Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Tag: Monday

  • In our Capacity to receive and embrace

    In our Capacity to receive and embrace

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    September 28, 2020 – Monday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time (Feast of San Lorenzo Ruiz)

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092820.cfm)

    Homily

    Look at how the disciples behaved themselves. This passage of the Gospel of Luke tells us how the disciples argued among themselves on who was the greatest among them. They must have been boasting one another about their closeness with Jesus, their great qualities, their faithfulness, on who was the first to be called and who was the favored one among them. Their argument must have been fierce because it reached the ears of Jesus. Jesus heard not just their words but even realized the intention of their hearts.

    At this point, the disciples thought that Jesus’ kingdom will be like those of kings sitting on a golden throne in the palace with a great army, a political king. They believed that Jesus will inherit political power and vast riches and material wealth. Thus, obtaining a position and having a closer relationship with Jesus will give them the security and assurance of a higher and influential position when Jesus reigns.

    Consequently, the argument of the disciples was based on how they could benefit from their friendship with the Lord. As Jesus heard them, he too realized that this was in the heart of the disciples. Jesus had to teach them and to mold their hearts according to God’s desire.

    That’s why Jesus taught the disciples an important lesson through a child. Jesus took and placed the child by his side and said, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.”

    Children, at the time of Jesus were considered not important because they were dependent, they have no rights and thus cannot be called as fully man at all. Jesus teaches that in the Kingdom of God, greatness is measured in the capacity to receive God. To receive God is best expressed in welcoming, in embracing and in receiving the least in our community.

    We are called to receive God in the person of those who are the least in our church and society. We are called to aspire to be great but neither in the way that we will be above others, nor to seek a higher position at the expense of others, but in the way of embracing others.

    This capacity to embrace others and embrace God fully was what San Lorenzo Ruiz showed to us. In offering his life, even to the point of death, San Lorenzo was always confident that Jesus was with him. He said, “If I have thousands of lives, all of them, I will offer to God.” This shows us that San Lorenzo had found himself, the kingdom.

    Thus, we shall surely see that when we make ourselves open to receive others, we too shall receive Jesus and Jesus will live in us. This is the reward, Jesus himself. The kingdom of God will be present in us because when we have Jesus, we will be at peace, secured and loved even if we are in the midst of trials and turmoil in life. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • True love never goes wrong

    True love never goes wrong

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    September 7, 2020 – Monday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090720.cfm)

    Homily

    True love could never go wrong. The Lord could never inflict any bad thing on anybody. Jesus only desires our wellbeing, our healing, and our freedom. The presence of Jesus among us is the concrete expression of God’s tremendous and empowering love. Perhaps, it is our way of loving that could go wrong because ours is filled with selfishness and of too much self-importance to the point that our way of loving becomes corrupted and vicious.

    This is how St Paul reminded the people in his first letter to the Corinthians. A man living with his father’s wife was no love at all and not something that one should be proud of. Paul called it immorality. Paul also called such action an “old yeast,” a yeast of malice and wickedness.

    This malice and wickedness were the intentions felt by Jesus among the scribes and Pharisees while he was teaching in a synagogue. In this event, Jesus graced the people with his presence by teaching them and to perform in a concrete way how love desires the wellbeing, the healing and the freedom of a person.

    However, the scribes and the Pharisees were more concerned on how to accuse Jesus of something and then put him to death. One could not claim that these people were without love. They must have loved also, yet, their way of loving was filled with selfishness. They became corrupt and vicious. They felt threatened by the presence of Jesus who only desired goodness.

    This tells us too that a corrupt and vicious person will always be threatened by the goodness and kindness, sincerity and truthfulness of others. They felt threatened by the presence of Jesus because the very person of the Lord, his way of life, teachings and works mirrored their incapacities, their corruption, their self-absorption, their malice and wickedness. Through the very person of Jesus, they were confronted and called to be healed and to be renewed.

    Yet, these people could not because they were trapped in that kind of life. They could not because it was too much for them. Thus, with evil intent they have been looking for something to accuse Jesus and bring him to death.

    However, the Lord cannot be stopped from doing good, from giving life and bringing healing to us. The Lord willfully healed the man on a Sabbath day to tell us how ridiculous “a law made by man” can be. Hence, the question of Jesus, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?”

    This question was directed to those who were with evil intent and those who were seeking to destroy life. Certainly, this is no love at all.

    Today, the Lord also calls us to examine our way of loving and to learn the way the Lord loves. Loving in the way of the Lord would never go wrong. May our way of loving then, be motivated with the desire to bring goodness, healing and freedom. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

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