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Tag: Holy Spirit

  • Holy Trinity-Gifted

    Holy Trinity-Gifted

    June 15, 2025 – Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061525.cfm)

    Being gifted by someone special person in life is usually for us a joyous & meaningful experience. Because as we all know, the gift-received is not only about the importance of the gift-given, but also the giver of the gift, and the thought & ways of giving us itself the gift. And so, not only the gift, but also the giving & the giver matter most in our being gifted.

    As we have considered how it is to be gifted by the Holy Spirit last Sunday, this Sunday we reflect on our being gifted by the Holy Trinity.

    Today is the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity. We proclaim our faith in God as the Holy Trinity. In our faith in Christ, we believe in God who is the persons & dynamics of Father, Son & Holy Spirit. We fully trust in the God made known to us by our Lord Jesus as community of persons at work together for recreation & renewal of our lives for the better.

    And today, as always once again, we joyfully celebrate our being gifted by the Holy Trinity in our Christian faith & life.

    To appreciate our being gifted by the Holy Trinity, we must understand that the communal presence & actions of the Holy Trinity are considerably implied in the Holy Scriptures. And somehow this is articulated at its best in the word: “Behold” in the gospels.

    We remember here that “Behold” is said during the Annunciation (Mt 1:23) when it was foretold of Mary’s conceiving God’s child, during Jesus’ public ministry (Jn 1:29) when he is recognized as the Lamb of God, also on the cross (Jn 19:26-27) when Jesus endorsed Mary & the disciples to one another, and above all at the ascension when Jesus assured them of His presence forever as He commissioned His disciples to continue in with His mission (Mt 28:20).

    In all these instances in the Jesus story, especially when the word: “Behold” is said, we come to recognize the presence & dynamics of the Holy Trinity are at work on-mission (on-the-go), in tandem with one another, & in collaboration with us, believers & followers of Christ for the grace of our salvation & blessings.

    And so as our response for such a great gift, what are we to do as being gifted by Holy Trinity? Again, we consider the word “Behold” challenging us to respond to the presence & dynamics of the community of the Holy Trinity in us.

    In the gospel when he was saying on the cross: “Woman, behold your son”…”Son, behold your mother” (Jn 19:25-27)*** Jesus is more than just presenting & endorsing  Mary, his mother & the beloved disciple to one another, but rather call each other’s attention to give care to each other’s presence, and give importance to what is happening & about to happen in their lives.

    Here, we are reminded that in the scriptures, to behold signifies drawing attention to something significant, often revelations, event or divine message, to happen.

    Meaning, “Behold” in the scriptures is a “call to attention”, “a call to order” for us to recognize the significance of the present moment.  To behold then is more than just an expression of being present but more so to acknowledge the significance of the moment happening before us. The challenge for us to “Behold” is thus somehow calling us out that “There is something greater going on and better happening here. So, be aware & conscious of the great importance of the moment.”

    For us to behold then is to  be aware & be awed of the presence & dynamics of the Holy Trinity in our very lives. In other words, beholding for us Christians is to look significantly to our trinitarian God in our lives so that we may see, observe, discern & comprehend His presence & actions in our ordinary daily faith-life journey. Behold, then, for God’s salvation is upon us.

    As we continue on with our pilgrimage of faith, we pray that we may grow in great appreciation & significance of our being gifted by the Holy Trinity in our faith, as we behold God’s ever-present & dynamic blessings at work happening now in our present moment.

    With Mary, our Mother of perpetual Help, through Jesus Christ our Lord, now and always.

    Amen.

    *** We distinctively used this Gospel today since here in our parish church we are also celebrating the Feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, as our parish patroness here in Cebu, Philippines – which happen to come also on the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity this year.

  • Holy Spirit-GIFTED

    Holy Spirit-GIFTED

    June 8, 2025 – Pentecost Sunday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060825-Day.cfm)

    We do know how it feels to receive gifts from someone special. Receiving a simple token of gift and/or few words of call or posts from someone special could really make our day and even help us get through the day. Because we know that behind each gift-received is not only the given-gift but also the giver of the gift, and the act of giving itself. Meaning, significant in receiving gifts is more than just what we received but also the one who gave it and how it was given  (Gift-Giver-Giving). We really appreciate then even just the simple thought and action of gift-giving from someone special in our life. Such gift-receiving given by someone special could surely promises us inspiration, love and faith in our day to day life.

    During these coming three Sundays we will come to appreciate and value the Gifts of the Risen Lord to us His disciples. Today, the gift of the Holy Spirit, next Sunday is the gift of the Most Holy Trinity, and the Sunday after next is the gift of the His Body and Blood. These are His special gifts to us to live through and inheritances for us to persevere with our faith-life journey in our day to day lives as we are being sent to be His witnesses to the world.

    In the gospels, we hear our risen Lord Jesus saying: “Receive the Holy Spirit”. Church tradition has it that fifty days after His resurrection (ten day after His ascension), on the day of Pentecost, His disciples received the promised gift of Holy Spirit to the church, and inspired them to speak in different languages to proclaim the Good News of God’s salvation. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, faithful people from different cultures then and until now are able to speak, hear and understand each other’s faith through our very own native tongues. Because of such experience, today marks the birthday of the Church – the day of birth, the day when the church becomes alive.

    The gift of the Holy Spirit is thus very essential in the life of the Church. Like a soul to a body, the church is dead without the movements of the spirit, as well as the spirit cannot inspire our faith-life without the church. We, the church needs the Holy Spirit to live & prosper as well as the Holy Spirit needs our Church to offer the world salvation, meaning and direction in life, through us.

    As we celebrate today Pentecost Sunday, the day when Lord has given us His gift of Holy Spirit & the birthday of our Church, we are invited as well to ponder on the meaning of the Lord’s offer and gift of Holy Spirit into our lives now. In other words, what does it mean for us in this day & age to receive & live with His Holy Spirit?

    Receiving the Holy Spirit, first of all, is to be IN the Spirit of Jesus, for through the Holy Spirit we acquire the Lord’s inspiration and we are now In the God’s mind. In the Holy Spirit, we are also motivated by the Lord – mindful and inspired (i.e. In-spirit) to believe and follow Him in our lives today. Blessed are we then for through the Holy Spirit, we are one in His Spirit, and His Spirit is one in us. Sa DIWA, tayo ay nasa kanya at Siya ay nasa atin. Diha sa diwa, kita Iya, ug ato Siya.

    Receiving the Holy Spirit is also to be WITH the Spirit of Jesus for through the Holy Spirit we enjoy the Lord’s love and we are now in the God’s heart. With Holy Spirit, we come to know love and to be in love, for He loves us in our lives. Beloved are we then for through the Holy Spirit, we are one in His Heart. Sa PUSO, tayo ay Kanyang kasama at siya ay kasama atin. Sa kasingkasing, kita Iyang Kauban, ug ato Siyang kauban.

    Receiving the Holy Spirit is to be FOR the Spirit of Jesus too, for through the Holy Spirit we partake in the Lord’s mission, and we are now in the God’s will and way. For the Holy Spirit, we come to be steadfast and faithful in our missions in life, for He appointed and sent us to be His witnesses in the world. Encouraged are we then for through the Holy Spirit, we are one in His Will. Sa KALOOBAN, tayo ay para kanya at siya ay para atin. Sa Kinaiya, kita alang Niya ug Siya alang nato.

    Like receiving a gift from special someone, receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit offers us then inspiration, love and faith in our daily lives. Blessed, Beloved and Encouraged are we then to receive the Holy Spirit – as our Advocate whom Jesus of told us in the gospel “the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you”, for through the Holy Spirit, we are in one Spirit, Heart and Will of the Lord. Kaisa sa Diwa, Puso at Kalooban ng Panginoon. Usa sa diwa, kasingkasing ug kinaiya sa atong Ginoo.

    Our liturgy today reminds us that we are Holy Spirit-gifted, i.e. the Lord has already given and offered, as well as, will continually give and offer us His gift of Holy Spirit. The challenge for us now is to invite & receive the Holy Spirit into our daily lives these days. Same as way as Easter season calls us to invite the risen Lord to “Come and Stay with us” (Road to Emmaus), Pentecost challenges us to Invite and Be a Host to the Holy Spirit in our daily ordinary lives, and allow the Holy Spirit to bless, love and encourage us and in effect, Recreate, Renew and Recharge our lives always.

    As people of Lord’s resurrection and of the Holy Spirit, we now invoke and invite the Holy Spirit into our lives as we pray:

    Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your spirit and we shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. Amen.

  • To be Touched by the Grace of the Holy Spirit

    To be Touched by the Grace of the Holy Spirit

    October 19, 2024 – Saturday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101924.cfm)

    Do we find it difficult not to move forward from our past? Does our past experiences affect greatly how live today? Indeed, some might find themselves trapped in this kind of situation when one cannot let go of our past.

    Our thoughts and actions and even our perspectives in life may have been tightly tied up by our painful memories or by our glorious past. When this becomes our way of life, we also become detached from the realities of the present.

    Our perception of the reality in the present may become distorted because what we see and recognize were always in the past. Our relationships could suffer greatly because we will fail to appreciate and affirm what we have at present. We would always compare what was before or we could also be suspicious with an air of mistrust to others because of something ugly that happened in the past. It will be a challenge also to correct our misconceptions and wrong practices because we are so disconnected with reality. We refuse to listen, to believe to what others see and thus, refuse to change.

    This is the image of finding ourselves in the difficult situation of moving forward, finding healing, peace and freedom. When we are trapped in the cycle of the past we might believe that we are beyond hope. This is precisely how a psychological trauma can also affect a person.

    Now, the invitation for change and transformation, for healing and forgiveness can be quite challenging because such actions can also be interpreted as threats to what we have been used to. This was how Jesus’ call for conversion was actually treated by those in power and the influential. The Pharisees and the scholars of the law were threatened by the call of Jesus and so they too denied him and did not recognize the presence of God in Jesus. In fact, they too became hostile towards his presence.

    Yet for Jesus, this  kind of reaction can still be forgiven. But, when one blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, then, this is beyond forgiveness.

    What does it really mean? Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a conscious denial or rejection of the presence of God. This is a willful act of rejecting God. This is not even about the belief in the non-existence of God. In fact, the person believes in the presence of God but deliberately denies God’s presence and also of God’s grace.

    The person chooses to be separated and alienated from the grace of God, thus, becoming indifferent towards God. This surely is blasphemy because such decision and action worship not God but something or someone else. It cannot be forgiven because the person does not ask or welcome the grace of forgiveness. Total indifference, indeed! However, being separated from the grace of God will only bring us into oblivion and endless misery, to meaninglessness and hopelessness.

    However, the Lord does not want this for us. God’s desire for us is to live life in its fullness. This will only be possible when we too our open and welcome the Divine Presence to work in and through us, to challenge and change us.

    This is what Paul means in his letter to the Ephesians, as he said, “ I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you…”

    The call and invitation for us today is to allow the Lord to reach out to us and so allow our hearts to be touched by the grace of the Holy Spirit. May our hardened and callused hearts caused by pains and hurts, anger and hatred, be renewed by the power of the Spirit that we may be able to bring transformation and healing, forgiveness, freedom and peace. Hinaut pa.

  • The Birth of the Church

    May 19, 2024 – Pentecost Sunday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052823-Day.cfm)

    Have you ever experienced a time when you are so caught up with the wonders of the moment that made you say how great it is in our own native language? And then…, a foreigner caught up with the same experience as you are having, utter words of how great it is, and also in your own native language?

    Like once, my Pilipino friend and I were walking sight-seeing in a street of Brussels, Belgium. We caught sight of a beautiful painting being done in the plaza. In our amazement, we both loudly utter words: “Ang Ganda, ano.” “Ohh, Such a beauty”. And then a Belgian guy also in wonder say: “Oo nga, napakaganda” (Oh Yes, Beautiful). All of us (Pinoy and Belgian) where not only caught up with the beauty of the painting, but also with the beauty of the moment where we can communicate and understand each other our appreciation of our momentary experience with the painting.

    Perhaps the same experience could be said about a French man who tries to eat kumtang – a famous Korean beef stew, inside a Korean restaurant with among Koreans, and after tasting it, said: “Masizoyo” (Delicious, Sarap). All understand how tasty kumtang is, and even a foreigner is able to appreciate it through in the local native language and tongue. In other words, Napa-Koreano sa Sarap. O Napa-Tagalog sa Ganda.

    Our shared experiences of wonders and mutual understanding among diverse cultures somehow describes us the experience of the people and the disciples during the day of Pentecost. Church tradition has it that fifty days after His resurrection (ten day after His Ascension), on the day of Pentecost, the disciples received the promised gift of Holy Spirit to the church, and inspired them to speak in different languages to proclaim the Good News of God’s salvation. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, people from different cultures then and until now are able to speak, hear and understand each other’s Christian faith in each other’s own native tongues.

    Because of such experience, today marks not only the culmination of Easter season but moreso, the birthday of the Church – the day of birth, the day when the church becomes alive. The gift of the Holy Spirit is thus very essential in the life of the Church. Like a soul to a body, the Church is dead without the movements of Holy Spirit, as well as the spirit cannot inspire our life without body, the church. We, the church needs the Holy Spirit to live as well as the Holy Spirit needs our Church to offer us meaning and direction in life. For how does the Holy Spirit may somehow work in our lives?

    First, the Holy Spirit makes us experience and witness the present moment. Like being caught up with the beauty of a painting or scenery, with the delicious taste of food, with the wonders of the architectures & building, cooking, or working processes, with the intensity of a good book read, a good drama play or telenovela, and like the risen Lord made Himself known to his disciples, the Holy Spirit inspires us to situate and appreciate ourselves in the present experience. In other words, the Holy Spirit offers us PRESENCE in the here and now.

    Second, the Holy Spirit compels us to share our inspiration of the present moment with others. Our inspiration then is not ours to keep but to be shared with others. Like falling and being in love, the Holy Spirit moves us to proclaim and communicate our life and inspiration with others in a way that we can understand each other. In other words, the Holy Spirit provides us the LANGUAGE to articulate and communicate our inspiration of the present moment.

    And lastly, the Holy Spirit makes us respond rightly and accordingly to the inspiration-given and shared. Like Jesus giving us the mandate and mission to witness and proclaim our faith to all nations, the Holy Spirit encourages us to lead our lives according to our faith-life inspirations. In other words, the Holy Spirit obliges us a LIFESTYLE – a way of being and becoming human in life.

    Like, as Love is one of its gift, the Holy Spirit inspires us to love and be loved, to express humanly such love with an-other and others, as well as to live our lives as loving and beloved person. In the same way with faithfulness, the Holy Spirit inspires us to have faith and trust in the risen Lord in life, to express, proclaim, and share our faith with others (regardless of culture and race), and to practice and live out such faith in our daily lives.

    The Holy Spirit thus concretely offers us PRESENCE – LANGUAGE – LIFESTYLE of Love and Faith in life. That is how essential Holy Spirit is into our day to day lives as Christian and as Church.

    We can only receive what is being offered. And it will be offered us in our life, if and when we allow and invite the Holy Spirit into our very lives now. We can only share what we already have. We welcome then the Holy Spirit into our lives now so that others may feel its presence, relate with its language, & live its lifestyle in our world today.

    As we celebrate the birthday of the Church, we especially once again invite the Holy Spirit into our lives, as we pray: “Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth.” Amen.

  • UNITY: How are we called to unite in the Spirit?

    UNITY: How are we called to unite in the Spirit?

    October 21, 2022 – Friday 29th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102122.cfm)

    Is unity in itself a good thing? Unity in itself is something neutral and it depends on how such unity is to serve its purpose. When thieves, corrupt leaders, those who want to advance their self-interest and people with evil intentions unite, then, this will surely be a bad thing. Such unity will bring destruction, violence and death. When people who desire to serve others, those who dream for a better world, people who work hard to earn an honest living and people who have faith in the Lord unite, then, this will bring goodness, abundance, hope and peace.

    Thus, it is also not enough to call and invite Christians to simply have unity because this can be for evil or for God. Just like what the Pharisees and lawyers at that time of Jesus, despite being faithful to their religious traditions and practices even to minutest details, their unity was nothing before God. Jesus confronted their hypocrisy because within their hearts lie the evil intentions of self-interest, of seeking power and influence, of indifference and corruption.

    So, what kind of unity then, are we called to have? St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians expressed this kind of unity and the intentions behind the call to unite.

    Paul called the Ephesians and calls us as well today, to “strive to preserve the unity of the Sprit through the bond of peace.” This is an invitation to be conscious and to seek the gift of unity that comes from the Holy Spirit manifested in peace. This can be experienced within the context of our families, organizations, communities, nations and the whole Church.

    The unity that the Spirit brings will surely flourish when we also lived fully what God called us to be. And this is how Paul invites us further today so that we will be united in the Spirit, to become one body and one spirit.

    First, to be humble. Grace is received by a humble heart not with an arrogant heart that only thinks of the self.

    Second, to be gentle. It is in gentleness that we are able to nurture affection and closer relationship with one another for it makes us understanding. Therefore, true unity of the spirit is not achieved through violence, cruelty or deception.

    Third, to be patient. This allow us to let God work in us, and allow our natural process of growing in the spirit by being able to discern, to listen to God and each other. Unity of the spirit is not being fostered by being impulsive and having no time to discern and listen.

    Fourth, to be loving. Love and its concrete expressions through self-scarifying service to others and to God that unity of the spirit is being given a face. Thus, it is not in indifference, not in being distanced and unconcerned that we become loving and united in the spirit.

    Kabay pa.