Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Tag: Ordinary Time

  • SEEK LOVE, SEEK PEACE

    SEEK LOVE, SEEK PEACE

    February 19, 2023 – Seventh Sunday Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021923.cfm)

    As my niece was growing up, it was also the time that we directly and indirectly taught her ways of behaving and of different attitudes, which may be good or bad. Unconsciously, there were many things and ways that we taught to the child that were not really good. For instance, when she would misstep and fall, she would cry because of pain. Our immediate response is to comfort the child and tell her, “hapaka ang salug aron makabalos ka” (hit the floor so that you may have your revenge).Then, this would somehow bring comfort to her as if hitting back would take away the pain.

    A situation like this can easily be taken for granted since this looks and sounds normal to us. However, what we are not aware of is that we are actually introducing a very unhealthy attitude to the child. In fact, this kind of situation would only teach children the “culture of revenge” and the “culture of hate.” It is a form of teaching a child not to be comfortable with pain but to take comfort with vengeance. Hence, this is an unconscious way of teaching hatred to a young heart. Yet, is this the attitude and way of life that Jesus is teaching us as his disciples now?

    Well, we have heard from the Book of Leviticus what the Lord said to the Israelites, “You shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart… Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The Lord God commanded this because this is how the Lord shows his heart and compassion to the people despite their unfaithfulness and sins. Moreover, the Psalm today also expressed God’s nature, “The Lord is kind and merciful.”

    This nature and attitude of God is the call for all of us Christian believers. Jesus also tells us, “be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” This perfection, which is much better translated as completeness or wholeness, that Jesus said, is meant to love all, not just loving those who are close to us but also those whom we do not like, those who caused us pain and shame, those who betrayed us and those whom we hate and those who have hatred against us.

    Indeed, it is also true that this sounds impossible to do especially if we would follow what Jesus said, “when someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well.” This really sounds ridiculous and outrageous not just to us now but also to people who listened to Jesus at that time. We can possibly ask, “How can I love someone who betrayed me? How can I love the person who abused us, physically, materially, emotionally o sexually?”

    Let us remember that it is certainly true that there may be people who caused pain to us and even unrepairable damage to us, but then, let us also be honest that we too, may have caused pain and damage to others in one way or another, or in many ways which we may not be totally aware of.

    So, what is this message of Jesus really all about? Love and peace, not hatred, not vengeance, not violence. This is what Jesus revealed to us. This is the very experience of Jesus with his Father in heaven as well. Indeed, the Lord God is not a violent Father. The Lord God cares for all sinners and righteous alike. And that God’s power rests in unconditional love and not in bringing us to damnation and eternal death because the Lord is slow to anger and does not hate.

    From this realization of God’s nature and attitude towards us, we are called to grow and become more like Jesus – in the sense, that we become “a complete person or a whole person” as Psychology says. Being a complete and whole person means a person who is healed through forgiveness, love and peace, who does not nurture grudges and not being controlled by anger or hatred.

    Indeed, we are called to get rid of that culture of hate, revenge and violence because healing, reconciliation and peace are not possible when we linger on these attitudes.

    This challenges us now that in our relationships, as we may face the possibilities of being hurt, let us also do our best not to keep feeding our hearts with hate and the thirst for revenge and violence. Let us also consciously teach our children of the culture of forgiveness and not the culture of hatred. Kabay pa.

  • BE A SALT, BE A LIGHT

    BE A SALT, BE A LIGHT

    February 5, 2023 – Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020523.cfm)

    I once encountered an old leper in Mandaue City when I was a first year Seminarian in the college. His name was Tatay Mike. He was abandoned by his own family in the leprosarium in the 60s when leprosy began to appear in his body during his 30s. He was a teacher yet, he was forced to leave his teaching profession and his home but was also abandoned by his family because of fear of contamination.

    What is terrifying with leprosy are not just the wounds, but of not being able to feel the pain. Leprosy produces anesthetic-effect in the body. It actually damages the sensory nerves of the person, thus, the inability to feel pain.

    Tatay Mike also began to question his own existence. He was filled with suffering both in his body and in his heart. He was wounded, physically, emotionally and spiritually. The abandonment from his family created unspeakable wound in his person. He was always angry at everything and everyone. He would blame God for making him suffer that much. In fact, he asked people to just kill him, to end his life. He too tried to kill himself. He committed suicide not just one, not twice, but many times.

    That encounter with him led me and my co-seminarian to become a friend of Tatay Mike. We spent time with him even though he would curse us for being with him. We would visit him every afternoon on Saturday even when he seemed to be always angry at us. Yet, our constant visits to him, changed him slowly. He became more tolerant with us until such a time that he began to open up his story to us.

    One Saturday afternoon Tatay Mike blurted out to us, “Gusto nako mamatay! Wala may naghigugma nako! Pait kaayo akong kinabuhi.” (I really want to die. No one has loved me. My life is bitter!) – Upon hearing this painful words of Tatay Mike, it was my co-seminarian who responded and gave hope to him. He said, “Tay, nia man mi nagahigugma nimu. Mao nang kanunay mi mobisita nimu!” (Tay, we are here loving you. That is the reason why we would visit you.)

    Tatay Mike shed some tears at this. He told us that it was his very first time being told that he was loved. It was such an emotional encounter but that gave hope to Tatay Mike. And that simple encounter, changed Tatay Mike’s perspective in life. Sadly, Tatay Mike died the following year due to other complications. But at least he died knowing that he too was being loved.

    This encounter with this old man seemed to be just an ordinary encounter for me at that time. We went to the leprosarium to visit the patients, not entirely by our own will and desire. As young Seminarians, we went there because we were told to and that was just a part of our seminary formation. If we were given a choice at that time, we would surely not go to the leprosarium to visit and talk to the lepers. We would rather go to an internet café and play computer games.

    It was only later that I realized that the seemingly ordinary encounter with Tatay Mike created actually a slow but powerful impact on me as a Seminarian. Tatay Mike must have realized that our presence brought something new and some meaning into his life. Yet, Tatay Mike’s life and our Saturday visits have actually changed me a lot.

    Tatay Mike and those Saturday visits taught me that despite the senseless suffering one will have, life is still wort living; that another person’s presence in our life is a testament of God’s faithfulness in us; that our expressions of care and concern could be the last life-line of people who have lost the desire to live.

    This reminds me very much of what St. Paul told us in his first letter to the Corinthians that the message he brought to the people was through a “demonstration of Spirit and power.” What does he mean by this? Paul preached the person of Jesus not merely on persuasion and human words but through his very actions. The sincerity of his heart, his kindness and concern shown to the many people were reasons that the people recognized the person of Jesus in the life of Paul.

    Similarly, Prophet Isaiah in the first reading reminds us how the Lord has called us into concrete actions of care and concern. The Lord declares, “Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own… remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech.”

    When we have the courage, the intention and the desire to express these concrete actions of care and concern, we shall be a light and joy to those who find life dark and bitter. In effect, our commitment to defend the weak and the oppressed will be our source of confidence when we too are in the midst of trials and challenges.

    Moreover, Jesus encapsulates what we both heard in the previous readings. Jesus tells us, “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of world.” The salt because it gives flavor to our food and serves as preservative as well, has become a symbol of bringing joy to our community. The salt which was also a form of compensation to Roman Soldiers in ancient Rome, thus the word salary emerged, has also become a symbol of giving life to those whose lives were deprived of basic needs.

    The light that Jesus told us is also not about claiming that we become the source of light. No! As we boldly express our faith in the Lord and of our commitment to defend, nurture and develop life, we will truly give light. How shall we be a light then? By being courageous enough to stand for what is right and just, by defending the weak, by showing our respect to people no matter who they are, by being honest and trustworthy in our work or business, by being committed in our relationships, by giving ourselves and gifts for the sake of others. In these concrete ways of showing care and concern, we will surely become a light for others who find life dark.

    Yet, remember, we are neither the source of joy nor the light itself. We are reflections of joy and light. Hence, like St. Paul, we may become like him who brought others to the Lord, to the true source of life, joy and light. Kabay pa.

  • Influencing Influencers

    Influencing Influencers

    February 5, 2023 – Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020523.cfm)

    It was once told that weeks after ordination, four newly-ordained priests were summoned by the bishop for a meeting in his house. As they have settled down in his office, the bishop addressed them: “Young fathers, I have here some pieces of stone, cotton, clay, and sugar. I want you to choose one of these items and place them on a glass of water before you.” And so they did as asked by the bishop. Then the bishop said: “Before I will announce to you your new assignment, I want you to learn something from this little exercise we did. Consider the glass of water as your new assignment and consider the kind of priest will you be in your new assigned parish community… You can be a stone who does nothing except to be a new added member in the community. You don’t influence the community and the community does not influence you… You can be a cotton who easily adjust in the community but eventually reduced the members because you centralized everything to you. Everything in parish life is now about you, and not them… You can also be a clay who slowly adjust to the community, but eventually create disorder, problems, tensions, and a lot of stress in the community, thus becoming a negative influence to them… But you can also be a sugar who slowly adjust and selflessly dissolve into the community – without noticing, sharing positive influence and energy to make the community sweet, and change it for the better.

    In life, we do encounter different kinds of leaders. Like the bishop, we may have categorized our leaders as the Stony heartless leaders who does not care at all, or as the Selfish “Me first” leaders who depletes our energy, or as the Evil tormentor leaders who sow chaos in life, or as the Selfless Influencing leaders who encourage and inspire us in life.

    We prefer and expect our leaders to be selfless influencer leaders who have been a blessing to us for they motivate and empower us to be responsible members and change our lives for the better. We also dislike and avoid the stony-heartless, the selfish “me-first” and the evil tormentor leaders for they make our life heavy and miserable.

    We hear Jesus in our gospel today saying: “You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.” From these words, surely Jesus like us, would also want and expect our leaders to be selfless influencers, who leads us by their words and example. However, His words are not only addressed to our leaders but also to ourselves, His followers. When Jesus declares to us today that “You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world”, He proclaims to us that with Him, we are not only already blessed but we are also God’s blessings to others. This means that as Christian, we are and we should be a blessing and a selfless influencing leader to others – to be light of the world, salt of the earth, and sugar within the community. 

    Inasmuch as we have been blessed by the inspiration and witness of our selfless influencing leaders, we should also be selfless influencing influencers to others. As we have been blessed by God and others, You and I, We as His followers are also and should be then God’s gift and blessings to others.

    Perhaps consider then this week, the Christians who have been light and salt in your life, who greatly and selflessly influence your growth and formation as a better person. Consider how they have been a blessing to you. Thank God for these Christian leaders for through them you are blessed.

    Consider also the people for whom you are trying to be light and salt – people under your care, direction, and leadership. Consider how you, as Christian have been and trying to be a blessing to them. Pray to God for guidance and courage to be selfless influencing mentors & influencers to these people.

    As a famous theologian, Hans Urs von Balthazar, once said: “What you are is God’s gift to you. What you become is your gift to God”.

    So, Be God’s blessing to others, as much as you have been blessed by God and others.

    So May It Be. Amen.   

  • Price of Faith

    Price of Faith

    January 29, 2023 – 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012923.cfm)

    A story once told about a beggar who owns nothing but his tin rice bowl to beg. He is particularly ashamed of begging that he would just bow his head & cannot even look at the eyes of others. But poverty & hunger usually force him to bully others for some money & food to survive. Like any beggars, he hopes to be free from his situation & dreams of becoming rich & wealthy someday. But he knows that his dreams of better living is just wishful thinking for he owns nothing except his old and dirty tin rice bowl – which he just inherited from his poor grandparents. Yes, he considers himself useless, hopeless, & helpless. A nobody & nothing at all, who even blames God & his family for his sufferings & poverty in life.

    Now while begging for some left-overs and coins in the market, one day a merchant approached him and asked to have a good look at his rice bowl. After examining his rice bowl, the merchant told him, “You idiot, you don’t have to beg. You should not beg at all because you are a rich person. Do you know that this rice bowl of yours is precious? This rice bowl is made of priceless gold. Just have this rice bowl clean and sell it to the highest bidder, you will be the wealthiest man in this town. You know what? If only I have money, I’ll buy it for 80 million dollars.” But the beggar just laughs off and would not believe what he heard from the merchant. He would not believe that his rice bowl is made of gold. That is why, until now, he continues to beg for alms from others… using his priceless golden rice bowl.

    There are times in our lives that we become like that beggar. The Good news of Christmas and the whole Christian life simply proclaims to us how blessed we are for God has already offered us His life and his salvation through his son, Jesus Christ.

    However, often at times we missed it, because we fail and even refuse to recognize the blessings, to the point that we do not accept the importance of the graces God has given us. It so happens that we are not contented with, and we even feel ashamed of God’s presents. Pre-occupied with our own selves, our own concerns, biases, and expectations, mostly we are blinded from the value and sacredness of God’s graces and blessings given us. 

    This is what our readings are trying to tell us today. It wishes to remind us, especially Jesus in our gospel today, that we should be awake and be aware that people who are poor, humble, helpless, weak, oppressed, and most abandoned find favor in God’s eyes. Because of their deep faith and need for God, and their acknowledgement of Jesus, as God’s gift, they are blessed and worthy of God’s kingdom.

    In our gospel today, we hear the Beatitudes. Jesus announced how blessed already we are – not for being poor, humble, helpless, mourning, weak and abandoned, but because God finds favor in us. We are blessed then because of God’s gift of our faith in Jesus, and not because of our poverty, humility, weakness, persecution, and abandonment. As our world prefers wealth, popularity, power, & prestige, we are reminded that God rather chooses & favors people of great faith and trust in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.   

    Here, Jesus encourages us to recognize and have confidence on the value of our Christian faith in life. God has already given us our Christian faith – our way of life and salvation. We must not downgrade it but instead, recognize and value its importance into our lives today. Jesus reminds us that Blessed are we and those who welcomes and follows Him for God has already endowed us with enough faith to redeem us & live our lives meaningful now & always.

    Remember his first message proclaimed: “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand” that is – Change your ways… not because of our sins and mistakes but because God’s grace is here with us now. In other words, “Behave for God’s grace is Here with You”. And Now Jesus is telling us the Beatitude – proclaiming how blessed and lucky we are  -not only because we behave well, but also because God finds favor on us who have faith & trust in His son & have welcome Him into our life.

    Through the Beatitudes, Jesus is somehow proclaiming to us how Blessed and Fortunate we are who owns and treasure our golden rice bowl of faith for we are already in God’s favor. In other words, Worthy, Blessed and Fortunate are we who willingly welcome, value, and believe in Jesus, God-given gift of salvation to us, for God’s kingdom is already & always upon us. Priceless then is our Christian faith in Jesus for God finds favors in us, who believes & trusts in Him.

    Perhaps we consider these days on how maximize of own rice-bowl of faith. Do we make use of our faith just to beg… OR to honor & value Him who offers & presents us God’s favor?

    We pray then that we must learn how to see, recognize, accept, and treasure our God-given Christian faith now & always.

  • A King at our side

    A King at our side

    November 20, 2022 – Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112022.cfm)

    What is your image of a king? How does he look like? What does he do? With so much influence from the cartoons, anime and movies that I watched since I was young, I would imagine a king who wears a golden crown, covered in a golden robe, sitting on a golden throne and living in a big palace. In fact, in the middle ages, a king is a powerful man who has thousands of armies, defeated countless enemies, or conquering other territories by waging bloody wars. Yet a king is untouchable. Commoners, slaves and servants cannot talk to him directly. Everyone serves him and pays tribute to him. His throne is too far from the ordinary people.

    Even up today, in other countries in the world some have kings, or emperors or sultans who give identity to their people and serve as a symbol of unity in their own kingdoms. They may not anymore engage in bloody wars unlike before, but still they have enormous wealth and riches. The royalties are reserved and ought to be served by the people.

    This is not far from how we imagine Jesus Christ our King. Influenced by the western culture of royalties, we also imagine Jesus Christ the king who wears a golden crown, wrapped in a golden robe and sits on a golden throne. However, this image, for me, seems to be a distant king who does not know the daily affairs of his people. A king who merely shows greatness, triumph and wealth, but has no concern and no close relationship with his own people.

    Indeed, the kingship of Jesus is not one who stays in a comfortable throne and pampered situation, but in a humiliating and humbling position, there on the cross. Yes, the Gospel speaks nothing of a king who is intoxicated with comfort and riches. What we have is a powerless king, crucified on the cross. This is Jesus’ statement that he is not an earthly king who only shows grandeur, control and domination over his subjects. He is a king who became like us, who lived with us and journeyed with us in every story of our life especially in those difficult and dark moments of our life. He is a king who knows your pain, who understands your struggle and who desires you and me, no matter what.

    He is not an unreachable king sitting there on the high golden throne but he is a God-with-us (Emmanuel). He is a king who knows us and our deepest secrets and desires. But he is a king who does not control and impose himself on us. He only calls and invites us to come to him. “Come to me and be embraced by my friendship,” this is the invitation of our King to us.

    This is the very reason why Jesus’ determination to call us and to gather us brought him into that difficult situation. Despite the danger and the suffering he would endure as king, he is always ready to take the risk to offer his life for our sake, that we may have freedom and healing. We find now his invitations for us through the three different people in the Gospel and their individual response to Jesus. So, let us look at them once more and discover how we are all called today, young and old alike.

    The first was the group of people such as the Jewish authorities and soldiers. These people refused to recognize Jesus as King and Messiah because he was a threat to them, a threat to their comfort, a threat to their influence and threat to their earthly power. Their hostile rejection of Jesus was a decision they made despite the invitations of Jesus for them to believe in Him. Jesus did not condemn them, he even asked forgiveness on their behalf. God’s offer of salvation and life is for all. Yet, our rejection of God’s friendship is our self-condemnation.

    The second was one of the criminals who insulted and reviled Jesus. He was actually confused and did not make any stand. He was lukewarm. He neither condemned Jesus nor accepted him as Lord, King and Redeemer. Despite the closeness of God in him on the cross, he did not recognize God in Jesus because he was still full of himself. He was unrepentant. Indeed, the Lord never imposes himself on us, but he waits for us.

    The third was the other man on the cross. He was the one who recognized God in Jesus and decided to accept Jesus as his Lord. This made him say, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Being powerless on that cross, he was able to recognize the face of the Lord, his king. This person felt a God who accompanied him in his suffering and even towards death. Through his very suffering, he found God to be so close to him. In his shame and guilt, he found God at his side forgiving him. Jesus indeed, is the image of the invisible God, as Paul told us in his letter to the Colossians.

    This tells us now of a king who is close to us. Jesus is not a king who is distant from our sufferings and fears but a king who patiently and lovingly walks with us. God, indeed, meets us where we are and he is ready to be at our side in order to encounter us in the saddest and darkest part of our life.

    Yet, let us also remember that Jesus requires our participation, our response. To every person that Jesus met, he gave them the chance to recognize him but the hardness of their hearts and because of their arrogance, they refused to see Jesus. But with this other man on the cross, in recognizing his sins and failures in life, that brought him into that realization that he was in need of God. This means that when we humbly recognize our weaknesses and sins we also recognize God’s love for us. This becomes, then, an opportunity for God to transform our life. And so let that redeeming love, that un-imposing and self-sacrificing love of our King who hangs upon the cross to embrace us, to renew us and to empower us as young people and as God’s people. Kabay pa.