Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: Ordinary Time

  • RSVP

    RSVP

    August 18, 2022 – Thursday of the 2oth Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081822.cfm)

    In the parable of wedding banquet today, Jesus describes to us the Kingdom of Heaven as a celebration party where everybody is invited to attend & participate.

    Imagine it is your special day – perhaps your debut or your 50th birthday where you invited all your family, relatives & friends. As the day arrives, somehow you can deduce all your invited guests into these categories. First, the excellent guest who are invited, attended & participated in your celebration day. Second, not-so good guests: those who are invited but did not attend, however valid or invalid their excuses may be. Third, the unworthy guests: those who are invited & attended but did not participate. These are guests who came with their own self agenda rather than yours, not properly dressed for the occasion, avoid to socialize with other guests, stays mostly outside, decline to partake in the meal, late to arrive-early to go, & worse, even expect to bring something home from the party.

    Funny, it may be, but we do have experienced these types of invited guests: the excellent (angayan), the not so-good (way ayo), and the unworthy (way angay) guests. So, what kind of invited guest are you?

    Perhaps we may also ask: What kind of guests are we in the Lord’s Eucharist? As foretaste of God’s Kingdom, the Eucharist is our Lord’s celebration of faith & life. We are all invited to attend, participate, & celebrate in His Eucharist. On these pandemic times where & when we are somehow restricted & limited to partake in the Holy Mass, perhaps we examine ourselves as what kind of Eucharist guests we have been & we should be. Have we been & are we an excellent-worthy guests, irresponsive & not so-good guests, or unworthy guests?

    Jesus may have said in our gospel today: “Many are invited, but few are chosen”, not because they are discriminated but because they have been unworthy & irresponsible guests.

    Many times, I was asked: “Father, do we need to, have to and ought to Go to mass every Sunday?” I usually answer this with an advice: “Next time, before you go to mass, listen to yourself first and ask these questions: Who are you before God now? What do you truly long for in life? What are the graces and blessings that you receive this past week? What should you do to thank Him for all these?” In other words, before going to Mass, as preparation, acknowledge first how blessed you are, and these will move you to come and celebrate. Not out of obligation, necessity, convenience, and preference, we come and attend Eucharist to celebrate and give thanks to God for all the blessings He has given, showered, and continually offering us today.

    Though unworthy we may be, Blessed are we always for God still invites us to participate & celebrate in the banquet of Life with Him. May we be God’s excellent & honorable guests to be chosen worthy of His Kingdom & of His sacred banquet. Amen. 

  • Beyond Justice

    Beyond Justice

    August 17, 2022 – Wednesday of the 20th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081722.cfm)

    It is once said that: “Justice is getting what you deserve. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve. Mercy is not getting what you deserve.”

    In our gospel today, all hired-laborers got justice from a just wage for an honest day’s work. However, those who are hired-later received Grace & blessing for a chance to work though undeservingly late & last to work. And they also received Mercy for though deserving of rejection for hiring, they were given a chance for work & just wage instead.

    Judging from the merits of their work, the early-hired laborers complain & ask for Justice based on reward & punishment reasoning. However, not only justice but also grace & mercy are given to the late & last-hired workers, because of and based on God’s generosity & their faith.

    We are reminded here that God judges & sees us beyond our merits, reward & punishment reasoning, & justice.  In His grace & mercy, God loves us out of His generosity along with our faith in Him.

    Now in our relationship with God, are we IN only for His Justice, & our merits – our reward-punishment? OR are we more into His grace & mercy, His generosity & our trusting faith in Him?

    Be reminded then of these words: “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?

    In your generosity, grant us Your Grace & Mercy O Lord, deserving or undeserving we may be. Amen

  • Not Peace but Fire and Division

    Not Peace but Fire and Division

    August 14, 2022 – 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081422.cfm)

    It is confusing or even to some perhaps terrifying. We certainly want peace. We want unity. We want prosperity. Yet, Jesus asked us today, “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” He even said earlier, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!”

    What Jesus actually means about this peace is the peace that the world knows. This peace is about the comfort and routine of life or of ‘business-as-usual.’ This means that we go and proceed to what we usually do in life by doing what we want and by satisfying our needs and desires, from mere complacency. This peace only knows about maintaining the status quo, that we are comfortable with and preserving an environment that will not disturb us. Yet, this peace is shallow and remains self-centered. It focuses on our ego.

    However, Jesus is not bringing this kind of peace but fire and division that will disturb us. This includes disturbing our comfort, our current situation, our complacency, passivity and routine.

    This is what we have also heard in the first reading from the Book of Jeremiah. Prophet Jeremiah by being true to the mission God gave him, disturbed the comfort and complacency of those in power and influence. By reminding the people of their covenant with God, “I am your God and you are my people,” they too were reminded that this covenant was bounded in fidelity and receptivity of God’s commands and of giving oneself for others. This role of the prophet includes the denouncement of the misdeeds and unfaithfulness committed especially by those in power and authority.

    But then, Jeremiah’s presence in constantly calling the people to repent, became a sore and threat to those who were in power. This was the reason why they wanted to silence and eliminate him by killing him. Yet, Jeremiah was rescued by a foreigner, Ebed-melech, who realized that Jeremiah was a prophet of God.

    This experience of Jeremiah must have made him realized too that indeed, it is dangerous to believe in God. Believing in God and committing to be faithful to the Lord is dangerous because we shall become a “sign of contradiction” to what is popular, to the comfortable and to the powerful.

    This brings us again to what Jesus said in today’s Gospel that “he has come to set the earth on fire, that he brings not peace but division.”

    Indeed, the Lord comes to disturb us when we have grown so attached with our comforts and when we are so caught up with maintaining to what is only beneficial for us.

    Thus, when we become passive, we do not want to be challenged, we do not want to go beyond and become life-giving. We do not want to confront ourselves and others because it might cost us conflict and division or to sacrifice the contentment that we apparently enjoy. But, God does not want us to become a person who becomes a prisoner of his/her own selfish desires. We will become abusive and corrupt yet the most insecure of all.

    Jesus does not want us also to just go with the flow and remain passive. We might find ourselves to settle to what is only easy, comfortable and beneficial by doing the same things, thinking the same thoughts and imagining the same ideas to the point that we refuse to do more and give more.

    This happens to us when we are trapped in our routine and comfort. We might go to mass every day, receive communion, say our prayers, doing the same sin again, do our work and struggle with the same problems without any change in our thoughts and actions as we relate with others. Or we might just bury ourselves in the same addiction, fall into the same bad habits and then feel guilty but later do the usual things again. Or in dipping ourselves into our abusive practices in our work, business or profession in order to advance our selfish and self-serving tendencies.

    It would be good, then, to ask ourselves, “What are the burdens that I am carrying? What are the sins that prevent me to go forward?”

    If we are able to ask ourselves these questions, then, this will help us to be open to the presence of Jesus. This presence of Jesus will disturb us because it will make us recognize our selfish desires. He disturbs us because he challenges us to go beyond, to go forward and not to settle to what is only comfortable for us. He disturbs us so that he will be able to bring true peace in us and in our community.

    The Lord wants us to find freedom. Jesus is not in favor in making ourselves passive, complacent, self-contained and self-satisfied yet stagnant. Jesus wants us to grow, to be mature and to become the person and community He wants us to be.

    This means that our relationship with God is not limited with what we are doing now, by just attending this Eucharist and that’s it. This Eucharist and the presence of Jesus in this celebration is not to be taken so lightly then.

    The invitation for us is to allow the Lord to touch and to disturb our complacency, passivity and routine so that we will be able to see things differently and wonderfully.

    Hopefully, as we allow the Lord to disturb us, we may be able to see new perspectives in life despite its monotony, more dynamic and life-giving ways of relating with people around us, and a deeper and a life-changing encounter with God through the ordinary expressions of our faith. And remember, this calls us to become “a sign of contradiction” to what is evil, abusive and oppressive by being pro-active, honest and courageous in expressing our faith and the values that we believe as Christians. Kabay pa.

  • Being WITH our LORD

    Being WITH our LORD

    August 14, 2022 – 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081422.cfm)

    “The Lord be with you” and we normally nowadays reply: “And also with your spirit”, – where decades ago we used to reply: “And also with you.” As Christians, we usually use these words of greetings as our recognition & faith of God’s presence in our midst & in one another.

    A priest once celebrated Eucharist in his own parish church. As he was about to greet these words to the people, he was not able to broadcast, because there is something wrong with the microphone’s connections. While tapping its cord, he eventually regains contact. But unfortunately, instead of the usual “the Lord be with you”, he loudly broadcasts to the people: “There is something wrong with the microphone”. And the people reply: “And also with your spirit”.

    Funny story it might be, but it is also telling us something – that sometimes we need to hear the words differently for us to fully appreciate and understand its meanings. This is what Jesus is also doing when he said the disturbing message in our gospel today, “I have come to set the earth on fire and I wish it were already blazing; I have come not to establish peace but division.” For the apostles and to us to fully understand  the value and consequences of discipleship – of following Him, Jesus has to present us the Good News differently  – somewhat off and disturbing so that we may fathom the height, width and depth of its meaning.

    Like “The Lord be with you. And also with you” greeting.  Surely we are familiar with those words. But come to think of it, though mistakenly said, but somehow it is not totally false that we may also say that there is something wrong with us & with our spirit. Yes, in almost all liturgies and prayers we celebrate, we hear and speak those words. But what does it really mean?

    First, It’s a great Honor and Privilege. We should feel then happy and great that the Lord is here with you and I, with us. Remember the first and primary good news of peace, love and hope ever preached are those words: “the Lord is with You”. But do we really feel great and honored hearing and speaking those words? Are we excited to hear and proclaim it? Or upon hearing and saying those words, we only say: “OK lang”, like “Ya, sounds familiar – We have heard it before, so what’s the fuss?” Like youngsters nowadays might say: “the Lord be with you? OK, fine, whatever”.

    Second, It’s personal and intimate. The Lord is WITH YOU. He is with you near – up close and personal. But do you really want Him to be nearby and near with you — OR would rather have Him far and away from you, who comes in handy when needed only? Would you rather Him as your buddy companion KASAMA, OR your usual “suking” gasoline station, handy only when empty & needed?

    Third, It’s communal. He is not only with You but with all of Us. He dwells amongst us, and lives and stays with Us. He is with and in each and everyone of us, good and bad alike. But do we want Him to be with others & respect His presence with other than ourselves -OR do we prefer that he is exclusively  with you and your family or group but not with the outcasts and rejected or your competitors or enemies?

    Fourth, It’s a Great Task and Responsibility. To welcome Him into our lives demands responsibility and total dedication. Meaning to accept, recognize and believe in the Good News that “the Lord is with you” is to be converted – to completely change your own ways and style of life and be patterned into His own faith and life. This is the cost of welcoming and following Jesus into our lives. Christian Discipleship would cost us a lot, for life will be different & never be the same again. Once you recognize & welcome Him to be with You, you cannot but change your ways & lifestyle. Perhaps that’s the reason why sometimes we don’t take those words: “the Lord be with you” seriously for we know that if we do so, there will division, tensions, disharmony and conflict within ourselves and with others, for all the changes it entails following Jesus demands of us.

    For those who have seen the movie Spiderman 1, its simple message is “Great power comes with great responsibility”. In the same way, to believe in Jesus Christ – The Lord with Us, to follow Him is a Great personal and communal Power, Honor and Privilege but also comes with Great Responsibility. Somehow this is what Jesus is trying to say to us when he said: “I have come to set fire on earth, and how I wish it where already blazing.”

    Indeed, there might be at times something wrong with us in life & spirit; both as the announcer/proclaimer (priest broadcasting: there is something wrong…) & listeners/receivers (people responding: and with your spirit)  of the message. But the good news and message remain always the same: EMMANUEL – the Lord with us… was with us, is with us and will always be with us – whatever, however, whoever & whenever we might be.

    We pray then that we Christians may remain be shaken & disturbed by the deeper meaning of Lord’s gospel, so that we may be more Jesus-like in being passionately responsible for the Good News of Emmanuel- God being with us. Amen.

  • Attentive To God’s Presence

    Attentive To God’s Presence

    August 7, 2020 – 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080722.cfm)

    Who among you here have dogs at home? Are you also aware on how your dogs would react whenever you come home? Once the dogs are left at home they can be anxious without the presence of their humans. Yet, dogs display patience and attention to wait for their humans to return home. Their attentiveness allows them to be more conscious of their surroundings. And when our dogs would sense our coming and smell our presence even at a distance, they begin to get excited. Dogs would wiggle their tails as a sign of excitement. And when they finally see us, they would make terrible sounds as their expression of joy, or lick us, jump on us and run around us. This shows us how our dogs can be intimately connected with us. Moreover, the attentiveness of our dogs to our presence has something to teach us on this 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

    The first reading from the Book of Wisdom tells us how the people patiently waited and hoped for the coming of the Lord. They had been suffering for many years from the Egyptians. Their children were massacred, properties confiscated, and they were made slaves until their death.

    We could imagine their fears and anxieties, as well as the feeling of being abandoned by God. But through the presence of Moses, the people realized God’s presence among them. God’s promise was to be fulfilled after all. As a result, we were told how the people prepared themselves for the Lord’s coming who shall free them from that suffering. As a community, they became more attentive to God’s presence.

    In the same way, the second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews allows us to recall the attitude of our grandfathers in the faith particularly of Abraham. Abraham was indeed a man who put his trust and faith completely to God. Abraham left the comfort of his family and friends, to journey to a land that God promised to him.

    Certainly, Abraham also felt anxiety and insecurity as he journeyed with God especially when God gave him Isaac and later demanded that Abraham should sacrifice his son. That was Abraham’s most vulnerable moment in his life. Yet, he realized too that everything he had were all from God. With that, he was grateful to God. That gratitude made his faith even stronger, despite the pain of sacrificing his son. Indeed, he allowed God to surprise him and to unfold God’s plan by completely trusting the wisdom of God.

    The surprise was to receive Isaac back and to become our father in faith today. His close relationship with God allowed him to go beyond his fears and anxieties by making him more attentive to God’s presence and invitations.

    This is what Jesus taught to his disciples in today’s Gospel of Luke. Jesus reminds us to grow in our attentiveness of his presence. The parable in the Gospel is an affirmation to a person who consciously makes himself/herself familiar to God’s presence. It is when we are attuned to God’s presence that we also become aware of the presence of other people around us. As a result, this makes our faith active and alive by being able to give life.

    However, the parable is also a warning to those who have become mediocre, complacent and procrastinator. These are attitudes of a person who is not attentive to God’s presence and has taken advantage the gifts given by the Lord. Therefore, the person is only concerned of himself/herself. This person would become the most insecure, most anxious and at the same time can also be the most vicious and abusive to others.

    Hence, a mediocre or complacent person is only contented in doing things below his/her potentials. It means that we do not really give the best in us but we settle to what is only lesser and comfortable for us.

    Thus, when we become so caught up with our comforts but then we refuse to go beyond by giving ourselves for others, when we refuse to let go of our grudges and hatred, and when we refuse to actively oppose the evils and unjust systems in the community, then, we have surely grown to become mediocre and complacent. We do not want to be challenged because we do not what to make a stand. We do not want to go beyond from ourselves and to give our full potentials for God and for others. We only give what is small and minimal. However, this is a life that refuses to recognize God’s presence and invitations.

    Moreover, a person who procrastinates loves to delay things like in making decisions and actions. This person does not see the need to respond because he/she is caught up with his/her own mood. Consequently, when we procrastinate in our faith, we feel bored, we feel empty, and we feel lifeless and so we see no reason at all to become life-giving.

    What is common with these attitudes is the fear to take risks. Remember, trusting God and believing in Him requires risks. Faith is to take risks as what the Hebrew people showed in waiting for God to free them and for Abraham to journey outside his comforts and in sacrificing Isaac. Yet, it is in taking risks that God makes wonders through us and in us. It is in taking risks that we grow in our consciousness of God’ presence in our life. And it is also in taking risks that we grow deeper in our relationships.

    Our dogs who patiently await for our coming every time we leave home, put their trust on us and so have taken the risk to trust us in providing them an emotional assurance. Hopefully, we too in our journey with God will grow in our attentiveness to God’s presence by taking the risk in believing in him and trusting God’s wisdom by avoiding from our tendency to become mediocre, complacent and procrastinator in our Christian faith. Kabay pa.