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Tag: St. Paul

  • UNITY: How are we called to unite in the Spirit?

    UNITY: How are we called to unite in the Spirit?

    October 21, 2022 – Friday 29th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102122.cfm)

    Is unity in itself a good thing? Unity in itself is something neutral and it depends on how such unity is to serve its purpose. When thieves, corrupt leaders, those who want to advance their self-interest and people with evil intentions unite, then, this will surely be a bad thing. Such unity will bring destruction, violence and death. When people who desire to serve others, those who dream for a better world, people who work hard to earn an honest living and people who have faith in the Lord unite, then, this will bring goodness, abundance, hope and peace.

    Thus, it is also not enough to call and invite Christians to simply have unity because this can be for evil or for God. Just like what the Pharisees and lawyers at that time of Jesus, despite being faithful to their religious traditions and practices even to minutest details, their unity was nothing before God. Jesus confronted their hypocrisy because within their hearts lie the evil intentions of self-interest, of seeking power and influence, of indifference and corruption.

    So, what kind of unity then, are we called to have? St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians expressed this kind of unity and the intentions behind the call to unite.

    Paul called the Ephesians and calls us as well today, to “strive to preserve the unity of the Sprit through the bond of peace.” This is an invitation to be conscious and to seek the gift of unity that comes from the Holy Spirit manifested in peace. This can be experienced within the context of our families, organizations, communities, nations and the whole Church.

    The unity that the Spirit brings will surely flourish when we also lived fully what God called us to be. And this is how Paul invites us further today so that we will be united in the Spirit, to become one body and one spirit.

    First, to be humble. Grace is received by a humble heart not with an arrogant heart that only thinks of the self.

    Second, to be gentle. It is in gentleness that we are able to nurture affection and closer relationship with one another for it makes us understanding. Therefore, true unity of the spirit is not achieved through violence, cruelty or deception.

    Third, to be patient. This allow us to let God work in us, and allow our natural process of growing in the spirit by being able to discern, to listen to God and each other. Unity of the spirit is not being fostered by being impulsive and having no time to discern and listen.

    Fourth, to be loving. Love and its concrete expressions through self-scarifying service to others and to God that unity of the spirit is being given a face. Thus, it is not in indifference, not in being distanced and unconcerned that we become loving and united in the spirit.

    Kabay pa.

  • God’s Surprise Visits 

    God’s Surprise Visits 

    October 19, 2022 – Wednesday, 29th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101922.cfm)

    God loves surprises and loves to surprise us in a very special way. The Gospel proclaimed to us today is certainly not just limited in God’s final judgment and delivering punishment for those who are wicked and rewarding the righteous. The Gospel invites us also to be more attentive of God’s surprise visits.

    God comes and reveals the Divine Presence to us in the way we would not expect it to be. St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians gave us the hint on how he experienced such a surprise from Jesus. The Lord revealed himself to Paul on the road to Damascus when he was in search of Christians to persecute. That surprise from Jesus changed the whole life of Paul. It was in that surprise that Paul truly encountered the Lord and was converted to Jesus. That encounter and the revelation Paul received was the grace that he shared with others. Paul expressed it this way, “of this I became a minister by the gift of God’s grace” because the mystery of God was made known to him by revelation.

    This is the invitation for us today. We are called to be attentive and to make ourselves available to the many surprise visits and revelations of God. We need the eyes of faith to believe in the God of surprises.

    God may call us to serve and love Him in the way we have never thought about or to do something which was unthinkable before. God may reveal His presence to us in the most ordinary ways and to ordinary persons who are already familiar to us. The Lord may tell us something and reveal his wondrous presence in our life through the work we do or through the responsibilities we have at home. God may answer our prayer through the help and generosity of an unexpected friend or even through a stranger. God may bring us joy through a simple gift from a person we love or through reconciliation and peace offered to us by the person we have hurt or those who have hurt us.

    There are many possibilities for God’s surprise visits. Allow, then, the Lord to surprise us today. It would be very good to grasp and grab those surprises from God. Having those experiences will make us confident in our relationship with God.

    It would be good for us then also, to spend a time of recollection or of silence each day even in a short moment of 5 to 10 minutes before bedtime. Spend this time to recollect on how God has given us the grace of surprise visit during the day. Thank the Lord for the grace and never forget to share your grace also to others so that we too shall be God’s surprise for other people. Kabay pa.

  • Are you so stupid? 

    Are you so stupid? 

    October 6, 2022 – Thursday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100622.cfm)

    Many must have felt that prayer is an obligation, that it is some kind of a to-do list item or a strict law that one must observe and follow. When I was young, I was taught that I “must and should” pray so that I become a good boy and avoid God getting angry. Many of us have developed ways of praying and different devotional practices like praying the rosary and the various novenas to the saints. Yet, many seemed to believe that prayer is indeed a legalistic duty.

    This must be the reason why many would feel guilty for not doing their prayers or the devotional prayers people think should be observed. With this, a strong desire can develop to “observe such obligation” to the point it can become an obsession. Indeed, we could be caught up by the externals that we would tend to forget what is in the heart. Our motivation then could be only grounded on pleasing others and pleasing God to look more righteous on the outside.

    This was something Paul warned to the Christians in Galatia. The Galatians seemed to be influenced by the false teachings of the Judaizers (Christian Jews) that in order for them to be righteous and become true followers of Christ, then, they must strictly observe as well the “works of the law.” This means that the Galatians must also observe the Jewish practices of circumcision, dietary restrictions and keeping of feasts and holy days. Galatians seemed believed in this that they too must observe such externals so that they will be accepted and justified as righteous followers.

    Paul did not agree with this. This was the reason Paul strongly told them, “Are you so stupid?” It is through faith and the gift of the Spirit that one is graced and not with the “works of the law.”

    In the same way, Jesus invites his disciples to be persistent in prayer. Yet, this does not mean that one is merely obliged to pray as if this is some work to be faithfully done only. Indeed, never did Jesus impose this to the disciples. This allowed the disciples to realize the importance of prayer, not as a mere obligation to observe but as a way of life in developing a closer relationship with God, to an intimate friendship with the Lord. This was something they have witnessed in the life of Jesus who is intimately close with his Father in Heaven.

    Truly, Jesus teaches us to be persistent in prayer and to continuously develop our closeness with the Lord. Jesus gives us these three attitudes of the heart as we pray.

    First, Ask. This brings us into a deeper awareness of ourselves which includes recognizing our sins and failures, our needs and deepest hunger, our deprivations and real intentions. This calls us to become more accepting of ourselves. Only then, that we can truly ask the Lord to satisfy the deepest desire of our hearts, and we shall surely receive the grace.

    Second, Seek. We seek for wisdom and understanding because in the process of asking the Lord, we might become weary and anxious from waiting. Thus, we pray to seek what remains hidden and undiscovered within our hearts so that we will be able to find and recognize the Lord working in our human experiences.

    Third, Knock. When demands from work, from home and from our relationships, and expectations from others begin to suffocate us, we long for a break. When failures, pains and guilt begin to take hold of us, we long for an embrace that will give us assurance of love and mercy. Thus, we pray to knock at the heart of God, most willing to embrace and accept us as we are. Do not be afraid then, to pray in order to knock at His heart. The Lord will certainly open His arms for us for He longs to embrace us. Kabay pa.

  • A Continual Conversion of the Heart

    A Continual Conversion of the Heart

    January 25, 2021 – Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012521.cfm)

    Have you ever experienced in your life where you thought that everything is well and perfectly in order? Or an experience where we have decided alone to take this path or that direction because we have completely believed in our own capacity and principles? Yet, at the end we found ourselves broken into pieces because all along we were not doing the right thing. 

    Saul or Paul had this kind of experience. Saul really thought that he was a righteous man and that he was a very good man, that he did things well and that he was successful in everything. He thought he was holy and righteous enough for God. He was full of zeal and very convinced of the direction he was taking in life.

    Being a righteous Jew, he wanted to defend the Jewish religion against all its enemies. This made Saul to persecute the followers of the Way (the old name of the Christians) whom he believed to be threats to their established religion.

    Yet, he did not know that he was very misguided, that he was not seeing the right things. In fact, Saul was not aware that he was being blinded by his own self-righteousness and rigidity to the Jewish law by persecuting the early Christians. He was not aware of that but not until he was able to encounter the Lord on the ROAD TO DAMASCUS.

    Remember, the Lord is the Light of the World, it was very symbolic that Saul had become aware of his own blindness when he encountered the True Light, Jesus. When light shone upon him then he became aware that he was in darkness, his spiritual blindness manifested through his physical blindness. That awareness of his own blindness prompted him to seek healing. A servant of the Lord, Ananias was instrumental to Saul’s healing and recovery of sight, thus, he was able to see clearly.

    This encounter with the light, with Jesus is the very experience of conversion of Saul who later on was known as Paul, a symbol of a new beginning and a new mission to fulfill. Paul through that encounter with the Risen Lord transformed his life and re-evaluated everything in his life as a Pharisee and as a person. As a result, he became an apostle to the Gentiles and a very important figure in the history of early Christianity by founding Churches and writing letters in the New Testament.

    This brings us then to the invitation of this feast. We are called to a continual conversion of our hearts – because we have also our own blindness, especially when we think that we are righteous enough before God, thinking that that gives us the power to persecute others and eliminate those who are against us. We can be blinded by our own complacency thinking that going to church even on a regular basis and just by saying our memorized prayers everyday are enough before God. We can be blinded by our arrogance that we can do things perfectly even without the help of God. We can be blinded by our own opinions by insisting that what we believe is true but without minding the facts. We can be blinded also by our own weaknesses when we think that we are already trapped in that weakness and thus, couldn’t move anymore and couldn’t do anything.

    There is always something more and this is what the Lord is telling us today by making us remember that story of conversion of Paul – that being a Christian, our faith in Jesus is not only about the observance of laws and doctrines but also showing mercy to others as what Paul experienced in his encounter with the Risen Lord. And that experience will move us to preach the Gospel – this is basically what our gospel reading is telling us now. Preach the Gospel – your God experiences – to all by our words and example.

    Thus, we are reminded today to COME TO THE LIGHT AND NOT TO BE AFRAID OF HIM – to come nearer to Jesus. We come to him in the hope that we too will become aware of our own blindness – of that self-righteousness, of those arrogant opinions of ours, of that complacency and self-pity in us – so that we will be able to seek healing. When this happens, God will certainly inspire us to become preachers of the good news to all by our words and deeds. Hinaut pa.

  • Our Loving Response

    Our Loving Response

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    October 30, 2020 – Friday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/103020.cfm)

    Homily

    Paul’s letter today reveals how warm his heart to people who were significant in his life. The Philippians who were Paul’s converts had a special place in his heart. This is how Paul also expressed his affection and longing of friendship with them. Moreover, Paul was even more grateful for the friendship he had with the Philippians, something that gave so much confidence and strength to Paul.

    This tells us how friendship supports and gives assurance to people especially in difficult times. Paul was in prison, probably in Rome or in Ephesus, when he wrote his letter to them. While in prison, Paul must have a hard time. However, his friendship with these people was a source of comfort to him. Remembering them gave him joyful memories that must have eased the pain and loneliness while being persecuted.

    Paul, indeed, gave life to this community through his ministry of preaching of the good news. In return, the community also gave him the Spirit of friendship and love.

    This is a true loving response between people bounded in their friendship with the Lord. Paul’s deep friendship with the Lord compelled him to preach Jesus and bring the Risen Lord to the communities he encountered. Those communities like that of the Philippians developed such friendship too with one another and with Paul that mutually guides, supports and gives life to them.

    Such loving response is the prayer of Paul also to the Philippians, he said, “and this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more.”

    This kind of loving response is what we also witnessed in today’s Gospel. Jesus seeing a man suffering from dropsy was moved to heal and free the person. Jesus had so much affection for this man that he could not stand anymore seeing him suffering. The Lord’s desire was for every man and woman to have the fullness of life.

    Despite the very situation of Jesus, he took the risk of healing the sick man in front of the those powerful people, the Pharisees. Though the Pharisees were silent when Jesus asked them, “Is it lawful to cure on a Sabbath or not?,” but their silence was filled with malice and hostility against Jesus.

    Jesus took the risk because what he had was a loving response to a person in need. What matters most was his action to love and to assure the person that God has not left him.

    This is what Jesus is also reminding and calling us today. We are called to respond in love and show our affection to people. Like Paul, let us also show with confidence our love and affection to those who are special in our life. Like Jesus too, let us not forget to assure, even the strangers, that as Christians, we are here to love and show concern to those who are in need. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR