Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Tag: Season of Advent

  • Welcoming Hosts

    Welcoming Hosts

    November 29, 2020 – First Sunday of Advent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112920.cfm)

    Homily

    Once in a far-flung village, words came that someone from the diocese would come to visit them on a particular day. So, in excited anticipation for the said visit, the whole village decided to renovate their chapel and prepare a rather lavish banquet to welcome their special guest. However on the very day of the visit, no guest arrived, but instead a big writings message on their chapel wall is posted “BEWARE for HE is here. Babala. Nandito siya. Pagbantay, Ania sya.” Dismayed for the non-appearance of their expected guest, the villagers began to blame and distrust one another for the said fiasco and humiliation. Worse is the insulting words written on their chapel walls warning them to be aware of someone present with them but in fact, absent, no show, not there. Nandito daw pero wala naman. Naa daw, pero wala lagi. Weeks after the fiasco, they started to take seriously the message on the wall: BEWARE of the supposed-guest’s presence in their midst, and they began to consider that perhaps that the guest is already with them but they might have missed & fail to recognize him. So they become alert and aware first of the presence of newcomers and migrants in their midst (mga dili ingon nato, pero naa nato), then they become sensitive of each other’s presence & needs, & thus they grow in their concern & respect for one another within their community as they become conscious of someone with them, other than themselves. BEWARE. Babala. Pagbantay then becomes more than just a word of warning but a Wake-up Call for them to be aware, be awake, and be alert of the Presence of one another and of other than beyond themselves. Hindi lamang Babala, kundi Magmasid, magising at magkamalay. And thus, they become WELCOMING community.

    We Christians believe that there are three comings of the Lord in our lives: His second coming at the end of time to reign & rule the world, His coming in the end of one’s life to fetch & bring us to our Father, & His coming as He & we live in our lives this day. Any one of these comings can take place at any moment in our life. And what is expected of us is to be welcoming hosts of Lord. Our salvation then is all about the Lord coming to us & we welcoming Him into our lives.

    In our gospel today Jesus said: “Beware. Keep alert for you do not know when the time will come. Therefore keep watch for you did not know when the Lord is coming or else he may find you asleep when He comes suddenly. What I say to you, I say to all: Keep awake.” Jesus here is giving us a Wake-up Call to be aware, awake and be alert for coming of the Salvation and Good News that is happening and about to happen in our lives. God has something Better to offer us more in life now and from now on. And behind this promise of salvation in our lives, our Hospitality – welcoming and hosting the Lord as our guest is required.  Salvation thus happens when God comes & we willingly welcome Him into our lives. So also, salvation is wasted because of unrecognized & unwelcomed Lord as our guest, & due to clueless insolent unwelcoming people we are as hosts.

    To be a good worthy host to our guest, all we have to do and to be then is to be alert, awake and aware – magmasid, magising at magkamalay, so that God’s miracles and blessings are to be revealed & enjoyed in us always anew. Jesus does not want us to sleepwalk through our lives. He wants us to whole-heartedly welcome His comings into our lives by being alert, awake and aware – we hosting His work of God’s promise of salvation for all.

    The first Sunday of Advent is the beginning of a new liturgical year. Another year of the Lord and with the Lord is upon and ahead of us. Another promise and chance for us to grow in our faith and love of God through Jesus Christ. As we begin and live through our new liturgical year: to be alert, awake, aware: Magmasid, magising, at magkamalay are the very welcoming attitudes Jesus wants us to be and do for another chance to be and grow with Him in God’s grace.

    As Jesus warns us, usually God’s blessings and graces come into our lives as a surprise for we never know when the time will come – when the Lord is coming. Blessed are we then whom the Lord finds not Asleep but Alert, Awake and aware when He comes and arrives into our lives.

    Like people waiting at the arrival area in the airport, as we long for the vaccine for cure & immunization, as we celebrate this year our 500 years of Filipino Catholicism,  may we brace ourselves to welcome Him for His another coming anew into our lives – conscious, alert, sensitive, & aware not to miss His presence in our midst & thus, be forever blessed by the grace of His love & mercy. Amen.

  • The Candle of our Relentless Hope

    The Candle of our Relentless Hope

    November 29, 2020 – First Sunday of Advent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112920.cfm)

    Homily

    Advent is a season of “Joyful Waiting.” It is a joyful hope that lifts our spirits. With this first Sunday of Advent, we also begin the new year in our Church’s (Liturgical) Calendar. However, I cannot help but recall the past year. As the new year Liturgical year started in December 2019, we already have experienced frightening calamities. Earthquakes terrified particularly the Central and Southern Mindanao. Quakes continued for weeks that left thousands of people traumatized and terrified. Then, Taal erupted and brought great damages in its neighboring provinces. Then, Covid-19 came and brought fear to us until now. And just recently, typhoons hit our country that greatly affected our brothers and sisters in the Northern Philippines.

    From all of these, we saw images in the news and in social media sites how millions of people were waiting to be rescued. Until now, all of us are waiting to be rescued. The typhoon Rolly and Ulysses particularly caused people to climb to their roofs because of the floods. Those frightening situations left our brothers and sisters at the mercy of rescuers.

    We could just imagine, that if we too are in their situation, it would be very difficult not to give in to despair. There was so much hopelessness that we have experienced. Is there something to wait joyfully then? Is there something to wait joyfully now?

    On a personal level, many individuals also struggle to live because of personal and deep-seated issues. Many young people have succumbed to depression that led to suicidal attempts and ultimately led to the end of their lives. Many are desperate because of their addictions, because of broken and abusive relationships where they are trapped. Many felt hopeless because of their guilt and shame, believing that they cannot be forgiven.

    In one way or another, we are all waiting to be rescued. What the Psalm has proclaimed today, is echoing into our hearts, “Let us see your face, O Lord, and we shall be saved.” Thus, despite the frightening, terrifying experiences we have, despite our desperation, we long and we cry deep within that God may show His face to us, so that we will be saved from so much despair and suffering. This Psalm really expressed this hope. This was written during the time of destruction and captivity of Israel. People became miserable and desperate because their enemies brought darkness into their lives.

    Yet, their hope for salvation was relentless. In the same way, Prophet Isaiah, in our first reading also expressed this persistent hope for salvation in the midst so much misery. In his desperation, he even sounded to blame God saying, “Why do you let us wander, O Lord? Return for the sake of your servants.” With the people, Isaiah conveyed the feeling of being abandoned by the Lord because of the guilt that they were carrying.

    Isaiah expressed the shame and guilt of the people’s stubborn heart, rejecting and killing God’s prophets. Their leaders and the participation of the people of a systemic corruption of life, made Isaiah to proclaim, “you have hidden your face from us, O LORD, and have delivered us up to our guilt.” Isaiah knew this very well. It was indeed very easy to fall into hopelessness and in total misery.

    However, Isaiah also expressed in behalf of the people, and in behalf of all of us today, he said, “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father.” In the midst of hopelessness, Isaiah recognized God and affirmed his confidence to God, our Father, who will never ever abandon us. This, indeed, is a relentless hope.

    In the same way, Paul expressed in his first letter to the Corinthians, his gratitude for the grace of God bestowed on the people, and also reminded them that “God is faithful.” Yes, God is faithful and cannot deny us and will not break the promise to be with us.

    God continues to be present with us in every moment of our life. God blesses us with His presence even in our most difficult and desperate moments. This is what keeps us now to remain hopeful. And the first candle that we lighted on this First Sunday of Advent reminds us of this hope. Indeed, the candle is called a “candle of hope.” However, today this surely has become a “candle of our relentless hope.”

    This relentless hope keeps us alive and keeps us burning in our desire to be rescued by the Lord in whatever difficult and misery we are experiencing today. Hence, as Jesus told his disciples, Jesus also says to us today, “Be watchful! Be alert!” Jesus wants us to be always watchful, alert and attentive to his constant revelations for us and attentive to his silent revelations in us. To be watchful and alert is not a mere warning of the dangers that may come, it is also an invitation to have a heightened awareness of God’s presence in our life and in the lives of others.

    We are a people who long to see the face of God, who long to feel His loving and comforting presence in our life. Yet, let us also realize that though we long for God, God longs for us all the more. Jesus would surely come and rescue us where we are at this very moment.

    Thus, on this first day of Advent, we are all invited to relentlessly hope as we remain watchful of God’s presence in our life and through the life of our brothers and sisters. Hinaut pa.