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Tag: Friend

  • PRAY WITH OUR FRIENDS

    PRAY WITH OUR FRIENDS

    October 16, 2022 – 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings(https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101622.cfm)

    A friend shared to me how she has lost her faith. She had been in a depressing situation in life. She did not know what direction she will take. She was totally lost and confused. She was emotionally abused at home and suffered the effects of a broken-home. She was misunderstood by many, among her other friends and colleagues. Her personal and family problems keep adding to the point that she felt suffocated by all of these.

    This was how she felt that her prayers seemed to be unanswered. The many times she cried during her prayers seemed to be in vain. God appeared to be very far from her to the point that she claimed, God is absent, thus, losing her faith.

    Yet, as she opened up and began to tell her narrative that became an opportunity for me to journey with her being a friend. In one of our conversations, I asked her if she still believed that God was with her. She answered a very big “no.” She neither can feel God’s presence nor believe that God was with her at that moment. She was indeed very hurt, confused and lost. She stopped going to Church. She stopped praying because everything seemed to be useless. I could not blame her for that. She has been through a lot already. What I can do was to listen to her and let her know that she was not totally alone.

    I asked her once if it’s okay that I will pray with her. She seemed to be hesitant but said yes. I prayed with her, recognizing God’s presence even in times of not being able to feel His presence. I prayed with her asking the Lord for comfort and assurance from the gift and embrace of friends, family and community. And I prayed with her to ask for the grace of humility to recognize our nothingness before God, for the grace to see light in the midst of dark experiences in life, for the grace of hope in midst of many uncertainties in life, for the grace of peace and freedom in the midst of overwhelming difficulties and grace of faith to believe even when it is hard to believe.

    When I opened my eyes after that, I saw her shoes all wet with her tears because she was sobbing while we were praying together. She found strength in there and comfort. “God is with me,” those were her words that touched me very much. Indeed, this is how I also realized the power of praying with others, praying with our friends and finding at the end how our faith grew together, and how we become closer to God’s presence. Such encounter brings a change of perspective in life as well as growth in our relationship with God and with one another.

    This encounter I had with a friend reminds me very much of the invitations we have on this 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Praying with our friends is what our first reading in the Book of Exodus tells us.

    We were told how Moses grew tired while he was praying. This happened when an enemy, Amalek waged war against Israel. Moses prayed to God for strength and victory. As long as Moses raised up his hands, they were winning. However, when he grew tired and rested his hands, they were losing. And so, Aaron and Hur helped Moses and supported his both hands. As a result, Moses’ hands remained steady until sunset. Thanks to the two for helping in that prayer.

    This story may sound primitive but there is wisdom behind here. We find it there in the power of praying with our friends. Surely, praying can be tiring as Moses experienced it. It is also time-consuming. It can be emotionally exhausting especially when we are internally and externally troubled. Yet, praying with our friends is different. The company and the assurance that we are not alone, gives us hope.

    This is what Jesus also wanted his disciples to realize as he gave them the parable of the judge and the widow. The judge in the story even though he was not at all righteous, did not fear God and did not respect any person, but gave in to the request of the persistent widow. Yes, it was because of the persistence of the widow that he granted her plea. This was the image Jesus used to bring out the character of God who is merciful. God will surely answer us because God listens to his people.

    Indeed, the parable is an invitation of Jesus for all of us to realize the need to pray always without becoming weary or exhausted. But how do we not grow weary? Well, this is where we find the importance and significance of our friends, of our community. As this was addressed by Jesus to all the disciples, it is to be understood that prayer becomes our strength, source of comfort and growth in faith when prayer also becomes our way of life as a community of disciples of Jesus.

    Now, these are the invitations for us today as well as your take-aways.

    Pray with our friends. Do not be shy or hesitate to ask your friend/s to pray with you. Even if you are in a public place, pray with your friends. Even if that is through a simple meal that you share, pray with your friends. Pray with your friends not just during bad and difficult times but also during celebrations and in times of gratitude.

    Pray with the Holy Scriptures. St. Paul tells us in his second letter to Timothy, “All Scripture is inspire by God.” And so, as we pray with our friends, maximize also the gift of the Holy Bible because praying with the Holy Scriptures allows us to discover God’s wisdom and invitations.

    Pray to confront, to encourage and to embrace. Praying with our friends is not just about mumbling words or repeating memorized prayers but this also becomes our way of confronting ourselves of our sins and failures, to encourage one another through our presence and to embrace each one with love and affection despite our limitations and differences.

    In this way, we allow our faith to grow together as friends and as a community of believers and certainly, Jesus will find faith among us. Kabay pa.

  • Growing in Friendship with God everyday

    Growing in Friendship with God everyday

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    November 1, 2020 – Solemnity of All Saints

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110120.cfm)

    Homily

    There is something I want to ask you now. I want you to close your eyes for few moments and in silence, remember the face of your best-friend, that great friend or friends of yours whom you are most comfortable with, that great friend who is always ready to listen and comfort you, that great friend who knew your deepest secrets and pain in life, who has been with you through thick and think, in joy and sorrow.

    Our friends are indeed, gifts to us. Through them and with them, life becomes more colorful, entertaining as well as comforting. As we discover the person of our friends, we too, through them discover more ourselves. That intimacy and affection shared with our friends become the source of our strength especially when life seemed to be not favorable to us. Though, we may not see every day those close friends of ours, yet, our friendship with them stays.

    With this experience of friendship, this reminds me of the saints, whom we remember today. Saints who are also called as friends of God have this special bond with the Lord. Surely, each saint had their own friends too and through their human experience of friendship, they developed their friendship with God.

    “This friendship with God made each saint to be more familiar with God’s voice, more aware of the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and responsive to the invitations of the Lord.”

    Thus, the presence of the Saints in the Church brings us into an awareness on how God works every day in our life. The life of a saint and all those who have lived a holy and joyful life is a manifestation on how God transforms human life creatively and wonderfully through friendship.

    This means that living a holy life is a constant calling of friendship with God. We may struggle to identify God’s voice in the midst of so many voices. What makes a person holy then, is his/her daily commitment in choosing God and allowing God to transform him/her every day. This tells us that saints also experienced mistakes, failures and sins. They too are haunted by their own insecurities and guilt, unfaithfulness and inconsistencies, selfish desires and demons. Yet, every time they fell down, they rose up and chose God again. Indeed, this makes the saints to become closer to God because they grew in friendship with God by knowing themselves and recognizing God every day.

    This tells us of that desire of the human heart to long for God. Indeed, our very life finds its purpose and meaning with God. This is what our Psalm proclaims to us, “Lord, these are the people who longs to see your face.” Our longing for God also explains our deepest hunger and thirst for intimacy and love. God satisfies our deepest longing which sometimes human connection cannot satisfy. Yet, our human experiences of friendship point and bring us to God.

    This is the invitation for us today, that each of us, like all the saints whom we remember today, will grow in friendship with God by knowing ourselves through our weaknesses and strengths and recognizing God who touches every moment of our life.

    Moreover, the Gospel of Matthew which reminds us of the Beatitudes, are the very attitudes of those who are growing in the friendship of God. We become blessed and discover more graces when we begin to realize that we are not the center of everything, but God. The attitudes of dependence and confidence in God, of gentleness and mercy and the desire to be a person for others are fruits of that friendship with God.

    “Thus, difficult situations are turned into graces. Failures are turned into opportunities and windows for mercy. Friendship is turned into door of conversion and blessing.”

    Again, in the first letter of John, we are reminded that we are God’s children, and this is who we are. We are God’s beloved sons and daughters. It is God who claims that we are His. Hence, we too can confidently say now, “I am God’s beloved and God is my dearest friend!”

    Allow this powerful words and our powerful God to transform us today and the rest of our life just as saints were transformed!

    Whatever difficulty we are experiencing at this moment, never lose hope with yourself or with God because God never loses his hope in us. Believe in your friendship with God.

    Hopefully, by being more aware of our identify as God’s children, we too shall grow every day in our friendship with God and with one another. Remember this too, “a true friend of God recognizes the face of God with others,” with our brothers and sisters and with the rest of God’s creation. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Jesus prays for me today, and so I pray for others too

    Jesus prays for me today, and so I pray for others too

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    May 26, 2020  – Tuesday of the 7th Week of Easter

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/052620.cfm)

    During these days of Covid-19 pandemic when Churches were forced to close and people to be quarantined at home, we have also realized how we need each other’s prayer. Prayer gives us comfort in these difficult times. Prayer helps us develop a close and intimate relationship with the Lord despite the deprivation of the public celebration of the sacraments.

    To pray for one another has given us hope too. To pray has helped us to grow in our faith and widen our consciousness to respond to those in need. 

    Today’s Gospel reminds us of the intimacy Jesus shared with his Father. This is evident in the way the Lord Jesus prayed to his Father in heaven. There is tremendous confidence in Jesus and at the same time, that oneness he has with the Father. This is expressed by Jesus saying, “everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine.” This is how the glory of Jesus is also the glory of the Father. Hence, the suffering and pain of Jesus at his passion and even death is also shared intimately by the Father.

    All of these have been revealed to Jesus’ friends who were also dear to the Father. Jesus treasures this friendship. And as a friend, Jesus manifests his concern by expressing his desire to pray for them. 

    Jesus is about to leave physically in the world. But it does not mean that Jesus will abandon his friends. In fact, Jesus prays for his friends. “I pray for them,” said Jesus. This means that Jesus remembers his friends in his thoughts.

    Being in the thoughts of Jesus also means that Jesus makes his person present in the life of his friends. It is a promise of faithfulness and of constant presence of God in our life, in each of us.

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    Today, Jesus reminds us too, that he prays for us and with us. Jesus joins us in our prayer. The Lord is there every time we pray. The Lord makes himself ever present the moment we also dispose ourselves in prayer. We can say this confidently, Jesus prays with me because he remembers me and he is with me.

    Being remembered by Jesus in his prayers, let us make an effort too, to pray for others today. Pray for your friends, for your family members and those who really need our prayers. Prayer will make us more conscious of others as we become one with them in their hopes, joys and suffering. Prayer moves us also to respond and to be in solidarity with those who are in need of our help. In prayer, we also become more present with God as we grow in our confidence and faith in Him who calls us and loves us. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Having friends? Or being a friend?

    Having friends? Or being a friend?

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    May 15, 2020 Friday 5th Week of Easter – Memorial of St. Isidore the Farmer

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/051520.cfm)

    How many friends do you have in your Facebook account? Or in your other social media accounts? Certainly, those who have fb account or accounts have hundreds of friends. Others even have a thousand or more friends. Well, a Facebook account has a limit of 5000 friends. But, do we really consider every person there, in our account, as a “friend?”

    Today, the word “friend” is differently understood. Our friends in our social media accounts are actually our contacts. However, having those “friends” does not mean that we have a personal relationship with them. Perhaps, to some people, but mostly, we don’t, because among the thousands of friends we have, many can be are acquaintances at school, at work, business or during our summer vacations and trips.

    It has become so common to have such tendency to accumulate friends, to make and have friends, to be socially connected with others through the internet, and to be identified by the people to whom we make contacts.

    Aside from this, there is also another form making friends which can be toxic. It means that such form of relationship is only based on advancing one’s self-interest. Such form of friendship is commonly called as “alliance.” Such alliance protect and promote one another’s interest no matter how selfish and oppressive it could be. It does not look on how one will be able to give life to other in a self-sacrificing manner. It is inclined on what and how I could benefit, gain favor and advance my interests and agenda.

    Thus, we might have become more conscious of having friends, affiliate or make an ally ourselves with others rather than “being a friend.”

    To have friends and to be a friend have different natures. To have friends has the tendency to be self-absorbed, self-conscious and selfish because this attitude looks inward. However, to be a friend is an action that comes with commitment. It is self-giving and self-sacrificing. Hence, this attitude is other-oriented and life-giving.

    This is the kind of friendship that Jesus is talking about in the Gospel. Jesus calls each of us to be his friends. The friendship that Jesus offers is self-giving and self-sacrificing. Jesus commits himself to us as our friend. His commitment is summed up in his love for you and for me by offering himself to the cross on our behalf. 

    Thus, the friendship of Jesus is not about using us or so that he may get something from us. His friendship with us is about giving oneself. Through this friendship, he calls us as his friends, not slaves, not mere acquaintances or contacts, or allies.

    This is how we remember today St. Isidore, a Spanish Farmer who was a friend to many, to humans and to animals. His simplicity and hard labor became a way where he grew in his friendship with the Lord. It was said that he would always spend much time in the Church to commune with Jesus. And as the story about him circulated, an angel would instead plow the field while Isidore was in the Church. Other miracle stories became popular also as Isidore would give his bread to the hungry without running out of supply of bread.

    These stories tell us that such friendship with Jesus makes us more aware of the needs of others. Moreover, to become a friend of Jesus makes us a friend to everybody. With Isidore, he was a great friend who gave life to people and to the nature.

    St. Isidore, the Farmer (image from Aleteia.com)

    This is Jesus’ invitation to each of us now, that you and me will grow in that friendship with Him. Thus, we are called to develop our personal and intimate friendship with Jesus through our constant “chats” expressed through our prayers and this Eucharist. Friendship grows when we come to know each other both our pain and joys, failures and dreams. 

    And because this friendship gives life, our friendship with Jesus should also inspire us “to become real friends with others.” Yes, you and me who are friends of Jesus are called to be a friend of everyone and to express the same love that we have felt from Jesus by giving ourselves too, to “shout out” the goodness that the Lord has revealed to us and “to post what’s on our mind and heart” so that others may know and grow also in their friendship with Jesus.

    In times such as this pandemic, our friendship could be one of the best comforts we could offer to those who are distressed, anxious and in need. Thus, maximize also this Community Quarantine by making sure that you parents will become best friends of your children, and children to their parents, siblings to siblings, and to the rest of the people around you.

    So, friends of Jesus – go and be a friend to others!

    Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

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