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Tag: Sharing

  • SHARING

    SHARING

    July 25, 2021 – 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    + Emmanuel T. Cabajar, C.Ss.R. D.D.

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072521.cfm)

    A boy gets his lunch left-over boxed up to take home. As he leaves the restaurant he ignores an old man begging. Feeling a sudden guilt, he gives him some coins. “How about the box, I’m hungry?” the old man begs. To part with his burger isn’t that easy, but compassion prevails. The boy gives it to the poor old man who smiles with gratitude.

    In the gospel a boy gives his lunch to Jesus, which allows Jesus to do something extra-ordinary – feeding the crowd. This miracle is repeated at the Last Supper and at every Mass where Jesus gives Himself and makes us sharers in his body and blood. St. Ignatius of Antioch calls this “one bread that provides the medicine of immortality, the antidote for death, and the food that makes us live for ever in Jesus Christ.” This food unites us intimately with Jesus and heals us, body and soul. It gives us strength for our spiritual journey. Do we hunger always for this bread of life?

    The feeding of the crowd demonstrates God’s kindness to us. He gives generously. He gives more than we need so that we may also share with others, especially the most deprived. God multiplies the little that we have, like the boy’s lunch, for the good of others. Do we trust in God’s provision for us? Do we share freely with the poor? Jesus is still looking for simple people, like you and me, who are willing to make selfless sacrifices that He may convert small love offerings into His glory. May our hearts be open to such kindness and generosity!

             Lord, satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts and feed us with the finest food!

             Brothers and sisters, generosity makes us joyfully share our God-given gifts with others. Amen.

  • Showing what we’ve got

    Showing what we’ve got

    January 28, 2021 – Thursday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time; Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012821.cfm)

    To show to others what we have in us is not entirely an expression of “showing off” or arrogance. To show off oneself comes from an attitude that only seek attention and affirmation from others. Showing arrogance does not necessarily also show to others the quality of what we have in us. Thus, “to show to others what we have” is a call to be generous towards others. This does not seek affirmation or attention or recognition or even seeking to be above others because of what we have.

    Such attitude is something that the Gospel today is calling us to develop. Jesus said to his disciples “Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lampstand?” Jesus challenged the disciples to learn from him and that is to be generous enough to share what they’ve got. The lamp that carries the light is the gift that we have in us. We are the lamp and Jesus is the light.

    This generous attitude of oneself is the very way of life that Jesus showed to us and revealed in our Scriptures. Jesus showed the light of God to the people. That light in Jesus made people to recognise God and brought them towards healing, freedom and life. Despite the resistance of the arrogant and the self-righteous as well as of those who were powerful, Jesus did not hide himself but continued to show the light to the people. His life, indeed, is meant to be shared even in death.

    This was what Jesus was calling his disciples to do. Many will try to put off the light. The disciples may experience fear and will try to hide the light. However, the light shall never be put off for it will continue to shine in the darkness.

    The great St. Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican philosopher and theologian is another example of an person who had been so generous in terms of sharing his wisdom and knowledge to the Church. His scholarly works in philosophy and theology had become foundations in scholarship that helped the Church deepen her knowledge of the faith.

    For us today who have heard these words from Jesus through our Scriptures, we too are called to share generously the gifts that we have in us. As Christians, we have Jesus in us, thus, share the Lord generously to our brothers and sisters through our charity and availability of our presence. Our gifts and talents, resources and capacities are also called to be shared generously because they can also serve as light for those who need our help and assistance.

    By showing what we’ve got, we may add more light into our community darkened by indifference, by loneliness and by death. Hinaut pa.

  • The Joy and Wonder of Easter

    The Joy and Wonder of Easter

    April 21, 2020 –  Tuesday 2nd week of Easter

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/042120.cfm)

    The joy and wonder of Easter caught the heart of the disciples of Jesus to truly believe in Him and in God’s power that defeats death and darkness and thus liberates us. This kind of spirit was truly felt by the early Christians. In fact, the joy and wonder of Easter was transformed into concrete resolutions and actions in living as a Christian community.

    This is what we have heard today in the reading from Acts of the Apostles. We have heard how the community of believers felt God’s assurance and security that went beyond material wealth. It was because they were of one heart and mind, becoming more sensitive to the needs of each one. Consequently, the community began to share generously their material wealth with those who have none and were needy. Each member of the church had enough because each one contributed and shared.

    This is the spirit of Easter that tells us how the Christians believed in Christ’s presence among them. However, this kind of attitude of sharing and letting go of possession did not also last long because selfishness and insecurities came into the picture. People began to advance their personal interest over the others and have taken advantage at the expense of the needy and the poor.

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    However, as a Christian community today, we are still called to live the spirit of Easter by generously sharing what we have to those who are in need. Letting go of all our material wealth at this present age would be impossible; yet, to joyfully give and share our resources, talents and capacities is what the Risen Jesus is calling us today.

    This call to share our resources is more urgent in this time of crisis today. Our brothers and sisters who are daily wage earners such as the construction workers, trisikad and tricycle drivers, garbage collectors, street vendors and homeless/street-dwellers etc. are the most vulnerable during this lockdown and Enhanced Community Quarantine. What the Catholic Church is doing now is truly inspiring in the effort to reach out to people. Here in the Philippines, Caritas Manila for example (see their Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/OfficialCaritasManila/ ) has given a billion pesos to the needy. Dioceses and Religious Congregations too have creatively made efforts to reach out to these people and to the many front liners.

    In our own Parish, the Our Mother of Perpetual Help has also reached and given food packs to 635 families as of today in different communities. This became possible also through the generous contributions of individuals and families. Hence, even simple and small amount of help can make difference to the lives of others.

    Hopefully, we may let our hearts also be filled with the joy and wonder of Easter. We may be overwhelmed then, with gratitude to God who has been so good to us, so that it may lead us to become joyful givers to our community and especially to our needy brothers and sister. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR