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Category: Weekday Homilies

  • MISUNDERSTOOD GOD

    MISUNDERSTOOD GOD

    March 22, 2021 – Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032321.cfm)

    A motivational speaker Terry Mark once said, “The world today is ruined more by misunderstanding than by hatred. Hatred is born out of misunderstanding”.

    Misunderstanding is something we are most familiar with in life. True indeed we know how bad it is when we misunderstand things. And we know how much worse it is when we are being misunderstood and to be misunderstood by others. Misunderstanding is indeed dangerous, can caused havoc and hatred among us people and can even jeopardize our faith in God.   

    Our readings today are also about misunderstanding.

    Worn out by their journey, the Israelites misunderstood God’s intentions and actions of saving them from slavery in Egypt. They resorted instead to complaining & grumbling against God & Moses. Thus, they were punished for their lack of faith & trust in God with pestilence of poisonous & deadly snake bites. As they understood & realized their own mistake, they begged for God’s mercy & received God’s protection from the punishment of death, by gazing towards the bronze serpent mounted on the pole whenever they are bitten by the deathly snakes.  Take note, God did not erase their punishment & misfortunes, but required them instead to gaze upon & believe in God’s cure or antidote to protect & spare them from pestilence death.

    In our gospel today, Jesus is also very much misunderstood by the people. The people simply cannot and did not get to understand Jesus. Jesus already explicitly said: “For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins… When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM.” Yes, Jesus is the “I AM” – the one lifted up & must be believe and trusted so that we might not die from our sins. He is the God’s cure and antidote to our sins & punishment. He is the bronze serpent mounted on the pole that will save us from the curse of our sins if & when in life we gaze upon & believe in Him.

    Those who believed Jesus understands. Those who understood Jesus believes. But those who cannot believe misunderstood Jesus… those who misunderstands cannot believe Jesus.

    And the more we misunderstand God & one-another, the more we cannot believe in God & the more we ruin our own lives & each other’s lives. And that is why we should be conscious of the danger misunderstanding in our lives. It can cause havoc to our world & to our faith in God.

    Consider this… Since last year, we have been praying for a medicine for Covid-19 pandemic. We have been praying for God’s intervention to save & spare us from this pandemic & to protect us from the spreading virus. Now that vaccines are available, misinformation & misunderstanding abound as to the efficacy of the said available vaccines. Doubts, fears, concerns, questions are on the rise. God is already intervening & has intervened but we still cannot believe because we miss to understand. Pope Francis said that to be vaccinated is our moral obligation, “morally everyone must take the vaccine… it is the moral choice because it is about your life… but also the lives of others.” In other words, take the vaccine not only to protect & cure oneself but to help protect & cure our world. And regardless how politicized and economized it is, understand & believe then that what we have now is God’s intervention & action for us now.

    Pardon our grumblings & foolishness, Lord. Make us understand that as you said, I AM – that you are God’s saving acts for our healing & redemption, and that we may believe & have more trust in God now & always.

    So Help us God. So May it Be. Amen.  

  • Work for God OR Do God’s work?

    Work for God OR Do God’s work?

    March 17, 2021 – Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031721.cfm)

    Thomas Green, a well-known Jesuit spiritual director once pointed out that for those who are in one way or another involved with apostolic work and ministry, there is a big difference between working for God and doing God’s work. Though working for God and doing God’s work are both noble and good as well as might mean the same, the difference lies on the doer, worker, or actor of the work.

    Working for God is based from OUR own initiative and creativity. It is service-done designed according to our own will so that God and others will be pleased with us. God and others then, becomes a passive recipient of our good works. However, doing God’s work is based not on our own but on God’s own initiative and creativity. It is service-done, patterned according not to our own will but to God’s will and done in partnership and collaboration with God. Here, God is the author and actor of the good works done. We become then just participants and instruments of God’s work as well as all will be the beneficiaries of God’s work. Simply put, Working for God is OUR work for God, while Doing God’s work is God’s work for us & done with Us.

    Jesus in our gospel today gives us a description of the relationship or tandem between himself and his Father. Jesus said: I can do nothing of myself, because I seek not my own will but the will of Him who sent me. Meaning, the attitude of Jesus toward his mission and good work is not working for God but doing God’s work. He sees himself as active participant not a passive recipient, and as collaborator or partner, not conspiring plotter, of God.

    As followers of Christ, we are called to be involved with the good work of salvation. But in doing so, we must be like Jesus in doing God’s work, and not working for God.

    Though we do our part in God’s work, Lent Season challenges us to be more in sync & at tune with God’s will, plan, & ways of leading & guiding us, rather than insist our own plans, will & ways for what is best for us in our lives nowadays.

    So Help us God. So may It be. Amen.

  • PRIDE & HUMILITY

    PRIDE & HUMILITY

    March 13, 2021 – Saturday of the Third Week of Lent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031321.cfm)

    WHAT (than Who) is Right, Matters most.

    Certainly pride & humility does not come together. It is said that pride & humility are opposite to one another. But what is the difference between Pride & Humility?

    A wise man once said: “Pride is concerned with Who is Right. Humility is concerned with What is Right.” True indeed, Pride is all about the person being correct, great & better than others, regardless of what he thinks & have done. Humility, however, is all about the person’s right relations, attitude & influence towards others, great or small he may be. Pride is about oneself and thinking more about & of oneself. Whereas humility is not thinking less of oneself but more about thinking oneself less.

    Surely our Gospel today is all about Pride & Humility. The Pharisee is full of himself. He prides & exalts himself compared to the tax collector. He lauds himself for his greatness & merits for doing what is required. He is more concerned about himself than others & even than God. It is all about himself. Whereas the tax collector pays his humble homage due to God, despite his unworthiness & sinfulness. He is concerned about God’s mercy in his life more than his being a sinner. He prays: “Lord, Have Mercy on Me, a Sinner” while the Pharisee is not concern about thanking God “I thank you Lord” but more on “I am not like the rest of humanity.”

    And who is justified & finds favor with God? The one who humbles himself – the one who thinks oneself less, will be exalted and the one who exalts himself – the one who thinks oneself more, will be humbled.

    What God then requires of us is our Righteousness – WHAT is right before God & others, Not our Greatness – WHO is right amongst us. Humility, not Pride matters most in our faith & life, as Hosea reminds us “God desires our love & knowledge of Him, not our sacrifices & burnt offerings.” Simply put, Be HUMBLE than proud. Realize that that Life with God is all about God & not about oneself & ourselves. Consider then oneself less & do whatever is right before God & others, rather than considering oneself more & insist on who is right.

    So Help us God. So May it Be. Amen.

  • Fulfilling God’s commandments?

    Fulfilling God’s commandments?

    March 10, 2021 – Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031021.cfm)

    There was once a man who went to the priest to seek advice. He asked the priest, “Father, what else must I do to lead a holy life? Well, so far, I have not taken the Lord’s name in vain. I have not profaned the Lord’s. I have not dishonored my father or mother. I have not killed anyone. I haven’t been unfaithful to my wife. I have not stolen. I have not borne false witness against anyone. And I have not coveted my neighbor’s wife or good.”

    The priest replied, “So, in other words, you know God’s commandments & have not broken any of them.” “Yes” that’s right“, the man replied. “But have you kept or fulfilled the commandments?” priest asked. “What do you mean?” said the man. “I mean: have you honored God’s holy name? Have you kept holy the Lord’s Day? Have you loved and honored your parents? Have you sought to preserve and defend life? When was the last time you told you wife that you loved her? Have you shared your goods with the poor? Have you defended the good name of anyone? When was the last time you put yourself out to help a neighbor?” Have you loved others as you have loved God and yourself?” You may not have broken God’s commandments but have you fulfilled them?

    Surely we are familiar with God’s commandments. Moses even reminds us today in our reading that we should observe God’s decree and statutes. But what is our attitude towards God’s law and commandments? Is it enough just to observe and not break it or are we doing or fulfilling what it directs us?

    Jesus in our gospel today reiterates to us his listeners that He has not come to abolish the Law and Prophets but to fulfill it. Here, Jesus particularly denounced our minimalist attitude and tendency towards God’s commandment. For Jesus, God’s commandments are more than just human tradition and religious observances or practices. Keeping God’s commandments is not a matter of not breaking or breaking the law but more on actively living out and practicing (i.e. obeying & teaching) its true spirit in our relationship with God and others. In other words, God’s commandments are to be observed not because God says so, but it is & should be our rightful attitude and behavior with God, and through it, we might share God’s salvation and may have life to its fullness.

    Sin of omission is our sin for not doing what should be done or for failing to do what we should do. In other words, the sin of not living what we believe and of not practicing what we preach, and not fulfilling the commandments.

    During this season of Lent, we are called not only to be sorry for the sins that we have done but most important, we must ask forgiveness for the sins of failing to fulfill and do what we should do. And above all, Lent is the time to make thing right before God & others.   May the Lord then, in his love and mercy, forgive us not only for breaking his commandments but failing to fulfill it in our relationship with God and others, & so that we may have anew right relationship with Him. So Help us God, So may it be.   Amen.

  • BLESSING IN DISGUISE

    March 5, 2021 – Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

    Fr. Gibo Dandoy, CSsR

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030521.cfm)

    Today’s first reading is a classic example of what we call “blessing in disguise.” It is the story of Joseph. He was his father’s favorite. Because of this he became the object of jealousy by his own brothers, which sadly led him to be sold into slavery to get rid of him.

    Because of their ill-feelings toward him, they wanted to get rid of him. Joseph was then considered a thing – an “it” – a commodity – disposable – by his own siblings. Their resentment had completely blinded them from what was right and prevented them from recognizing him as their brother.

    Joseph’s plight, in human reasoning, is an utter misfortune and disaster. But in God’s logic, it is a privilege locus for God to reveal his saving power and plan for Joseph and his family. For what we humans consider as a sheer loss and hardship is actually a “blessing in disguise” if we look at it with the eyes of faith.

    We thought that it was his slavery and misfortune that brought Joseph to Egypt. But it was actually God’s plan of saving his people from famine by sending him ahead of them. It was God who orchestrated the circumstances. And he chose to intervene in the life of Joseph to bring his plan to fruition.

    On the otherhand, Jesus went through a similar fate in the hands of men. He was rejected by own people. Persecuted. Betrayed by friends. Sold for silver coins.  Abandoned. Humiliated. Suffered and nailed and died on the cross.

    He was considered a stumbling block by the proud, and his death on the cross foolishness and mean defeat by the ignorant. And yet the Father proved them wrong because Jesus is the Messiah. The fulfillment of the law and prophet. The One who is to save the entire of God’s creation. And his death on the cross is God’s wisdom, and the prime expression of God’s victory over sin and death, for which we all are free.

    So, when your life is challenging and difficult, remember the story of Joseph and Jesus and be consoled. For thus says the Lord, “For I know the plans I have for you. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer. 29: 11, NLT).