Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Tag: Thursday

  • Trust in the Lord Forever

    Trust in the Lord Forever

    December 3, 2020 – Thursday of the First Week of Advent; Memorial of St. Francis Xavier

    Click here fore the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120320.cfm)

    Homily

    Storms in life may struck us in the form of crisis in our family, friendship, with our health, career, or job or business. This can also be in the form of our personal struggles that we carry alone like the guilt that we hide in our hearts, our fears that paralyze us, our trauma that haunts us day and night.

    In this Season of Advent, we are reminded that as we wait for the Lord to come, we might be troubled and our hearts filled with fear. Thus, Isaiah proclaims to us today, “Trust in the Lord forever.” As Isaiah brought a joyful hope to the people of his time, and so he does again to us today. The Prophet, whose words echo until today point us how the very presence of God becomes our strength. Though we wait for God’s coming but God’s presence can be ever felt in the here and now. God sustains us. God strengthens us.

    That is why, Isaiah described God as our strong city. God surrounds us. God is beneath us. God is above us. And God is within us. This requires faith in us to trust fully the Lord who is always with us and for us. In trusting the Lord, we shall have peace because God will keep us in peace.

    Moreover, as Isaiah calls us to faith by trusting God. The Lord Jesus also calls us to action. To believe and to trust in the Lord is not a mere thought or idea and not a lip-service. This also needs action. Thus, Jesus reminds us today, “to listen to His words and acts on them.”

    By cherishing the word of God and imbibing the word into our life, thoughts and actions, then, we become a wise person, whose foundation is God, our eternal Rock. By loving the Sacred Scripture and receiving the Sacraments, we make ourselves more attuned to God’s presence. As we make ourselves available for God, this will mold us to become a person for others and with others.

    God invites us today to be with others, to allow others to be part of our life. We shall discover, then, the strength, love and support from our friends, families and communities. To trust in the Lord leads us to become confident that the Lord is with us through the people who surround us.

    As we are being tossed by the storm these days, whatever that may be, please take comfort by trusting the Lord who is with us, through our friends, families and the Church. Hinaut pa.

  • Recognizing God in everything and in everyone

    Recognizing God in everything and in everyone

    November 12, 2020 – Thursday 32nd Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111220.cfm)

    Homily

    The Gospel tells us about the question of the Pharisees on the coming of the Kingdom of God. Jesus warns them not to look outside to search for the kingdom of God or to be deceived by people who claim to be god and to be Jesus. This warning of Jesus echoes until today. The kingdom of God, as Jesus affirms, is among us, as brothers and sisters. Thus, the presence of God can be felt and can be found in the very presence of our community.

    Thus, we need to be more alert and more conscious of God’s presence and discerning of God’s voice and ways. We need wisdom, then. Though wisdom cannot be achieved through diplomas, certificates or earned by any master’s and doctoral degrees but a gift given to us through our life experiences, through the relationships we have built with others and with God. To receive the gift of wisdom allows us to recognize God in the presence of our brothers and sisters and in all of God’s creation that surrounds us because wisdom does not discriminate. Certainly, to be wise makes us closer to God because we become friends of God.

    Recognizing God in everything and in everyone is a manifestation that the kingdom of God is being unfolded in our lives that is why Jesus said, the kingdom of God is among you because God is truly with us, in each of us and in everything.

    This is what Paul realized which he wanted to share to his friend, Philemon. Philemon was the master of the slave, Onesimus. Onesimus ran away from his master but Paul wanted him to return to Philemon. Moreover, Paul asked warmly Philemon to receive and embrace Onesimus as a brother and not as a slave. This, indeed, is a sign of the Kingdom of God where one is able to recognize and embrace others as a brothers or a sister in Christ. Paul, certainly, was a discerning man and a wise person.

    Hence, today let us ask God for the gift of wisdom, to make us wise so that we may be able to recognize God’s face and God’s plans for us in our daily lives. Seek for it and desire for it. Hinaut pa.

  • God is Loving and Forgiving

    God is Loving and Forgiving

    November 5, 2020 – Thursday of the 31st Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110520.cfm)

    Homily

    I find it disturbing that while Jesus was trying to bring people to conversion, to freedom and closer to God, there was a group of people also who grumbled and complained because of Jesus’ actions. The parable of the lost sheep and of the lost coin are images of God searching for those who along the path of life have lost their way, distanced from the community and from God. Yet, God longs and desires the presence of those who lost their way. Thus, these two parables tell us really how dear each of us in God’s heart. God will not rest and will not surrender until God wins us back and finds us again.

    However, such image and nature of God, was received with hatred by those who wanted to control God. The Pharisees and scribes complained and grumbled because Jesus was eating with sinners and being friendly with them. They did not want a God who forgives and redeems sinners and the lost. They wanted a God who condemns.

    This was the reason of their grumbling because they wanted a condemning God. Having this kind of God, then, they can easily incite fear among the people and control people according to their agenda and selfish intentions.

    That is why, Jesus’ presence was indeed a threat against these people, because Jesus was turning the table against them. Jesus revealed the true face of God, a loving and forgiving God.

    Hence, while Jesus tells us of God’s embrace and God’s longing for us, we too are reminded of our tendency to reject God. The Pharisees and the scribes represent that tendency in us to reject whatever is of God’s. However, just as the shepherd never stopped until he found the lost sheep and just as the woman searched carefully until she found the lost coin, God also continues to call and invite us, to search and to find us until we allow God to embrace us.

    This is something that Paul also realized. His letter to the Philippians recounted his past where he thought that he was already in the right path. Yet, Paul was a lost soul believing that righteousness based on the law was enough. However, when Jesus found him, Paul also found himself and gained everything in Christ.

    May these parables always remind us of this God who longs and desires for our presence, for our conversion and for our freedom. Moreover, may it move us too to be more embracing, accepting and welcoming of our brothers and sisters who need a lot of understanding and loving because of unfortunate circumstances in their life. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

    Please take more doses of God today. The only side-effect is for you to become holier.

  • Drawing Strength from the Lord

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    October 29, 2020 – Thursday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102920.cfm)

    Homily

    When life gets rough, where do you get your strength? When life seems unfair, where do you get your courage?

    Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, reminds us today to draw strength from the Lord and to pray at every opportunity in the Spirit. Paul acknowledges how life as a Christian can be so demanding and challenging. Aside from the personal issues and problems, there will be rejections and oppositions coming from those with evil intentions.

    With this, Paul tells us today to always find strength from God and not from our arrogance and self-confidence. The Lord is our rock, source of our strength, as our Psalm proclaims today.

    Paul enumerates the values where we can draw that strength from God. When we are truthful and honest, standing to what is right, embracing peace, holding to our faith and meditating upon the word of God, then, we shall always draw God’s strength in life. We are being promised that in whatever circumstances we are in, we shall always have the strength of God.

    This is something that Jesus showed us also today in the Gospel. Despite the opposition and the resistance of the people in Jerusalem, Jesus remained steadfast and confident in the Father. Jesus never surrendered in us, to gather us together and bring us closer to God. Jesus desires that we will all be reconciled to him.

    In his ministry, Jesus drew strength from the Father and the love that they share for all. Thus, God yearns for the freedom of all.

    Today, Jesus also calls us that when life gets rough and when life seems unfair, draw strength from him. Paul suggests that we pray to the Spirit at all times, at every opportunity. Praying to the Spirit makes our heart and mind more attuned and familiar to God’s way. This will allow us to become more responsive to God’s invitation for us. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • Disturb our complacency, O Lord

    Disturb our complacency, O Lord

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    October 22, 2020 – Thursday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102220.cfm)

    Homily

    We desire for peace. We long for harmony. We want a life without disturbances and troubles. This is the reason why we also ask God for peace of mind and peace in our homes because in one way or another, we are experiencing some sort of difficulties. One may be having some sleepless nights because of some personal or family issues or conflicts and misunderstanding. Another must be bothered by an illness or because of demands at work. Some students these days, must be having some troubles too in fulfilling their school projects and finishing their modules.

    However, one may be disappointed with what Jesus told us in today’s Gospel. The Lord said, “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”

    We heard it right. Jesus does not bring peace but division. He is here to disturb us. Yet, what does he really mean? It is very important that we understand the words of Jesus in the context of those who wanted to follow him. The very environment where Jesus spoke these words was characterized by corrupt and self-righteous leaders. The Pharisees and the scholars of the law represented those people who wanted to stay in power, preserve the status quo and secure their comfort. There were Jewish leaders too who became puppets to the Roman Empire in order to secure their wealth and influence.

    And these people who succumbed to the cycle of corruption at the expense of the common people, did not want anybody to challenge their peace. Thus, anyone who will dare to confront them was deemed to be a threat to that peace they were enjoying. However, was this “true peace” at all?

    This peace is about the comfort and routine of life or ‘business-as-usual.’ This means that one goes and proceeds to what one usually does in life. We may do what we want by satisfying our desires, from mere complacency. This peace only knows about maintaining the status quo, that we are comfortable with and preserving an environment that will not disturb us. Yet, this peace is shallow and remains self-centered. It focuses on our ego. This is not true peace.

    That is why, the Lord comes to disturb us when we have grown so attached with our comforts and when we are so caught up with maintaining to what is only beneficial for us.

    When we become complacent and passive, we do not want to be challenged, we do not want to go beyond and become life-giving. We do not want to confront ourselves and others because it might cost us conflict and division or to sacrifice the contentment that we apparently enjoy. We might find ourselves to settle to what is only easy, comfortable and beneficial by doing the same things, thinking the same thoughts and imagining the same ideas to the point that we refuse to do more and give more.

    However, Jesus does not want us to just settle with this seemingly peaceful environment. God does not want us to become a person who becomes a prisoner of his/her own selfish desires who will become abusive and corrupt yet  most insecure. Jesus does not want us also to just go with the flow and remain passive.

    The Lord wants us to find freedom. Jesus is not in favor in making ourselves passive, complacent, and self-satisfied yet stagnant. Jesus wants us to grow, to be mature and to become the person He wants us to be.

    The invitation for us is to allow the Lord to touch and to disturb our complacency and passivity so that we will be able to see things differently and wonderfully. As Christians, we too are called to call and confront others when our community and our leaders become passive and complacent.

    As we allow the Lord to disturb us, we may be able to see new perspectives in life despite its monotony, more dynamic and life-giving ways of relating with people around us, and a deeper and life-changing encounter with God through the ordinary expression of our faith. And remember, this calls us to be pro-active, honest and courageous in expressing our faith and to the values that we believe as Christians. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR