Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: Sunday Homlies

  • It is when we learn to let go that we find life

    It is when we learn to let go that we find life

    September 8, 2019 – 23ndSunday in OT and Birthday of Mary

     A reading from the Book of Wisdom (9:13-18b)

    Who can know God’s counsel,
     or who can conceive what the LORD intends?
     For the deliberations of mortals are timid,
     and unsure are our plans.
     For the corruptible body burdens the soul
     and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns.
     And scarce do we guess the things on earth,
     and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty;
     but when things are in heaven, who can search them out?
     Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given wisdom
     and sent your holy spirit from on high?
     And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.

    A reading from the Letter of Paul to Philemon (9-10,12-17)

    I, Paul, an old man,
    and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus,
    urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus,
    whose father I have become in my imprisonment;
    I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you.
    I should have liked to retain him for myself,
    so that he might serve me on your behalf
    in my imprisonment for the gospel,
    but I did not want to do anything without your consent,
    so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary.
    Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while,
    that you might have him back forever,
    no longer as a slave
    but more than a slave, a brother,
    beloved especially to me, but even more so to you,
    as a man and in the Lord.
    So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me.

    A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (14:25-33)

    Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
    and he turned and addressed them,
    “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,
    wife and children, brothers and sisters,
    and even his own life,
    he cannot be my disciple.
    Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
    cannot be my disciple.
    Which of you wishing to construct a tower
    does not first sit down and calculate the cost
    to see if there is enough for its completion?
    Otherwise, after laying the foundation
    and finding himself unable to finish the work
    the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
    ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’
    Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
    and decide whether with ten thousand troops
    he can successfully oppose another king
    advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
    But if not, while he is still far away,
    he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
    In the same way,
    anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
    cannot be my disciple.”

    Homily

    All of these letting go are experiences that would tell us how a certain sacrifice could bring life and how a person could let go something in order to address a greater need. 

    Such experiences are the very ground where God reveals himself to us. These experiences are not remote from the stories we have heard in the bible. So, let us discover together how God invites us today.

    The Gospel seems to be quite harsh and lacking emotional affection towards our family. Jesus asks his disciples to “hate” our family and even our own life, only then that we can be true disciples. When we too will not be able to renounce our possession then we cannot be his disciples too.

    However, what Jesus really meant for this? Is hate here means to plant hatred towards our loved ones? Do we need to be destitute materially just for us to be able to follow him?

    What Jesus meant invites us towards the process of letting go. To be a true Christian, a disciple of the Lord, requires us availability and commitment. Each of us is asked to make the Lord as the priority in everything we do, no matter what our status is, whether you are married, a priest or a nun, or complicated, in a relationship, broken-hearted or single.

    This is what we find in the life of Paul who sacrificed his family, privileged status as a Pharisee and even his life to become a prisoner for Christ. He let go the comforts of his life because he found a greater treasure in Christ. Consequently, Paul was able to give life to many Christian churches. This was what he was sharing to his friend Philemon. He invited Philemon to exercise such spirit of letting go by treating his slave Onesimus, not anymore as a slave but as a friend and a brother.

    As it was difficult for Paul to let go of his comforts as a rich Jew, Philemon had surely found it difficult to let go of his slave and treat him instead as a brother. Philemon was invited not to be possessed by this, for him to be freer and also to give freedom to Onesimus. 

    This is what Jesus meant that anyone who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be his disciple. Philemon was invited to let go of his slave so that he will be able to give life to Onesimus.

    Moreover, the Book of Wisdom is a reminder to us how we could be easily driven by our desire to accumulate for ourselves. Human understanding tend to be selfish. Yet, we are called not to let our human tendencies to control us but also to seek the grace of God’s wisdom. We can only attain such wisdom when we too are more welcoming of God’s presence in our life, attuned to God’s revelations in our life.

    This is what we can learn from Mary, Our Mother of Perpetual Help whose birthday we celebrate today. In her life, she made many experiences of letting go. From the annunciation of the angel, Mary let go her plans for herself and the normal way of being a wife and a mother in order to give way to God’s desire. Most surely, Mary did not understand well everything that had to happen, yet, she let go of certainties in life and took the risk of trusting God’s wisdom at work through her. With that, her life has completely changed. She became an extra-ordinary mother. And as a mother, she also had to let go of her son from her comfort which led to the crucifixion of Jesus and his death. She had to let go of him so that Jesus can bring life to all.

    In the same way, we are invited by the Lord to let go of whatever that is possessing us now. It could our desire to be rich and famous, or our tendency to seek comfort and praise. It could also be our addictions and compulsive behaviors. This could also be our attachments to certain things or painful memories or even attachments to people. 

    It is in letting go of whatever that possessed us or from our attachments that we will surely become free, available and committed. In that way, God calls us to be able to give life. Is it not wonderful? It is, indeed! Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation

    Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation

    September 1, 2019 – 22ndSunday in Ordinary time

    World day of Prayer for the Care of Creation

    A reading from the Book of Sirach (3:17-18,20,28-29)

    My child, conduct your affairs with humility,
     and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts.
     Humble yourself the more, the greater you are,
     and you will find favor with God.
     What is too sublime for you, seek not,
     into things beyond your strength search not.
     The mind of a sage appreciates proverbs,
     and an attentive ear is the joy of the wise.
     Water quenches a flaming fire,
     and alms atone for sins.

    Responsorial Psalm Ps 68

    R. (cf. 11b)  God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.
    The just rejoice and exult before God;
    they are glad and rejoice.
    Sing to God, chant praise to his name;
    whose name is the LORD.
    R. God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.
    The father of orphans and the defender of widows
    is God in his holy dwelling.
    God gives a home to the forsaken;
    he leads forth prisoners to prosperity.
    R. God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.
    A bountiful rain you showered down, O God, upon your inheritance;
    you restored the land when it languished;
    your flock settled in it;
    in your goodness, O God, you provided it for the needy.
    R. God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.

    A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews (12:18-19,22-24a)

    Brothers and sisters:
    You have not approached that which could be touched
    and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness
    and storm and a trumpet blast
    and a voice speaking words such that those who heard
    begged that no message be further addressed to them.
    No, you have approached Mount Zion
    and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
    and countless angels in festal gathering,
    and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven,
    and God the judge of all,
    and the spirits of the just made perfect,
    and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant,
    and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel.

    A reading from the Gospel according to Luke (14:1,7-14)

    On a sabbath Jesus went to dine
    at the home of one of the leading Pharisees,
    and the people there were observing him carefully.

    He told a parable to those who had been invited,
    noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table.
    “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet,
    do not recline at table in the place of honor. 
    A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him,
    and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say,
    ‘Give your place to this man,’
    and then you would proceed with embarrassment
    to take the lowest place. 
    Rather, when you are invited,
    go and take the lowest place
    so that when the host comes to you he may say,
    ‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’
    Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. 
    For every one who exalts himself will be humbled,
    but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” 
    Then he said to the host who invited him,
    “When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
    do not invite your friends or your brothers
    or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,
    in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
    Rather, when you hold a banquet,
    invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;
    blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.
    For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

    Homily

    Did you know that our church is actually filled with many trashes? Most of those remain unseen to us because they are hidden under the pews and chairs. I am referring to the countless bubble gums that were stuck underneath.

    Those hundreds of bubble gums inside this church are harmless. They do not cause environmental degradation or decay to our wooden pews and plastic chairs. But what is alarming is our attitude in disposing our garbage. Because it is very easy to dispose a bubble gum discreetly under the pews and chairs, we do not take the effort to properly dispose it into the garbage bin.

    Now, what is really its connection and significance? Today, Pope Francis asked us to pray for the Care of Creation. Moreover, starting today and for the rest of the month of September, we raise an awareness in our community that each of us has a responsibility to take care of each other and that includes our common home, the earth.

    In addition to that bubble gum, our single-used plastic lifestyle has its tremendous contribution to environmental degradation and pollution. Indeed, we are so used to disposable things that are mostly made of plastics. These ranges from plastic straws, plastic cups, plastic plates, plastic spoons and forks, plastic bottles and plastic bags. And because we use them every day and it is the normal lifestyle, then, most of us are not aware of the danger that they bring into our common home, the earth.

    Scientists tell us that plastic waste items can last up to 1000 years to decompose in landfills.[1]Plastic bags that we use every day can last from 10 to 1000 years too. While plastic bottles can last up to 450 years or more.

    Moreover, the millions of straws that we use can last up to 200 years or more. And a study revealed that there are about 500 million straws being used every day and an estimated 8.3 billion plastic straws contaminate our beaches around the world.[2]You might have seen a video too of a turtle in which a plastic straw was stuck on its nose. It’s horrible!

    That is why, Pope Francis is appealing to each of us to have a deeper awareness in caring for the whole creation.  This world day of prayer for the care of creations aim that you and me will do something today to actively participate in taking care for our common home.

    I would like to invite you now to listen and watch this short video from Pope Francis.

    Pope Francis asks us to pray for the Care of Creation

    The Pope’s request is that we may be able to take good care of the creation – a gift freely given to us, by cultivating and protecting it for the future generations. We will only be able to take care of the earth and express our intimate connection with the rest of the creation, if we too are aware of our place and role in the whole creation. We are not masters and dominators of nature though we have made drastic and tremendous change in the place where we live in considering the technology that we have developed and the big cities that we have built. 

    However, when nature expresses itself through natural disasters, we are completely helpless. The Typhoon Yolanda and the many typhoons that our country had experienced were evidences of our helplessness in those times. The recent flooding in Davao left many homes destroyed. There were 3, 559 families displaced because of that.[3]Four Baranggays of our City have been placed now under State of Calamity.

    The readings we have this Sunday would help us to become aware of our place and of our connection with nature. Our Psalm sings today, “A bountiful rain you showered down, O God, upon your inheritance; you restored the land when it languished; your flocked settled in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided it for the needy.”

    This tells us of God’s generosity to us. Pope Francis affirms this that the earth is a gift freely given to us. The Lord poured down the rain and restored the land that deteriorated. Should we not be grateful then? A gift freely given to us, and we are called to be grateful.

    It is when we become grateful that we also acknowledge the gifts that we have received. Not just that, but also we become a person who is more aware of the presence of God, the giver of blessings and gifts. In this way, we recognize God in everyone and in everything. This calls us then, to be humble because of the amount of generosity from God.

    The Book of Sirach expressed this invitation – that is to humble ourselves. The greater the gifts that we have received, the more we are called to be humble. In that way, we will find favor with God. To find favor with God means to be invited in a banquet such as these, the Eucharist. It also means being able to receive God’s abundant blessings particularly of God’s faithful presence in us. Having that confidence in God, will surely make us joyful.

    That joy will move us then to become generous towards everybody else, to people and to every creature. It is in this attitude that we are able to take care of others. Because we are grateful, we become joyful and that joy makes us generous and that generosity is transformed into concrete actions of love and kindness.

    This is what the Gospel is actually telling us today. A true generosity is not after any repayment because it comes from the heart that recognizes the first generosity of God. This kind of generosity calls us then to become life-giving especially to those who are in need. This is the reason why Jesus proclaims that the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind and all those who are wounded in many ways, should rather be the subject of our generosity. With this sector of our society, the environment which has been wounded in many ways should also be included.

    Now, the taking care of the creation should also come from that gratefulness in us. Because the danger also comes when we are ungrateful to God’s gifts including the creation. When we become ungrateful persons, we become self-entitled and dominators. We become demanding yet 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 what surrounds us and indifferent to God, the source of all blessings.

    As an expression of our gratefulness to God for the gift of creation, let us begin or continue our concrete actions of taking care the creation. So, I would like to invite you then to remember these small invitations.

    First. Be aware and be grateful. Awareness is the first step in expressing our care. Thus, be aware that everything is a gift and be grateful.

    Second. Reduce and if possible refuse to use single-used plastics. This is a concrete way of protecting the environment. This will be difficult if it has been our normal way to use single-used plastics but be patient until we get used to it by using other means.

    Third. Raise awareness and inform others. Tell others of what you have realized. Share to your friends and neighbors on how we could care and protect the environment. Share your enthusiasm and your conviction because what we are protecting are not just ourselves, but particularly those who are materially poor because they are the ones who greatly suffer due to environmental degradation and the future generations.

    These are small steps and hopefully it will inspire others to also take part in praying and taking care of the gift of creation. In this way, we may become a community of believers that truly promotes and gives life. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

    [1]https://www.thebalancesmb.com/how-long-does-it-take-garbage-to-decompose-2878033

    [2]https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/07/news-plastic-drinking-straw-history-ban/

    [3]https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1079053

  • The Lord invites everyone including you! Yes, you!

    The Lord invites everyone including you! Yes, you!

    August 25, 2019 – 21stSunday 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

  • Jesus, come to disturb us that we may have your peace

    Jesus, come to disturb us that we may have your peace

    August 18, 2019 – 20th 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

  • To become attentive of God’s presence

    To become attentive of God’s presence

    August 11, 2019 – 19thSunday 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