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Category: Weekday Homilies

  • Nothing outside ourselves can separate us from God

    Nothing outside ourselves can separate us from God

    October 31, 2019 – Thursday 30th Week in Ordinary Time

    (In this reflection, a young professional shares his experiences and affirms the power of the Holy Rosary that changed his life.)

    A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans (8:31b-39)

    Brothers and sisters:
    If God is for us, who can be against us?
    He did not spare his own Son
    but handed him over for us all,
    how will he not also give us everything else along with him?
    Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones?
    It is God who acquits us.
    Who will condemn?
    It is Christ Jesus who died, rather, was raised,
    who also is at the right hand of God,
    who indeed intercedes for us.
    What will separate us from the love of Christ?
    Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
    or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?
    As it is written:

    For your sake we are being slain all the day;
    we are looked upon as sheep to be slaughtered.

    No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly
    through him who loved us.
    For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
    nor angels, nor principalities,
    nor present things, nor future things,
    nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
    nor any other creature will be able to separate us
    from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

    A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (13:31-35)

    Some Pharisees came to Jesus and said,
    “Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you.”
    He replied, “Go and tell that fox,
    ‘Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow,
    and on the third day I accomplish my purpose.
    Yet I must continue on my way today, tomorrow, and the following day,
    for it is impossible that a prophet should die
    outside of Jerusalem.’

    “Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
    you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,
    how many times I yearned to gather your children together
    as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,
    but you were unwilling!
    Behold, your house will be abandoned.
    But I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say,
    Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

    Homily

    “If God is for us, who can be against us?… What will separate us from the love of God?”

    In fact, nothing outside ourselves can separate us from God. St. Paul affirms this to us today. Not the difficulties in our life, not those people who have hurt us, not those abuses, not those emotional hurts, not our sickness, not calamities and not even death. The love of God is so great that we are bound to him. God’s love is not something that is merely on the head but shown to us in most concrete ways in our life.

    This tells us how persistent God’s love is because he reveals himself in every moment of our life. That is why, Jesus’ love for you and for me is not merely a memory of a distant past, but his love is so alive and active. God is loving us now. Hopefully, we too will be able to realize and feel that even in the midst of so much mess we may have in our life at this very moment. God is wanting us to live and be alive in his presence. 

    Truly, nothing outside ourselves can separate us from God, but God does not control us. Because God does not impose himself on us, we remain free in our response to Him. If there is one things that can separate us, it is ourselves. When we decide to separate from God and hide ourselves from him, then, we are certainly distancing from his love. When this is done consciously, then, we surely separate ourselves from the very presence of God

    This is what we have heard from the Gospel today. Jesus was told to go away and leave because Herod planned to kill him. Many people in Jerusalem especially those in authority rejected him. Jesus was unwelcomed. This was a conscious rejection of God.

    Yet, even though Jesus was rejected, still Jesus persistently called them back. This tells us that even God is so persistent in inviting us. 

    Today, we also culminate the Rosary Crusade that our Redemptorist Youth Ministry since October 1. Every night we have been in one house to another to visit families in our communities in the parish. Thus, I would like you to listen to our youth sharer on how the Lord invites him to come closer through the Holy Rosary that we have been doing in the past month. Let us welcome Engr. Jun Paul Mamac Inocellas.

    In culminating this year Rosary Crusade by the Redemptorist Youth Ministry, let me share to you how the Rosary helps me in my life now as a young professional. 

    Way back in the year 2012 when the Rosary Crusade started, I was part of the Parish Youth Coordinating Council and a working student as well. I was a second-year college at that moment taking up my second course, the Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. I was struggling being a student and as an active youth member of the Parish. 

    I was emotionally and spiritually weak at that moment, gani dali ra ko madani sa mga temptation atong panahuna. At that time first semester and first term, I got my second failing grade and told myself “undang nalang kaya ko ug eskwela? Lisud naman kaayo ug maka luya!”. When I was about to tell my mother about my grades, na-unhan ko niya ug istorya “Dong! Ana imong papa gikapoy na daw siya ug pangitag kwarta” upat pami gi paeswkela ato nila. Nag padayon si mama, “Mao na Dong paning kamot jud sa pag eskwela samtang kaya sa imong papa bahalag lisud,” knowing that papa didn’t finished his elementaryi was moved at what Mama told me. 

    First Semester was about to end and it was October already syempre month of the rosary na. October 1, 2012 the Rosary Crusade started with a Holy Eucharist before we transferred it to the first Chapel. Before the rosary started, the prayer leader asked, “kinsa tong naay petition diha kay atong include sa rosary.” I wondered and asked, “is that possible?” I did not know that, kani laging October ra mo ampo ug rosary sauna unya painit ra ang apas. 

    So, I told the prayer leader about my petitions. First, was for more strength and healthy body to my parents. Second, I asked for the perseverance and endurance in my studies. After that, every time I felt sadness, emptiness, and got worried, I would pray the rosary and felt at peace and comfortable. 

    Since then, as I prayed the holy rosary more often, many things changed in my life. All my needs have been answered by God. And I appreciated the many things God gave to me. I am always protected, even when I do not specifically ask for it. The enemy flees the moment I call Mama Mary’s name. My outlook in life has changed and now I truly believed that anything is possible in Him. 

    I finished my degree in 7 years with five failing grades, passed the licensure exam and currently working on a real estate developer as a Civil Engineer. Thanks to Mama Mary for her intercession and praise God who has given me strength to conquer all failures in my life.

    I encourage you now to start your own journey. The Holy Rosary has changed my life, I hope it changes yours too. To end my Rosary Crusade story let me leave this to you as St. Josemaría Escrivá “The holy Rosary is a powerful weapon. Use it with confidence and you’ll be amazed at the results.” 

    What Jun Paul shared to us is a manifestation how God could be so subtle in bringing us back. God is subtle and gentle yet so persistent. God’s love for us is indeed so great and tremendous that he would do everything to bring us closer to him.

    Difficult situations are turned into graces. Failures are turned into opportunities. Friendships are turned into doors of conversion. Prayers are turned into blessings.

    Whatever difficulty we are experiencing at this moment, never lose hope with yourself or with God because God never loses his hope in us. Let God call you back, and let Mary, Our Mother of Perpetual Help to bring you closer to Jesus. Hinaut pa. 

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • God’s salvation is offered freely, not imposed

    God’s salvation is offered freely, not imposed

    October 30, 2019 Wednesday – 30th Week in OT

    A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans (8:26-30)

    Brothers and sisters:
    The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness;
    for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
    but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.
    And the one who searches hearts
    knows what is the intention of the Spirit,
    because he intercedes for the holy ones 
    according to God’s will.

    We know that all things work for good for those who love God,
    who are called according to his purpose.
    For those he foreknew he also predestined
    to be conformed to the image of his Son,
    so that he might be the firstborn
    among many brothers.  
    And those he predestined he also called;
    and those he called he also justified;
    and those he justified he also glorified.

    A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (13:22-30)

    Jesus passed through towns and villages,
    teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.
    Someone asked him,
    “Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
    He answered them, 
    “Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
    for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
    but will not be strong enough.
    After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door,
    then will you stand outside knocking and saying,
    ‘Lord, open the door for us.’
    He will say to you in reply,
    ‘I do not know where you are from.’
    And you will say,
    ‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’
    Then he will say to you,
    ‘I do not know where you are from.
    Depart from me, all you evildoers!’
    And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth
    when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
    and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God
    and you yourselves cast out.
    And people will come from the east and the west
    and from the north and the south
    and will recline at table in the Kingdom of God.
    For behold, some are last who will be first,
    and some are first who will be last.”

       Homily

    “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” someone asked Jesus. Indeed, the path that Jesus was taking seemed too difficult for this man. This was the reason why he asked the Lord about this. 

    Jesus’ way was totally different from the trend at that time. People believed in a God who is so far away, too powerful and almighty. Yet, Jesus presented a God who is so close with the people. The people believed in an untouchable God who burdens them with so many laws to follow. Yet, Jesus introduced to them a God who heals the broken-hearted, who favored the poor and the despised. The people believed in vengeance, punishment and violence against the wicked and sinners. However, Jesus taught forgiveness and mercy, reconciliation and peace. Their world taught them that they should be above others, to be rich, famous and powerful. But then, Jesus remained humble and poor, simple and unassuming, weak and powerless.

    The Lord desires that everyone will be saved, that each of us will experience healing and peace, reconciliation and freedom. However, as it was at the time of Jesus, we continue to prevent the Lord in saving us. Our tendency to advance our desires and interests first at the expense of others, stops us in allowing the Lord to work in us. Selfishness and arrogance continue to hold us back from God.

    However, despite this weakness in us, God never surrenders in us. St. Paul in his letter to the Romans affirms how the Spirit helps us in our weakness. St Paul even reminds us that in everything, God works for the good of those who love him. This tells us of God’s desire to make us free and to give us a blessed life. God is certainly determined in inviting and enticing us to come close to Him.

    Thus, God’s salvation is offered to us freely, but not imposed on us. And so it means that salvation also requires our participation, a conscious response frm us. This makes the door of salvation “narrow” because of the commitment that it entails.

    God invites us today to enter that narrow gate, which is, to enter into relationship with God and with others. It is an invitation of committing ourselves in what we believe as Christians and that is, that God is a God of salvation, of love, of forgiveness and of mercy.

    Today, let us show and express confidently our commitment to God by listening attentively to His voice in the scriptures, in our sacraments, in our culture, in our current events and with those who are suffering in many ways in our community. Hopefully, this will lead us to respond to God’s invitation by becoming his instruments of salvation for our brothers and sisters and of the rest of God’s creation.  Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Small things matter because God makes them great

    Small things matter because God makes them great

    October 29, 2019 – Tuesday 30th Week in Ordinary Time

    A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (13:18-21)

    Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like?
    To what can I compare it?
    It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden.
    When it was fully grown, it became a large bush
    and ‘the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.’”

    Again he said, “To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God?
    It is like yeast that a woman took
    and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour
    until the whole batch of dough was leavened.”

    Homily

    A single drop of water in a lake or any body of water creates endless ripple effect. This is how a small thing can make a big difference.

    Our Gospel today conveys an important message for us of small things that really matters.

    The two parables of the kingdom of God present to us how a small thing can become meaningful, wonderful and can create a significant impact. God, indeed, favors the small, the humble and the simple because God can work through them. If we have noticed, it was also the humble, the small ones, people who were believed to be insignificant by others who actually responded well to God.

    This tells us that being humble, or small, or simple or having little and even having almost nothing is not a problem with God. God is even delighted in our simplicity and in our smallness because there are no pretensions in there.

    Being small makes us rather disposed and welcoming to what God offers us. In this way, when we allow God to work in us, God makes great things out of the little things in us and out of our smallness.

    Thus, each of us too, even the smallest acts of goodness and kindness and a simple expression of concern and love can have an impact to others that might be beyond what we could imagine. Our simple initiatives in serving God and others, in expressing our love create an opportunity for God to work in us and through us. If only, we will allow God to work, then, God transforms us and our efforts powerfully and wonderfully.

    We don’t have to create spectacular things or do impressive acts for the sake of being recognized by others, our small but sincere actions and silent kindness could create an endless ripple effect on others.

    In this way, the kingdom of God surely grows in us. Though the kingdom of God may grow slowly, but it grows continually and powerfully in us. Hence, do not be afraid or be shy in doing small good things for others and for God. Show your kindness and generosity to your neighbors today. Say “I love you” to your beloved. Say “I forgive you” to those who have hurt you. It would surely be through these simple things that God becomes ever present in us, because “small things matter” in God. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • God is a God of many chances

    God is a God of many chances

    October 26, 2019 – Saturday 29th Week in Ordinary Time

    A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans (8:1-11)

    Brothers and sisters:
    Now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
    For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus
    has freed you from the law of sin and death. 
    For what the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless to do,
    this God has done:
    by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh
    and for the sake of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
    so that the righteous decree of the law might be fulfilled in us,
    who live not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.
    For those who live according to the flesh
    are concerned with the things of the flesh,
    but those who live according to the spirit
    with the things of the spirit. 
    The concern of the flesh is death,
    but the concern of the spirit is life and peace.
    For the concern of the flesh is hostility toward God;
    it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it;
    and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
    But you are not in the flesh;
    on the contrary, you are in the spirit,
    if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.
    Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
    But if Christ is in you,
    although the body is dead because of sin,
    the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
    If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
    the one who raised Christ from the dead
    will give life to your mortal bodies also,
    through his Spirit that dwells in you.

    A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (13:1-9)

    Some people told Jesus about the Galileans
    whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.
    He said to them in reply, 
    “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way 
    they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
    By no means!
    But I tell you, if you do not repent,
    you will all perish as they did!
    Or those eighteen people who were killed 
    when the tower at Siloam fell on them—
    do you think they were more guilty 
    than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?
    By no means!
    But I tell you, if you do not repent,
    you will all perish as they did!”
    And he told them this parable: 
    “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, 
    and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,
    he said to the gardener,
    ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree     
    but have found none.
    So cut it down.
    Why should it exhaust the soil?’
    He said to him in reply,
    ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, 
    and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; 
    it may bear fruit in the future.
    If not you can cut it down.’”

    Homily

    St Paul in his letter to the Romans talks about the contradiction between the tendencies of the flesh and gifts of the spirit dwelling within us. 

    This means that in each of us, we have this selfish tendencies to satisfy our human cravings. These desires are only concerned about the self. In the words of St Paul, these desires of the flesh tends towards death. It is towards death because these tendencies of ours do not give life and do not hold on hope. Thus, our desires of the flesh would always tend to be corrupt and selfish, abusive and uncontended. 

    This is evident when we have developed vices and bad habits. Like for example, when we hunger for praise and recognition from others we would tend to seek affirmation from people no matter what. As a result, we become aggressive and unhealthily competitive and threatened when someone is better than us. When we also become addicted in any substance, may it be in alcohol or illegal drugs, or addicted to any habits like that of eating, shopping, or into gadgets, or gambling or sex, we tend to become selfish because we crave to satisfy our deep emptiness. And because it cannot be satisfied then we seek for more. And when we seek for more, we do anything just to do it no matter what. Hence, when the cycle of abuse and addiction begins we also walk towards hopelessness and death.

    However, St Paul also reminds us that each of us too has been gifted by the Spirit of God, dwelling within us. The spirit can only work when we allow also the Lord to work in us. When we begin to recognize the spirit, then, the spirit will surely help us rise again and walk towards hope and towards life that is free and at peace. 

    Recognizing the spirit dwelling in each of us is a call to a personal encounter with God. In our encounter with God, it invites us to remove or to let go of those unnecessary things, attitudes, vices, behaviors, beliefs and lifestyle that offend God and others and prevent us from truly encountering and knowing the Lord intimately. 

    Thus, our encounter with God calls also us to go beyond ourselves even beyond our comforts, beyond our fears and beyond our sins and weaknesses. God calls us to step forward and to come out our own hiding places of insecurities, of anger and hate, of pretensions and compulsive behaviors.

    This is basically the invitation of Jesus from the Gospel today. Jesus gave us the parable of the fig tree. In this parable, Jesus tells us that the Father is a 

    God of many chances. 

    God gives us many chances to change our ways and to come nearer to him so that we may find fullness of life with God. This is described to us as Jesus expressed in the parable how the owner would visit the tree. And also, in the person of the gardener, Jesus tells us that indeed, 

    God gives us another chance when we fail and commit mistakes. 

    The gardener expressed hope to the owner as he asked him to give the fig tree another year. The gardener promised to cultivate it so that it may bear fruit. The gardener really saw hope in that tree. That gardener is also the Spirit dwelling within us, God himself who never loses hope for us. 

    Indeed, God always sees hope in each of us. Even though that others may treat us as beyond hope and beyond repair because of our failures and big mistakes in life, but then, God sees hope beyond our hopelessness. That is why, God’s spirit would always entice us to recognize him and encounter him.

    And God makes the move through the people around us, through our friends and loved ones and even strangers who will remind and teach us that God is within us, waiting to be recognized, and waiting to be welcomed. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Symptoms of Sins and Signs of Graces

    Symptoms of Sins and Signs of Graces

    October 25, 2019 – Friday 29th Week in Ordinary Time

    A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans (7:18-25a)

    Brothers and sisters:
    I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh.
    The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not.
    For I do not do the good I want,
    but I do the evil I do not want.
    Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it,
    but sin that dwells in me.
    So, then, I discover the principle
    that when I want to do right, evil is at hand.
    For I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self,
    but I see in my members another principle
    at war with the law of my mind,
    taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
    Miserable one that I am!
    Who will deliver me from this mortal body?
    Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

    A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (12:54-59)

    Jesus said to the crowds,
    “When you see a cloud rising in the west
    you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does;
    and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south
    you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is.
    You hypocrites!
    You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky;
    why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

    “Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?
    If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate,
    make an effort to settle the matter on the way;
    otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge,
    and the judge hand you over to the constable,
    and the constable throw you into prison.
    I say to you, you will not be released
    until you have paid the last penny.”

    Homily

    A friend came to me because he was so troubled and felt guilty about himself. He kept repeating the same sin again and again. Even though he knew already that it was a sin, but, he felt helpless and fell into the same sin.

    Thus, when it becomes regular, then, certainly, we have developed it into a habit. Once it becomes a habit, it also becomes a cycle. And when this happens, it also becomes part of our unconscious actions.

    St Paul in his letter to the Romans admitted his own weakness. He recognized his human tendency to sin, to go against what God desires and to rather succumb to what he only desired for selfish reasons. His tendency to be selfish was quite strong as he too admitted his struggle on this. However, he realized that this selfish tendencies in him was not the totality of his being. In himself, he recognized the spirit of God in Him.

    This spirit of God delivers him and guides him to let go of his selfish desires and to welcome and consciously aspire God’s desires for him. This spirit of God is not guilt that will only haunt us for the wrong that he have done. No, guilt is not of God. Guilt or guilt feeling is merely a symptom of sin. Guilt does not desire change neither conversion nor recognition of God. Guilt will only haunt us of the evil we have done to condemn us and separate us from God’s mercy.

    Thus, never confused guilt with true sorrow for sin. Lingering into guilt will only make us hopeless and without any resolve into conversion. For that reason, never wonder why in mere feeling guilty, we still fall into sin or into the same sin again and again. 

    In this way, Jesus calls us into true sorrow. Jesus in our Gospel today points this out to us. For us to arrive into true sorrow for sins, we need to be able to understand our present times, our present context, our present struggles. This is the sign of grace that Jesus wants us to realize. 

    Remember, in the same letter of Paul, he also told us that where sin increases, grace abounds all the more. Hence, beginning from our honest and humble recognition of our present reality, we also recognize the moments of grace where God invites us to trust him.

    When sin becomes a habit or a repetitious action, do not dwell so much on guilt but rather recognize also its root. This is an invitation to look deeper into that emptiness that we are trying to fill in through that sin.

    Take for example, “lying.”

    We lie to people even to those who are close to us because we hide something. We lie because of fear or shame. In that way, we become pretentious and become someone we are not. This happens when lying becomes a habit or a lifestyle. The sign of grace is when we become conscious of what we have been doing unconsciously.

    Certainly, there will be people or even events in our life that will help or lead us in making ourselves aware what is wrong with us. This is also a sign of grace because this is an opportunity for us to allow the Lord to forgive us and transform us. St Paul recognized this, that is why he too expressed his gratitude to Jesus for disturbing him.

     Consequently, allow the spirit to make us aware of our own realities and to be able to understand ourselves and the movement of sin and evil within us. Allow also the spirit of God to disturb us, not to merely feel guilty, but to feel sorry and to commit in aspiring God’s desires for us that will make us free and truthful persons. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR