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Tag: Christianity

  • CHRIST’S GLocal Mission

    CHRIST’S GLocal Mission

    June 1, 2025 – Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060125-Ascension.cfm)

    We remember that during His public ministry, Jesus summoned his disciples, gave them authority to heal every disease and sickness. He made his disciples share His authority and mission to preach the good news of salvation to all. He thus commissioned them and gave them the tasks to be preachers and evangelizers of God’s kingdom. Jesus added however, that they should start, not elsewhere, but at home. 

    Since then and until now, as followers of Christ, we share the same authority and commission with the disciples to preach and witness the reign of God’s kingdom to all in our world today. And in the same way, we are to begin in our own homes, families, communities, churches and society.

    In doing our tasks and mission as evangelizers and preachers of God’s kingdom, however there is always a tendency or even a temptation for us to blame the evil in the world on others, and to reach out to our poor brothers and sisters in need who are far-away from us.

    But as Jesus would insist, we start to live our faith and practice what we preach in our own homes, in our own neighbors, communities and in our local church. In other word, our charitable mission begins at home, for as He says: “repentance would be preached in His name to all nations (globally), beginning from Jerusalem (locally)… [since] You are witnesses of these things.”

    For who then are our neighbors? As the parable of Good Samaritan reminds us that our neighbor is the immediate person we live with, who needs our immediate attention and care. We don’t have to go out to help others outside out there. We begin then with people whom we are with – our kapatid, kasambahay, kapamilya. We start then to correct the evils and clean the sinfulness in our society within our homes before & as we deal with our wider world outside. 

    Remember it was only later, during Jesus’ ascension that the disciples where sent to all the nations of the world. After they have journeyed at home with Jesus in life, death & resurrection, at His ascension the disciples are now to share their faith to the world. Only after they have witnessed the life & resurrection of their faith in their own life at home, and during the Lord’s ascension that the disciples are able to proclaim & share their faith to us then & now.

    Same way with His disciples, as PCP II (Second Plenary Council of the Philippines) challenges us, Filipino Catholics today are to retell (to tell again & again) the Jesus’ story to ourselves (locally) so that we could tell (witness) – with authority His story to others (globally).

    Thus, in our mission to share the Good News of Christ, we are to approach Glocally, i.e. to start locally and then globally. Begin in your own homes nearby, and then… into the world, and so continue the Lord’s GLocal mission to people’s lives in today’s world. Our risen Lord has already done His part in God’s salvation. Now we are to do our part, beginning at home & into all nations in the world.

    As we celebrated today the Lord’s ascension, being called & sent to be His today’s missionaries, with Our Mother of Perpetual Help, let this be our prayer : “Lord, grant me the grace to be what You want me to be, and to do what You want me to do, not out there & later, but here & now at this very moment now & always.” 

    So May It Be. Amen.

  • Grace and Freedom in Letting Go

    Grace and Freedom in Letting Go

    May 29, 2025 – Thursday of the 6th Week of Easter

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052925-thursday.cfm)

    When a thing or a person becomes important, essential and vital in our life, we also find it hard to let go of it when time calls us to. Moreover, there are also cases when a thing or a person, or an experience, though not so important and vital in our daily existence, that it becomes inseparable from us. Thus, when it becomes so attached to us emotionally, we find it so difficult to let go.

    When I was already about 6 years old, I still carried my baby bottle with me with milk, coffee, water or soda in it. Once, I brought it with me at school during my Kindergarten and my older sister found it out. The next day as I searched for my it in its usual place, I couldn’t find it. The baby bottle was gone. My sister threw it away. That was so cruel!

    I was so mad and cried hard for throwing that away. Perhaps, I thought the world was about to end at that time for losing my “dear baby bottle.” The day after that was just okay without it. The next day was fine too. The next days also seemed to be okay.

    Now, I realized, I must have been so attached to it that letting go of was surely difficult. In one way or another, others may find it challenging also those that have become so attached to them. These include not just material things. They also encompass our dreams and aspirations in life. Additionally, they include relationships and even our memories.

    Letting go is difficult. This is especially true with those we love deeply. We find it challenging due to emotional attachment. Our tendency is to keep those closer to us because we do not like them to leave from us. As a result, when we are confronted with the reality of loss, then, we experience pain. It breaks our heart. We become anxious and fearful.

    We may refuse to let go as a response. In the process, we become controlling and suffocating. We might manipulate those people we do not want to let go. We could become paranoid and obsessed. This happens because we linger and attach ourselves to a painful memory. We might also cling to a material thing, a desire, or a person.

    How are we invited now with this reality in life?

    Going into the process of letting go and the letting go itself is what makes life wonderful. It is in letting go that we actually find more life and express life, to find love and express love. This manifests grace and freedom in us.

    This is what Jesus asked from his disciples. The disciples who thought that they have lost Jesus when he was crucified rejoiced at his resurrection. When Jesus told them that soon, he will no longer be with them, they became anxious. He would go back to his father, and the disciples felt fearful. They wanted to keep Jesus closer to them. They believed that they were more confident if Jesus was nearby. They were not willing to let him go.

    However, this is not what God wants. Jesus had to leave to join his Father in heaven. He needed to become fully one with his Father. It will only be in this way that Jesus will be able to bring us closer to the Father. With the Father, Jesus opens a way for us to the heart of the Father. By this also, Jesus becomes ever closer to each one of us. Jesus becomes closer than what we can imagine because Jesus will be in our hearts and minds.

    Hence, the words of Jesus to his disciples, “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me,” mean that Jesus becomes ever present in each of us.

    In this process of letting go of the Lord, then, the disciples also allowed God to work in them. This was how the early Church found grace and freedom in letting go.

    Today, we are also asked to let go whatever hinders us to encounter the Lord. We may ask ourselves, “What is it that I continue to linger? What is that attachment that I find difficult to let go for me to grow?”

    As we learn to let go, may we be filled with grace and freedom. Hinaut pa.

  • GOD’S GIFT OF SALVATION

    GOD’S GIFT OF SALVATION

    May 24, 2025 – Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052425.cfm)

    Once, a friend told me, “It is only through ourselves that we will be saved. Religion cannot save us, only ourselves.” And because he was quite talkative and tended to always dominate any conversation, I couldn’t respond to him and refute his idea. However, that event helped me to further discern and understand the gift of salvation.

    There are two points that I want to bring out today.

    First, we will never be able to save ourselves. No one can save his/herself. No human effort and merit can save us. Salvation is a gift. It is a grace. It is not like a salary or wage that we receive after our hard labor. Even our good deeds and righteousness will never be capable of affording the grace of salvation.

    We will only be able to share this gift because this is God’s plan revealed to us. the Lord desires that we share in God’s fullness of life, and that we become free. This is God’s gift offered to us though we are unworthy at all.

    Second, religion or the Church is the very image of the people who are already sharing the gift of salvation. When we truly live as a church united in Christ, it shows that we joyfully accept this grace. We also share in this grace. Thus, only in living out our Christian life in our community, though our closeness and concern with each one that we learn to share in the grace of salvation and freedom. This is what we have heard from our readings today.

    In the Acts of the Apostles, we were told that “Day after day the churches grew stronger in faith and increased in number.”

    This tells us of the gift of salvation already shared among the first Christians. Those who heard the good news and lived them out, experienced the grace of freedom in Christ.

    This was crystal clear in the life of Timothy. He showed that grace by living a life dedicated to preaching of the Gospel to many. He joined and accompanied Paul in his journey because he felt and experience the grace in his very life.

    Thus, through the preaching of the apostles that the church grew, and today we are all gathered, as fruits of that grace lived out since the time of the apostles. This was the reason why the Gospel was preached to many nations and peoples, and they too received and lived the faith, and grew.

    This is reechoed in our Responsorial Psalm today, “Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.” This is both an expression of hope and vision, that all of us will also preach the Gospel not just in our words but also in our deeds. May we preach Christ and his teachings with joy in our hearts. Only by this attitude of the heart that others shall see and recognize that we have already shared the grace of salvation and freedom.

    However, let us also remember that when we too are constantly in conflict with one another, the constant division in our community, the lingering hatred and resentment against each one are signs that we do not live and share in God’s gift of salvation. When our hearts are filled with jealousy, greed, hate, selfishness, indifference, deceit and violence towards others, these too are signs that we are departing and making ourselves distance from God’s offer and gift of freedom and joy.

    On the other hand, when we also experience persecutions, suffering and hatred from others because of what we believe, do not worry too much. Remember, even Christ and his apostles also suffered very much from the hand of those who rejected God’s presence and God’s gift. The Gospel today reminds us that the world may persecute us, but, God has chosen us to be his own.

    As God has chosen us, this is now our surety of the Lord ever abiding presence in us. As Jesus accompanies us and journey with us, we too share in his gift of salvation and freedom. Hinaut pa.

  • Known by our love

    Known by our love

    May 18, 2025 – Fifth Sunday of Easter

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051825.cfm)

    Having married to his childhood sweetheart for only a year & a half, in fear & anxiety, a man told his father: “Dad, marriage is not FOR me.” After few minutes of silence, the father gave this advice: “Son, I make this really simple. You marry not to make yourself happy, but to make someone else happy. Marriage is not for you because you are married for a family & your future children. Marriage is not about you, but about the person you married & the life you have chosen.” So, marriage is more than just for your sake, but for the sake of your beloved ones.

    Easy for us to think that ordained priests and consecrated religious people are married to God & church. Rightly so, for they dedicate their lives to & for God & the church. It does not mean however that lay Christian couples & family are not married to & for God & the church. Christian marriage & family life is a

    discipleship – a way of following Jesus & loving God through & in His people. Like ordination & religious professions, marriage is not about & for oneself but for your beloved whom you love in life, and above all for God.

    Christian couples do have their marriage in the church because they consider their love & marriage to each other as sacred & holy, and they wish to make their life now & always as their sacred offering to God & His church. Their marriage then is not about themselves but about each other living their love life for God & His Church through their own family & Christian community. Same way with ordained priest & consecrated religious people, Christian married couples are also thus married to God & His Church. And above all, being Christian is being married to God, and being in marriage to our Lord Jesus Christ.

    Jesus in our gospel today said: “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

    Here Jesus reminds us that it is not enough just to know the commandment to love, but most of all we must live & practice Love. And Love then is for one another than oneself. Meaning, love is basically not for and about oneself (not for and about you), but Love is all about & for one’s beloved & others. In other words, love is our marriage of one another to God.

    Ultimately then, marriage is not for the sake of Me and about Me, but for the sake of and about An-other than Me. Love lived in Christian discipleship then is not self-centered, self-serving & self-oriented but more so other-centered, other-serving & other-oriented. If & when we love this way, as Jesus says: “We are not far from God’s kingdom.”

    And above all in & our loving one another, by our marriage to God, as we love same way as Jesus loves us, we are known to be His disciples and known to be Christian, …because as it was said, “marriage is not for me, but for one another than me”. By our love & loving, then we are known to be Christians.

    In this mass, we pray that our love for our beloved & others in life be our way of following our risen Lord, and be our marriage to God & His Church as our fitting sacrifice & worship to God’s goodness for us now & always.

    So be it. Amen.

  • Discerning Authenticity

    Discerning Authenticity

    May 11, 2025 – Fourth Sunday of Easter

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051125.cfm)

    Once the late-Philippine lady senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago while giving a graduation speech made this joke. She said…

    Beside a swimming pool, two girls are having this following convo. G1 said to G2: Know what? You are going to float (Alam mo. Lulutang ka). G2 to G1: Why? Is it because I’m getting slim, light & sexy? (Bakit? Dahil ba, magaan, slim at sexy ako? G1 replied: No, it’s because you are Plastic (Dahil plastic ka). Funny & rude it maybe, but it tells a lot.

    Now, we might ask nowadays, how do we distinguish a GOOD parent, teacher, friend, politician, leader, mentor, or coach from a BAD one? How do we know if that person is real, true, deep, honest & trustworthy? How do we know that person is fake, shallow, liar & unreliable? In other words, how do we discern authentic from artificial?

    Nowadays it is normal for us to suspect things, simply because it is not easy to know whether it is real or fake. Because it is difficult to detect the authentic from artificial or plastic, the durable from disposable, nowadays we do tend to be suspicious of things & even of one another.

    Same way with our relationships with others, we rather suspect, doubt, and distrust one another, than believe and trust others because it is more challenging to distinguish who are real, honest & smart from fake, deceitful, & shrewd people.

    Jesus in our gospel today introduced and made Himself known to us as The Good Shepherd who knows His sheep and His sheep follows Him. As Jesus distinguished Himself from a Hired Worker who work for pay and no concern for the sheep, He reminds us here that as OUR good shepherd, He is a hands-on and committed caretaker/caregiver of His sheep who maintains a personal intimate relation with His sheep, and will commit His life to live and work with His fold in life & we, His sheep has a deep faith in Him, our Good Shepherd.

    Be reminded the risen Lord reveals Himself in Person & in Flesh for real. Jesus then is authentic, not artificial.

    In the Gospel few Sundays ago, as the risen Lord reveals Himself in the midst of the disciples, he showed and asked them to touch and see His wounded hands and feet.

    Thus, the risen Lord reveals Himself not as ghost but in flesh and bones with wounds. The risen Lord, our Good Shepherd thus knows us & we know Him personally for real, & not for fake or as plastic.

    We Christians proclaim that our risen Lord Jesus Christ is OUR good shepherd. We believe that He is our Shepherd, who knows and loves us personally. We also believe that we know Him personally for we know His voice & we follow Him faithfully in life.

    Particularly For us Filipino Catholic, we do have special or unique take in knowing our Good Shepherd personally. We know Him not only because Kilala natin siya but because Dama Natin siya – not only because we know Him but moreso because we feel Him.

    Culturally sense-feeling perceptions are important to us, Filipino Christians. Like,… I may know you, but I may not feel you. I may feel you though I may not know you. (Kilala kita, pero di kita ramdam. Ramdam kita kahit di kita kilala). This is how we distinguish real from fake – authentic from artificial or virtual & how we discern good & bad person.

    Same way as we Filipinos have this natural felt-instinct & sense to distinguish the real from fake, to discern the good from evil, we also come to be familiar with & know more the shepherd’s voice through our gut-sense and feelings.

    Same way as the mother knows the child instinctively & the child knows the mother by sense & instinct, we do come to know the risen Lord as our true Good Shepherd in life not only by our volition, consent & reasonings, but most of all through our sense & feeling perception (damdamin at kalooban).

    Feel/Ramdam ko Siya/Bati Nako Siya. Feel/Ramdam natin Siya/Bati nato siya. By our sense-perception & feeling-gut insights, we come to know the risen Lord with us – in person & in flesh. Knowing the Shepherd is thus not only for us an intellectual or cognitive familiarity but moreso a deep felt-sense knowledge and insight of His presence, love & blessing.

    Same deep-sense knowledge and insight would also guide us in tomorrow’s National & Local Election as we choose & vote for our coming political leaders. By the same gut-feeling insight, we know who will be good or bad, real, or fake, sincere or corrupt for the future ahead of us.

    We pray then that the Easter Season this year be our moment to enhance and improve our special felt-sense of knowing our True & Good Shepherd, so that we may not be gone astray from His fold but rather have a much deeper relationship with Him, and be always attuned with His will & plan for us now, for the future of our society, nation & world ahead.

    So Help Us, God. So May it Be. Hinaut pa unta. Amen.