Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Tag: Healing

  • Touch us Lord to Heal our Blindness

    Touch us Lord to Heal our Blindness

    December 4, 2020 – Friday of the First Week of Advent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120420.cfm)

    Homily

    The miracle of making the blind see has been foretold by the prophets. This is even a recurring theme the Bible. Our first reading from Prophet Isaiah told us that the Messiah shall open the eyes of the blind. It says, “And our of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see.” God grants healing to our blindness and insights to our spirit.

    In our gospel, what I find interesting was the perseverance of the two blind men. They had been following Jesus, crying and shouting, “SON OF DAVID, HAVE PITY ON US!” They did not just appear from nowhere but they had been following Jesus. And if you have noticed, these two blind men were one of those who truly recognized Jesus as the Messiah despite their physical blindness. These men did not see physically the face of Jesus or see personally his other miracles. They were dependent on others who conveyed to them the person of Jesus.

    It is good then for us to look closely at this particular scenario of the two blind men meeting Jesus. The two were very desperate. They have been crying out loud, saying, SON OF DAVID, HAVE PITY, HAVE COMPASSION, HAVE MERCY ON US! Yet, Jesus seemed not to hear them. But the two persisted and still followed the Lord. But, when Jesus was about to enter a house, they were able to catch up with him, and the two seized that opportunity.

    At that moment, Jesus himself asked them, “DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT I CAN HELP YOU? THAT I CAN HEAL YOU?” Without their complete trust in the Lord, Jesus cannot do anything. Surprisingly, both of them were eager in responding, YES, LORD, WE BELIEVE IN YOU! AND WE TRUST IN YOU!

    The trust of these blind men allowed Jesus to TOUCH them gently and lovingly. And their eyes were opened. What they received was more than physical sight, they gained insight too by seeing the Lord. That experience overwhelmed their hearts with joy and gratefulness. Despite the command of Jesus not to tell others about it, they cannot but share to others what they have experienced.

    Jesus indeed is the Messiah and the two blind men taught us that we will only recognize the Lord through the eyes of faith, of complete trust in the Lord even if the Lord seems not to hear our prayers or seems to have not seen our difficulty in life. However, with fervent prayer and unwavering trust in God who loves us, God will also ask us, “DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE IN ME?” It is only when we put our complete trust in the Lord, that we allow him to touch and heal us.

    Today, we are reminded to be aware of our own blindness. I am sure, there can be areas of blindness in our lives that need healing. We all struggle with weakness and disability of one kind or another, in ways where we are broken and vulnerable. These can be in terms of our own relationship with friends, family members or co-workers and even within ourselves. It is good that we identify our own blindness and ask the Lord to touch and heal us. Let this be our prayer now, to be persistent in that, that the Lord will heal our own blindness so that we will see him and know him clearly.

    In this way, we will surely be able to celebrate Christmas with a heart filled with joy and gratitude in the Lord who touches and heals us. Hinaut pa.

  • Faith is loud and so make it daring

    Faith is loud and so make it daring

    November 16, 2020 – Monday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111620.cfm)

    Homily

    Faith is loud and it echoes into the heart of God and into the hearts of many. Our Gospel today tells us about this, in the beautiful healing story of a blind beggar. Let us explore his story.

    The blind man was sitting by the roadside and by being on the side, this tells us that he did not belong to the privileged people. He was one of the despised and outcast because he was ill. He was blind and so people believed that he was cursed. He was considered unclean and so people would not dare touch him.

    Yet, this blind man believed in the Son of David. His physical blindness did not prevent him to recognize that the Lord was near and that God was in Jesus. When he heard that Jesus was passing by, he cried out, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” The Blind man must have heard a lot already about Jesus. The stories he heard made him believe that Jesus too can heal him.

    However, people around him seemed to discourage him. They wanted to keep him silent, yet, he cried louder all the more. This tells us that true faith is neither passive nor indifferent. Faith is always loud. Faith disturbs the arrogant and the powerful, that is why, they would try to keep faith silent, to suppress and kill it.

    He was not afraid to show his faith because he truly believed in Jesus. This is what Jesus wants us, that is, to make our faith daring and loud. Faith leads us to listen to Jesus’ invitation and to respond to his call.

    This is what the blind man showed. Jesus called him and he was brought to Jesus. Indeed, as faith moves us, faith also moves God and moves people around us. Notice the movements then. The loud faith of the Blind Man, caught the attention of Jesus and so was moved by the expression of the man’s faith. This made the people to be also moved and helped the man to move closer to Jesus.

    Moving closer to Jesus also requires us to let go of our habits and attitudes that kept us stagnant, passive and unmoved. Letting go and moving towards God, will help us to listen carefully to Jesus, to his desire for us. The words of Jesus was so moving, he said, “What do you want me to do for you?” The Lord knows what we need. But then, Jesus wanted the man to name what he needed – to recognize his blindness. Healing can only begin when we recognize what is wrong with us. Thus, any medication will not work if we continue to deny our true illness.

    Thus, the response of the blind man to Jesus was an expression of self-awareness. He said, “Lord, please let me see.” Consequently, we are invited by Jesus to name our own blindness, our own illness and the evil that is within us so that Jesus can work in and through us.

    The man began to see when Jesus made him realize that his faith saved him. This was because the man believed in Jesus that he began to see the face of God in Jesus which moved him too to follow the Lord.

    God invites us today, first, to make our faith daring and loud. Second, to let go of whatever that prevents us from going near to Jesus. And third, to name and speak of the blindness, the illness and the evil that is within us.

    Hopefully, by responding to Jesus with our faith we too shall experience healing and begin to see clearly the face of God among ourselves and especially among those who are continually oppressed and abused by the evil structure creeping in our culture today. Hinaut pa.

  • Awareness of God’s Grace calls us to gratitude and graciousness

    Awareness of God’s Grace calls us to gratitude and graciousness

    November 11, 2020 – Wednesday of the 32nd Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111120.cfm)

    Homily

    In a conversation with a friend, he told me that he was doing some form of sacrifices because he was asking God of something, to grant his prayer intentions. This really reminds me of our usual attitude in our prayers and in the way we relate to God. We make sacrifices so that God may grant our prayers for healing, for success or for material graces that we need. We also take time to light a candle, to offer a mass intention, to say our novenas and rosaries, even visit churches and shrines, and ask the intercession of our favorite saints so that God will grant our prayers and desires.

    This kind of action is also similar to that 10 lepers in today’s Gospel. They too begged Jesus. They cried out to the Lord to heal and grant them freedom from the curse they endured. Certainly, Jesus listened to them. As Jesus told them to make themselves appear before their priests, on their way, each of them was healed from leprosy and experienced freedom from the curse of that illness. However, out of ten healed lepers, only one leper came back to Jesus. This leper came back to thank and to praise the Lord. This leper may not be fully aware yet, that Jesus is Lord, but he was sure enough that God was working in Jesus.

    Hence, Jesus actually wondered on what happened to the nine lepers who were all Jews like him. The leper who came back was a Samaritan, considered as a foreigner by the Jews. And Jews considered Samaritans as enemies, worthless and good for nothing. Yet, it was this enemy of the Jews, this worthless and good for nothing person who became aware not just that he was healed but also of the grace of healing. Becoming aware of the grace he received, this made the Samaritan leper to also recognize the giver of the grace. His awareness of the grace filled him with joy and gratitude. He must have been running back to Jesus out of joy to thank the Lord.

    However, Jesus indeed wondered about the nine Jewish healed lepers. We would wonder and could also ask, “What could have prevented them to thank Jesus like the Samaritan?” Well, we can only suspect. The nine Jewish healed lepers might have become indignant that the Samaritan was also healed and was given the grace. For them, a Samaritan was not worthy of God’s grace because they were traitors. They might have not accepted that an enemy had been blessed and healed by God. That happy occasion of healing must have turned into bitterness. Instead that the nine should be grateful to God, their hearts turned bitter at the sight of someone whom they thought was not worthy, useless, a mere disturbance in their society, and would only bring nothing good but problems and crimes.

    Because of such attitude, they forgot that everything was a grace and so forgot to express their gratitude to God. God’s generosity is endless yet our memory can sometimes become very short especially when we are filled with bitterness. We always remember to ask, but we tend to forget to give thanks.

    Thus, we should be careful on this. We might tend to think that those who always go to Church are the only ones worthy of God’s grace of mercy. We might tend to believe that our enemies, people we hate, people we don’t like are useless and insignificant. Then, this kind of attitude will only cloud our heart with hate and bitterness instead of gratitude and graciousness.

    Thus, we are called not just to be grateful with what we have but also to be more grateful for others who are also blessed by God. This makes us gracious too. And this also was the attitude of the Samaritan who went back to Jesus to thank him, to praise God and also to follow the Lord.

    This healed leper’s action showed how grateful his faith was. Indeed, he was not just healed physically but also spiritually. Jesus told him, “Stand up and go, your faith has saved you!” This healed leper teaches us today to show our gratitude to God so that we may also become gracious.

    St. Paul’s letter to Titus reminds us about this, he said, “the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we have done but because of his mercy.” And because of this, Paul urges us to “exercise all graciousness towards everyone.”

    Indeed, by becoming more and more aware of God’s grace in us and in each of us, we may also grow not in bitterness but with a grateful and graceful heart. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • When our words give life and freedom

    When our words give life and freedom

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    September 1, 2020 – Tuesday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090120.cfm)

    Homily

    Our words to another person can become destructive or can become uplifting and life-giving. Those who silently suffer from verbal abuse at home, at school or at work would look at herself or himself terribly. The emotional stress and psychological trauma could affect the entire perspective of a person about himself or herself and about others. Such negativity makes a person to have a low self-esteem, to be depressive, angry and hateful towards himself/herself or/and towards others.

    However, a person who receives enough affirmations, constructive corrections, good counsel and advises from credible and people of good example would tend to become more hopeful and positive in life.

    This tells us how our words play an important part in our development in emotional or psychological and spiritual aspect of our life. Thus, the readings today convey to us how our words can transform the lives of others and of our community.

    The first letter of Paul to the Corinthians tells us how the Spirit of God inspires us to understand the Word of God, “to understand the things freely given us by God.” As a community of faith, we speak on the mysteries of God revealed to us not with words taught by human wisdom, which is limited and can be self-centered, but with words taught by the Spirit which is life-giving and liberating.

    This is how we find the words in the Bible to be always uplifting and inspiring because they are filled with the Spirit of God. In the same way, a parent who lovingly corrects a child for the wrongdoing the child does and without condemnation and insult, builds the character of the child to become a good and better person.

    Such powerful and life-giving words are also heard in our Gospel today. The Gospel of Luke tells us of the experience of the people from Capernaum, a town in Galilee. Jesus who taught the people in the synagogue found him different from the Scribes and Pharisees. Jesus spoke with authority not just with knowledge and familiarity of his teachings. Jesus spoke from the heart, from the wisdom of God that intends to give life to the people.

    Hence, the people found life in his teachings, in his words. This was more manifested when Jesus encountered a man with the spirit of an unclean demon. Through the words of Jesus, that demon was made quiet and was commanded to come out of the man. That demon was surely oppressive to the man by taking out the voice of the person. The person was made a slave by that demon. Yet, through his encounter with Jesus the man was given a chance to be freed and to be healed. Indeed, this is the effect when words give life and freedom.

    Thus, at the words of Jesus, the demon came out of the man without doing any harm to the person. This tells us again how those words of Jesus truly brought life, freedom and healing because Jesus’ intention was of kindness and his words were out of generosity.

    Today, Jesus also calls us to find healing, life, and freedom in his words and presence in the scriptures and in our Sacraments. Hopefully, what we find and receive will also be transmitted into our life that we ourselves will become life-giving and instruments of freedom.

    It would be good then to examine our words and our encounters with people today.

    Let this be the object of our discernment today. Are my words and presence life-giving or condemning? Am I giving freedom or condemnations? Are my words filled with hatred and anger or peace and kindness?

    If we find that our words and presence express more of condemnation, and judgments, of hate and bitterness, allow Jesus to transform us. Allow Jesus to cast out the demon in us that oppresses us and oppresses other. Allow Jesus’ words to make free and at peace so that we too shall learn in giving words to others that are filled with love, life and freedom. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR