will and God’s desire not just our desire. Most of the time, when we pray we only think of what we want and desire but we forget to ask, what is it that you desire for me Lord?

    It invites us also to become dependent on Him because He is generous and faithful to us. To pray, “give us this day our daily bread,” means to be more focused of today, this day not tomorrow because tomorrow has not yet come. Certainly, we can be too anxious of what will happen tomorrow that it will prevent us to see what is more important today. Thus, Jesus invites us to be more contented of today and to ask sustenance enough for today.

    Notice also that in this prayer, it recognizes our sinfulness and need to be forgiven. It is necessary that we become humble and ask God’s mercy because this is the way that we make ourselves open to God’s grace. When we remain arrogant and unrepentant of our sins, then we prevent God to transform us and prevent others to come into our life.

    And finally, we make ourselves aware that there is also the presence of the evil one around us. The evil one constantly tempts us to move away from God. The evil one wants us to cut our relationship from the Lord, thus from the grace of God.

    The evil will always try allure us to think that it is better not to pray and that we do not need God. The evil will seduce us to think that we can do everything in our power without the help of God and that we do no need to think of others but ourselves alone. Be careful then of these temptations.

    With all of these, we find Mary, Our Mother of Perpetual Help as our guide and best example. Mary showed us how such intimacy with the Lord makes us open and welcoming to the will of God. Mary showed us that to completely trust in the Lord is to make our heart full of love. Mary also showed us that by choosing the Lord, evil has no power over us.

    Being made aware of the consciousness behind the Lord’s Prayer and of Mary’s presence in our life and faith, we too shall grow in our relationship with God and with one another. We may become less self-centered and self-serving and rather become self-giving and life-giving as God desires us to be in our homes and communities. Kabay pa.

  • God’s Sign for us

    God’s Sign for us

    March 25, 2025 – Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032525.cfm)

    Asking for signs has been part of our belief and culture as far as our human civilization is concerned. We ask for signs when we make small and big decisions in life. We also look for signs both natural and supernatural to guide us. Among the indigenous people, being able to recognize and understand the many signs would either bring us to prosperity and blessing or to dangers and risks.

    On this Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, a great sign has been revealed for all humanity. What had been announced was the sign of redemption and life. Let us discover how Mary played a special role as she herself was the first to have received the sign from the Lord.

    The first reading from the Book of Isaiah relates to us a story of a person who refused God’s offer. Ahaz who was King of Judah was told to ask a sign from God. Yet, Ahaz refused. Why? He was asked so that he may believe in God’s faithfulness and salvation. This refusal of Ahaz was a show of not believing in God and a refusal to trust in the Lord. Ahaz, rather trusted another god, the King of Assyria.

    Assyria at that time was politically powerful. It had powerful army.. Ahaz thought that by trusting Assyria then he will have the certainty of protection and salvation. Judah at that time was threatened by other nations. Ahaz feared that his kingdom will end and his people will perish. Hence, he did not believe that God was the surest protection for the people.

    However, despite the refusal of Ahaz, God still promised a sign of salvation. This will be through the participation of a virgin who shall conceive a son. This son is the , Emmanuel, that God is with us.

    Indeed, even in our unbelief or refusal to believe in the Lord’s invitation, God is still in our midst. God remains faithful to us.

    This is the message to us on this Solemnity that we are called to take comfort. Yes, take comfort, because no matter how much fear, sadness, depression, worries, desperation and anxiety we are feeling at this very moment, God is with us! The Lord had given the sign for us. And this is hope.

    The prophecy in the Book of Isaiah was fulfilled through the participation of a young woman. Unlike Ahaz, Mary took the risk of trusting God despite the confusion, fear and suffering that she was to undergo.

    The angel Gabriel, whose name means, “God is powerful,” assured this young woman not to fear, because God is with her. The very presence of Gabriel was an assurance to Mary that God was working powerfully and wonderfully with her.

    This encounter became the space for Mary to receive God’s invitation. She was chosen to be that virgin who shall conceive a son, the greatest sign of God’s promise. The refusal of king Ahaz to God’s invitation was now being countered and redeemed through the acceptance of a simple young woman.

    Mary responded, “Yes, I am a servant of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word.” It was her full expression to participate in God’s action. This echoed both in our Psalm and in the Letter to the Hebrews, “Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.”

    Through the generous response and participation of Mary, the promise was fulfilled. In this way, Mary in turn also became a sign of God’s faithfulness and love. Mary who became the Mother of God, is also God’s sign of healing and life.

    This tells us now that our (human) participation is very important for God to fulfill the promise of salvation and restoration, of healing and freedom. Without our participation, God cannot also work with us and through us. God cannot just impose even though God is powerful. God is not an imposing God. Rather, God calls us.

    On this Solemnity of the Annunciation, through the person of Mary and her participation, we too are called to respond to God’s invitation. We are called to participate in God’s action of fulfilling the promise of salvation, healing and restoration.

    We may ask ourselves, how is God calling me now to participate in God’s plan of healing and bringing salvation to all? In what way I could be of help for others or bring blessings to those who are most in need? In what way I could inspire hope and give comfort to those who are afflicted, those who are sick, grieving, depressed and lonely?

    Like Mary, let us also ponder and keep in our hearts God’s invitation. Like her, we may also become God’s sign of healing and blessings for others. Hinaut pa.

  • Mary’s Visit is God’s Presence

    Mary’s Visit is God’s Presence

    Feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help

    (St. Clement’s Church-Redemptorist, Iloilo City)

    First Reading : Zep 3:14-18a

    Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
                Sing joyfully, O Israel!
    Be glad and exult with all your heart,
                O daughter Jerusalem!
    The LORD has removed the judgment against you,
                he has turned away your enemies;
    The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst,
                you have no further misfortune to fear.
    On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:
                Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!
    The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
                a mighty savior;
    He will rejoice over you with gladness,
                and renew you in his love,
    He will sing joyfully because of you,
                as one sings at festivals.

    Gospel Reading : Lk 1:39

    Mary set out
    and traveled to the hill country in haste
    to a town of Judah,
    where she entered the house of Zechariah
    and greeted Elizabeth.
    When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
    the infant leaped in her womb,
    and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
    cried out in a loud voice and said,
    “Most blessed are you among women,
    and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
    And how does this happen to me,
    that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
    For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
    the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
    Blessed are you who believed
    that what was spoken to you by the Lord
    would be fulfilled.”

    St. Luke described to us the visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. He included this story in his Gospel to bring a message to a particular Christian community to which Luke was in-charge. What we can learn from this particular passage of the Gospel of Luke is the role of Mary in the Christian Community.

     Even at that early stage of the Christian faith, Mary had already become a mother and a model to every disciple of the Lord. Mary who received the Lord in her womb and in her whole life manifested in her actions the wonders of God done unto her. She became a model of charity and service to others which is an expression of bringing the Lord to others. This is clear enough in Mary’s willing heart to help her cousin, Elizabeth.

    The exchange of greetings between these two women was the amazing thing we find in the Gospel. Luke described to us how the baby in the womb of Elizabeth leaped with joy upon hearing the voice of Mary. Mary, the THEOTOKOS or bearer of God, brought such great joy to Elizabeth and to her baby in the womb.

    Mary’s visit was certainly God’s visitation to Elizabeth, to her baby and to Zechariah.  God visited them through Mary. And this is what our theme for the Feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help is all about, “Mary’s Visit is God’s Presence: Our Call for Mission Today.”

    On this feast of the Visitation, we who are disciples of the Lord are reminded to be like Mary, to be charitable in our words and actions, to be aware of those who are in need of assistance, to be at the service of others especially those who are most in need of our help. In that way, we bring the Lord to them, we let others feel God’s presence through us and this is our mission as devotees of Our Mother of Perpetual Help.

    Indeed, each of us has that capacity to bring God’s presence to others. The Lord is with us, he is with you and with me; he is in our midst, as the Book of the Prophet Zephaniah tells us. Thus, as Christians we are called to make a stand and to be aware of what is happening around us – not just within our small community but also in the wider picture of our society.

    It means that we are called to be socially aware and not to remain indifferent to the difficulties of our sisters and brothers. That is why, when we are indifferent to the difficulties of others, there is surely something wrong with our Christian life. It is good then to ask ourselves, are we socially aware or indifferent to the plight of the poor, the weak and the oppressed?

    In concrete terms and in small ways, a challenge is given to us now and that is to become God’s presence to others. It would be good then to remember those people whom we have not visited for a long time. Visit them if possible. Remember also those people we know who will surely need our help, or recognize the people around us who need help from us in one way or another. Then, in hope, we may be able to let them feel God’s presence through us, through our generous words and service. Kabay pa.

  • Life is pregnant with Life eternal.

    Life is pregnant with Life eternal.

    August 15, 2021 – Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081521-Day.cfm)

    How fascinating it is to see two or more pregnant women meet. Familiar or stranger they might be to one another, whenever pregnant women cross path with each other, we could readily sense their excitement & anticipation of their coming child birthing. Regardless of the circumstances of their pregnancy, whether of teenage, out of wedlock, menopausal or planned pregnancy, pregnant women by instinct know not only the difficulties & challenges but also the great promise pregnancy can bring into their very lives. Deep inside, pregnant women know how blessed they are to bear & rear a child, and sense their joys & blessing are not only for them to keep, but is to be shared to everybody and all. That is why how infecting and life-giving it is for us to see meetings of pregnant women.

    This is what happened to Mary & Elizabeth in our gospel today. Under questionable situation, Mary on teenage pregnancy & out of wedlock, & her cousin Elizabeth, barren for many years, now pregnant on her old age met & shared their joys & gratitude as they found themselves on the way pregnant. They both cannot contain themselves to be happy for each other & to praise God in thanksgiving for the blessing of the promise of a new & better life ahead, not only for themselves, but for all humanity. Whatever their circumstance they are in, pregnant as they are, they believe that through their pregnancy, great grace & blessings are in store ahead for all of us.    

    Be as it may. While we are dealing nowadays with increasing numbers of casualties due to death & sickness during these pandemic times, we cannot help but wonder about our life now & hereafter. While we are still in our survival mode, coping with large amounts of uncertainties & insecurities, somehow we ponder not only on the sense & meaning of what is happening in our lives now, but also on what our future will be. We have already loss and still losing number of lives in these pandemic times, and we do find ourselves asking these hard questions: What’s next? To those who have gone before us, what happen to them next? And what’s next for us who are still here? Is there Life after Death? If death is upon us, what’s the point of life then? Is there a life here-after?

    https://www.google.com.ph/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nationalshrine.org%2Fevent%2Fsolemnity-of-the-assumption-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary%2F&psig=AOvVaw2Bxg0qzYAB6TamkxbfZRqq&ust=1629009199930000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCICWra_yr_ICFQAAAAAdAAAAABAP

    In God’s plan of salvation – our history of salvation, we Christian faithful followers believe in the resurrection of the body & life everlasting. By His death & resurrection, our Lord Jesus Christ has offered us the promise & given us the hope for eternal life with our Father. For us who believes Jesus as our resurrection & life, our life in faith with God is not ended but transformed, improved, upgraded, & above all eternal. Thus we believe that there is more to life for us Christian, than what we are going through now & even more than our inevitable death. In other words, we believe that our faith in Jesus Christ has given us meaning & purpose in life here & now &  life here-after.

    For us believers, there is life after death for our faith life in Christ now is pregnant with life eternal. By faith, we believe that our life now can be better & sacred at present & hereafter. And whenever God & us cooperate and collaborate, salvation is assured and heaven-life eternal is possible for us now & always.

    Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Assumption of our Blessed Virgin Mary. Today the whole church gives importance to the entry of the BVM into heaven at the end of her life on earth. We recognize that through her assumption, Mary is the forerunner and archetype of our faith journey in life. Salvation begun when Mary took responsibility for God’s word into our lives. Human life is now pregnant with God’s salvation, as Mary collaborated and journey with God’s will for humanity. As Mary’s faith in God assured her of eternal life, we now also assured that at the end of our life-journey, with God there is the promise of life hereafter & eternal.

    The assumption of our Blessed Virgin Mary simply reminds us that there is life after death & there is life before death as well, whenever like Mary, we consent & participate in God’s will of salvation for us. Our life now & hereafter is pregnant with God’s salvation…And that is how Blessed are we, and how joyful & grateful we should be.

    With Mary, in this Eucharist, we praise the Almighty God for He has done great things for us. Holy is His Name. May we always be blessed in Life same way as Mary has been blessed now and forever. Amen.