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Tag: Homilies

  • On the Road towards realizing the Presence of God

    On the Road towards realizing the Presence of God

    April 15, 2020 – Wednesday within the Octave of Easter

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041520.cfm)

    What are the things that we desire most? Wealth? Good health and long life? Stable job? Love? Committed and grounded relationship? Success and meaning in life? 

    All our desires whether material or not are said to be connected to that deepest desire of every man and woman. Our deepest desire is what draws us closer to God and to a meaningful purpose in life. Our deepest desire is God’s way of leading us to discover and affirm who we are and what we are meant to be in this life.

    That deepest desire is what our Gospel portrayed to us today. There were two disciples of Jesus who truly desired God. Yet, in that desire to be with Jesus and to follow Jesus, they experienced their greatest horror when Jesus himself was crucified on the cross. That disappointment and horror of these two disciples were shown in that image of leaving away from Jerusalem and going to Emmaus. They were leaving in order to forget the pain that they endured in Jerusalem. 

    Moreover, even though they wanted to forget Jerusalem, deep in their hearts they still sought the Lord. This was the reason why the two were conversing and debating about what happened to Jesus. In that way, they sought for explanation to understand their own situation and meaning as disciples of the Lord. Deep down in their hearts, they wanted to make sense of those painful events. However, the pain and the horror were just too great. In addition, women were saying that he rose again. Something that was beyond there human understanding. 

    Until, a stranger, who was actually Jesus, joined them on the road. The Lord explained to them the scriptures yet they were not able to recognize the Lord because their hearts were filled with sorrow and pain. This was described in the Gospel, “and their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.” They were too fixated of their emotions brought about by that painful and confusing event in their life as disciple. Moreover, their hearts were also clouded because they have not realized that the stranger who explained to them the scripture, was actually the risen Jesus.

    Yet, it was when they have invited the stranger to join them in the supper and when the stranger broke the bread that they have recognized that the stranger was actually Jesus. Their eyes were opened because in that meal, they were reminded of Jesus’ presence saying to them, “Do this in memory of me.”

    When they have recognized the Lord, it was their time too to discover for themselves who they were and what they were meant to do, their mission and purpose in life. 

    Yes, by recognizing Jesus in the breaking of the bread, they too have affirmed that they were his disciples, that they were not left alone, were not abandoned by God but loved and cherished by this faithful and merciful God. 

    Through this realization they have discovered their purpose at that moment, and that was to “go and tell others” of Jesus’ resurrection.

    This is the invitation for us today – that is to recognize God among the strangers, among the people we encounter, with those we meet every day particularly your own family, your friends– and in recognizing the Lord in them, hopefully, we too will also discover our own mission, God’s invitation for us.

    Today, Wednesday, we ask the intercession of Mary, Our Mother of Perpetual Help, that like her, we too shall recognize the Lord in the presence of our brothers and sisters in this time of great crisis, and will discover how God calls us now. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Jesus thirsts

    Jesus thirsts

    April 10, 2020 – Good Friday, the Passion of the Lord

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041020.cfm)

    Homily

    How would you feel when you are left alone to suffer? Could you imagine yourself, hanging on to your life, to every gasping of air? 

    I could imagine it when my papa was dying last year. I was not there when he died for I was assigned then in Iloilo at that time. But, I could hear how papa gasped for air until he departed. It was agonizing.I felt helpless as a son, listening from the phone knowing that my father was dying.  It must have been excruciating for papa even as he struggled for his last breath on earth.

    Same experience of pain and loss must have been felt too by those who have lost their loved ones and witnessed personally their passing. These days, we have been told also how the patients of covid-19 would struggle to breath as the virus attacks the respiratory system of the human body.

    Jesus who died on the cross must have felt more pain and struggle. There were no doctors and nurses around him to help him ease the pain for gasping for air. There was no medical help given to him by the people around him. An innocent man was left hanging on the cross to die with his lungs restrained together and his weight pulling him down. However, the nails that have pierced his hands stuck him to the wood of the cross.

    As he was dragged to be flogged, carried his cross and crucified, many people around him just looked at him. Many have shouted condemnation against him as if they were righteous and he was the sinner. Many others too remained indifferent to his cries, indifferent to his pain.

    Moreover, his friend betrayed him and sold him, another friend denied him three times and the rest of his friends run away and hid themselves, except for the youngest of them and few women. With all of these, Jesus endured everything. We did not hear him curse and even expressed dismay over those people who left him alone and those people around him who remained indifferent to his cries.

    However, what we have heard from him while on the cross that I find powerful was when Jesus said, “I thirst.”

    Physically, Jesus longed for something to drink, to quench his dry throat and lips. The loss of blood, the tensions in his bones and muscles and exposure to heat on that day generated loss of water in his body. The soldiers beneath the cross gave him a common wine to ease his suffering.

    This tells us how Jesus endured the suffering physically. The Lord has suffered and that statement, I thirst, conveys to us how the weight of human sin caused agony to Jesus.  

    But more than what was physical, this short statement of Jesus, I thirst, also tells us of God’s desire for us. Jesus thirsts for our presence with him, for our friendship. Imagine, how could he not be thirsty when people who are close to him run away and hid themselves? How could he not be thirsty when bystanders just looked at his pain and suffering? How could Jesus not be thirsty when many of those who gathered around him felt indifferent towards the suffering of God?

    As Jesus was publicly condemned by the crowd who merely believed in gossips and lacked the ability to be critical against their powerful leaders and wanted to kill him, Jesus thirsts. 

    As we remember solemnly today the passion and death of Jesus on that gruesome cross, may we also heed his call for us today. Let Jesus’ words reverberate into our hearts and move us to satiate the thirst of God.

    As the (Enhanced) Community Quarantine has been imposed for the safety of all, let it be an opportunity for us as Christians to be more sensitive of Jesus’ thirsts. The thirst of Jesus is also present through those brothers and sisters who need special attention and assistance. 

    Let the words of Jesus, I thirst, be heard from a neighbor who seek your help, from a friend who need your comfort because of anxiety, from a family member who is sick, from a colleague who is worried of his/her family at home, from a poor-homeless person who is being blamed for not observing “home quarantine.”

    As we respond to Jesus’ thirst, may we in return thirst for more of God’s presence. May that thirst bring us closer with one another and closer to the Lord. May that thirst for God too make us ever hopeful that suffering and death is not the end, but only the beginning of God’s ultimate sign of love and compassion. May our thirst for God bring us to experience as a community the gift of healing and restoration from sickness and pain, the grace of peace and reconciliation from sin and division, and the glory of resurrection that renews and transforms us. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • God for 30 pieces of Silver

    God for 30 pieces of Silver

    April 8, 2020 – Holy Wednesday

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040820.cfm)

    Homily

    God only costs 30 pieces of silver!

    Do you know what that means? It means that the Lord is cheap!

    30 pieces of silver were the approximate amount to buy a slave. This amount was also equivalent to a person’s wage for five weeks based on 6 days of work at that time of Jesus.

    Today, especially for Davao Region the highest minimum wage rate is P 390.00 and multiply it by 6 days and 5 weeks, then, you have P 11, 700.00. This is the equivalent amount of the price of Jesus in today’s context.

    Thus, just for five weeks, working 6 days a week, 8 hours a day, we can buy God!

    This is both fascinating and upsetting. It is fascinating knowing that God is cheap. An ordinary person can buy God just like what Judas did. Judas sold his friend and master to the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.

    In a way, this tells us of Jesus’ availability for us. He makes himself cheap, for a price of a slave so that we can have him, so that he can be with us. With that 30 pieces of silver, then, we have Jesus who offered his life for us.

    However, what is upsetting is the thought that we do not value that much the presence of God in our life. The chief priests valued Jesus for that amount and Judas willingly accepted that and even desired to really have that amount in his hands. This is so disturbing because for all those days that Judas had been with Jesus and the goodness and generosity shown by Jesus to him, Judas seemed not to have realized the great worth of Jesus.

    With this attitude, we may not be far. We too might have thought also that God is the least in our priorities and that God is not essential. We could have spent more time and more of our presence on other things rather than spending quality time with the Lord and with our family. We could have thought also that other people are worthless and good for nothing.

    Nevertheless, what is more striking was the price that Jesus has to pay for us. Judas might have sold Jesus for 30 pieces of Silver, but Jesus has paid for his life in order to redeem us, that we might be with him.

    Imagine, we are more expensive than God. We, mere creatures, are more costly than the Creator. This tells us how much we are being valued by God.

    That’s why when somebody tells you that you are worthless, believe Jesus, that’s not true. Jesus has paid his life for you. When someone would say that a sinner or a criminal or an offender has no value in our community, believe Jesus, that is fake news. Jesus has to suffer, has to be crucified and to die to tell us that every sinner and every creature on earth is special and expensive. God has to pay it himself.

    Hence, on this Holy Wednesday, there are three invitations I would like you to dwell deeper.

    First, God is so cheap. As God is everywhere, recognize God always. It won’t take you long to recognize God in the presence of your loved ones, with your friends, with strangers, and with all the things that are around you.

    Second, each person worth the life of Jesus. Never allow others also to put you down, to tag you as valueless and worthless. Stop thinking too of this idea, because each of us is so valuable to Jesus. And never believe also that there are people or even just one person that has no value.

    Third, recognize also the value, the importance of the gift of presence of people around you. Recognize also the many gifts that you are enjoying, the gifts of nature, the gifts of material things.

    Hopefully, with these realizations then the more we become grateful to Jesus and generous of ourselves to others. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Do not let Satan grab us away from the Lord

    Do not let Satan grab us away from the Lord

    April 7, 2020 – Holy Tuesday

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040720.cfm)

    Homily

    The Gospel today is very sad. A student and a friend turned bitter. Judas, one of the disciples of Jesus became bitter and his heart was filled with darkness.

    What happened with Judas, really? Why did he betray Jesus who only showed goodness to him?

    The Gospel says that “Satan entered into him,” meaning, Judas was controlled by Satan. But, does Satan can just overpower a person? Of course not, not unless we allow Satan to control us. 

    Let us see the attitudes of Judas. Judas seemed to have been filled with complaints and bitterness. He would seek what was for him, what he could benefit or what he could gain. Judas would think of himself. He became entitled and even demanding. Yet, he was also pretentious in front of others. Remember how he expressed his disgust over an oil poured into the feet of Jesus for anointing. He was as if concerned that the poor can benefit from that, but not. He was only concerned of the amount of money that he could get out of that oil if sold and given to him because he was the treasurer of the group. Thus, Judas was gradually eaten by his selfishness. This turned him to be corrupt and deceiving.

    These attitudes creeping in his heart became the entry points for Satan. Those were welcoming attitudes for Satan, the deceiver. Satan, indeed, deceived Judas.

    Consequently, as Satan entered into him, Judas was not anymore in control of himself. He lost himself or perhaps has lost his mind. This was symbolized by the words in the Gospel, “it was night.” It means, Judas succumbed into darkness. He gave in to the false hopes and false promises of comfort, of wealth or influence. 

    However, despite these actions of Judas, Jesus never gave up on Judas. That’s why, never in the Gospel that we heard Jesus condemning this person. 

    With this scenario on this Holy Tuesday, these are the invitations for us.

    First, be careful of the attitudes of our heart that conjures Satan most particularly of selfishness that creeps into our soul.

    Second, we are not the center of everything. It is Jesus.

    Third, do not succumb to darkness. Do not yield to our habitual sins that may lead us farther from God. Always seek the light. Seek God even if we stumble every now and then. 

    In this way, hopefully, then what we will allow is God to be the master of our life and not Satan who will only grab us away from the presence of God. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • To be grateful this Holy Week

    To be grateful this Holy Week

    April 6, 2020 – Monday of the Holy Week

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040620.cfm)

    Homily

    Jesus was in the house of his friends, who were Lazarus, and his sisters, Mary and Martha. These three siblings invited Jesus for a celebration. They were celebrating to thank Jesus. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. As an act of thanksgiving, Lazarus invited Jesus for this celebration. It was in this way that Lazarus expressed his gratitude to Jesus. Meanwhile, his sisters, Martha  expressed her gratitude to Jesus by making sure that there was food and drinks for Jesus and his disciples. It was Martha’s way of thanking Jesus. And also, Mary, who was so fond of Jesus, expressed her gratefulness as well as her affection by anointing the feet of Jesus with an expensive perfume. She spent that only for Jesus because she loved Jesus.

    Thus, when a person grows to be grateful, the person also becomes more aware of the presence of God, the giver of blessings and gifts. Lazarus, Mary and Martha were people who have grown to be grateful to God that is why they also became more conscious of Jesus’ presence.

    However, when we become ungrateful we also take for granted the giver of gifts, and thus, the presence of God in our life. This is what we find in the person of Judas. Judas, who betrayed Jesus, was an example of a person who was ungrateful. He had been with Jesus for the past three years but then he was not fully aware of who Jesus was. He physically encountered Jesus but then his ungrateful heart prevented him to recognize God in the person of Jesus.

    This is the reason why Judas reacted so much when Mary poured expensive oil at Jesus’ feet. Judas reacted harshly! Judas was so bitter! He was not upset about the celebration or about the food and the drinks. You know why? Because he benefited from those. But, he complained about Mary because it was only for Jesus, nothing for him! Judas was not able to benefit from that perfume. That was the reason why he demanded that it should be sold. Judas was the treasurer of the group and if that perfume was sold, Judas will surely keep the money for himself and not for the poor. Because Judas was ungrateful, he was also corrupt.

    This will also happen to us when we remain ungrateful and when we refuse to recognize that everything we have is a gift. When we become ungrateful persons, we also become self-entitled. We become demanding in our relationships. We become critical of those people around us. We are easily threatened when we are not praised and recognized. Yet, we will become stingy of our time and energy and ungenerous of our resources and presence to those who are asking for our help. And most of all, we become indifferent to people around us and indifferent to God, the source of all blessings.

    Thus, God calls us today to be more grateful of the gifts and blessings that we have received each day, no matter how small would that be. But if we have received so much also, be more thankful and be more generous too. Remember, a grateful person is a person who goes forward, because when we are grateful we also become contented of the present, whatever there is. We also become reconciled with the past, whatever that was. And we become hopeful and positive of the future, whatever there will be. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR