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Category: Weekday Homilies

  • By being grateful, we become welcoming of God’s invitation

    By being grateful, we become welcoming of God’s invitation

    December 13, 2019 – Friday 3rd Week of Advent / Memorial of St Lucy, Virgin and Martyr

    Click here for the readings http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121319.cfm

    Homily

    Gratefulness makes us see what surrounds us, both the good and the bad. Gratefulness allows us to be embracing and accepting of the things and people around us. It is when we are grateful too that we become joyful persons and will tend to see the goodness and uniqueness of others. And when we become joyful, we also become generous of ourselves towards the people around us, no matter who they are, whether they are our friends or strangers.

    However, if our heart is without gratefulness but rather bitter, hateful and vengeful because of our personal failures and failures of others towards us, then, we become close-minded, rejecting, and vicious in the way we relate with one another and even in the way we relate with God.

    An ungrateful heart makes us belittle ourselves and belittle others, jealous of the success of our friends, but having low self-esteem. With this in mind, let us see again and explore our Gospel today and discern on how God invites us.

    Let us see the attitude of the Chief Priests and Pharisees towards Jesus. These two groups of people were very critical towards Jesus because Jesus challenged their comfort, their belief and practices.

    So, what was Jesus really doing?

    Jesus was very unconventional because he ate and drank with sinners. He touched and mingled with the sick and the unclean people. Jesus preached a loving and forgiving God the Father. He was from Galilee, from an insignificant town called Nazareth. He was not a well-known intellectual and did not come from a rich and influential family. And all that Jesus did was a threat to the status quo.

    Thus, the Chief Priests of the Temple and the Pharisees were already contented with the comfort that they have, with the power and influence that they were enjoying. They were privileged people and the ordinary ones would almost worship them. They also preferred a strict and unforgiving God because it was through that belief that they could advance their self-interest. They used their position in the society to enrich themselves at the expense of the poor.

    That is why, 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 with 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. As they rejected John the Baptist by accusing him of being possessed by a demon for being different and radical, and so they too rejected and despised Jesus, accusing him for being a glutton and drunkard because Jesus ate and drank with sinners and the poor.

    This is the response of an ungrateful heart. The Chief Priests and Pharisees did not recognize at all the works of God. Thus, by being ungrateful they also reject what comes from God.

    This will also happen to us when we remain ungrateful and when we refuse to recognize that everything is from God. When we become ungrateful persons, we also become self-entitled. We become demanding in our relationships. We become critical of those people around us and we tend to only see what is wrong in the other person. We will become 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 people around us and indifferent to God.

    Thus, God calls each of us today to be more aware of the gifts, blessings and graces that we have received each day. It would be good then to bring back to our memories the many gifts that we have received as we prepare ourselves for the birth of Jesus.

    Hopefully, by starting from there, then our consciousness will be heightened and sharpened in recognizing the presence of God present in our life and in the lives of others. By being grateful, we may become welcoming of God’s invitation. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Surprise!

    December 12, 2019 – Our Lady of Guadalupe

    Click here for the readings http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121219.cfm

    Homily

    The Season of Advent is characterized by an element of surprise. This means that God’s coming is a big surprise for us. We do not expect that God who is almighty and all-powerful will come to visit us and to humble Himself in order to reveal himself to us.

    This is what our Gospel tells to us today. Elizabeth was surprised by the visit of her cousin Mary. But more than that, Elizabeth and the baby in her womb were more surprised of what Mary carried in her womb. They were surprised because God had visited them. This prompted baby John to leap with joy because God has come through Mary.

    The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is also a manifestation on how God has visited us in history. Moreover, this visit of God through Mary to San Juan Diego is an expression of God’s loving concern for his oppressed people particularly in Latin America. God’s visit then, is a revelation that God is on the side of the poor and the oppressed, of the weak and powerless.

    On this Season of Advent and on this feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we are invited to allow God to surprise us. Thus, never lose the sense of being surprised. This means that we are challenged to put down our judgments and biases, indifferences and suspicions, thus, to be less and less guarded, that may prevent God from surprising us – and that may stop us too from welcoming God.

    God surprises all the more when we begin to embrace our own failures and sins, and when we begin to accept that we are vulnerable and weak. And when God comes to surprise us, may it lead us to leap with joy. And hopefully, that experience will also move us to also surprise others with our own kindness and generosity. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Are you anxious and burdened? Come to Jesus today

    Are you anxious and burdened? Come to Jesus today

    December 11, 2019 – Wednesday 2nd Week of Advent   

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121119.cfm)

    Homily

    What burdens are you carrying now? What makes you worry at the moment? What are those that you are most afraid of? These questions are surely relevant to us. They tell us about our dispositions and even would tell us about what we are hoping for. We hope to be liberated from our burdens, to be free from worries and anxieties. And usually we want them to disappear immediately. 

    A survey from blaze.com reveals the top reasons most people pray to God. The first two reasons according to the survey are (first) family and friends and (second) personal problems and difficulties. These two concerns are very much related. In fact, these two reasons reveal our burdens, worries and fears at the moment.

    Thus, we ask God to help us in our problems and concerns. But, there is a danger around here. There is a temptation in us to think of a God who does magic and who can take away all those concerns that burden us.

    Contrary to what we usually think of God, our readings today reveal the true character of God. God does not offer us magic what God offers us rather, is his gentle, empowering and understanding kind of friendship. 

    This is what the first reading reveals to us. The Book of Prophet Isaiah tells us of the everlasting God who does not grow tired or weary. God would even give us strength and life. Isaiah proclaimed this to the Hebrew people at that time when they had become hopeless because of the suffering they endured while at their exile in a foreign land. They displayed weariness and boredom because of the long wait of the coming of the Messiah. Isaiah reminded them of this God who never forgets for his knowledge is without limit. God is hope because God renews our strength.

    This is what Matthew proclaimed in the Gospel. Jesus said, “Come to me all you who are tired and lonely!” Jesus invites us to come to him and to welcome him in our life that we may be liberated from our burdens and sins, to be free from worries and anxieties.  

    Jesus tells us that God does not terrorize us with his power nor subjects us with his influence nor does magic to remove all our difficulties at once. Jesus gives us a humble invitation to come to him as our friend – a true friend who is gentle, humble and compassionate, willing to walk with us. 

    Thus, when we come to Jesus and trust him to be our friend, then he offers us his yoke.  At the time of Jesus, the yoke was put on the necks of two animals to plow the field for planting. There were usually two cows so that the weight becomes lighter and the plowing easier and faster. The yoke that Jesus speaks about is from this image. That yoke symbolizes the Gospel that we receive today – and that Gospel is Jesus the Lord himself. 

     In this way that Jesus offers himself as our friend who is with us. He is not promising us to remove all troubles in life at once, as his life was also filled with pain and suffering. He tells us today that though life may be filled with problems, worries and anxieties, fears and self-doubt, failures and insecurities, with shame and guilt, yet, we will never be alone in our struggle for he renews and strengthens us.

     Jesus invites us to carry those troubles with him, to pull our burdens with him, to share our trials with him, to draw strength from him and to allow him to help us. In truth, the Lord does not do good things for us, but rather, he does great things with us. He does not do miracle for us but he does it with us. 

     Remember also, our experience with Jesus as our gentle and compassionate friend is not meant to be for us alone. Each of us who have experienced that friendship is called to be a friend to others. Yes, in return that experience with the Lord will allow us to become willing and generous friends – ready to cheer up a friend filled with doubts, ready to give comfort to a friend suffering from grief and sorrow, who has a listening heart to a friend who needs someone to talk to, so that we too will become God’s instrument of brining freedom and inner peace to our overburdened brothers and sisters in this Season of Advent and Christmas. Ok lang? Sana all.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Re-Learning the qualities of Children this Advent

    Re-Learning the qualities of Children this Advent

    December 3, 2019 – Tuesday of the First Week of Advent

    Memorial of St Francis Xavier

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/120319.cfm)

    Homily

    Do you know the average questions a child asks?

    According to a survey, approximately, a child of about 3 to 5 years old, asks 300 questions a day with with an average of 1 question every 2 minutes. J These questions come from their curiosity. They marvel at everything and are amazed with everything and everyone. This makes a child welcoming to the many surprises that come.

    The innocence of children, their simplicity and humility make them receptive to the many wonders that surround them.

    Thus, children easily recognize what is beautiful, good, amazing and surprising even with simple things. They easily get excited in a simple toy. They are delighted in a simple gift. They respond with pleasure to a simple smile.

    These qualities are without aggression and arrogance but rather filled with humility and openness. It is just interesting how the Book of Isaiah also described the coming of the Messiah. He proclaimed that a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse. He is filled with the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. He shall be a just and kind judge and brings peace.

    And as a shoot silently comes out from its branch and so is God. This tells us that God’s unfolding and revelations are done in silence. That is why, when God reveals himself, it is always simple, humble and even ordinary. God does not reveal himself in extravagance and mere popularity that only shows aggression and arrogance.

    In the Gospel, Jesus reminds us how the Father reveals the mystery of salvation, of His gift of healing and peace to the children. Of course, God reveals His mystery to all but only the children and the childlike are blessed to receive God’s blessing, simply because of the qualities of being welcoming and humble. 

    Jesus warned us adults of our tendency to claim that we already know everything. Yes, when we become adults we tend to claim our independence. We ceased to be curious because we become over confident to what we have achieved.

    Jesus criticized the attitude of those people during His time who claimed to be the “masters of the world.” The knowledge that they have gained in many years of experiences prevented them to learn new things. They have become arrogant and unwelcoming. Thus, these attitudes blocked them to receive God’s revelations and invitations.

    We have to be careful then, when we begin to be arrogant with our own success, when we feel superior of what we have become and over-confident of what we have accumulated. These attitudes might prevent us from recognizing the many wonders that God reveals and to His invitations for us. 

    We are reminded today on this first week of Advent, to re-learn our previous qualities when we were children, and to re-learn those qualities through the children around us. These include our openness to the many wonders around us and to be receptive to the many gifts that are being offered to us. 

    Take time then to ask questions, to be surprised even with ordinary things, to be delighted even with simple greetings of smiles around you. Take time to stop and say hello to a friend. You may also take time to witness a sunrise or sunset or even while sipping your coffee and eating your meal. Hopefully, by re-learning the qualities of a child we may also discover more and more how God unfolds His advent, the coming of His presence in us and His blessings for us. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • We too are Bearers of the Good News

    We too are Bearers of the Good News

    November 30, 2019 – Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle

    A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans (10:9-18)

    Brothers and sisters:
    If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
    and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
    you will be saved.
    For one believes with the heart and so is justified,
    and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
    The Scripture says,
    No one who believes in him will be put to shame.
    There is no distinction between Jew and Greek;
    the same Lord is Lord of all,
    enriching all who call upon him.
    For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

    But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed?
    And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
    And how can they hear without someone to preach?
    And how can people preach unless they are sent?
    As it is written,
    How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!
    But not everyone has heeded the good news;
    for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what was heard from us?
    Thus faith comes from what is heard,
    and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.
    But I ask, did they not hear?
    Certainly they did; for

    Their voice has gone forth to all the earth,
    and their words to the ends of the world.

    A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew (4:18-22)

    As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,
    Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew,
    casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen.
    He said to them,
    “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
    At once they left their nets and followed him.
    He walked along from there and saw two other brothers,
    James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
    They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets.
    He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father 
    and followed him.

    Homily

    We celebrate today the Feast of St. Andrew, one of the original 12 apostles. We know very little of him. According to our tradition, Andrew became the first bishop in the community of Constantinople until he was martyred through crucifixion on an X-shape cross. The gospels tell us also that he was the brother of Peter. They were from Bethsaida, a town near the Sea of Galilee. In John’s gospel, we were told that Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist at first.

    In the same gospel, we found that Andrew had actually brought Peter to Jesus, telling his brother, “We have found the Messiah!” In the other gospels, it was Andrew who called the attention of Jesus about the boy with 5 loaves and 2 fish. Again, it was Andrew who told Jesus that there were some Greeks who wanted to see Jesus.

    From here, we can sense that Andrew was actually an apostle with a typical role. Unlike Peter, he was not able to witness the transfiguration of Jesus at Mt. Tabor. Andrew was not part of Jesus’ inner circle composed of Peter and the 2 brothers, James and John.

    He was in fact an ordinary guy, an ordinary apostle of Jesus. However, Andrew had a remarkable faith in Jesus.

    Remember, his brother Peter doubted and even denied Jesus three times. But for Andrew, he was the first one to realize that Jesus was truly the Messiah. In his conviction, he joyfully shared what he found to his brother. He himself became an evangelist, a preacher of the good news to his own brother. Moreover, he brought others to Jesus like the boy and those Greeks. He became a bridge between Jesus and other people. 

    This is what St. Paul has told us in the first reading. As there is a need and but also beauty in sharing one’s faith in Jesus to others. His letter to the Romans would help us ponder our own call to be a kind of apostle or bearer of the good news to others like St. Andrew. 

    We usually think that preaching is only proper to bishops, priests, and deacons. Indeed, public preaching of the gospel in liturgical occasions like what I am doing now is proper to me as a priest and not to you as lay persons. But it does not mean that you cannot preach the Gospel or share Jesus anymore to others. As Christians, we share the prophetic role of Jesus by virtue of our baptism. It means that all of us have both the responsibility and the privilege to be God’s messenger to others.

    The Gospel tells us how we are being called individually. To each of us, Jesus is saying, “COME, FOLLOW ME, AND I WILL MAKE YOU FISH FOR PEOPLE! I WILL MAKE YOU MY OWN APOSTLE!” This can surely be materialized when we preach with joy by our own example. 

    Thus, when we are happy with what we are doing and when we are honest in our relationships and dealings with others; and when we are sensitive to others and volunteer to help whenever someone needs a helping hand; when we become joyful givers to those who have less;  when we become more understanding and compassionate with those who are experiencing more difficulty in their life; and when people around us feel the deep expression of our faith as we pray in the church, in our homes or with others…then people will see these things and will recognize that we are Christians. Then like St. Andrew, we will be able to bring other people closer to Jesus, by becoming bearers of the Good News through our very life. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR