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Tag: Sunday Readings

  • Desiring God Always

    Desiring God Always

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    November 8, 2020 – 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110820.cfm)

    Homily

    The first reading was very interesting. We have heard that Wisdom was personified by a “she,” by a woman who hastens to make herself known to us in anticipation of our desire to have her. Wisdom even makes her rounds, “seeking those worthy of her, and graciously appears to us with great attention and care.” This is a sign of intimacy from God being shown to us. This image actually makes me remember of my own experience with my mother, surely with your own mothers too. Usually, if not most of the time, a mother always knows what her son or daughter needs and wants. As soon as I pronounce the word, “Ma,” my mother knows what I need.

    This is wisdom described to us in the first reading. Now, wisdom is innate in each of us as we are created in God’s image and likeness, who is the source of wisdom. Our Psalm reveals what is innate in each of us. Our Psalm says, “My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.” Yes, our human heart is designed to long for God, to be with God. Acknowledging our “thirst for God” is in fact the beginning of Wisdom which makes us become conscious of the importance of God in our life. Wisdom is also faith because it leads us to believe in God who has been “seeking to find us.”

    Let us remember this, that God seeks to find us as wisdom has been seeking for us in anticipation of our desire to find her. This is a hint for us that though God seeks to find us first, yet God wants something from us also – and that is to have “the desire to long for him.” It means acknowledging our desire for God. It is in recognizing our desire for God that our heart will keep burning. Our desire to be with God makes us hopeful, generous and joyful as we wait to welcome the Lord in our life.

    This is basically what our Gospel is teaching us today. The Parable of the 10 virgins gives us the image of people who lose hope and forget their desire for God and people who hope against adversities and difficulties and still remember their desire to welcome God in their life.

    Thus, the Gospel actually assures as that in our Christian life we may fail, we may fall asleep in the middle of the night because we have become so tired from waiting for the Lord, because our prayers remain unanswered, because you have failed several times in your exams despite your reviews and daily devotion, or your partner or family member is still problematic despite the prayer intentions you have offered, or until now you are not yet healed from your illness which gives you suffering despite the many “pamisa” you’ve made, or your loved one was taken away from you because of a sudden death even though you have been a good catholic, or because this pandemic is taking too long to disappear and your job or business is losing and you have grown tired from this quarantine and in following the protocols while powerful political people in our country enjoy the comforts of life yet people are growing hungry, homeless and sick, etc.

    These experiences are truly disappointing. They discourage us and so we feel that our faith is weakened. This happens when we lose our desire for God and tend to focus more on our personal wants, personal assurance of comfort and security.

    This was the situation of the five foolish virgins. It was not just about running out of oil in their lamps but losing their desire for God. They were losing the light and oil of their lamps and so was their enthusiasm to meet the bridegroom. They felt tired from waiting and waiting for the bridegroom to come.

    This situation was also the condition of the Christian Community under St. Matthew’s. His people had grown tired, felt hopeless because Jesus seemed not to come back anymore as he promised. At this time, the belief of the immediate “parousia” or the second coming of Jesus was so strong that anytime during their lifetime – Jesus will come to welcome them all in his kingdom. Yet, the first disciples were already being martyred by the Romans and as if nothing was happening. Therefore, Matthew addressed them here and challenged them to be like the other five wise virgins and that is “to be always vigilant” – “to be always ready to welcome God” despite the difficulties and discouragements that they were experiencing.

    This is the invitation for us this Sunday and that is to be wise enough, to seek wisdom from God, to desire Him even in the midst of trials, of discouragements, of boring and dry moments, and even in the most ordinary days of our life.

    Remember, God reveals his abiding and loving presence to us in any moment of our life. Let us keep our hearts then to always desire God through our constant and intimate communication with God through our personal prayer and through this Eucharist.

    Let us hope that as we are able to meet the Lord in our ordinary life may it become a moment of joy for us and a life-changing experience for us and for our community. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Proper Attendance?

    Proper Attendance?

    October 11, 2020 – 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101120.cfm)

    Homily

    We, Filipinos love fiesta. We do anything just to attend a fiesta celebration. Fiestas are special occasions for the whole family and community to celebrate, rejoice, and renew relationships. For us, it means solidarity, bonding, fellowship and community.

    In our gospel today, Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to a very important fiesta where everybody is invited to take part in the celebration – where everybody is invited to attend in the banquet. Jesus also here identifies three kinds of invited guests. They are 1). The absentee, those who did not come to attend; 2) the attendee, those who come and attend, good or bad they may be; and 3) the unruly “the bastos”, those who come but behave improperly.

    Every Sunday, there is a Big and Important Fiesta for all Catholics. Everybody is an invited guest to our Holy Eucharist. Our Sunday celebration of the Holy Mass is the Lord’s feast day where all of us are invited to come, attend, partake and celebrate. It is the Lord’s fellowship with us – His Day with us and our Day with Him.

    Like in our gospel, we can also discern three kinds of invited guest Catholic in relation to our attendance of the Holy Eucharist. But before I say this, (spoiler alert) let me say, “Bato-bato sa langit, matamaan huwag magalit” o in our modern lingo, “Walang pikunan, Ispup lang.” Don’t get angry if you are disturbed by this – no pun intended.

    First, the ABSENTEE guests, those who are invited but did not come, with a lot of excuses or balidad, such as, “I’m busy. I have a lot of things to do… except attend the mass. I have no time.” “I’m too tired. I’m sick (esp. during Sundays); I need rest from staying overnite.” Some would excuse, “Well, what is in it, for me? Wala man koy mapupo niana. The Lord is not worth it” or “I’m not worth of such invitation, anyway I’m a hopeless sinner.”

    Second, the ATTENDEE guests, those who are invited and come unworthy they may be. Recognizing their own sinfulness but at the same time their goodness, they feel honored, privileged and grateful to attend and celebrate with the Lord’s fiesta. They actively and attentively participate in the celebration with great respect to the celebrant and other guests. That is why they are called the “Chosen Few” for they willingly respond to the Lord’s invitation.

    And lastly, the RUDE and Impolite Guests, those who are invited and came but out of obligation and not fully attentive to the celebration. Again, no pun intended. “Bato-bato sa langit, mataman huwag magalit. Because we may know these guests by the way they improperly dressed for the occasion. Some come on beachware or sportsware: shorts, slippers, sando, sleeveless shirts, sneakers, et al. Some come for fashion show, to show off their latest style with revealing curves, cuts, make-up, hairstyle, beads and even tattoo. Some are ready for “suroy” or “malling” with their low waist & battered jeans and hanging blouses. Some also attend with their cellphones open, maybe they are VIPs, who needs to be updated anytime and they are free to be disturbed anytime, anywhere especially during mass. Some prefers to stay outside the church, who wants to run and escape as soon as the ceremony ends.

    I wonder how would you feel if the priests behave the same way. Like, if I stand before you celebrating mass on my shorts or jogging pants and sando, interrupted with a noisy cellphone, mumbling thru the prayers and finished it after 20 minutes?

    Pandemic times have somehow deprived us of attending and participating in Sunday Eucharist. The more we are limited in attending Eucharist nowadays, the more we also become conscious of the importance of the Eucharist in our faith and life. Jesus said: ‘Many are called, but few are chosen.” All of us are always invited but few have chosen to come and be worthy guests. Every Sunday, we are all invited guests in the Lord’s fiesta. But we do have our own unique of responding to that invitation.

    As we prepare to regularly come and fully participate once again soon the Lord’s Eucharist with us,   perhaps we should try to reflect what type of Invited guest you and I have been, and in what way we can be more worthy guest  and properly attend His celebration.

    Thanks you, Lord, for always inviting us to participate with you in the celebration of life God offers us now and forever. Amen.

    By  Fr. Aphelie Mario Masangcay, CSsR (a former Filipino Redemptorist Missionary for Filipino Migrants in South Korea who, due to immune compromised diabetic condition, stationed back home  in the Philippines for now).

  • God invites us today, come!

    God invites us today, come!

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    October 11, 2020 – 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101120.cfm)

    Homily

    A friend of mine once posted of his Facebook account his thoughts, he said, “I am so tired of searching for God.” From his post, it somehow suggested that God seemed not to be found. He was searching for God, and as I asked him about it, he said that he felt empty within, he felt that he could not find joy. And God seemed to have lost his way!

    How could that be possible? That was what I thought when he said that God seemed not to be found! I heard this many times not just to that friend of mine. We have this belief that it is us, that we are the one searching for God, that we have been looking for Him. However, in our search for God, at the end, we surrender because we have never found God in our life. indeed, a person who searches  God will surely not find God.

    The difficulty lies in the fact that we have been looking and searching for something or someone that has never been lost. With this fact, I remembered my grandmother who at one time, was looking for her eye-glasses. She began to complain that her glasses were lost. When she seemed to become desperate, she looked at us, grandchildren and suspected that one of us might have hidden her glasses on purpose. However, looking at her, we were giggling. Well, the more she became irritated because she felt that we were joking around. Yet, one of my cousins told her to touch her head first. Then, that was how she realized that her glasses were never been lost. She was carrying the glasses with her on her head but forgot that those were there.

    And this is very true with God. God has never lost his way. God stays with us and is always with us. Yet, there might be point in our life when we begin to claim that we are looking for him but cannot find him.

    We naturally look and search for something or someone that we have lost. But how could we find something if it is not lost after all? In fact, our search for God is useless because we tend to search God outside instead of recognizing Him in our very life.

    The parable that we have heard presents to us an image of Godthat Jesus wants to show to us today. It was the King who had the initiative to invite the people. He sent his servants to summon the invited guests not just once but twice so that the invited guests may also share in that joyful celebration. Prophet Isaiah also mentioned about this joyful feast in our first reading. The prophet described to us that promise of Yahweh of having a big celebration, the greatest party of all parties. That feast was an invitation meant for everyone. It would be a joyful one.

    Now, this Sunday is also called as Extreme Poverty Day. With God’s promise and invitation to the heavenly banquet, we are also reminded of those who are dying because of poverty. People are dying because of lack opportunities to proper education, to a good healthcare system, access to food and clean water. While we are enjoying the comfort of our homes while in quarantine, many are suffering because they have no roof on their head or even a bed to rest at night and food to eat. And because of the comfort that we enjoy, we could become dismissive and indifferent to the suffering of others.

    Indifference was the attitude shown by the people who refused God’s invitation. People refused and ignored that wonderful invitation because they had other priorities. That invitation was rejected because it was not considered as something important.

    Certainly, this parable reminds us of our passive and complacent attitudes towards the needs of others and of the many invitations of God. God invites us first to be with Him, to join with Him and enjoy His abiding presence in our sacraments, here in our liturgy and in our daily prayers, etc. but then, we find ourselves also to have many excuses. We claim that we have been so busy with life and work and we have been bombarded by personal and family problems, and with different demands. Consequently, God remains the least priority.

    But then, Jesus teaches us of an image of God who invites us, who asks and proposes to us not just once but in every opportunity of our life. God invites us to be with him and to trust in him not just in times of sorrows and pain but also in times of joy and laughter, and even in the most ordinary times.

    And this is the truth; it is God who has been searching and inviting us. He has been looking for us and he patiently waits for us to allow him to find us. Yes, it is actually God who always initiates. God takes the risk of being rejected. But though God has been rejected many times, God never lost the confidence to invite us again and again. God always searches for the human heart and once God finds us, He invites us to come to him.

    “Thus, we don’t search for God because it is Him who has been searching for us. We are not the first one to invite God to come to us because God invited first to be with Him.”

    This is the call for us now this Sunday. “Allow God to search for us and to allow him to invite us.”

    It is in this attitude that we will be able to listen to his many invitations and will inspire us to say YES to God. This is an affirmation to his invitation to recognize his presence in our life and with others.

    That’s why, the special celebration of the Church today in remembering the Indigenous Peoples calls us too to acknowledge their presence in our church and society. To acknowledge their presence is to give due respect to their culture and rights, and that as a Christian community, we too have the responsibility to help our Indigenous brothers and sisters to join us in our every celebration. With this, we will truly become a community that embraces one another, making our hearts be filled with joy and contentment, with confidence and love. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR