Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: Sunday Homlies

  • God invites us today, come!

    God invites us today, come!

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    October 11, 2020 – 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101120.cfm)

    Homily

    A friend of mine once posted of his Facebook account his thoughts, he said, “I am so tired of searching for God.” From his post, it somehow suggested that God seemed not to be found. He was searching for God, and as I asked him about it, he said that he felt empty within, he felt that he could not find joy. And God seemed to have lost his way!

    How could that be possible? That was what I thought when he said that God seemed not to be found! I heard this many times not just to that friend of mine. We have this belief that it is us, that we are the one searching for God, that we have been looking for Him. However, in our search for God, at the end, we surrender because we have never found God in our life. indeed, a person who searches  God will surely not find God.

    The difficulty lies in the fact that we have been looking and searching for something or someone that has never been lost. With this fact, I remembered my grandmother who at one time, was looking for her eye-glasses. She began to complain that her glasses were lost. When she seemed to become desperate, she looked at us, grandchildren and suspected that one of us might have hidden her glasses on purpose. However, looking at her, we were giggling. Well, the more she became irritated because she felt that we were joking around. Yet, one of my cousins told her to touch her head first. Then, that was how she realized that her glasses were never been lost. She was carrying the glasses with her on her head but forgot that those were there.

    And this is very true with God. God has never lost his way. God stays with us and is always with us. Yet, there might be point in our life when we begin to claim that we are looking for him but cannot find him.

    We naturally look and search for something or someone that we have lost. But how could we find something if it is not lost after all? In fact, our search for God is useless because we tend to search God outside instead of recognizing Him in our very life.

    The parable that we have heard presents to us an image of Godthat Jesus wants to show to us today. It was the King who had the initiative to invite the people. He sent his servants to summon the invited guests not just once but twice so that the invited guests may also share in that joyful celebration. Prophet Isaiah also mentioned about this joyful feast in our first reading. The prophet described to us that promise of Yahweh of having a big celebration, the greatest party of all parties. That feast was an invitation meant for everyone. It would be a joyful one.

    Now, this Sunday is also called as Extreme Poverty Day. With God’s promise and invitation to the heavenly banquet, we are also reminded of those who are dying because of poverty. People are dying because of lack opportunities to proper education, to a good healthcare system, access to food and clean water. While we are enjoying the comfort of our homes while in quarantine, many are suffering because they have no roof on their head or even a bed to rest at night and food to eat. And because of the comfort that we enjoy, we could become dismissive and indifferent to the suffering of others.

    Indifference was the attitude shown by the people who refused God’s invitation. People refused and ignored that wonderful invitation because they had other priorities. That invitation was rejected because it was not considered as something important.

    Certainly, this parable reminds us of our passive and complacent attitudes towards the needs of others and of the many invitations of God. God invites us first to be with Him, to join with Him and enjoy His abiding presence in our sacraments, here in our liturgy and in our daily prayers, etc. but then, we find ourselves also to have many excuses. We claim that we have been so busy with life and work and we have been bombarded by personal and family problems, and with different demands. Consequently, God remains the least priority.

    But then, Jesus teaches us of an image of God who invites us, who asks and proposes to us not just once but in every opportunity of our life. God invites us to be with him and to trust in him not just in times of sorrows and pain but also in times of joy and laughter, and even in the most ordinary times.

    And this is the truth; it is God who has been searching and inviting us. He has been looking for us and he patiently waits for us to allow him to find us. Yes, it is actually God who always initiates. God takes the risk of being rejected. But though God has been rejected many times, God never lost the confidence to invite us again and again. God always searches for the human heart and once God finds us, He invites us to come to him.

    “Thus, we don’t search for God because it is Him who has been searching for us. We are not the first one to invite God to come to us because God invited first to be with Him.”

    This is the call for us now this Sunday. “Allow God to search for us and to allow him to invite us.”

    It is in this attitude that we will be able to listen to his many invitations and will inspire us to say YES to God. This is an affirmation to his invitation to recognize his presence in our life and with others.

    That’s why, the special celebration of the Church today in remembering the Indigenous Peoples calls us too to acknowledge their presence in our church and society. To acknowledge their presence is to give due respect to their culture and rights, and that as a Christian community, we too have the responsibility to help our Indigenous brothers and sisters to join us in our every celebration. With this, we will truly become a community that embraces one another, making our hearts be filled with joy and contentment, with confidence and love. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Not Yours or Mine but HIS

    Not Yours or Mine but HIS

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    October 4, 2020 – 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100420.cfm)

    Homily

    For pasalubong, a madre once bought a box of munchkins from dunkin doughnut. While waiting for their flight, a family sat beside her at the pre-departure area. Giving in to her cravings for sweets, the sister took a munchkin from the box, and enjoyed eating it. Suddenly, from the same box the little boy also took and ate one. She did not mine at first, thinking the boy must be hungry. But then, the ate also took and ate one. This has upset the madre but she just ignored it and took one for herself. But then so did the nanay and tatay. This really irritated her that she glared at the family who was consuming the rest of the munchkins. But what really infuriated her was when the nanay took the last munchkin and offered it to her. Now indignant and so enraged, the sister stood up and changed her seat. But later on, when she opened her tote bag to get her purse, she saw, much to her embarrassment and shame that inside her bag was her own box of munchkins unopened. “Opps, hindi pala kanya yon.”

    Sometimes it is good to examine and ask ourselves: “What are the things that we claim as being rightly ours and yet are not truly ours?” This may not only be material possessions but could also be our status in society used to lord over others… titles used for personal advantages, prejudices and biases harbored towards others… or self-righteous behaviors that makes us feel morally better or more privilege or important than others. Sometimes, we are not different from that madre. We sometimes claim these privileges, which do not really belong to us, that we come to think and believe that they are only ours to own. Worse, we are sometimes greedy enough to claim that we are the rightful owners of the munchkins and it is only us to have and enjoy.

    Certainly Jesus would not tolerate and justify such behavior of distinctiveness, self-righteousness, greed and conceit. This is what Jesus criticizes here in our gospel today. 

    By telling us the parable of Ungrateful Tenants, he reminds us that God has already done His part for our salvation, and that we should also do our part. And our part is not to hoard, accumulate and own all the blessings He has given us but to produce its fruits and share it with others. Here, Jesus strongly condemned the Pharisees and scribes of his time and warns us of our tendency to be so pre-occupied with honor, recognition, privileges, titles, and social status – thinking and claiming that we are greater compared to others, and much worse, even resorting to greed, fraud, and murder, (pangdaraya, kaswapangan at pagpatay) in order to protect and maintain such claim.

    For Jesus, the Kingdom of God is wider than our human standards of social status and privileges. He reminds us today that we are not the rightful owners but mere tenants, sharers, benefactors or stewards of God’s graces. We cannot exclusively claim ownership and privilege for what we have, because everything we have is a gift from God.  For Him, God’s Kingdom is more like a big farm where all of us participates and shares in the production and fruits of the bounty, where each of us has something to contribute and benefit from, since no one is too poor who cannot share with others and no one is too rich who does not need others. 

    Our Eucharist today has a simple message: What you enjoy now are not only fruits of your labor but most of all, God’s gifts.  All of these are God’s blessings to you and for all of us. Accept the Gift, but don’t forget to acknowledge and thank the Giver. Be fruitful and share the fruits of God’s kingdom to others, for all these are not yours or mine, but His.

    Life on quarantine during these pandemic times do make us reflect and realize that our life is essentially on-loan, a God-given chance to live and create this life now. What we have now are just but borrowed time, talents and treasures to make life fruitful and bountiful for all. Somehow pandemic times is God’s way of pruning and forming us to be who we are and we should be – His stewards, mere tenants of His creation. Grant us, O Lord the humility to trust your Ways of creating anew our lives according to your Will. Amen.

    By  Fr. Aphelie Mario Masangcay, CSsR (a former Filipino Redemptorist Missionary for Filipino Migrants in South Korea who, due to immune compromised diabetic condition, stationed back home  in the Philippines for now).

  • Will you also reject God?

    Will you also reject God?

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    October 4, 2020 – 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100420.cfm)

    Homily

    Being rejected or to experience rejection is truly a terrible experience. When someone you love, a friend or family member rejects you for being who you are and for what you have done, is so painful. This experience creates emptiness in us and feelings of not being loved, not being wanted. This experience makes us worthless and useless, thus, traumatic. We experience this also in our workplaces when a co-worker and/or  your employer get angry at you and shows sour attitude towards you. Or when your work has been rejected or a proposal has not been approved because of their biases with you.

    In our community, there are many forms of rejection also that sometimes we are not aware of. We could just reject those whom we think are useless. We could easily not pay attention to those who do not belong in our circle of friends. We could just dismiss a person just because of appearance, education, family background or culture.

    These kinds of rejections are not alien to God. Our Gospel this Sunday tells us that God is also experiencing rejections from us. Yes, God has been rejected by us in many ways. Jesus describes this in the parable. The tenants of the vineyard rejected the emissaries of the landowner by killing them, and even his own son.

    This describes on how Israel repeadtedly rejected Yahweh by murdering the prophets sent for Israel’s conversion. However, the people’s response was of violence. The people rejected God’s messengers and killed them. It culminated in the life of Jesus, the Son of God. Indeed, Jesus, even though he is the Son of God had also been rejected. Only few recognized him as the Messiah. Many, especially the leaders of the Jewish people, failed to recognize and even refused to believe that he is indeed the Messiah. Hence, they killed him by nailing him on the cross, a shameful way of killing.

    God is still being rejected by us until today. We are doing it in many ways and even in creative ways. We reject God because we want our own ways. We reject him because we want to believe what we like to believe. We fall short on this when we think that we know better than God. That is why, we have the tendency to linger on GUILT, to always feel guilty of what we have done instead of feeling sorry of our sins and ask God’s forgiveness and accept God’s mercy.

    We reject God when we refuse to recognize his many appearances through the people we encounter. We reject God when we fail to recognize his presence in each of us. We reject God when we judge others. We reject God when we tend to believe that sinners such as alcoholics, drug addicts are less humans than us. Thus, we tend to believe that they are worthless and are good for nothing. We reject God when we continue to deprive others, when we continue to oppress and refuse to extend help to those who are in need. We reject God when we fail to see his face in each of us especially among us sinners, the poor and the oppressed.

    God hungers for you and me. He hungers for our attention and love. He hungers for our goodness and generosity that we are called to show to the needy; because in these ways we become a people of God who shows what is just, lovely, pure and gracious as what St. Paul told us in the second reading.

    God calls us today to recognize him, to feel his presence and to listen to what he is saying to us. I would like to invite you then to close your eyes… and remember those times when you failed to recognize God by rejecting the goodness of others, by judging the weaknesses of others, and by not accepting and embracing your own gifts, talents and also failures and weaknesses in life.

    Let us be sorry then, and ask God’s forgiveness so that we will be able to feel and recognize him in us and through others. In this way, we may able to receive the Body of Christ in our Eucharistic Celebration with joy in our hearts. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Afterwards

    Afterwards

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    September 27, 2020 – 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092720.cfm)

    Homily

    Jesus told this parable of the two sons to make a point to his listeners that they may be able to see themselves in the story. The parable is a common situation at home that those who were listening could relate well. The father who asked his sons to be in the vineyard depicts an image of the everyday struggle of parents in motivating their children to follow them. And this kind of domestic situation was being used by Jesus to  make his message known and let people know God’s invitation.

    Thus, for us this Sunday, let us go deeper into this parable. Let us see the attitudes of the two sons and discover God’s invitation for us today.

    The father asked the first son to go and work in the vineyard. However, this son refused and said he will not. This son must be very busy with some other things in his life. He did not want any disturbance from his father. And so the father received an immediate “no” from his son. However, the Gospel told us that “afterwards,” the son changed his mind and went and worked in the vineyard.

    The word “afterwards” is very important here. Certainly, the son did not want to be disturbed. He did not want to be challenged by his father. He did not want to participate or to follow what his father said. At that time, what his father told him was insignificant for him. Yet, “afterwards,” he realized something and changed his mind. He changed his attitude and changed the direction of his life.

    This “afterwards” of the son was that process of realization on the importance of life. This son who initially refused his father had thought very well the implications of his actions. Not to go and work in the vineyard will not only not be his failure but will affect the entire family. This means that the “afterwards” of the first son became a moment for him to think not just for himself but also for people around him.

    This is what St Paul said in his letter to the Philippians, “do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves.” Certainly, this “afterwards” made the son to consider others and move from his own comforts in order to respond to a greater need. Thus, from changing his mind, this allowed him to change his perspective in life and his approach towards life. Moreover, this inspired him too to change his actions that led to transformation. Prophet Ezekiel tells us something about this, “since he has turned away from all the sins which he committed, he shall surely live.”

    This first son is the image of those sinners like the tax collectors and prostitutes at the time of Jesus who at their encounter with John the Baptist were touched and thought of their life. Indeed, the presence of Jesus made a great impact on their life and moved them to change and transform their life according to God’s desire for them.

    However, the second son in the story who was also asked by the father to go and work in the vineyard and said his big “Yes,” did something that must have surprised the father. This second son, though his words must have been a comfort and assurance to the father, revealed later on that he was only filled with pretensions. This son was only concerned in being affirmed. His words were empty. His words were merely a sugar-coating. Yet, his actions revealed different.

    This means that this son responded in words but he never listened and never believed. Afterall, what he was after was himself. He was merely concerned of his own interests. He did not consider others.

    Indeed, the second son is the image of the religious leaders and elders of the community at that time of Jesus. These were the people who memorized the scriptures, strict in observing rituals yet never changed their minds and attitudes towards others. They never believed in Jesus because believing in Jesus meant moving away from their privileges, moving away from their comforts, challenging the status quo and making themselves less important.

    The call of Jesus was too much for them, not good for their self-righteous image, bad for their business.  That’s why Jesus criticized their attitudes because they were only full of themselves, full of pretensions. When we become people like these, then, we are only depriving ourselves with true life, with freedom and depriving ourselves with the joy of being with God.

    God invites us today to identify ourselves not with the second son but with the first son who like him have said “NO” to the Lord many times. The mistakes, failures and sins we have committed in life were those moments of saying “no” to the Lord. Those were the moments of depriving ourselves with true life, with freedom and joy of being with God. Yet, time and again, God surprises us with His presence and appears before us through people and events to call us once again and to invite us to come closer to him.

    God only desires what is good and best for us. God desires that we enjoy a life where we are free and joyful. Hence, never deprive ourselves from these by becoming full of pretensions, full of selfishness. A person who is always pretentious, selfish, always seeking approval and affirmation, advancing his or her personal interest is a very sad and insecure person.

    Let us embrace our “afterwards,” those moments of realizations to dwell deeper on the importance of our life, of our relationships , of God, and on how our actions can affect others. By becoming less and less selfish and self-conscious then the more we become loving, life-giving and happy. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • DO What You Mean

    DO What You Mean

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    September 27, 2020 – 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092720.cfm)

    Homily

    Recently, a Q&A post was logged in Facebook. It asked the question: Is mortal sin forgiven only through sacramental confession? In other words, is it enough just to confess your sin to be forgiven of your mortal sin? The answer was, sacramental confession is normatively but not absolutely required of mortal sin. Meaning, confession can forgive mortal sin but it is not the only one way of forgiving and being forgiven of mortal sins. Saying sorry then is not enough for you have to do something about being sorry to renew faith & trust with others.

    Yes, forgiving mortal sin through sacramental confession is all about reconciliation with God and others, but it is also and moreso about repentance – the whole process of turning from sin and dedicating oneself to amend one’s life & relationships for the better.

    Our readings today have a lot to teach us about repentance. First of all, repentance is more than just changing one’s mind, but it is about making a choice – a stand for ones life. In our gospel, both sons changed their minds, the second did not fulfill what he promised while the first did what was requested which he had initially refused. The virtuous as well as the wicked may also change their mind as our first reading suggests. Although it involves much changing one’s mind, repentance thus requires our choice – to turn away from virtuous or wicked life, as well as to fulfill or neglect our promise.

    Second, repentance is giving oneself and the others another chance. In our gospel today, because he chose to neglect his promise, the second son did not give himself and his father a chance to make things right. The first son however gives himself and his father another chance to make things right again by doing what was requested, even though he did not initially commit at first. In the same way, for the wicked to change his mind and turn away from his wickedness, he gives himself another chance for God to forgive and be merciful to Him, and for himself to lead a virtuous life.

    Third, repentance is about saying what you mean and meaning what you say. It is not only about confessing you sin – just saying you’re sorry, but it is all about Being sorry. Confessing one’s sin is also not only about resolving to change your ways but it is all committing/ dedicating oneself in changing one’s life. Jesus asks about whom among the sons who Did the will of Father. He is not concern with who says Yes or No, but who does the Father’s will. Meaning, God needs doers who mean what they say, live and witness what they preach and believe, rather than preachers who do not do, live, witness what they say and preach.

    Although less appreciated compared to other sacraments, repentance of sin through the sacrament of reconciliation or confession is actually a Gospel – a good news of God’s salvation because it involves the resolve and commitment of the sinner to change one’s life, to give oneself and God another chance, as well as to live his life and dedicate his faith as witness to Christ’s good news to all.     

    St. Francis of Assisi who once said: Preach the Good news at all times, and use words when necessary. This reminds us that everything in our life as Christian – our struggles, hopes, dreams, aspirations, commitments, as well as our repentance of sin is a Life of Witness to the Good News of Christ. Whatever we do and however we live our Christian lives is a testimony to God’s work of salvation. It is ours now to share and preach such gospel to all at all times, not only by our words but also by our actions.

    Remember our God is a God of surprises and another chances who we will come to know if and when we give Him and ourselves another chance of better than usual life through our reconciliation and repentance. Somehow Jesus is saying to us today that it is never too late for us to change our minds, our ways and our lives…. just believe in Him, and be His witness by doing what we mean. This would be the Lord’s  challenge for us now.

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    Today’s pandemic times has indeed been a significant crisis experience for all of us that also requires our important life-adjusting decisions. Difficult as it may be, these times could also be our choosing to give ourselves and God another chance now for a better meaningful than our usual directionless life,  by our living our lives in witness of our faith. Transform, O Lord, our initial refusal, reluctance and neglect to follow you so that we may taste and see the better chance you are offering us now even amidst and through this pandemic crisis in our life. Amen.

    By  Fr. Aphelie Mario Masangcay, CSsR (a former Filipino Redemptorist Missionary for Filipino Migrants in South Korea who, due to immune compromised diabetic condition, stationed back home  in the Philippines for now).