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Tag: Faith

  • 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.

  • Your Sorrow will Turn into Joy

    Your Sorrow will Turn into Joy

    May 30, 2025 – Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/053025.cfm)

    One day, I got a call from a hospital. They asked for an anointing of the sick for a dying man in his 90’s. Honestly, I do not like going to sick calls for the dying. I may carry emotional baggage when I leave the room. Aside from the scary machines and tubes applied to the patient, it is heart-breaking to see a dying person. They are holding on to their last remaining breaths. The sorrow of the family members would creep into my heart. The grief of those who gather around the suffering patient would enter my mind. Yet, I have to appear “okay” in order to do the rites properly. It’s the way of accompanying the dying and the family in prayer.

    With this particular old man holding on to his last breathes, there was something different about him. Behind his transparent respirator, he was smiling as soon as I introduced myself to him. He was actually smiling during the whole rite while looking at me. He was fully conscious but cannot move. He was definitely in pain at that moment. He too must have been so loved by his family gathered around him. They were keeping to themselves, as much as possible their cries, as I did the rite and told him to go in peace.

    After the rite, he removed gently his respirator to tell me something. He told me with a smile (saying in the local language), “Father, thank you. I will go now.” The family members could not hide anymore their tears as they too heard those words. It was heart-breaking that I have to keep myself from breaking down in tears to assure him of my presence.

    Yet, I felt the confidence behind those words. This old man was confident that he was not alone. His loved ones were with him and the Lord was with him too. He was not afraid anymore despite the deep sorrow and pain at that very moment. He knew that after this, everything will turn into joy.

    As I left the room and bid my goodbye, the parish office received a call fifteen minutes later. The call informed me that the old man died in peace.

    This is a testimony that completely trusts in God’s presence and promise of joy. It describes a particular situation. It is a concrete human experience of struggle and confusion. There is fear and anxiety. There is also pain and sorrow. Moreover, such human experience paved the way for the Lord to intervene and bring comfort and confidence.

    The readings today convey this message to us. In the Acts of the Apostles, Paul was mistreated by those who refused to believe in Jesus. He was harassed and was accused wrongly to put him in prison and to death. With this kind of situation, Paul must have been so confused and afraid for his life. He must have started to question the Lord for sending him into this kind of trouble in his ministry.

    As a result, Paul’s difficult situation allowed Jesus to enter his life. Jesus assured him and gave him comfort and confidence. Jesus appeared in a vision. The Lord told Paul, “Do not be afraid, continue speaking and do not be silent. I am with you. No one will harm you.”

    In the same way, Jesus also gave this assurance to his disciples. This conversation with Jesus happened just before the Lord was betrayed and arrested in Chapter 18 in this Gospel of John. Jesus prepared his disciples for the horrible and unimaginable events to happen in the coming days.  Thus, the words of Jesus, “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy,” are the Lord’s assurance to us.

    We might be struggling at this very moment. There might be some of us who experienced being humiliated, harassed, oppressed or abused. Or perhaps who are ill at the moment, or in trouble at work, lost a job or failed in business. There might be some of us too who are now having problems in relationships or in great sorrow for losing a loved one.

    With these difficult and painful human experiences, God also comes to us through this sacrament, through the scriptures, through the love and support of our family and friends and through the gift of the Holy Spirit abiding in us. God intervenes to bring comfort and confidence in us.

    Moreover, this calls us today to truly believe that God is the God of our life. Then, in that faith, we shall see the many good things we enjoy in this life. This is true despite the many difficulties and hardships we encounter. When we truly believe that God is the resurrection and the life, we begin to become true Christians. We see light in the midst of darkness. We find joy in the midst of sorrow. We capture a smile in the midst of pain. We embrace hope in the midst of impossibility. We find healing in the midst of so much sickness. Lastly, we find life in death. Hinaut pa.

  • 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.

  • OUR IDOLS

    OUR IDOLS

    May 28, 2025 – Wednesday of the Sixth week of Easter

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052825.cfm)

    To idolize someone because of their good qualities and characteristics as a person expresses our admiration. We admire a person as an affirmation. In today’s popular culture, such form of admiration would manifest in our efforts in following the person, copying how the person acts, talks and presents himself or herself in public. We too go on in becoming an avid fan.

    In fact, one of my nieces who is an avid fan of BTS, a South Korean Boy Band, collects posters, pictures, albums and music. She would spend a significant amount of her allowance to acquire some materials.

    Yet, such form of idolizing and admiring may also develop into a kind of blind loyalty and obedience. Our interest would start to negatively impact our life and relationships with others. We become aggressive and violent even in our words when we find other people not sharing the same opinion, belief or interest like ours. More so, such aggression would also manifest when we encounter people who express criticism to the person we idolize. This is a form of obsession in which we as people who idolize someone become close-minded and out of touch of our reality and the bigger picture of life.

    The readings today have something to teach us. They also challenge us in the way we live our lives today as Christians.

    In the first reading, we were told that Paul was in Athens and saw the many idols the Athenians had. The Greeks were known to have many gods and goddesses. Yet, Paul also realized how deeply religious the people were because of that expression. What touched Paul most was the shrine dedicated to the “Unknown god.” With this, Paul being a witness and apostle of the Risen Jesus had the responsibility to introduce to the Athenians the one True God.

    Paul preached to them the person of Jesus, the Son of God, who became like us, and who lived among us. For it is through Jesus that we are saved by dying on the cross and by rising from the dead. However, this is the very reason as well why many of the Athenians did not believe him, only few of them.

    Many could not accept that kind of God who died for us and was being resurrected. This was something beyond the imagination and any human explanation. What hindered them to believe was their own obsession towards their many idols, of their many gods. This was something they couldn’t give up.

    This form of “idolizing” was not a mere admiration. It was an obsession. Though this happened long time ago, yet, at present this reality is still happening. Idolatry still creeps in our culture today. We are still somehow captivated by some idols in one way or another that make God a lesser priority. This makes our Christian life and faith less significant. How does this happen?

    When a thing or a person is being loved, wanted, desired and even treasured and enjoyed “more” than God to the point that we have become obsessed, then this could be the “idol” that we worship. That could be your boyfriend or girlfriend or even your good looks. It could be the approval of other people, your attractiveness that tend to seek recognition from others. It could also be your successful career or business or work. Or could be your own passion in sports or any hobbies.

    Nonetheless, reflecting on these, they are actually not evil or bad in themselves. These things are good but they become bad when they do not serve the purpose – which is to be closer to God, by knowing him better, by being grateful to him and by being generous to others.

    In one way or another, these forms of idolatry are also forms of addictions in us. It means that we may tend to be selfish, prioritizing only our own satisfaction – as a result, we will become insecure and not free at all because we are imprisoned by our own obsessions.

    This is not what God wants us to be. God wants us to be free by knowing and loving him more and more. And so, let us remember what Jesus told us in the Gospel. “The spirit of truth will lead us; the spirit will guide us to discover God and know him better.”

    Jesus wants us to pray, to converse with God truly and that is not just to tell God what we “want.” Let us also ask God what God “wants” for us; not my own “selfish desires”, but to ask what is “God’s desire for me.”

    Let us invite the spirit of truth to enlighten us, and that is, to help us identify our actions, attitudes, belief or things that preoccupy us. This may hopefully lead us to recognize our “idols” that hinder us to know God better, to be closer to Him and that continually prevent us to be generous to others. 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.