Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Tag: Missionaries

  • Other Christs

    Other Christs

    July 11, 2021 – 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071121.cfm)

    Let me tell you first about “Fr. Jo”. Fr. Jo is a Redemptorist Missionary from Germany who is now stationed and working in a Spanish-speaking Mexican community in United States. For years, he has lived with the Mexicans in the US, that he is now well loved by the people. Though he is a German by nationality, but his ways are like that of Mexican now. To the point, people would consider him more Mexican than themselves. They would take Fr. Jo as one of their own.

    One day, in a catechism class, a religious sister intended to lecture the kids about the second person in the Holy Trinity. She started like this, “Kids, I like to introduce you to someone you should know. He is a person who loves you most. Until now, he takes care of you sincerely. He is always present whenever you need him. He is the most kind and very good person whom you should know. He has always been there whenever you need Him. I wonder, is anyone of you here already knows who he is?” Then, there was this little girl who raised her hands and said confidently, ”Sister, I already know him”. Glad that the little girl already knows about our Lord Jesus Christ, the sister asked her: ”So tell us, who this person is?” and the little girl replied: “Fr. Jo.”

    Yes, we come to know Jesus not only through stories about him in the bible, and through our parents and catechists but we usually come to see, hear, touch, feel and experience Him through the faith and life of persons or people who reveals and represents to us the person of Jesus in our midst. These significant people, like Fr. Jo are God-sent and church-sent preachers, missionaries, and evangelizers who, by the witness of their words, actions and life, they become living witnesses and representatives of Jesus, for us to know Jesus personally in our own very lives now. Since then and until now, Jesus continues to send us his missionaries and prophets for us to recognize and know Him in our lives. And reviewing our life, we could identify people who have greatly influenced our faith – maybe a priest, a family friend, the tricycle driver, your neighbor, labandera, carpenter, a relative, teacher, or some stranger you meet along the way – that through them we come to know and believe in Jesus.

    Yes, the best & most simple way for people to meet Jesus & know about Christ & Christianity is through & by means of us Christians ourselves – our Lord’s other christs – who are faithful believers, followers, and witness of Jesus to our world today.  

    We come to know Jesus in our life through Christians who comes in our way and has influenced our lives and faith. We also come to know Jesus because we let him come into our lives – because we welcome him into our lives. When Jesus sent his disciples, he advised them “stay in whatever house you are welcomed.” Meaning that we come to enjoy and share God’s grace because we welcome and allow Him into our own hearts and homes.

    Missionary life is fascinating, if not intriguing for us. In my 29 years of being Redemptorist missionary, people usually asked me how I fend for myself as I live in the mission areas. People asked me, “Where do you live? Where do you sleep? How are you in terms of food?” I reply: “I usually rely and depend on God’s generosity and the hospitality of the people in the area”. Then with the usually follow up question: “Dili ba lisod? Is it hard?” My reply is: “usually when the people know that I am a missionary, who visits them and shares my faith with them, their doors (most times, those of the poor), are always open. They willingly welcome me in their homes, sharing their food, beds, stories, life and faith, same as I share with them my life and faith, as missionary of Christ.  And honestly, as we share our faith-life experiences together, I come to witness that during my visits and conversation, people who welcome me into their lives and faith are so blessed as much as I am also with them blessed.

    I always believe that God is never absent from any place in the world. He usually reveals himself in and through the faith and life of us, his followers and believers. And usually hospitality is the first sign of God’s presence. Whenever  then we welcome someone, especially a stranger into our lives with the spirit of hospitality and faith, God’s presence and graces are always present. God’s offer of Salvation to us thus happens in the context of His visits to us. His grace and blessings thrive on our hospitality, on how we welcome Him, through today’s God-sent missionaries into our own lives now.

    Remember what Yahweh said in the book of revelation: “Listen, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into his house and eat with him, and he will eat with me.” And what Jesus assured us who welcome God into our lives, “My father will love them, and we will come to them, and make our home with them.” In other words, through His representatives & witnesses, we are blessed because the Lord comes to visit us & we willingly welcome Him into our hearts & our homes.

    Through today’s Christian missionaries and prophets, especially during these pandemic times, may we be always conscious and open to welcome our Lord’s continuing “visits”, and be transformed and blessed by His offer of grace, salvation and life anew. Amen.

  • Being a Christian and a Citizen

    Being a Christian and a Citizen

    October 18, 2020 – 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time; World Mission Sunday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101820.cfm)

    Homily

    You must be familiar with our own inconsistencies like for example, being a devout Christian in the Church but a vicious neighbor at home. Or being a devout Catholic on Sundays, but a corrupt person at work. Or observing faithfully religious devotions and practices but dishonest and unfaithful in our relationships. These are some of our inconsistencies that perhaps where we could ourselves.

    To be trapped in this kind of way of life makes us similar to the Pharisees who were only after gaining praise and recognition from others but filled with insecurities and evil intentions deep within. However, being a Christian, to be a Catholic is not just limited with our explicit observation of rituals, doing devotional practices and prayers. Our very identity rests on who God is to us. For us to discover and understand this a bit deeper, let us explore more our readings this Sunday and grasp God’s invitations for us, as Christians and at the same time as citizens.

    Prophet Isaiah in our first reading tells us who God is. Twice, Yahweh said, “I am the Lord and there is no other.” It affirms the power of God and that all others are subjected to him. Yahweh is supreme for in Him everything came into being. He is the source of all riches, all things and all life. That is why, King Cyrus of Persia who was considered by the Hebrews at that time, as God’s anointed, was only a subject to God’s power. Cyrus was chosen by God even though Cyrus did not know God.

    Thus, our highest praise and worship only belongs to God who has called us and who blessed us with so many things. Our psalm also affirms this as it says, “Give the Lord glory and honor.”

    St. Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians gives us the hint on how to give true glory and honor to God. It is through “preaching the Gospel” in words and in deeds. This is our calling, the vocation of every Christian, of every believer of Jesus Christ.

    In the Gospel, Jesus reminded us of our identity, duties and responsibilities as we are to give Caesar what belongs to Caesar (which means the Emperor of Rome) but to give God what belongs to God. Yes, we are citizens of this Republic but we are also Christians.

    It means that…

    We have the duty to give due respect to our political leaders. To support and to cooperate with the leaders of the land. But remember, “they are not gods,” they are not to be worshipped.

    Thus, we are called to be responsible citizens of our country by exercising our rights as to vote during elections and even to protest when a law or a leader becomes oppressive to the people.

    We are called also to participate and cooperate in ways that will make our society peaceful, harmonious, just and progressive. We are called to do our duties well as citizens and to exercise justice and responsible leadership especially with those who are working in the government.

    But remember that we too are Christians. We are called to preach Christ, to preach the Gospel by our life, whoever we are and wherever we are.

    Are you a vendor, a driver, a teacher? You are called to preach the Gospel. Are you an engineer, a nurse, doctor, a lawyer? You are called to preach Christ. Are you a Tanod, Brgy Captain, a City Councilor, Mayor, Congressman? You too are called to preach the Gospel and to give glory and honor to God who has blessed you, who gave you influence, your family and friends and all the things you are enjoying now.

    Each of us is called to give glory and honor to God by our words, our deeds, through our professions, through our work and role in our society. It is in this way that we will be able to give to God what is due to Him.

    This call that we share as Catholic Christians of our country reminds us of what we celebrate today, the World Mission Sunday! This Sunday tells us that we priests, deacons, and religious are not the only ones who are called to preach the Gospel but each one of us. We who experienced and witnessed God’s goodness and mercy are called in the mission of preaching and spreading Christ to all, not just in our words but also in our actions.

    This identity makes us different from the rest of other Christian denominations because the call to preach the Gospel of Christ is not only limited in our Eucharistic celebration. My faith and your faith, is not only confined within the walls of our Church for an hour on Sundays.

    Our Christian belief, our confidence in the risen Christ calls us to actively participate and to involve ourselves in all aspects of human life and the whole community not just in the spiritual aspect but also in cultural, social, economic and political aspect of life. This is the beauty of being a Christian and a citizen.

    May we always remember this and become true Christians in the way we live our life, in the way we perform our work and in the way we relate with others and with one another so that we will be able to give God what truly belongs to Him and become true to our identity as Christians and citizens. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • To Become the Living Presence of God

    To Become the Living Presence of God

    October 5, 2020 – Memorial of Blessed Francis Seelos, CSsR

    Redemptorist Missionary, Priest

    Readings

    A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Thessalonians (2:2-8)

    Brothers and sisters, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the Gospel of God in spite of great opposition. For out appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. As you know and as God is out witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; nor did we speak praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you., like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.

    The Word of the Lord.

    A reading from the Holy gospel according to Matthew (28:16-20)

    Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with your always, to the end of the age.

    The Gospel of the Lord.

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    Homily

    Paul expressed intimately to Thessalonica his affection, “So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.” This statement of Paul was born out of friendship, of journeying together and of discovering together God’s presence and invitations in the community. Of course, this friendship was not without difficulties and challenges but filled with opportunities of learnings and knowing one another.

    This relationship was a result of that deep relationship with God. Paul and his co-ministers recognized that their ministry was not out of deceit or impure motives neither a way of pleasing others, but to please God. This tells us that Paul and his co-ministers were filled with gratitude to God. That gratefulness in them filled their hearts.

    Moreover, Paul and his co-ministers did not look at or relate with Thessalonians as people different from them, but as their brothers and sisters. Intimacy and affection towards one another without any trace of manipulation or impure motives, were present in their community. This is what made that community life-giving.

    What Paul and his friends did was a response to the words of Jesus to go and make disciples. And through their very presence being shared to the people, Jesus’ presence was ever felt as Jesus himself promised, “I am with you always.”

    This tells us that in the ministry of Paul, his presence and of his friends and of the people in Thessalonica, they have become a “collective presence of Jesus” because each of them too, was a living presence of Jesus shared to others. Being a “collective presence of Jesus” also means that our community has become the very presence of God that gives life.

    The Lord is truly with us. As Christians, we live in the grace of God because God desires to be identified with us and to live among us. Thus, each of us, whoever we are and whatever our status in life, whatever failures and sins we have committed, is being called by the Lord to be his living presence today. It is indeed the desire of God that He will be truly present in the world through us, through you and me.

    This means that each of has the capacity and gift to be the presence of God today for our brothers and sisters. This is what we remember also today, as we celebrate the feast of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, a Redemptorist Priest. This German Redemptorist Missionary who was sent to the United States in mid-19th Century, became a living presence of Jesus to his parishioners and to the people whom he ministered as a priest.

    Blessed Francis Seelos did not have miraculous works during his lifetime. There were no stigmata and mystical experience in him. The ordinary Blessed Francis just did his ministry and service to the people in an extra-ordinary way.

    He took care of the sick and the poor in his parish. He preached well that everyone can understand. He guided people to discover and recognize God in their life. Indeed, in this way, Blessed Francis Seelos became a living presence of God because he was grateful, his heart was filled with joy and confidence in God.

    In the same way, God also calls us to be His living presence in our own homes, workplaces and communities. God does not expect us to make miraculous and mystical activities. However, what God wants us is to express our gratitude to him in simple and creative ways that will surely allow us to make our presence as Jesus’ living presence for others.

    To be able to become God’s living presence, we need first to listen to Jesus. We are invited to allow the Lord to speak to us and to transform us in the way God desires it to be.

    As Jesus told his disciples to go to the mountain and encounter him there, we too are called to climb our own mountains of failures and mistakes, of successes and joys with others, of our personal difficulties and problems, of our issues and concerns with our work, family and or studies. Remember, even among the disciples, not all of them believed at once, others also doubted. However, the Lord encountered them according to where they were at that moment.

    The Lord will surely meet us where we are now as long as we allow him too to encounter us. Let us make an effort in encountering the Lord. Let not our anxieties and fears hold us back because Jesus himself promises us today, “I am always with you.” This is an abiding and faithful presence of Jesus that both brings comfort and challenge, light and growth. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR