Category: Sunday Homlies

August 25, 2019 – 21^stSunday in Ordinary Time

A Reading from the Book of Isaiah (66:18-21)

Thus says the LORD:
I know their works and their thoughts,
and I come to gather nations of every language;
they shall come and see my glory. 
I will set a sign among them;
from them I will send fugitives to the nations:
to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal and Javan,
to the distant coastlands
that have never heard of my fame, or seen my glory;
and they shall proclaim my glory among the nations. 
They shall bring all your brothers and sisters from all the nations
as an offering to the LORD,
on horses and in chariots, in carts, upon mules and dromedaries,
to Jerusalem, my holy mountain, says the LORD,
just as the Israelites bring their offering
to the house of the LORD in clean vessels. 
Some of these I will take as priests and Levites, says the LORD.

A Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews (12:5-7,11-13)

Brothers and sisters,
You have forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children:
“My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord
or lose heart when reproved by him;
for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines;
he scourges every son he acknowledges.”
Endure your trials as “discipline”;
God treats you as sons. 
For what “son” is there whom his father does not discipline?
At the time,
all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain,
yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness
to those who are trained by it.

So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. 
Make straight paths for your feet,
that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.

From the Holy Gospel according to Luke (13:22-30)

Jesus passed through towns and villages,
teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. 
Someone asked him,
“Lord, will only a few people be saved?” 
He answered them,
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough. 
After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door,
then will you stand outside knocking and saying,
‘Lord, open the door for us.’
He will say to you in reply,
‘I do not know where you are from.
And you will say,
‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’
Then he will say to you,
‘I do not know where you are from. 
Depart from me, all you evildoers!’
And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth
when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
and all the prophets in the kingdom of God
and you yourselves cast out.
And people will come from the east and the west
and from the north and the south
and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. 
For behold, some are last who will be first,
and some are first who will be last.”

Homily

It is common to see in the airports the x-ray and metal detector machines that each passenger must go through. Each passenger will pass these, and the nearer you are at the gate, you have to pass through the machines and by this time in a more thorough and stricter manner. Metals in the body are removed, these include, mobile phones, watches, belts and even shoes. When there will be undesirable objects like scissors, lighters or any pointed objects and even breakable items like bottles which exceed to the allowed size, are all to be surrendered. A passenger has to let go of them or take the hassle again of going back to the check-in counter.

Thus, I realized too that the more I bring unnecessary things in my flight the more it becomes troublesome for me. Besides, if I bring undesirable items too then, I am asked to let go of those things that are not allowed in the flight just for me to be allowed to board on my flight.

This realization brought me into today’s readings. So, I invite you that we see again and discover how God unfolds his invitations for us today.

“Lord, will only a few people be saved?”someone asked Jesus. We could wonder why that man asked about that. Well, the path that Jesus was taking seemed too difficult for this man. This was the reason why he asked the Lord about this. Jesus’ way was totally different from the trend at that time. People believed in a God who was so far away, too powerful and almighty. Yet, Jesus presented a God who is so close with the people. The people believed in an untouchable God who burdens them with so many laws to follow. Yet, Jesus introduced to them a God who heals the broken-hearted, who favored the poor and the despised. Their world taught them that they should be above others, to be rich, famous and powerful. But then, Jesus remained humble and poor, simple and unassuming, weak and powerless.

The Lord desires that everyone will be saved, and will experience healing and peace, reconciliation and freedom. This is what we have heard from the first reading in the Book of Isaiah. It was an affirmation of God’s desire to gather every one whether Jews or Gentiles, sinner or saints, rich or poor. People from all nations will come to worship the Lord.

However, as it was at the time of Jesus, we continue to prevent the Lord from making us closer to him. Our tendency to advance our selfish desires and interests at the expense of others, stops us in allowing the Lord to work in us. Selfishness and arrogance continue to hold us back from God.

Yet, God’s salvation is offered to us freely, but not imposed on us. And so it means that salvation also requires our participation. This makes the door of salvation “narrow” because of the commitment that it entails as we live our life.

To understand this better, the Letter to the Hebrews tells us on how we could enter that narrow gate. It is simply through “discipline.” The author wants to tell us that the trials and sufferings that we endure in this life are opportunities for us to be disciplined by God. And this is where we can participate with God.

When we encounter problems and difficulties, and disappointments, particularly in your marriage, with your families, with your friends, with your studies, or work or business – do not retreat or become aggressive. Retreating or being aggrieve will do us no good. These trials are opportunities for us to build our personality, to be responsible, to grow with confidence, to be committed, to be honest, and to gain more wisdom.

But remember, in this kind of discipline, God never desires us to suffer or to be in pain. Pain and suffering are just part of this world where we are now. Yet, God, in His wisdom, uses these human experiences of pain, suffering, disappointments and fears as ways to discipline us. These are doors for us to welcome God in our life so that He may be able to bring blessings upon us, to give us His peace and freedom. Certainly, God desires that we turn to Him and become closer to Him. 

Indeed, trials in life are ways for us to strip ourselves from our arrogance, to let go of our selfish desires, and to turn away from our sinful ways. These are the unnecessary baggage that will prevent us from entering the narrow gate. Yet, if we come as we are, without any pretentions and selfishness, then, we shall see that the narrow gate of Jesus is wider than us. 

Thus, God’s way of disciplining us is not about punishing us and giving more pain to us, but to correct us, to mold and to form us according to His desire for us. As we become conscious of this, we will discover the wonder of the process of working with God to mold us.

Today, let us also show and express our desire for the salvation of all, the giving of peace and freedom to all as desired by Jesus. As we participate with God let us listen attentively to His voice in the scriptures, in our sacraments, in our culture, in our current events and with those who are suffering in many ways in our community. Hopefully, this will lead us to respond to God’s invitation in becoming his instruments of salvation for our brothers and sisters and of the rest of God’s creation.  Hinaut pa.

Jom Baring, CSsR

August 18, 2019 – 20^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

A Reading from the Book of Prophet Jeremiah (38:4-6, 8-10)

In those days, the princes said to the king:
“Jeremiah ought to be put to death;
he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in this city,
and all the people, by speaking such things to them;
he is not interested in the welfare of our people,
but in their ruin.” 
King Zedekiah answered: “He is in your power”;
for the king could do nothing with them. 
And so they took Jeremiah
and threw him into the cistern of Prince Malchiah,
which was in the quarters of the guard,
letting him down with ropes. 
There was no water in the cistern, only mud,
and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

Ebed-melech, a court official,
went there from the palace and said to him:
“My lord king,
these men have been at fault
in all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah,
casting him into the cistern. 
He will die of famine on the spot,
for there is no more food in the city.” 
Then the king ordered Ebed-melech the Cushite
to take three men along with him,
and draw the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before
he should die.

A Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews ( 12:1-4)

Brothers and sisters:
Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us
and persevere in running the race that lies before us
while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,
the leader and perfecter of faith. 
For the sake of the joy that lay before him
he endured the cross, despising its shame,
and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God. 
Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners,
in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart. 
In your struggle against sin
you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (12:40-53)

Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing! 
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! 
Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? 
No, I tell you, but rather division. 
From now on a household of five will be divided,
three against two and two against three;
a father will be divided against his son
and a son against his father,
a mother against her daughter
and a daughter against her mother,
a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

HOMILY

Did you ever wonder on what you have just heard from today’s Gospel? Did it ever catch your attention on what Jesus said to us today?

He asked, “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” Why would Jesus say that he has come not to bring peace but division? Is he not the Prince of Peace at all? Is he not going to give his peace on the fearful disciples after his resurrection?

What Jesus actually means of this peace is the peace that the world knows. This peace is about the comfort and routine of life or ‘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, maintaining the order that we are comfortable with and preserving an environment that will not disturb us. Yet, this peace is shallow and remains self-centered. It merely focuses on our ego.

However, Jesus is not bringing this kind of peace but fire and division that will disturb us. This include disturbing our comfort, our current situation, our complacency, passivity and routine. And our readings today, beautifully capture God’s invitations for us.

The Book of Jeremiah tells us how Prophet Jeremiah disturbed those in power. The leaders who enriched themselves with wealth from the people and who were only concerned of preserving their comforts and privileges were threatened by the preaching of the prophet.

Jeremiah prophesied how Jerusalem will be destroyed by their foreign enemy, the Chaldeans. The city will be burned by fire. This was due to the laxity and corruption of the leaders and turned away from God. 

This made Jeremiah a great critic of those in power. He challenged them to heed the call of God and to change.  He was indeed, a man of God and a man for the people. 

Because of this, the princes hated him and promised to bring him down and to make him suffer. As a result, these leaders maligned the prophet by informing the King that Jeremiah was causing fear and division among the ordinary people. They released fake news telling the king that Jeremiah was demoralizing the soldiers and was not interested with the welfare of the people but their ruin.

They did this in order to get rid of the prophet. And 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.

This is the reason why most of the times, we choose to be passive because like these leaders, we do not want to be challenged, we do not want to go beyond and become life-giving. On the other hand, we do not want also to become like Jeremiah. 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 like this because we will become prisoners of our own selfish desires. We will become abusive and corrupt yet the most insecure of all.

Moreover, Jesus does not want us also to just go with the flow of life 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 also to us when we are trapped with our routine. We 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 make ourselves buried in the same addiction, fall into the same bad habit and then feel guilty and later do the usual things again.

That is why, the Letter to the Hebrews calls us to let go of every burden and sin. It would be also good 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. Yet, 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.

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

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

And 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 life-changing encounter with God through the ordinary expression of our faith. And remember, this call us to be pro-active, honest and courageous in expressing our faith and to the values that we believe as Christians. Hinaut pa.

Jom Baring, CSsR

August 11, 2019 – 19^thSunday in Ordinary Time

From the Book of Wisdom (18:6-9)

The night of the Passover was known beforehand to our fathers,
 that, with sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith,
 they might have courage.
 Your people awaited the salvation of the just
 and the destruction of their foes.
 For when you punished our adversaries,
 in this you glorified us whom you had summoned.
 For in secret the holy children of the good were offering sacrifice
 and putting into effect with one accord the divine institution.

From the Letter to the Hebrews (11:1-2,8-12)

Brothers and sisters:
Faith is the realization of what is hoped for
and evidence of things not seen. 
Because of it the ancients were well attested.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place
that he was to receive as an inheritance;
he went out, not knowing where he was to go. 
By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country,
dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise;
for he was looking forward to the city with foundations,
whose architect and maker is God. 
By faith he received power to generate,
even though he was past the normal age
—and Sarah herself was sterile—
for he thought that the one who had made the promise was
trustworthy.
 So it was that there came forth from one man,
himself as good as dead,
descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky
and as countless as the sands on the seashore.

From the Gospel of Luke (12:32-48) 

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. 
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. 
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have the servants recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. 
And should he come in the second or third watch
and find them prepared in this way,
blessed are those servants. 
Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into. 
You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,
the Son of Man will come.”

Homily

Do you 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 of our presence has something to teach us this Sunday.

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

We could imagine their fears and anxieties and 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 to free them from that suffering. As a community, they became much 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. 

Surely, 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 gratefulness 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 too to go beyond his fears and anxieties making him more attentive to God’s presence and invitations.

This is what Jesus taught to his disciples. Jesus reminds us to grow in our attentiveness of his presence. The parable is an affirmation to a person who consciously makes himself/herself attuned 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 or complacent and procrastinator. These are attitudes of a person who is not attentive of God’s presence and has taken advantage the gifts given by the Lord and therefore, is only concerned of himself/herself. This person would become the most insecure person, most anxious and at the same time most vicious and abusive of 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 settle to what is only lesser and comfortable for us.

Thus, when we become so caught up with our comforts but then refusing to go beyond by giving ourselves for others, by letting go of our grudges and hate, and by actively opposing 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. 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. 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 towards our faith, we feel bored, empty, and 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 a risk as what the Hebrew people showed in waiting for God to free them and for Abraham to journey outside his comfort and in sacrificing Isaac. Yet, it is in taking risks that God makes wonder 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 of God’s presence by taking the risk in believing in him and trusting God’s wisdom by avoiding from our tendency to become mediocre and complacent and procrastinator in our faith. Hinaut pa.

Jom Baring, CSsR

August 4, 2019 – 18^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

From the Book of Ecclesiastes (1:2; 2:21-23)

Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth,
vanity of vanities!  All things are vanity!

Here is one who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill,
and yet to another who has not labored over it,
he must leave property. 
This also is vanity and a great misfortune. 
For what profit comes to man from all the toil and anxiety of heart
with which he has labored under the sun? 
All his days sorrow and grief are his occupation;
even at night his mind is not at rest. 
This also is vanity.

From the Letter of Paul to the Colossians (3:1-5,9-11)

Brothers and sisters:
If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. 
For you have died,
and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 
When Christ your life appears,
then you too will appear with him in glory.

Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly:
immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire,
and the greed that is idolatry. 
Stop lying to one another,
since you have taken off the old self with its practices
and have put on the new self,
which is being renewed, for knowledge,
in the image of its creator. 
Here there is not Greek and Jew,
circumcision and uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, slave, free;
but Christ is all and in all.

 From the Gospel of Luke (12:13-21)

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” 
He replied to him,
“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” 
Then he said to the crowd,
“Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Then he told them a parable. 
“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. 
He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?’
And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. 
There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’
But God said to him,
‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’
Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves
but are not rich in what matters to God.”

HOMILY

According to the study of OXFAM International, an independent non-governmental organizations, one in three persons lives in poverty[1] and in their 2018 report on the Word’s wealth, Oxfam found that the richest 1% people in the world have 82% of the world’s wealth. Moreover, Oxfam also reported that the 26 wealthiest people in the world possessed 1.4 trillion USD and this is just equivalent to the wealth of the 3.8 billion poorest people in the world.[2]

The world has so much wealth and resources for all of us but then only few are possessing them. To possess material wealth is not in itself evil. Material wealth is God’s gift to us. However, material wealth becomes a problem if we would allow this to possess us. We might believe that to possess so much wealth will give us security and joy.

However, this is not the case because the more we possess things, the more we also become insecure and anxious. Just observe ourselves. The more a person possess wealth, the more the person also becomes defensive. High walls are built to protect a rich house, sometimes with electric current running 24/7 on barb wires and with a 24-hour security personnel. And when the person becomes unaware of his/her unquenchable desire to possess more, then the heart turns greedy and insecure, and even corrupt and oppressive.

Our readings this Sunday have something to tell us. The Lord invites us to examine our attitudes towards our material wealth, the resources that we have gained and received, and the riches that we possessed. Even though we may not be part of that 1% wealthiest people in the world, but then, the possessions that we have may have already possessed us. This may prevent us from being grateful to the source of blessings and generous to those who are in need. Let us explore then our readings and see how God unfolds his invitations for us today.

The author of the Book of Ecclesiastes tells us that what we possess now and our worldly achievements could not guarantee satisfaction to our desires. Qohelet says, “Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!” Indeed, everything will be in vain when we become too focused on material possessions and when our heart becomes materialistic. With this attitude, we will lose the essential things in life and that include our relationships.

This is the reason why Jesus warns us of our tendency to be greedy. Greed comes from a heart that believes in self-containment and self-satisfaction and that desires total independence from God. But then, material things could never quench our greatest desire to be satisfied and fulfilled. Thus, a person will tend to accumulate more and possess more even at the expense of others.

This is how the cycle of corruption and oppression happen. When our desire becomes unsatisfiable, we become greedy of many things, who will tend to collect as many material things and wealth us much as possible.

Such attitude will not just appear in our heart out of nowhere. Sometimes, this has something to do from our childhood memories. A child who has been deprived from many things particularly of essential things in the child’s development such us food, shelter, toys and clothing and even affection and love from parents may become a form of emptiness in the heart of a child. When the child becomes adult, that kind of experience could give the person the anxiety to be deprived again. Hence, in order to gratify such anxiety the person could become a hoarder who accumulate things and possessions.

When this happens too, a hoarder or a greedy person is blinded to see the needs of others. It will be difficult for the person to open up and be generous to those who are in need around him or her because the person feesl insecure every time he or she gives.  The person would only look at his/herself and never to others. This is now an attitude of the heart that is truly being possessed by possessions.

Thus, Jesus said, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” Jesus tells us that our life is more than our possessions. Consequently, St. Paul in the second reading calls us “to put to death parts of us that are earthly.” These are attitudes that are driven by greed.

Be mindful, then, of our possessive attitudes because these may affect and endanger our relationships with our families, friends and colleagues.

We may ask, what is it that possessed me? What are those that kept me from being free? We do not have to think of millions of pesos because even a single smartphone may possess us. Remember, when we put so much focus and attention to a material thing, it could make us indifferent, ungenerous and unkind towards others. Our attachment to a single smartphone may indeed, prevent us from giving more time, attention and focus towards our studies (for the students), or may prevent us from giving our affection and presence to our loved ones.

We believe that what gives us true satisfaction, freedom, joy and contentment is a life with God. Thus, Jesus calls today to have a life with Him and to let go of whatever that possessed us because this is the way of making ourselves free for Jesus. Then, by being free for Jesus, we shall be able to let ourselves be satisfied truly by the Lord himself. And in response, our self-satisfaction from the Lord will lead us to recognize that everything we have is God’s blessing that must be shared to others. Hinaut pa.

Jom Baring, CSsR

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[1] https://www.oxfam.org/en/about)

[2] https://time.com/5508393/global-wealth-inequality-widens-oxfam/

Solemnity of the Most Holy Redeemer (Third Sunday of July)

July 21, 2019

How did you experience God in your childhood?

I am sure that each of us has our own experiences of God. Our God experiences and even image of God during our childhood would somehow paint the picture of God’s image as we grow old. Indeed, our early thoughts about God would somehow color also on how we relate with Him.

To share with you a story, when I was growing up I was introduced to a God who was rather strict. God was someone that everybody should fear. I was told that this God punishes a naughty boy and rewards a good boy. As a young boy, I tried to be good to avoid God getting angry at me and punish me later on.  Unconsciously, I became fearful to God.

What motivated me then, to do good was out of fear from being punished rather than out of love.  I imagined God like an old man holding a stick who is ready to strike a boy who has been naughty. This image of God definitely haunted me. This was my very experience also at home from my parents who were ready to strike me with a stick whenever I become naughty and disobedient.

However, later on when I became conscious of my faith-relationhsip with God that I realized that God’s true character is not the one that I first thought of. Experiences would actually tell me that God is kind and generous, loving and forgiving.

This is the kind of God that our first reading and Psalm proclaim respectively. Our first reading told us how Yahweh made an everlasting covenant with His chosen people. God makes the initiative to relate to us in love. Our Psalm even reminds us about the faithfulness of God that we should rather not fear God but trust Him because God is our strength.

This kind of revelation tells us that God “relates” to us in the most personal and intimate way. This is what we affirm today as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Redeemer.

The scriptures tell us that the God who created the world is a God who hears the cry of the poor and the entire creation. This God is neither apart nor alien to us but a God who is near and close to us. This God is not “somewhere out there” but rather “here with us” who tirelessly journeys and lives with us from the beginning.

Thus, despite our sinfulness, stupidity, and unfaithfulness to God and to each other, God never surrenders on us. As St. Paul says, “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”

As I deeply experienced God with my family and friends, I came to know and became confident that God loves, and in His kindness, God reveals his gift of presence to us in the most intimate way where we could feel Him. When we allow God to reveal himself to us, then God brings healing and reconciliation. This is what our Lord Jesus did.

Our Gospel reminds us that God “so loved” the world that he gave his only Son. In our pains and struggles in life, God stays with us. With Jesus, God walks and speaks to us. God even laughs with us and cries with us and to the point of suffering and dying for us.

Though God is almighty and all-powerful but God never threatened us with His power of control and dominance. But rather, God builds intimate friendship with us, showing care and compassion, offering healing and salvation. This is basically what this feast of the Holy Redeemer is all about. It is about relationship with a God who desires to be with us and to share life with Him.

That is why, we who believe and experience God’s loving and redeeming concern in our life, are also called to express that in our life – that we too will also live in friendship with others, by showing concern and love, offering healing and peace.

We have to be watchful when we gain power over the others and tend to exercise control and dominance over them. Because most of the time, we will tend to abuse the weak and that instead of building bridges, we build walls, instead of developing friendship, we promote fear. As a result, we will be inclined to be indifferent to the struggles of others and intolerant to the mistakes of those who are around us. This is not what God wants us to be.

God wants us to make friends, to show our affection and concern in the way Jesus makes us his friends, shows his affection and concern to us so that we may have meaning, purpose and joy in this life.

Now, as God’s own people, we may become God’s instrument of healing and reconciliation in our community amidst suffering from war and killings, hate and indifference, hunger and poverty caused by conflicts, selfishness and greed for power. Hinaut pa.

Jom Baring, CSsR