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Tag: Sunday

  • 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.   

  • Being Blessed from God’s Perspective     

    Being Blessed from God’s Perspective     

    January 29, 2023 – Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

    How do we understand being Blessed? We usually think of a life that is blessed on the level of having material wealth, success, prosperity – like having a good family, a prosperous business, a successful career or a good paying job, or having a good health. We also believe that being blessed has something to do with having power and influence that a person possesses, with privileges and perks that we enjoy.

    Thus, as it was in the ancient times and until today, poverty is never a blessing, being in sorrow and in grief is never a blessing. Being powerless and oppressed, being sick, being rejected and persecuted is never a blessing. If we are experiencing such life, we consider ourselves to be cursed, weak and insignificant.

    However, the readings this Sunday are quite opposite from the standard of being blessed that we usually believe. Our human understanding of being blessed is different from God. Indeed, there is a need for us to understand being blessed and our life as Christians from Jesus’ perspective.

    The Gospel of Matthew gave us that perspective of Jesus that the Lord wants us to recognize and to learn. Matthew tells us that Jesus saw the crowds. Not just a crowd but crowds of people composed of groups of poor and rich, Pharisees, Sadducees and common Jews, sick and old, men, women, children, beggars, merchants, pickpockets and spectators, his own disciples and others who followed him faithfully.

    And Jesus saw the many realities of the people of his time. What he saw was not just limited with what can be seen from the outside. Jesus saw and realized the anguish of the people and the cause of their miseries perpetrated by those who took advantage of the weak and powerless. Jesus saw and realized how the social evils of greed, hatred, and indifference contributed to the senseless sufferings of the people. Jesus saw and realized how the people felt abandoned, in need of mercy and love, in search of justice and salvation, longing for a blessed life.

    This prompted Jesus to express what he saw and what was in the heart of God for His people. Jesus began to teach while sitting on a mountain which gave him the perspective of the Father. This Sermon on the Mount, as this is commonly called, is indeed quite symbolic. From this symbolism of Jesus teaching from the mount, the Lord evokes a different perspective of being blessed. Not anymore from our human perspective and standard, but from God’s eyes.

    In God’s perspective, the blessed ones are those who are poor, who are mourning and sick, the humble and unassuming, the powerless and merciful, those who are contented in life and those who are persecuted. But why? It is because in their poverty and difficulty, in their powerlessness and nothingness that they also realize their dependence and need of God. Indeed, such insecurities in life bring us to understand that we are so small in this world and we are in need of God’s grace. That is why, Jesus addressed these Beatitudes to the people, assuring them of his presence and assuring them of a blessed life in the Kingdom of Heaven. Though the Kingdom is to be fully manifested later, yet, being blessed is already experienced in the here and now.

    Thus, the very presence of God in our life is what makes us “blessed.” Since God favors those who are weak, poor, suffering, the sick and struggling in life, they are the ones who are blessed because they understand their dependence and need of God. God comes to us when we are ready to accept God in our life and to let God be our God there in our poverty and weaknesses.

    This is what Prophet Zephaniah reminds us in the first reading to seek the Lord which can only be possible through a humble heart that recognizes God’s presence and power. An arrogant and self-satisfied heart will never acknowledge God and thus, can be very vicious to people around.

    “God comes to us when we are ready to accept God in our life and to let God be our God there in our poverty and weaknesses.”

    Moreover, Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians expressed powerfully the wisdom and favor of God. He says to us, “God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something.”

    This indeed is a warning to those who in the standard of the world are blessed such as the self-satisfied and self-absorbed, the corruption-driven-rich, the powerful, the popular and the influential. Why? It is because the danger lies in the attitude of the heart that becomes independent from God, a heart that rejects God’s mercy and love. In fact, the Lord warns us when we tend to accumulate more wealth for ourselves at the expense of the poor, or when we gather fame and influence at the expense of others.

    Such attitude of the heart is filled with arrogance and self-centeredness that has no need of God. True enough, when we are so filled with ourselves and too satisfied of what we have gained and achieved, we don’t need God anymore. Our successes and we, ourselves, have become ‘gods.’ This leads us to worship our achievements, wealth, our power and ourselves. But then, all of these will corrupt us because we will never be satisfied. We will thirst and hunger for more wealth, recognition and fame which will also lead to our own destruction and those who are around us and those blocking our way to gain for more.

    Thus, through these Beatitudes, God invites us to claim that we are blessed and can bless others even when we are poor and insecure, in grief and in search for justice, in need of mercy and in showing mercy.

    This also calls us that as we understand being blessed in God’s perspective, then, the material wealth that we have gained, the influence and fame that we have received and the successes that we have achieved are signs of God’s grace and generosity. When we have these, may it lead us to humble ourselves and to recognize that these are gifts and we ought to share them to others. Thus, if you have received much, share the blessing to those who are in need. If you are enjoying success in life, share the experience with those who failed. If you have power and influence over others, then, use them to liberate the oppressed and to work for justice. If you have been shown mercy despite your sins, then, let that mercy flow in your relationships by becoming merciful to others. It is in this way that the Kingdom of Heaven will truly be present among us, and that we ourselves will not just be blessed but will also be a blessing to our community. Kabay pa.

  • 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.

  • Look around and See how God surprises us

    Look around and See how God surprises us

    December 11, 2022 – Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121122.cfm)

    Recently, Bro. Karl Gaspar, CSsR, a confrere of mine was hospitalized for three weeks and was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit due to complications of his veins for his regular dialysis. When he got better and can finally able to move, he sent a message that somehow captured what he has been through in the past three weeks. And I would like to share with you his message and reflection that brings us deeper into this Season of Waiting, of Advent.

    “WAITING…the last 3 weeks in the hospital was waiting to breathe again, waiting to have drops of water down my throat, waiting for pain to subside, waiting for wounds to heal, waiting for the doctors to make the right decisions, waiting for visitors who never arrived due to protocols, waiting for prayers to be answered. These waiting hours certainly  help to understand the biblical meaning of keeping watch of the dark night to make truly appreciate the gift of light that shines on Christmas Day!”

    What Bro. Karl expressed would certainly tell us how waiting for something good to happen can become frustrating and even tiring. Yet, what Bro. Karl also shared speak to us that there are many things in our life that are not under our control. Thus, we wait for prayer to be answered and we hope that it would be the one we are hoping for.

    Just as what Bro. Karl shared, I am sure many could also relate well when we also face realities of waiting and hoping. We wait that we may be healed from our sickness. We wait that our relationships will be repaired. We wait that our anger and hatred may subside and be reconciled. We wait that the person we long for may at last come to us. We wait to be loved. We wait to be embraced and accepted. We wait that our problems and issues may be solved. We wait that our financial debt may be fully paid. We wait that our dreams may come true.

    However, there are also those who may wait longer than others. The longer we wait, the more we also lose our patience, our peace, hence, becoming anxious and disturbed. Frustrations and discouragements may come to us to the point that we could also feel that we are about to surrender. To stop fighting. To stop dreaming. To stop waiting. To stop hoping. And these are realities in our life.

    Indeed, when our suffering, anxiety and frustrations in life become overwhelming, others would succumb and stop at all. This is how we find ourselves become lifeless and passive, or when we allow our anger and hatred to consume us, or when we let our bitterness and guilt control us. This is how we also lose our focus and patience.

    For this reason, the Letter of James speaks to us today reminding us “to be patient.” James, in his wisdom employed the image of a farmer who waits for the precious fruit of the earth. James actually tells us that there is a process in everything. Like, healing is a process. Reconciliation is a process. Growth is a process. Building healthy relationship is a process.

    James affectionately tells us to trust the process of God and to trust his grace to work in us. This is how James also reminds us again “not to complain about one another that we may not judge.” He is basically telling us not to allow our bitterness and negativities to hold us back and to let us lose hope.

    This brings us now into the experience of the Hebrew people who for more than 700 years earlier from the time James wrote the letter, were being exiled and subjected to slavery. This is what we find in the Book of Prophet Isaiah. His prophecy was addressed to these Hebrew people who had been in such miserable and depressing life situation. The people were removed from their homeland and were exiled to Babylon. At that time of their captivity, the people had to walk approximately 1,700 miles or about 2,735 kilometers. The people believed that this happened to them because of their unfaithfulness and because their leaders turned away from Yahweh. And so the people longed to be rescued by God. Yet, the years and years that had passed and the suffering and slavery they had to endure had made them frustrated and discouraged. They felt abandoned. They lost their patience to wait. They felt hopeless. I am sure, they too have asked, “Will God come to save us? Will the Lord help us?”

    To give them hope, Isaiah appeared in their midst and proclaimed to them what the Lord promised. Isaiah proclaimed, “Be strong, fear not! Here is your God… he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing.” These are images of healing, reconciliation, restoration, freedom and fullness of life – as Isaiah also prophesied, “they will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee.”

    And this is good news because what the prophet actually calls us is to have a reason to rejoice because God has come. This is the reason why on this Third Sunday of Advent we lighted the third candle in the advent wreath. That is the Candle of Joy that calls us to rejoice. In fact, today is called Gaudete Sunday, which means, “REJOICE!” Through the prophet, God speaks to his people telling them, “I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN YOU! AND I WILL NEVER ABANDON YOU!” The words in the first reading is God’s joyful promise to his people. God comes and we will surely rejoice.

    This is being reechoed in our Gospel today. John the Baptist who was in prison felt the same despair and disappointment. And we can sense this in his question for Jesus. John asked, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” John must be desperate because he too was suffering. He was surely brave yet, he too asked the Lord and needed a confirmation to give him hope. He had been preaching about the joyful coming of the Messiah who will come to bring justice in the world and uplift the poor and the oppressed.

    In response, Jesus told the disciples of John to go and tell John what they have heard and saw. Thus, Jesus says, “Look around you. Look at what’s happening – blind people see, lame people walk, deaf people hear, lepers are cleansed, dead people are raised to life, poor people for a change receive good news.” This is the true Messiah – the one who comes to alleviate suffering, to heal broken hearts, and to give hope to the hopeless.

    In recollection, how does Gaudete Sunday calls us now? The call to rejoice in the presence of our God is a call to look around us and to recognize how Jesus becomes more present in us and among us.

    Remember, Jesus becomes more present with us and in our lives when we Christians become more like him. This is how we are called today, which means that when we ourselves become healers and consolers of the afflicted, promoters of reconciliation, generous givers, advocates of justice and honesty, builders of the kingdom of God in our communities, spreaders to others that God has come and is our friend and become life-giving persons in our homes and workplaces, then, we become the presence of the Messiah today. This is truly good news! A reason to be joyful! Sana all. Kabay pa.

  • OUR FAITH IN THE MESSIAH

    OUR FAITH IN THE MESSIAH

    December 4, 2022 – Second Sunday of Advent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120422.cfm)

    Have you ever encountered a leader who is filled with vanity and only thinks of himself or herself? A leader in a group or in an organization, or in a company or community or in a nation who has become pretentious but insecure can be very dangerous. It would be in this kind of leaders that we find persons who have no intentions to serve others but rather abuse the authority conferred upon them for their personal advantage and comfort. This is how we suffer because of such ruthless, incompetent and corrupt leaders which may happen even in our small groups, organizations, companies, communities, churches or even countries.

    Our failure as people is when we become indifferent, lenient and have no concern when our leaders turned against the weak and powerless. When members of an organization or even in a small community would play blind over the dishonest dealings of a leader, then, members start to condone and perpetuate such abuses.

    The Hebrew people to whom the Book of the Prophet Isaiah was written had this similar experience. The people had been through a lot of suffering and disgrace. The people suffered because of their incompetent, selfish, abusive and corrupt leaders. Both their religious and political leaders had turned against the weak and the powerless in their society. The appointed leaders who were given authority to build the nation and uplift the people, were the very ones who caused suffering to many. This was how the prophets were chosen in order to call the attention of the leaders and give hope to the suffering people.

    This is what we have heard in the first reading on this Second Sunday of Advent. Isaiah tells us of the birth of a child who will be the Messiah. This child shall restore order, peace, harmony and prosperity through reconciliation and forgiveness of sins, through change of our way of life.

    Isaiah tells us of the person of the Messiah. His arrival will be as silent as a shoot sprouts or as a bud blossoms. Many will not notice his coming for it will be completely no grandeur. It will be simple yet powerful because he has the Spirit of the Lord. He confronts the wicked and the corrupt. He defends the poor and heal the afflicted. He is just and faithful. He brings peace and harmony to all. He is gentle and not violent.

    This is the very hope also expressed in our Psalm today that, “Justice shall flourish in his time and fullness of peace forever.” This is God’s promise which reminds us of the event in Bethlehem, the place of birth of the Messiah. Holding on to this promise of the birth of the Messiah, calls us now to faith. Thus, the second candle of advent has been lit. That is why, that candle is called the Candle of Bethlehem and Candle of Faith.

    Besides, the second reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans invites us to be open and welcoming of everyone, not to be discriminating. Paul expresses this call in two points. First, Paul prayed, “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another.” This tells us that living in harmony is an act of giving glory to God because the Lord is a God of community. Second, Paul taught, “Welcome one another, as Christ welcomed you.” This tells us that to be able to embrace one another despite our differences, also gives glory to God. Welcoming others is an expression of God’s presence among us.

    Therefore, having harmony in our community, showing compassion, justice and concern for each one is what the Lord calls us to be. This is also what we are hoping for, a time of peace.

    Both readings from Isaiah and Paul are addressed to the unfaithful and the faithful people, to the oppressors and oppressed, to the poor and the rich, to the powerless and the powerful. Indeed, a time of peace shall come through the “birth of a child.” This is the birth of the Messiah who shall come with peace and joy. This is God’s expression of faithfulness to us.

    Yet, this promise also brings an invitation for us and that is to REPENT, to change our wicked ways, to reform our selfish and evil intentions. This is what the Gospel of Matthew tells us through the person of John the Baptist. John, a cousin of Jesus, prepares us to welcome the Lord fully and joyfully, without reserve, pretentions or conditions. John also expressed this in two points. First, to repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Second, to prepare the way of the lord and make straight his paths.

    The very life of John is a testament of that call to change our ways by “acknowledging our sins.” However, the acknowledgement of sins here is not about our petty-personal-habitual sins that we usually confess. Indeed, there is something lacking in our conscience when we can only see those petty-personal-habitual sins and limit our awareness on our failure to attend Sunday Mass, in our failure to say our prayers, or in telling white lies and our sexual fantasies. Yet, when our heart is blind and indifferent to the many “social sins” in our institutions and communities, our conscience is truly limited or worst damaged! This makes us sick!

    Social sins exist in our groups and communities that condone any structure, or belief or culture that oppresses and abuses people or even the environment, that violates human dignity, suppresses freedom and imposes great inequality.[1]

    That is why, John especially called the attention of the many Pharisees and Sadducees who came to see him. These people were leaders in their communities who cannot even get along with each other but both held power over the people. Both tend to abuse their influence over the people for their own personal advantage.

    Therefore, John calls us to acknowledge our sins of “indifference to corruption and dishonesty, in condoning and tolerating these practices in our institutions and communities, in our failure to side with the poor and the economically disadvantaged, and in our failure to uphold justice.

    Thus, this Second Sunday of Advent invites us now with these three points of reflections.

    First, to fully acknowledge our social sins as individuals and as a community.

    Second, to be more available for God and others. This means that we are called to build among us a culture that is sensitive and aware of the needs of others.

    Third, this calls us to faith, faith in the Messiah that we ourselves will become his presence today as we commit to work for justice, to defend the powerless and to resist the temptation of dishonesty and corruption in our institutions, workplaces, organizations and communities. Kabay pa.

    [1] https://www.wearesaltandlight.org/learn-together/understanding-social-sin