Category: Ordinary Time

July 17, 2019 – Wednesday, 15^th Week in Ordinary Time

From the Gospel of Matthew (11:25-27)

At that time Jesus exclaimed:
“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

HOMILY

Do you know the average questions a child would ask? According to a survey, approximately, a child of about 3 to 5 years old would ask 300 questions a day with an average of 1 question every 2 minutes.

These questions come from a child’s curiosity. Children would easily marvel at anything and are amazed with everything and everyone. This makes a child welcoming to the many surprises that come.

The innocence of children, their simplicity and humility make them receptive to the many wonders that surround them. Thus, children easily recognize what is beautiful, good, amazing and surprising even with simple things. They easily get excited in a simple toy. They are delighted in a simple gift. They respond with pleasure to a simple smile.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us how the Father reveals the mystery of salvation, of His gift of healing and peace to the children and the childlike. Of course, God reveals His mystery to all but only the children and the childlike are blessed to receive God’s blessing, simply because of the qualities of being welcoming and humble.

Jesus warns us adults of our tendency to claim that we already know everything. This is true because when we become adults we also tend to claim our independence. We cease to be curious because we become over confident to what we have achieved.

Jesus criticized the attitude of those people during His time who claimed to be the “masters of the world,” the wise and the learned. The knowledge that they have gained in many years of experiences prevented them to learn new things. They have become arrogant and unwelcoming. These attitudes prevented them to receive God’s revelations and invitations.

We have to be careful then, when we begin to be arrogant with our own success, when we feel superior of what we have become and over-confident of what we have accumulated. These attitudes might prevent us from recognizing the many wonders that God reveals and to His invitation for us.

Jesus reminds us today to re-learn our previous qualities when we were children, and to re-learn those qualities through the children around us. However, this also includes un-learning our arrogance and un-learning our tendency to make things under our control and the desire to make ourselves certain of all things. Once we are able to re-learn and un-learn, then, we will also become childlike who are open and welcoming to the many wonders around us and receptive to the many gifts that are being offered to us.

Take time then to ask questions, to be surprised even with ordinary things, to be delighted even with simple greetings of smiles around you. Take time to stop and say hello to a friend. You may also take time to witness a sunrise or sunset or even while sipping your coffee and eating your meal. You may also take time in giving more attention and presence to a loved one speaking to you and expressing his or her concern and love for you.

Hopefully, by re-learning the qualities of a child and un-learning our close-minded adult attitudes, we may also discover more and more how God unfolds His presence in us and His blessings for us. Hinaut pa.

Jom Baring, CSsR

July 16, 2019 – Tuesday 15th Week in Ordinary Time

Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

From the Book of Exodus (2:1-15a)

A certain man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman,
who conceived and bore a son.
Seeing that he was a goodly child, she hid him for three months.
When she could hide him no longer, she took a papyrus basket,
daubed it with bitumen and pitch,
and putting the child in it,
placed it among the reeds on the river bank.
His sister stationed herself at a distance
to find out what would happen to him.

Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the river to bathe,
while her maids walked along the river bank.
Noticing the basket among the reeds, she sent her handmaid to fetch it.
On opening it, she looked, and lo, there was a baby boy, crying!
She was moved with pity for him and said,
“It is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter,
“Shall I go and call one of the Hebrew women
to nurse the child for you?”
“Yes, do so,” she answered.
So the maiden went and called the child’s own mother.
Pharaoh’s daughter said to her,
“Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will repay you.”
The woman therefore took the child and nursed it.
When the child grew, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter,
who adopted him as her son and called him Moses;
for she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

On one occasion, after Moses had grown up,
when he visited his kinsmen and witnessed their forced labor,
he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his own kinsmen.
Looking about and seeing no one,
he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
The next day he went out again, and now two Hebrews were fighting!
So he asked the culprit,
“Why are you striking your fellow Hebrew?”
But the culprit replied,
“Who has appointed you ruler and judge over us?
Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?”
Then Moses became afraid and thought,
“The affair must certainly be known.”

Pharaoh, too, heard of the affair and sought to put Moses to death.
But Moses fled from him and stayed in the land of Midian.

 

From the Gospel of Matthew (11:20-24)

Jesus began to reproach the towns
where most of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
And as for you, Capernaum:

Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the netherworld.

For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

HOMILY

Jesus was very disappointed at the response of the people. Three places were mentioned such as Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum to have been the places where Jesus did many wonderful things. Miracles were performed as God’s sign of blessing and presence. Yet, Jesus found the heart of the people hardened. The people refused God’s offer of friendship.

They did not want to be disturbed from what they were usually doing. They were just satisfied with the kind of life that they were leading. Thus, God’s invitation for them to change became a threat to what was comfortable, advantageous and beneficial for them.

This is the reason why Jesus gave the uncompromising warning to these people because of their refusal of God’s offer of salvation, and that is, damnation.

Many times also we will find ourselves in this kind of situation. We easily take for granted the everyday miracles that happen in our life. As a result, we become ungrateful in the way we live our life, in the way we relate with others and even in the way we relate with God. And from these, there are three reasons that I see on why we would hold back and refuse God.

First, is the refusal to admit and recognize that there is something wrong in us, in the way we live our life, and in the way we relate with people around us. Unacceptance of our faults means distancing ourselves from the responsibility. This attitude will make us self-righteous, thus, making us blind of our own sins.

Second, is the confidence of being self-satisfied. When we are filled with ourselves, filled with our selfish desires and wants, we also become self-satisfied. When this happens, we will not realize that we are also in need of God. This attitude comes from the tendency that tries to accumulate more for the self. The forms of accumulation is not just limited with our desire to enrich ourselves with material things but also, praises and recognitions from others, or even forms of compulsive behaviors and addictions. These forms of accumulation make ourselves busy and filled with many things, consequently, preventing God to occupy a space in our life.

Third, is being ungrateful. A self that refuses to admit sins and self-satisfied also becomes ungrateful. When we become ungrateful, we easily take for granted the giver of gifts and the worker of miracles, and thus, the presence of God in our life. With this attitude, we also become self-entitled. We become demanding in our relationships. We become critical of those people around us and we tend to only see what is wrong in the other person. We will become stingy of our time and energy and ungenerous of our resources and presence to those who are asking for our help. And most of all, we become indifferent to people around us and indifferent to God, the source of all blessings and miracles.

Yet, we learned also today that there was this man who was more attuned to God’s desire rather than his own selfish wants. The story that we have heard in the first reading tells us of this man called Moses.

Moses, even though he had a tragic history in his childhood, he was a man of generosity and justice. He was a grateful person who delighted at the wonders around him. Despite his comfortable upbringing as he was adopted by the daughter of the Pharaoh and was living as a prince, Moses had a deep sense of justice. This made Moses to be sensitive to the cruelty happening around him. He could neither stand the sight an Egyptian oppressing a Hebrew slave nor a slave beating to death another slave. This prepares Moses to become God’s instrument in liberating the people from slavery and oppression.

This is what Jesus desires us to be. The Lord has blessed us and shown us many wonders to invite us to become the person he wants us to be. Thus, the invitation for us today is to be more aware of the many blessings and miracles God is doing for us today.

Hopefully, by recognizing God’s blessings and miracles in our life, it will lead us the three movements. First, to humble ourselves by recognizing our failures and need for mercy and forgiveness. Second, by recognizing our emptiness and so of our need of God to fill our empty hearts. And third, by becoming grateful to the many good things that God has given us making ourselves more aware of his presence and sensitive to the needs around us.

May Mary, the Lady of Mount Carmel be our guide and example in this desire to come closer to her Son, Jesus through our daily and continual conversion. Hinaut pa.

Jom Baring, CSsR

July 13, 2019 – Saturday 14^th Week in Ordinary Time

From the Book of Genesis (49:29-32; 50:15-26A)

 Jacob gave his sons this charge:
“Since I am about to be taken to my people,
bury me with my fathers in the cave that lies
in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
the cave in the field of Machpelah,
facing on Mamre, in the land of Canaan,
the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite
for a burial ground.
There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried,
and so are Isaac and his wife Rebekah,
and there, too, I buried Leah–
the field and the cave in it
that had been purchased from the Hittites.”

Now that their father was dead,
Joseph’s brothers became fearful and thought,
“Suppose Joseph has been nursing a grudge against us
and now plans to pay us back in full for all the wrong we did him!”
So they approached Joseph and said:
“Before your father died, he gave us these instructions:
‘You shall say to Joseph, Jacob begs you
to forgive the criminal wrongdoing of your brothers,
who treated you so cruelly.’
Please, therefore, forgive the crime that we,
the servants of your father’s God, committed.”
When they spoke these words to him, Joseph broke into tears.
Then his brothers proceeded to fling themselves down before him
and said, “Let us be your slaves!”
But Joseph replied to them:
“Have no fear.  Can I take the place of God?
Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good,
to achieve his present end, the survival of many people.
Therefore have no fear.
I will provide for you and for your children.”
By thus speaking kindly to them, he reassured them.

Joseph remained in Egypt, together with his father’s family.
He lived a hundred and ten years.
He saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation,
and the children of Manasseh’s son Machir
were also born on Joseph’s knees.

Joseph said to his brothers: “I am about to die.
God will surely take care of you and lead you out of this land to the land
that he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
Then, putting the sons of Israel under oath, he continued,
“When God thus takes care of you,
you must bring my bones up with you from this place.”
Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten.

 

From the Gospel of Matthew (10:24-33)

Jesus said to his Apostles:
“No disciple is above his teacher,
no slave above his master.
It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher,
for the slave that he become like his master.
If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul,
how much more those of his household!

“Therefore do not be afraid of them.
Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light;
what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.
And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;
rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy
both soul and body in Gehenna.
Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?
Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.
Even all the hairs of your head are counted.
So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Everyone who acknowledges me before others
I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.
But whoever denies me before others,
I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

HOMILY

How often do you worry? I am sure that you would find yourself worrying about many things in life, almost every day. You worry about your husband or your wife, or your growing children and the failing health of your parents. And particularly among us young people today, we might find ourselves also worrying about the demands of our job or the difficulties in our business, or about our new relationships, and newfound friends. We might also find ourselves worrying about our tomorrow, of what is to come the next day. Or worrying also about our unfulfilled dreams and unsatisfied desires.

Our worries and anxieties may prevent us from seeing things as they are because our minds and hearts are already troubled. When worries and anxieties overwhelm us too, we might not be able to respond properly and responsibly because we are internally disturbed. Indeed, excessive worrying may lead us to high anxiety, which may cause us physical and mental illness. When this comes, our decision making process is also affected and our relationships with others and even with God will suffer.

This is what Joseph prevented among his brothers. The Book of Genesis told us this fear and anxieties of the brothers of Joseph. Remember, the brothers of Joseph sold him to the Egyptians. Thus, after the death of their father Jacob, the brothers were troubled thinking that Joseph might take his revenge on them.

However, Joseph assured his brothers and said twice to them, “have no fear.” Joseph did not want his brother to burry themselves in guilt and shame and hence, of constant anxiety and fear for being punished by Joseph. Joseph was not a vengeful and violent man. Rather, he was a kind person. Thus, Joseph assured his brothers of his kindness and forgiveness.

Moreover, Jesus reminded his disciples with the same message, “do not be afraid.” Three times we have heard this in today’s Gospel. Jesus does not wish that his disciples will be robbed from his gift of peace. Jesus knows that once the disciples will allow their fear and anxieties to overwhelm them, then, it will be difficult for them to recognize God in the life and in their ministry.

This is the reason why Jesus assured the disciples of the power of his presence. Jesus’ presence empowers and gives life to the believing disciples. In fact, the affection of God towards us as special beings because we are worth more than many sparrows, means that God takes care of us. As Joseph assured his brothers of his kindness, God assures us today of his abiding presence and empowering words.

Thus, it is very important that we remain calm and at peace with ourselves and with what surrounds us. It is in this way that as disciples today, we will be able to move forward with our life and will be able to respond generously to what God calls us to be.

Hence, it is also good to remember of the gift of peace Jesus gave to us. Remember, during the Easter Season we have been reminded that the Risen Jesus has gifted us with his peace.

The peace the Jesus gives means growing in confidence with God, and with my brothers and sisters no matter who they are. Thus, this peace allows us to see and recognize our brothers and sisters. This peace breaks any form of division, discrimination and indifference.

This goes into our hearts, in believing and becoming confident that God is with us and that God never abandons us. This peace sips through our troubled life, even into our stressful work or ministry, and into our un-reconciled relationships and to our anxieties of what is to come tomorrow.

Jesus gives us His Peace! And he is saying to us now, “do not be afraid.” Are we ready to accept it? Are we willing to embrace it? Or do we prefer to just do our normal and usual things in life? To continue making ourselves submerged in worries and anxieties?

Jesus wants us to be free from the troubles of worries and anxieties, to be free from fears and hesitations. This is the reason why the Lord gives Himself to us so that we will have him and enjoy his peace.

Thus, be confident that the Lord is with us; he is among us and within us. Hinaut pa.

Jom Baring, CSsR

July 12, 2019 – Friday 14^th Week in Ordinary Time

From the Book of Genesis (46:1-7,28-30; Mt 10:16-23)

Judah approached Joseph and said: “I beg you, my lord,
let your servant speak earnestly to my lord,
and do not become angry with your servant,
for you are the equal of Pharaoh.
My lord asked your servants, ‘Have you a father, or another brother?’
So we said to my lord, ‘We have an aged father,
and a young brother, the child of his old age.
This one’s full brother is dead,
and since he is the only one by that mother who is left,
his father dotes on him.’
Then you told your servants,
‘Bring him down to me that my eyes may look on him.
Unless your youngest brother comes back with you,
you shall not come into my presence again.’
When we returned to your servant our father,
we reported to him the words of my lord.

“Later, our father told us to come back and buy some food for the family.
So we reminded him, ‘We cannot go down there;
only if our youngest brother is with us can we go,
for we may not see the man if our youngest brother is not with us.’
Then your servant our father said to us,
‘As you know, my wife bore me two sons.
One of them, however, disappeared, and I had to conclude
that he must have been torn to pieces by wild beasts;
I have not seen him since.
If you now take this one away from me, too,
and some disaster befalls him,
you will send my white head down to the nether world in grief.’”

Joseph could no longer control himself
in the presence of all his attendants,
so he cried out, “Have everyone withdraw from me!”
Thus no one else was about when he made himself known to his brothers.
But his sobs were so loud that the Egyptians heard him,
and so the news reached Pharaoh’s palace.
“I am Joseph,” he said to his brothers.
“Is my father still in good health?”
But his brothers could give him no answer,
so dumbfounded were they at him.

“Come closer to me,” he told his brothers.
When they had done so, he said:
“I am your brother Joseph, whom you once sold into Egypt.
But now do not be distressed,
and do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here.
It was really for the sake of saving lives
that God sent me here ahead of you.”

HOMILY

Have you lost somebody whom you loved so much? I met a mother last year in one of our mission areas who lost her youngest son. Her son worked in Saudi Arabia but one day her son just disappeared. His co-workers were clueless of his whereabouts. The family sought the help of government agencies to locate him. To no avail, it has been 4 years now since his disappearance.

This is so painful for the whole family. This also left a grieving and sorrowful heart of a mother. She still believes that her son is alive and can be found later though her husband and other children had already lost their hope. With her, I prayed also for miracle.

This kind of experience creates deep sorrow in us, leaving our hearts broken. It is so painful to lose a loved one especially when it is so sudden. We would surely be able to relate with this especially those who have endured the pain of separation because of work, illness and death and even because of a broken home.

Such situation is what we find from the bible too. We have been following these past days the story of separation and brokenness of Jacob’s life and his family. Yet, as the story unfolded, we also see how God worked silently to make His promises fulfilled. Despite the unfaithfulness of those whom God called, God cannot be prevented from working wonders and making things be realized according to God’s desire.

Today, Jacob (the deceiver) who was already called Israel (the one who wrestles with God) was reunited and the whole family reconciled with Joseph. The reconciliation was so moving if one would imagine it. Joseph had been separated from his family for more than 20 years. 13 years of that he spent in the prison in Egypt.

As Joseph met his old father, Joseph could not hold it anymore the feelings that were burning within him. There were so much longing, pain, grief and sorrow because of that separation. But at last, these feelings had been transformed into joy and love.

The Book of Genesis described this reunion and reconciliation through that embrace of Joseph and Jacob. Joseph wept for a long time in the arms of his father!

This tells us of this embrace of both grief and love that paves the way of reconciliation. This is the invitation for us today. We are called to embrace our pain and sorrow rather than denying them. We are called to confront the cause of our grief or anger or bitterness in order to be reconciled.

This was what Joseph showed to us. Embracing his father also means embracing the whole family even those brothers of him who betrayed him. Thus, it was an embrace of grief because of the many years of longing and pain that it caused. This means that any painful or negative feeling is not to be suppressed but embraced and accepted. It is in recognizing that we become more human.

That embrace too was an embrace of love. Joseph longed for this to happen. His long weep and embrace was his way of showing his affection to his father and the whole family. Joseph was able to do this because he let go of those tendency to take revenge and violence against them. That is why, this embrace made way for reconciliation and peace. God’s promise has indeed been fulfilled.

Hopefully, we too shall learn how to embrace our grief and embrace with love rather than with revenge and violence against others and ourselves. Hinuat pa.

Jom Baring, CSsR