Category: Weekday Homilies

June 13, 2022 – Monday of the 11^th Week in Ordinary Time

Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061322.cfm)

It was violent, cruel, brutal and merciless. These are some of the words one could describe on what happened with Naboth the Jezreelite. He refused to give up his ancestral heritage but was falsely accused. He was treated with so much brutality, viciously framed for a crime he did not commit and murdered in daylight by the minions of Jezebel.

And no one stood for Naboth. Nobody dared to defend him. King Ahab, on the other hand, though did not commit the crime directly but played passively. He was passive because he did not want to be involved himself. Yet, he did not also choose to stop Jezebel because he knew he would be able to benefit from such corrupt and murderous act of her wife.

This tells us really that no matter how much possessions we may have or no matter how secured we can be materially, or no matter how much power and influence we may possess, it does not mean that we will be satisfied. This has been shown already by Ahab even before the murder. Ahab was disturbed and angry because he did not get what he wanted despite he did not need it. Because of that greed of Ahab through the cunning and vicious plans and actions of Jezebel, the little possession of Naboth was taken away from him including his life.

Is God then, blind to this kind of crime committed against the weak and powerless? Our Psalm proclaims to us today the prayer of a man like Naboth, “Lord, listen to my groaning.” This is an appeal to the Lord to listen to that groan filled with pain. It is a cry for help from a person who find life too much to bear because of the exploitation and abuse from others.

The author of the Psalm also recognized that indeed, the Lord is not blind or deaf to that painful groan for the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and the deceitful. This is the very image that Jezebel gained after that murderous act, bloodthirsty and deceitful.

However, what is more puzzling in today’s invitation from the Lord for us is this, “offer no resistance to one who is evil.”

Does it mean that we become passive to the abuses committed against us, against the weak and the powerless? In the case of Naboth, it was perhaps even impossible to resist because the evil scheme against him was just too overwhelming. He was alone.

However, to offer no resistance to one who is evil has a deeper meaning. Not to resist to one who is evil, is not allowing evil to control us. Meaning, once we fight back to one who is evil it may bring us into the same position of the one who is evil. We shall tend to resort to the same violence. Hence, responding evil with evil or responding to violence with violence will only bring us into an endless cycle of evil and violence.

The wisdom of Jesus lies in the offer of peace. To offer the other cheek when someone strikes us on the right cheek, though this sounds ridiculous for many of us, is an opportunity for the one who hurt us to embrace peace and reconciliation. Peace and reconciliation is truly a difficult path. A very unpopular one. However, this is the only way to end the cycle violence and evil.

Moreover, this is not an excuse to just remain passive to the abuses and other forms of oppression. It does not mean that when your spouse physically abuse you, or a family member is sexually abusing you, or a friend or colleague is exploiting your goodness and generosity, or a powerful and influential person oppressed the weak in the society that we remain passive and indifferent. The teaching of Jesus is meant to keep violence at the minimum and not to escalate more violence towards others and ourselves. In such situations, we are called to get out from the abusive relationship, to demand justice and reparation and show mercy.

To demand justice then is to make the perpetrator take the responsibility and the consequences. To show mercy is to get rid of hatred and anger within our hearts for us to live freely by offering peace and reconciliation towards those who have wronged us.

Therefore, God invites us today to live freely by not allowing evil to control us or to have an access into our hearts by holding on to grudges, hatred, anger and selfishness. God calls us to be more satisfied with what we have and to be grateful of the blessing God gave to us so that unlike Ahab, our hearts won’t grow ungrateful and corrupt. God calls us too that in the event when an evil act is committed against us, do not give a chance to evil to have a control over us by resorting to evil also. Jesus calls us to offer peace, not violence, not anger, not hatred, and not also indifference in the face of evil and violence. Offer peace that gives and promotes life. Kabay pa.

June 9, 2022 – Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060922.cfm)

The Lord calls us today, “unless you surpass the righteousness of the Lawyers and the Pharisees, then, you will not enter the kingdom of Heaven.”

Without condemning the Jewish Lawyers and Pharisees at that time, Jesus wants us to realize something beyond the usual actions of these people and to become righteous beyond what is minimum, beyond what is only required.

To set the context, scribes and Pharisees at that time were more inclined in focusing on the letters of the law. This means that these people were more concerned in following trivial things in the Jewish Law. However, this kind of attitude prevented them to be compassionate to others and more expressive of mercy to the sinners, the sick and the poor.

Jesus gave a practical challenge to his disciples, an action that expresses mercy and compassion. Jesus calls for “Reconciliation” and “Reparation” of the damage we have caused to others. To be reconciled with the person whom we have hurt and those who have hurt us, expresses righteousness.

Thus, the Gospel today invites us to look closely at our failures and sins and to recognize them. Yet, we do not stop at the recognition of sin but we step forward by making peace, by reconciling ourselves with others, by doing the right thing and doing what God desires us to do.

God calls us to go beyond from what is only easy and comfortable for us. It is a temptation to settle to what is only minimal and become complacent and indifferent towards others. True enough, it is very easy  for us to continue what we are doing like going to mass, praying our rosary and novena, and going to confession regularly, but then, remaining unmoved by the many social issues that surround us, or remaining indifferent to the needs of people around.

Jesus invites us now to be more expressive of our devotion by being honest and true in our words and actions and by seeking reconciliation and peace with our brothers and sisters. In these ways, then, we make a room for Jesus to renew our heart and to experience God’s mercy. Kabay pa.

June 7, 2022 – Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060822.cfm)

In our search to what fulfills us, we could face many trials, challenges and battles which could give us failures, disappointments and frustrations. This process of finding our fulfillment not only strengthens us but also purifies our motivations and builds up our person. Thus, it is in finding our fulfillment in life that we also discover and understand better ourselves and our relationships with others.

Speaking of such fulfillment, our readings today point us towards our greatest fulfillment in life. This is what we have heard in today’s first reading from the First Book of Kings. The many prophets who worshipped Baal must have been in search of what would hopefully fulfill their life. Yet, it was Elijah who challenged them to look and examine better what they were following. Indeed, though they were many, but then, they were wrong. Baal was not the fulfillment of their life. They realized that no matter how hard they called on Baal, there was no response at all. Baal was a false god, giving them false hopes.

Elijah rather proved to them that the Lord is God. The Lord burnt the altar of sacrifice and that fire was the symbol that God indeed, is their fulfillment. This was expressed by all at the end of the reading, “The Lord is God! The Lord is God!”

This fulfillment is reechoed in our Gospel today. The Gospel of Matthew reveals to us that Jesus is the fulfillment of our life. Jesus declares that he fulfills the law and the prophet. This became an argument between the Jewish leaders and Jesus. They thought that Jesus abolished the Law and Prophets, which composed the whole tradition of their people. For them, the Law and the Prophets, and all those teachings were the fundamentals of their faith. The commandments written in the scriptures motivated them to live as faithful Jews.

However, Jesus himself denied that he abolished the law and the teachings of the prophets and the whole tradition of the Hebrew Scriptures. Jesus is actually the fulfillment of the promises in the whole Hebrew Scriptures. The person of Jesus is the very inspiration of the scriptures.

But then, the Jewish leaders missed the whole point. They were not able to recognize Jesus, the true inspiration. They focused more on themselves, on what they can gain and on their privileged status.

This will happen also to us when we think that our achievements, successes and titles are our main inspiration, and when we believe that pleasing people around us will make us fulfilled and happy. But we are wrong, these will only make us more anxious, fearful and unsatisfied.

We are rather called to find our true fulfillment there in the most important part of our life, and that is, in our relationships. These include our relationship with God and with one another, with our family and friends. Yet, let us never forget that at the very center of all our relationships, is the person of Jesus, who is our true fulfillment. Kabay pa.