Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: Weekday Homilies

  • To be righteous beyond what is minimal

    To be righteous beyond what is minimal

    March 6, 2020 – Friday of the First Week of Lent

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/030620.cfm)

    Homily

    There was a wealthy man who told a young priest that he was not so religious, in the sense that he would not go to Church. However, as a form of religious piety that he could do, since he was rich, he would only donate big amount of money to several parish churches in the city.

    The wealthy man proudly enumerated how he helped through his charity to finish the construction of a particular church, helped another church to build its own adoration chapel and assisted another church for its air-conditioning and so on. The man was indeed wealthy, yet, as the wealthy man enumerated his charitable acts, there was no mention if he ever gave just compensation to his many workers and laborers, if he ever been a good and faithful husband and father, or an honest and just businessman. 

    The young priest did not judge the wealthy man for this but this gave the priest questions in his heart. The young priest asked himself,

    “Is it enough to only do what is comfortable for me? Is it enough to show to others that I am charitable and to be proud of my good works? Is it enough for God that I will just do some good works but remain indifferent with others?”

    With this, this reminds me of today’s challenge of Jesus in the Gospel. The Lord calls his disciples and also all of us today, “unless you surpass the righteousness of the Lawyers and the Pharisees, then, you will not enter the kingdom of Heaven.”

    Without condemning these people, who were the Jewish Lawyers and Pharisees, Jesus wants us to realize something beyond the usual actions of these people and to become righteous beyond what is minimal. 

    Indeed, they were more inclined in focusing on the letters of the law, meaning, these people were more concerned of 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.

    Thus, Jesus gave a very 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 the essence of this Season of Lent.

    Hence, Lent 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.

    This tells us that God also challenges us to go beyond from what is only easy and comfortable for us. It is a big temptation to settle to what is only minimal and become complacent and indifferent towards others. And 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 or in doing the same sins over and over again.

    Today, Jesus invites us to be more expressive of our devotion to him 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. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • God is for everyone and His mercy is for all

    God is for everyone and His mercy is for all

    March 4, 2020 – Wednesday 1st Week of Lent

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/030420.cfm)

    Homily

    Jonah was quite rebellious to God because he was sent by God to do something, which he did not want to do. For that reason, Jonah tried to escape from God and to escape from the responsibility that God gave him. 

    Jonah was sent to Nineveh, a city of which Jonah hated so much because they were Assyrians, the very people who oppressed them. Indeed, Jonah’s people suffered so much from the Assyrians.

    We can understand why Jonah hated the Assyrians and why he tried to escape from God. God sent him to Nineveh in order to preach repentance so that God may show mercy to them and will save them from death. Jonah feared that these people will repent and believe in God and then, God will show mercy to them. Jonah wanted these people to suffer, to die and to rot in hell. He did not want his enemies to be saved and to be shown mercy.

    Yet, this is what really happened. When Jonah called the people to repent, they indeed repented and believed in God and that was why God showed mercy to them and saved them from death.

    This tells us something of our attitude like Jonah. We might also find ourselves wishing suffering and death to those whom we hate, especially those who have caused us so much pain. We might have wished and cursed those people who did something terrible to others too. When a violence and or a crime is done to an innocent, we might have demanded too, the same violence and crime to perpetrators. Like Jonah, we too might have believed that justice is attained through a gruesome death to our enemies. Like Jonah, we also could tend to believe that God should not show mercy to those who have hurt us, to our enemies and people who did terrible things to the innocent.

    However, Jonah’s story tells us differently. God is a God of everyone, of good and bad people, of righteous and sinners, of criminals and law-abiding citizens alike. God is for everyone as His mercy is for all.

    And because God’s mercy is for all, God also desires that all will be saved and will be reconciled to Him.

    God indeed shows mercy. Jesus who became human like us and lived among us is the Father’s ultimate sign of mercy and love. In Jesus, the Father tells us that we are never abandoned, that there is always hope and goodness in each of us no matter how broken we are, and sinful we have turned to be. God always sees goodness in us.

    Thus, in this Season of Lent, may each of us also become God’s sign of repentance, of mercy, and of hope to our brothers and sisters. May our words and actions express and give hope, and encourage renewal to those whom others may believe to be hopeless and less human – may they be alcoholics, drug addicts, inmates and other law offenders, and street dwellers. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Not mine but God’s power

    Not mine but God’s power

    February 24, 2020 – Monday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/022420.cfm)

    Homily

    The disciples failed to heal the boy who had been possessed by a mute spirit. They have actually been healing other people already. They had become successful in their other healing session. However, to this one, they failed! Why is that? What could have been wrong? Or what could have prevented them?

    Was it because that the evil sprit was too strong for them? Or was it because of their lack of faith?

    When we become too proud of ourselves, we also become arrogant. We begin to think more of ourselves and for ourselves. We also begin to become self-conscious and too sensitive to what others might say to us. As a result, we cope up to what others may expect us. We will be driven to do our best. In a way, this forms us to be success-oriented and goal-oriented. 

    Yet, when we become successful of ourselves and of what we have done, there is a tendency to be overwhelmed by our own strength and gifts, of our own successes and achievements. When a person becomes too absorbed of his or her personal glory, then it leads the person to self-centeredness and self-praise. 

    Being proud of our achievements and successes is actually good and fairly important for self-esteem, yet, the danger lies when our heart is too absorbed of ourselves, of what we have gained or of what we achieved. We become self-entitled, feeling so important, that others should pay respect. The more dangerous thing is when we come to believe that we can do all things by our own strength and power alone, avoiding any help from others, and even keeping away and forgetting the grace of God working in us.

    This is actually what happened to the disciples. They have become successful in their other healing miracles, but, with this boy who had been possessed by the mute spirit, they failed. They failed because they have grown proud of what they have done in the past. They have become arrogant and self-centered in their ministry. They actually believed that “they can do it and heal the boy” by themselves alone. Indeed, they have forgotten that they were instruments of healing. They forgot to pray.

    There was an unspoken claim among them, claiming to be the source of healing and freedom. It means that in a way, they also claim, that they were God. That was their failure – because they favored human intervention not God’s intervention, they sought human’s power not God’s power. And indeed, at the back of their minds, they wanted the people to praise and to recognize then, not Jesus.

    This is how they lacked faith. Though they have so much faith in themselves, yet, they lack faith in God. They trusted their human strength but undermined God’s strength and power to work in them. That is why, they forgot to pray, to ask God’s power to work in them and through them. They forgot to humble themselves and bow to God, to ask for help and healing.

    This will also happen to us. We will be doomed to failure and disappointment when we begin to think more of ourselves.

    This is how Jesus calls us today – that is to never forget that each of us is God’s instrument, that we are weak and powerless without God on our side, not to grow arrogant and self-centered but rather grounded on our experience of God’s goodness and generosity in us – that may hopefully make us humble enough to pray and ask God’s help.

    Thus, when a task is so difficult never forget to ask for help. When personal issues and problems will become overwhelming never shy to ask for a listening ear from a friend. When you are at the point of breaking because of your failures and sins, or because of depression and loneliness approach somebody with courage to share your story. When your responsibilities and duties become overpowering, have the courage to ask for some assistance.

    Never assume that we are strong enough when we are alone. Never believe that we can do all things by ourselves. Always ask for help. Recognize our weakness and humbly ask others and God’s help to be with us, to bless us and to empower us. Remember, it is when we acknowledge our own weakness, limitation and failures that God comes to strengthen us. Prayer makes us aware of God’s presence and more welcoming of His power in us and through us. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • What matters most is what comes out from our heart

    What matters most is what comes out from our heart

    February 12, 2020 – Wednesday of the 5th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/021220.cfm)

    Homily

    How do we understand the human heart?

    From a medical point of view, it is a “hollow muscular organ” that serves as a pump controlling the blood flow into our body.

    From a psychological aspect, the heart refers to the emotion of a person, the “affective aspect” of an individual.

    However, from a biblical point of view, and from the understanding of Jesus, the “heart” is more than a muscular organ and more than the emotion of a person.

    The heart is the person’s individuality and the primary aspect of our personhood – that makes us who we are. It is where we are affected by a relationship with God and with one another.

    This is what Jesus was talking about in the Gospel when he refers to the human heart. There was this law among the Jews that prohibits certain kinds of food that they should not eat. There were also practices that one should observe before eating because they have believed that those food and if those practices are not carefully followed like washing before eating, they will compromise the person. It means that, when a Jew does not follow the prescribed law in eating then he/she commits sin and becomes unclean.

    However, Jesus criticized the people of his time for making those laws more important. Hence, he said that no matter what kind of food or drink we take it would not affect our human heart. What matters most is what comes out from the human heart.

    Today, Jesus is challenging us to discern and see the values that we nurture in our hearts.

    If we are nurturing hate, anger and suspicion then the way we relate with others is motivated by these and so we become persons who always see negative in everything. Hate, anger and suspicion make our relationships bitter and insecure. It is the same when our hearts will only seek self-approval, personal gain and entitlement. Through these deep motivations in our hearts then we become self-serving Christians who will only think of the self even at the expense of other people.

    We are called now to nurture the values of the Gospel in our hearts that will make us confident in God who loves us. Thus, our heart shall only seek truth and honesty, trust and faith. Yes, truth and honesty  – so that our hearts will not remain pretentious and arrogant, and we will not cover ourselves with the façade of a good image; but honest enough to recognize our weaknesses, failures and sins. This will hopefully make us more trustful and faithful to God who promised to show mercy on us, to help us and to redeem us. 

    In order to make our hearts more like Jesus, let us ask the guidance of Our Mother of Perpetual Help that our heart may become always attuned to the Gospel by listening to the Word of God and in welcoming Jesus in our hearts. Hinaut pa.                                                             

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Jealousy is poisonous

    Jealousy is poisonous

    January 23, 2020 – Thursday of the 2nd Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/012320.cfm

    Homily

    When I was younger I felt that I was more deserving of more love and praise from my parents than my younger brother who would always fail in his exams. When our parents give us the same amount of allowance I would complain that I did better in my exams. I demanded that I should have more and he should have less because I studied well than him. 

    I would feel jealous every time our parents would give more attention to him than to me. And thus, I sought more praises, attention and rewards from my parents through my good works at school but looking down and bullying my younger brother. 

    This tendency to look great and accumulate more praises and rewards, only poisons our hearts and relationships. It makes our heart unwelcoming to others whom we think are lesser than us.

    St. James said in his letter said that “where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice (James 3:16).” This tells us that when we become jealous of others, we will tend to get aggressively what we wanted. Our selfish ambition will make us resort to corrupt practices, such as in deceiving and manipulating others.  

    This attitude portrays a self-image that is dominating, powerful and that must be considered master and above everybody else. However, this attitude would consider others as lesser and not important. It is in fact a boastful self, arrogant and vain, but insecure deep within. Indeed, jealousy poisons our hearts and this was the case of King Saul. 

    He became insecure and felt jealous of the young David. As King he believed that the people should give more praises to him and not to David, who had become a hero by defeating Goliath and the Philistines. 

    His sense of self-entitlement seemed to have clouded his heart and mind. Indeed, as king, he felt that the people should give more credit to him. By being jealous of the achievement of David, he felt threatened to the point of planning to kill an innocent boy. 

    This tells us that when a powerful person becomes jealous and insecure, and driven by a sense of entitlement, the person can be very dangerous. This person will dominate and manipulate and even do things aggressively just to satisfy his/her insecurity.

    What Jesus is inviting us today is that we come to him with all our insecurities. Rather than looking and searching for our self-satisfaction from other things, let us focus our eyes and attention to Jesus. 

    This is what we have heard from the Gospel. People from many places followed Jesus because they have recognized that it would only be Jesus who can satisfy their hunger and thirst for love and acceptance, can heal their sickness, can reconcile them with God and can grant freedom from their sins. With Jesus they have become secured.

    Let us be secured then with Jesus and find assurance in his presence. Let us not to be jealous of what others have achieved but to be more confident of God’s presence in us. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR