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Category: Weekday Homilies

  • In Gratitude to God not in complaints

    In Gratitude to God not in complaints

    March 31, 2020 – Tuesday 5th Week of Lent

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/033120.cfm)

    Homily

    Have you ever met a person who complains a lot? Or have we noticed ourselves when we complain a lot?

    We would surely find ourselves in this situation especially when we are overwhelmed by our worries and anxieties of our personal struggles such as our failures and unfulfilled dreams and desires, or the overwhelming expectations from others, or the issues that our relationships are facing today, or the great demands that your family life is requiring you to do, or the illness of a loved one that pains you.

    When we let these one or more issues to overwhelm us, then, we will certainly become disturbed. We will be out of focus that may lead us to become complaining persons. Consequently, our relationship with others and even with God will be affected. We could become negligent and inattentive to our relationships because our worries and anxieties have grabbed us to what are more essential and important.

    When we become complaining, this makes us ungrateful too. Complaining persons, especially when complaining becomes our attitude or habit, we become very difficult to live with. When we become like this, we tend to be negative with what surround us. We also tend to see what is ugly and imperfect. We become sensitive to failures and mistakes of ourselves and of others. And because we seemed to seek perfection, then, we are also difficult to satisfy whatever there are in our hands.

    However, such attitudes are just reflection of our own negativity and bitterness towards ourselves. The ugly we see in our friend or the wrong that we tend to see from others could sometimes be mere reflections of our own mistakes and ugliness, which we abhor and cannot accept.

    Thus, a person who complains a lot is also a person who is anxious and worries a lot. And if we let these attitudes to control us, then, we shall also lose the opportunity to become aware of God’s presence. And what follows is the attitude that does not recognize the many gifts and blessings that we have. We shall surely find life difficult, dark, bitter and hopeless.

    This happened to the Hebrew people while they were in the desert. The people have grown tired of their journey. They have become impatient because of the hardships on the road. Hence, they began to complain at everything. They complained against Moses and God for bringing them in that place. They complained how difficult life was in the desert. They complained about and were disgusted of the tasteless manna that God gave them. However, they forgot that God saved them from slavery. They forgot that God saved them from the oppressive Egyptians.

    Again, this reminds us of our attitude when we tend to complain. When things are not going well as what we are expecting it to be, we begin to complain at everyone and everything.

    But let us also remember, when things are not going well, never jump to complains immediately. A Chinese proverb says, “every crisis that we encounter is always an opportunity.” This was the failure of the people at that time. The crisis that they faced was merely considered as difficulty and not as an opportunity for them to grow as people of God.

    That is why, the very crisis that we are facing now as a community and also as individuals is not merely an obstacle or punishment for our sins, but an opportunity for us to grow as persons and as a community, to discover ourselves better, to build relationships stronger, to be able to make a difference to people even in small ways and to be more intimate with this God loves us so much.

    Let us take comfort with what Jesus said in the Gospel today. “He who sent me is with me and has not left me alone; because I always do what pleases him. (Jn 8:29)”

    God also comforts us with his presence. This tells us that we are never alone in our journey. God is always with us and has never left us alone even in the most difficult moments of our life, not even with this dreadful Corona Virus disease.

    We are called then, that even in the midst of a very difficult situation never lose that attitude of gratitude to God. Gratitude will always make us hopeful because it helps us to recognize how God makes himself known to us in ordinary things and people and unexpected places and events.

    Thus, as the people were told to look up to the bronze serpent in order to find healing and life in their difficult moments, let us also look up to Jesus in our difficult moments now, so that we too shall find healing and life. And it is only in gratitude that we will be able to look up to him not in our complaints and bitterness. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • A Call to let go the stone from our hand

    A Call to let go the stone from our hand

    March 30, 2020 – Monday 5th Week of Lent

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/033020.cfm)

    Homily

    The Scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus who committed adultery. This whole affair of the scribes and Pharisees with Jesus was filled with malice and hatred directed both towards the woman and also to Jesus himself. 

    In their culture at that time, it was only the woman who can commit adultery. That is why; the man was not in the picture. This culture was influenced by their machismo and Patriarchal society.  Women and children were considered properties of a man. Thus, it was only the woman who was brought in the middle of the people. She was brought there to shame her, and not to bring justice. She was also brought there in an attempt to kill her by stoning her to death. With the leadership of these influential Scribes and Pharisees, they condemned this woman and refused to give her the chance to live again and renew her life.

    This must have been the reason why Jesus remained silent. Jesus must have been so sad seeing these people condemning a person, stripping away her dignity, labeling her as public and terrible sinner, giving her no chance to redeem herself.

    Thus, they demanded punishment from Jesus who could also confirm such penalty according to the Law of Moses. Indeed, she had sinned and according to their law, she must be stoned. This was where their malice and hatred towards Jesus was also to be found. They were trying to find fault in Jesus so that they too can accuse him of blasphemy and then condemn Jesus to death. 

    However, the event was turned by Jesus in the way they did not expect it to be. When Jesus said, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her,” Jesus redirected the condemning fingers of the Scribes and Pharisees towards themselves. By saying that, Jesus brought them to themselves, to look at their sinfulness.

    It was very interesting then at how the people responded. They began to look at themselves and found that each of them was sinful and each of them was not worthy to carry out such punishment towards the woman. Why?  Each of them realized that they were all guilty, all are sinners. 

    What was more interesting was the way St. John described to us the first initiative of the elders to leave first. The elders of that community left the gathering first because they realized that the length of their life also meant more sins committed.

    This Gospel scenario invites us now to look closely at ourselves and to examine better our intentions, our thoughts and actions. We are invited to be more understanding of those who failed but not in the sense of condoning such failures and sins. Like the Lord, who tenderly looks at us, we are invited to be merciful rather than condemning.

    This is what Jesus showed to the woman. Jesus said, “I do not condemn you. Go and sin no more.” The beauty of the Gospel lies here. God has delivered his judgment and showed His mercy. Jesus freed the woman and was commanded to sin no more and not to go back to her old sinful self. She had, surely, found her way to freedom and peace in Jesus.

    Thus, unlike the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus saw more in the person of that woman. The limited awareness and refusal of the Scribes and Pharisees to see more, prevented them to discover that there was always hope in every sinner, and that there was more in a person’s weakness and imperfection.

    This calls us too to expand our vision in order to see more the person of our brothers and sisters. This means that we become welcoming to their stories, to their pains and experiences. Hence, this also means that we are called to stop our harsh judgments and condemnations, our hateful labels and “othering,” to stop our gossiping and image shaming that only destroy the dignity of our brother and sister.

    I would like to invite you then, to let go of the stones from our hands and in return embrace a family member, or relative or a friend whom we know have sinned against us so that reconciliation will also begin in us. 

    And since physical embrace might be impossible for us these days because of the quarantine, then, do it spiritually. Embrace that person in your heart. Hopefully, as we will enter the Holy Week next week, then, our hearts will also be ready to celebrate the Easter joy of Christ. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Called to recognize God’s signs and wonders

    Called to recognize God’s signs and wonders

    March 28, 2020 – Saturday 4th Week of Lent

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/032820.cfm)

    Homily

    People were arguing to discredit the identity of Jesus. Jesus showed them signs that he indeed was sent by the Father. He is the Christ!

    However, people began to make reasons in order not to believe in him. The officers of the Temple and Nicodemus, a Pharisee were one of the few who seemingly were inclined to listen more to Jesus, yet, they too were discredited.

    As there were many signs that pointed Jesus as the Christ, the more the people also created reasons not to believe. Instead of looking at Jesus to find the truth, “they all went home,” as the Gospel ended today.

    These people went home, not because of the “community quarantine.” They went home and settled with their own beliefs, unwilling to give up their personal agenda, unwilling to allow God to be their God, unwilling to allow Jesus to challenge them and to transform them in the way God desires them to be.

    Thus, instead of going to the Temple or to the synagogue to pray and dialogue with God, they did not. However, the Gospel invites us today to refocus our gaze on the officers of the Temple and with Nicodemus who allowed themselves to be encountered by Jesus. It is through them that we are being asked also today to see Jesus clearly, to recognize him better.

    As there were many signs before that pointed to Jesus, let us also be more aware of the many signs God has given us today. There are many, every day, perhaps we just lack that awareness and keenness to recognize those signs of wonders and everyday miracles. 

    Thus, as we are being asked to stay at home these days, may we never fail to recognize those signs and wonders that God made for us and so to be encountered by God through them. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Understanding the ways of Jesus

    Understanding the ways of Jesus

    March 27, 2020 – Friday 4th week of Lent 

    Click here for the the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/032720.cfm)

    Homily

    The Gospel tells us how Jesus was rejected by his own people. Jesus has to go to Jerusalem in secret in order to protect himself from those who were trying to kill him. Yet, even though he knew that he was in danger if seen in public, Jesus still took the risk to be there among his people. Jesus took the risk to speak the truth and make the truth known to all even though it may cause him his life. Indeed, this is God’s way of making himself revealed to us.

                The identity of Jesus of being a Galilean, was not really the issue. It was more than that. Jesus caused turmoil among the powerful leaders in the Jewish society.

    Jesus was unconventional who ate and drank with sinners, forgiven them and freed them. He healed the sick and touched the unclean. He preached about a loving and forgiving God the Father. And as Jesus gained popularity among the ordinary people, the leaders were threatened at his knowledge and wisdom because Jesus was not a well-known intellectual and did not come from a rich and powerful family.

     Jesus himself and all that he did threatened the status quo of the powerful people who were contented with their comfort, with the power and influence that they were enjoying. These “Jews” who in the Gospel of John were referred as the powerful religious leaders of the Jewish society, preferred a strict and vengeful God because it was on that belief that they could advance their self-interest. They too can use their position to enrich themselves at the expense of the poor.

                Thus, they were against Jesus because he was changing their ways. Their hearts were filled with bitterness, hate, anger and the desire to have more; in other words, they were filled of themselves, worshipping their very selves. This is idolatry!

                These were the reasons why they could not accept Jesus or even recognize the presence of God in Jesus.  Because of their blindness and the hardness of their hearts, they did not understand the ways of God. Thus, they wanted to kill him, to silence Jesus. 

                As we continue our journey in this season of Lent, may this Gospel remind us of our tendency to worship ourselves and our own ideas and beliefs. Let us also make our “home quarantine” days as opportunities to humble ourselves in recognizing areas of our lives where we have become complacent, too comfortable and arrogant. And so in this kind of attitude, we may also come to understand the ways of Jesus and recognize him who is within us and among us. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Reconnect with Jesus each day

    Reconnect with Jesus each day

    March 26, 2020 – Thursday of the 4th Week of Lent

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/032620.cfm)

    Homily

    The Hebrew people were looking for a “god” to worship, to lean on from their desperation. They were in the desert for many years since their liberation from the Egyptians. They felt hopeless and directionless.

    When Moses was nowhere to be found, they made themselves the “golden calf” and worship it instead of the TRUE GOD who brought them out of Egypt. The people had very short memory. That in times of great difficulty, they turned to a false god believing to find security in it. Indeed, the people forgot God’s promise to them and God’s faithfulness in them.

    We are not also far from these people in the bible. We might have our own false gods too that offer false hopes. We may ask, who and what is our golden calf that we worship? Is it to our addiction and loneliness? Is it to ourselves or some others other than the Lord God? When we become desperate our minds and hearts may become crowded that we tend not to recognize the Lord who is at work in us.

    Thus, in times of difficulties in life we may develop some forms of attachments to compensate and appease our anxieties and the emptiness that feel from within. And so, a person who felt unloved by a mother may seek affection to many women. Or a woman who is rejected by a loved one, may retreat to loneliness and depression. A child who lacks the security of love and affection at home from the parents may succumbed to drugs or alcohol addiction. A child who has been deprived of material things in the past may become a hoarder of things or worst a thief.

    These are forms of unhealthy attachments that only bring us to greater and deeper despair and misery. Consequently, there is a need for us to reconnect ourselves to God who gives us true hope and freedom.

    Thus, like the Hebrew people, we may doubt God’s action and intervention and reject God in the long run. This is what happened also with the Jewish leaders who continually rejected Jesus.

    They have doubted the person of Jesus even though there had been many signs that he performed as invitations for them to believe. The presence of the Father at work in Jesus was already the moment of recognizing Jesus. Yet, these people were full of themselves that their eyes and ears and hearts had become closed and rigid.

    They chose to be disconnected with God because they did not want God’s way and direction of life. Jesus showed to them the many discomforts and risks that they have to undergo once they accept Jesus. What they wanted was that God will act according to what they desire, to what they think and to what they only believed. They were more after of their comfort and privileges that they will enjoy as leaders. Thus, what they worship was not God but their comfort, their influence, their privileges, their very selves.

    However, despite this kind of attitude God would always have a reason not to give up on us. Like what Moses did who intercede to God to forgive the people, Jesus also did that to us on the cross. Jesus wants us to recognize him because in him we find our true hope.

    As we continue our Lenten journey in the midst of corona virus, let us once more claim Jesus, to accept sincerely God in our hearts that we may find our true hope. Reconnect each day with Jesus as we all face our individual burdens and problems, concerns and difficulties and the crisis that our community is facing today. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR