Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Tag: Life

  • Making a sacrifice?

    Making a sacrifice?

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    August 30, 2020 – 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/083020.cfm)

    Homily

    Who wants a life without suffering, without sacrifices and difficulties? That would be nice, right? We could dream of a life that knows only comfort, that is easy, and that we’ll always feel good.

    There is actually nothing wrong in dreaming a life filled with comfort and without sacrifices and difficulties, to always feel blessed and good. This is a desire from us to feel secured. Nevertheless, the danger lies within a heart that denies sacrifice and suffering as part of our life, and as part of our Christian way of living.

    I remember a story being told to me when I was in college. There was a boy who went out into their garden and found a cocoon. It was so timely that he saw how the cocoon moved. The butterfly was about to come out from its cocoon. However, the butterfly was struggling. The boy felt pity for the butterfly. And so, the boy immediately, ran back to his room, got a pair of scissors. He wanted to help the butterfly and so, with scissors in his hand, he cut the cocoon carefully in order not to wound the butterfly. He was so successful that the butterfly was in her perfect shape and out of her cocoon.

    But then, something was wrong with the butterfly. She did not fly. She couldn’t fly because her wings were too weak. When the boy cut the cocoon, the butterfly lost the opportunity to make her wings strong. She was supposed to go through in that struggle, in that difficulty of coming out from her cocoon. Because of the easy way out, her wings were not made strong to enjoy the wind as she was supposed to fly.

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    In today’s Gospel, Jesus scolded Peter when he denied that Jesus should suffer and die. Even though, Peter confessed that Jesus is indeed the Christ sent by the Father, but then, Peter did not understand the commitment of being sent by the Father. Peter only knew of the victorious image of the Christ who will bring salvation and glory. Peter held on to his belief that in Jesus, there will be only blessings, power, and praises.

    This was the mistake of Peter. He couldn’t accept that Jesus will undergo suffering, persecution and death. He couldn’t accept of a vulnerable and weak God. This caused Peter to be scolded by Jesus and even called Satan because Peter only wanted an easy one, an easy life. Peter only considered what he wanted, not what God desired.

    This is also the consequence when we encounter Jesus. Before this passage of Peter being rebuked by Jesus, the Lord actually asked the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” This question of Jesus was a question of commitment. And Peter responded this question with conviction. Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Like Peter, if we confess that Jesus is the Christ, our Lord and Savior, then, this confession implies commitment and risk.

    After all, when we commit ourselves to somebody we love, risks and sacrifices are implied. That is why, in the Letter of Paul to the Roman, he reminds us to “offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.”

    This Sunday, we are reminded neither to fear nor deny the reality of making a sacrifice, of experiencing pain and difficulty in our life. Life is found when we go through the process of struggling. Never cut the cocoon or else there will be no life. When we experience pain, struggles, and difficulties never lose those opportunities because those are ways where we too shall find life, meaning and purpose.

    When we are called to make a sacrifice for others, never fear, because life is brought forth there. Take the example of parents and of mothers especially, giving birth is painful and excruciating, but the beauty of life is found when the baby finally comes out.

    Hence, do something concrete today (this week) that would best express your faith and knowledge of Jesus. Hopefully, by having this consciousness, this will further help us in knowing Jesus all the more because it is in knowing him that we also grow in our faith, in our commitment and relationship with God and with one another. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Grace and Freedom in letting go

    Grace and Freedom in letting go

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    May 21, 2020 – Thursday of the 6th Week of Easter

    Click here for the readings (http://cms.usccb.org/bible/readings/052120-day.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/psychologically, we find it then, so difficult to let go.

    When I was already about 6 years old, I would still carry my baby bottle with me and drink any liquid – milk, coffee, water or soda out of that. Once, I brought it with me at school during my Kindergarten and then my older sister found it out. The next day as I searched for my baby bottle in its usual place, I could not find it. The baby bottle was gone. My sister threw it away. So cruel! 🙂

    I was so mad and cried really hard for throwing that away. Perhaps, I thought the world was about to end at that time of losing my “dear baby bottle.” Yet, the day after that and the next day and the following days seemed to be just okay without that baby bottle.

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    Now, I realized, I must have been so attached to that baby bottle that letting go of it was surely difficult. In one way or another, others may find it challenging also those that have become so attached to them. These are not just limited with material things but also our dreams and aspirations in life, relationships and even our memories.

    Thus, when we talk about letting go, we certainly find it  difficult especially with those that we love so much or so attached to our emotions. Our basic tendency is to keep those closer to us because we do not like them to leave from us. That is why, when we are confronted with the reality of loss, then, we experience pain. It breaks our heart. We become anxious and fearful because life may not be the same.

    As a response, we may refuse to let go and in the process become controlling, suffocating and manipulating particularly towards those people we do not want to let go. Moreover, we could become paranoid and obsessed because we continue to linger and attach ourselves with a painful memory, or to a material thing or in a desire.

    What really is the concern here?

    Going into the process of letting go and the letting go itself is what makes our 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 was asking from his disciples. The disciples who thought that they have lost Jesus when he was crucified rejoiced at his resurrection. However, when Jesus told them that soon, he will no longer be with but will go back to his father, the disciples also became anxious and fearful. They wanted to keep Jesus closer to them. The disciples 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 go so that he will be able to join and be one with his Father in heaven. It will only be in this way that Jesus will be able to bring us closer to the Father. By returning to the Father, Jesus will open a way for us to the heart of the Father. By this also, Jesus will become ever closer to each one of us, 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,” means 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 is hindering 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?”

    In identifying these, let us also ask the grace to courageously let go of those that hinder us so that we may find the grace for more life, more love and freedom. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

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