September 11, 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

September 11, 2016

24th Sun OT

Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14; Psalm 51; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-32/Luke 15:1-10

There is this story of a speaker who showed a crisp one-thousand-peso bill to the audience and said, “I want to give this one-thousand-peso bill away. But first let me do this.” He crumpled the money and said “Who wants it?” Several people from audience raised their hands. Then he dropped the money on the ground and crushed it into the floor with his shoe. He showed it to the people and said, “Now that it is crumpled and dirty, who still wants it?” The same hands went up. He said, “No matter what I do to the money, you still want it. Why? Because it did not decrease in value.”

We can use this analogy to describe God’s mercy and love in today’s gospel about the parables of mercy. Our value in God’s eyes never changes. No matter how sinful we may be, we remain to be precious in His eyes. What does the term “prodigal” mean? If we look at the dictionary, the term prodigal is defined as lavish and overflowing. With this we can say that there are three characters, not only one, in the gospel today that can be described as ‘prodigal.’ Who are they? What insight can we draw from them?

THE FIRST CHARACTER IS THE PRODIGAL SON. He was prodigal, overflowing and lavish with sin. It is disrespectful for a son to demand his inheritance before his father’s death. What made it worse is that he spent his inheritance lavishly indulging in sin. The Israelites in the first reading can be likened to the prodigal son.  After God gave them freedom from slavery in Egypt, instead of using their freedom to express their gratitude and faithfulness to the Lord, they used it to turn to other gods.  They gathered all their jewelries and made a golden calf out of it. This became their god. I believe we can all relate with the prodigal son. Whenever we find ourselves lavishly indulging in sin, we are like the prodigal son.

THE SECOND CHARACTER IS THE PRODIGAL BROTHER. If the younger son is prodigal in sin, the older son on the other hand is prodigal in work. All his life he spent working with his father. He did not leave the house. Exteriorly he did all the things a good son is supposed to do. But, interiorly, he wandered away from his father. He did his duty, worked hard every day, but became unhappy and unfree. In a certain sense, it is not only the younger son who became lost by indulging in sin. The older son was also lost. He could not find his rightful place in the family. He looked at himself as if he is a slave and not anymore as a son. What will the Good Shepherd do to the lost ones? He will bring them home.

THE THIRD CHARACTER IS THE PRODIGAL FATHER. If the younger son is prodigal in sin, and the older son is prodigal in work, the father on the other hand is prodigal in forgiveness. The father in the parable is overflowing with mercy and compassion. From the moment his son left him, he would always stand at the door of his house and wait for his return. When his son finally returned home from lavish spending, the father ran towards him and lavishly welcomed him with love. The same is true with us when it comes to God. Our God will never tire of anticipating our return not because he wants to condemn us but because he wants us to experience his lavish love, overflowing mercy and compassion. Paul says in the second reading that Jesus came not to destroy sinners but to bring them home back to the Father.

My brothers and sisters, the gospel parable presents us with three prodigal persons: prodigal in sin, prodigal in work and prodigal in forgiveness. If we have to be extravagant, lavish and prodigal, let it us imitate the prodigal Father who is rich in mercy and compassion. Remember the invitation of Pope Francis this Jubilee Year of Mercy: Be merciful like the Father. Imitate the lavish and overflowing love of the Father. In this mass let us pray for this grace.  Amen.

September 4, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

September 4, 2016

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wisdom 9:13-18; Psalm 90; Philemon 9-10, 12-17; Luke 14:25-33

Today, Pope Francis officiated the canonization of a new saint in the Universal Church - St Teresa of Calcutta. Mother Teresa, the founder of a religious order called Missionaries of Charity, was considered by many as a living saint because of her dedication and love in serving the poorest of the poor around the world. What is the measure of love for Mother Teresa? She said “For love to be real, it must hurt.” If it does not hurt you, it is not real love. This reminds me of what Jesus says in today’s gospel, “If you really love me, if you really want to follow me and be my disciple, you must hate your mother, father, wife, children, brothers, sisters and yourself.” The words of Jesus may sound harsh at first hearing. But what does he mean by this? How can we “hate” those we are supposed to love? Let us reflect on this in three points.

JESUS DOES NOT TELL US TO GET ANGRY AT OURSELVES AND OUR LOVED ONES. Jesus cannot go against God’s commandment to honor your father and your mother. Remember that Jesus also said, love one another; as I have loved you. The words of Jesus in today’s gospel must not be taken literally.  It is rather a figure of speech telling us that nothing should stand in the way of following Jesus - not even family relationships, not even concern for ourselves, should become a hindrance from following Jesus. So Jesus is not telling us to hate in terms of being impatient and angry with them. Jesus rather means, we should love God more than anything else.

JESUS INVITES US TO PRIORITIZE OUR LOVE FOR GOD. The gospel mentioned about great crowds following Jesus. Jesus had many supporters, admirers and fans. But the question is, how many of them can be considered as genuine followers of Jesus? Our first reading also describes a sincere desire of a human being to follow God. But Jesus is not interested with the quantity of his followers. He is more concerned of its quality. One important quality of a true disciple of Jesus is to prioritize loving God. St Augustine says that as sinners, we fall into the trap of loving the creature and forgetting the Creator. We fall into the trap of marginalizing our love for God. We fall into the trap of treating created beings as gods. Sometimes we look at ourselves as gods. Sometimes we treat pleasure, power and wealth as gods. That is why in the gospel, Jesus makes it clear at the very beginning to his followers that following Him entails prioritizing our love for God. Why? What effect will it bring to us?

PRIORITIZING OUR LOVE FOR GOD WILL PURIFY OUR WAY OF LOVING. Let us look at the experience of Paul in the second reading. Paul encountered Onesimus in prison. Onesimus was a runaway slave. Because he was in prison, he must have committed an offense. Paul, who was also in prison because of persecution, became his friend. Their friendship led Onesimus to be converted to Christianity. But look at how love for God present in Paul changed and purified his perspective: In his letter to Philemon, the master of Onesimus, he writes, “Please accept Onesimus again. Please treat this criminal slave not anymore as a slave, not anymore as a criminal but as a brother.” Love for God changed the way how Paul looked at this man. He no longer sees him as a criminal slave, but a brother and friend. Mother Teresa was also a witness to this. Because of her love for Jesus, she did not treat the poor and unwanted people as strangers but neighbors in need of love. Loving God will put into right perspective our way of loving. Without love for God, our love for our loved ones can lead to corruption. It sometimes happens that out of love for their loved ones, people commit crimes like killing and stealing. We need to prioritize loving God because that will purify and put into right perspective our way of loving.

Let us ask the prayers of St. Teresa of Calcutta that like her, we may strive to prioritize our love for God and love for Jesus. Let us not be afraid of prioritizing our love for Jesus. Jesus will not kill the love relationship with our loved ones. In fact, He will purify them and put them in the right perspective. St Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us.  Amen.

August 28, 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 28, 2016

22nd Sunday in OT

Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29; Psalm 68; Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a; Luke 14:1, 7-14

I remember this story about a robber who held a man at gunpoint demanding: “Give me your money or else you’ll die!” The man with an air of superiority said, “Don’t you know who I am? I am the honorable Congressman of this place. You should give due respect and honor to me.” The robber looked at him and said “In that case, since I am a taxpayer, give me back my money.”

We might find the same kind of person in today’s gospel as Jesus observed how people in the banquet were looking for seats of honor. The guests must have thought that of all the guests here, they are the most important. So they deserve to be in the seats of honor. The guests were invited to honor someone but here they are honoring themselves. This is what proud people do. Pride is one of the seven capital sins. It means that if not addressed, pride can become the root of other vices. Our readings for today tell us that we can overcome pride with humility. But what is humility? How can we become humble persons?

Let us reflect on this in three points:

HUMILITY IS A CHOICE. It does not come to us by chance. We have to choose it. The virtue of humility tells us that if we really want to acquire humility, we need to practice it through repeated actions to the point that it creates a certain disposition in us to be humble. That is why the first line of the first reading tells us to choose humility. It says, “My child, conduct your affairs with humility.” If humility does not come to us by chance, the same is true with its opposite which is pride. Proud people do not become proud by chance. It can be that they have repeatedly doing actions that filled their hearts with pride. What can we do to develop the virtue of humility and conquer pride?

HUMILITY INVOLVES KNOWING YOUR LIMITS. Pride means making oneself God. Pride means we want people to worship ourselves. Pride leads us to think that we can do everything on our own. This is the total opposite of humility. The first reading tells us that humility involves knowing your limits. Humility came from the word “humus” which means ground. Humility means being grounded in the reality that we are not God. Humility means accepting who we really are –our strengths, weaknesses, success and failures in life. There are things that go beyond our capacities. This affirms the fact that we are mere finite beings and we are not God.  Becoming humble means accepting the reality that we cannot do everything on our own – we need others and we also need God in our lives. So what’s the point of aspiring to be humble?

A HUMBLE PERSON PLEASES GOD. Human experience tells us that we love to be in the company of friends who are humble. But it is not just human beings who love to be with the humble. The first reading again tells us, “be humble and you will find favor with God.” Now we understand why God is pleased with Jesus. It is not only because He is the Son of God. The second reading tells us that the humility of Jesus, who did not seek honor for Himself, pleased God. God is pleased with humble persons.  What will be the response of God to the humble? Jesus in the gospel says, God will exalt the humble person. So instead of seeking seats of honor for ourselves, we should seek humility. We should choose humility. Because in the kingdom of heaven, those who exalt themselves will be humbled while those who humble themselves will be exalted.

St Augustine once said, “It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men (and women) as angels.” In this mass let us beg for the grace to conquer pride by choosing humility. May we strive to be humble so that we may find favor with God.  Amen. 

August 21, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 21, 2016

21st Sunday in OT

Isaiah 66:18-21; Heb 12:5-7. 11-13; Luke 13:22-30

I remember this story about a group of friends who wanted to know if there was basketball in heaven. They agreed that whoever died first should come back to inform them. After a couple of years, it happened that Juan first died. One night his friend Pedro heard the voice of Juan. Pedro said: is that you Juan? “Yes” the voice replied. “Okay tell me: is there basketball in heaven?” Juan said, “Yes, but I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is: there is basketball here in heaven. The bad news is: you will join us in the game tomorrow.”

I think all of us would want to go to heaven. One of the characters in the gospel today asked Jesus, “Lord, how many people will be saved? Will there be few or many people in heaven?” Notice that Jesus did not give a straight answer to the question. He did not give an exact figure of those who will be saved. Why?  Because the character in the gospel asked the wrong question to Jesus. Wrong questions lead to wrong answers. That is why the response of Jesus in the gospel redirected this person to the right question. What are some of the wrong questions posed by the man in the gospel? How did Jesus correct them?

THE FIRST WRONG QUESTION IS: “HOW MANY WILL BE SAVED?” Getting to heaven is not a question of “how many.” Instead of asking how many will be saved, the more important question is: HOW can we be saved? We should not waste our time speculating how many people are there in heaven or hell. Our first reading already tells us that God wills the salvation of all peoples – not only Israelites, not only the chosen people of God but all peoples. Isaiah says in his prophecy: “The Lord will gather nations of every language.” But again, our concern must be: How can we be saved? How can we go to heaven?  Jesus answered this by saying: enter the narrow gate.

THE SECOND WRONG QUESTION IS: “WHERE IS THE NARROW GATE?” The gate that Jesus refers to in the gospel is not a place. We cannot find that gate in the Philippine map or any available map in the world. The right question to ask is not, “where is the gate?” because there is really no gate. The right question to ask is, “who is the gate?” The gate is a person referring to Jesus Christ. Jesus is the gate to heaven. We need to follow Jesus in order for us to be saved. But following Jesus is described as entering the narrow gate. Why? What exactly is the narrow gate?

THE NARROW GATE INVITES US TO EXERT EFFORT TO GET TO HEAVEN. The door to heaven was not purposely made narrow so that people may have difficulty entering it. It can be the other way around. Perhaps we have become so “big” that we could no longer enter the narrow door. Perhaps our excessive hunger for power, pleasure, wealth and other sinful inclinations led us to indulge in these things to the point that we have become so “big.” Sin has a way of disfiguring ourselves. Sin makes us ugly. Sin makes us big to the point that we can no longer enter the narrow door.

How do we shape up so that we can enter the narrow door? Our second reading reminds us, exert effort and discipline ourselves to pursue good and avoid evil. Isn’t it that if we are really determined to lose weight and be healthy, we need to consistently put discipline in our food intake and exercise? The same is true in entering the narrow door that leads to heaven. God wants all of us to be saved. Having a baptismal certificate and regular Mass attendance does not guarantee our salvation. We must go through the narrow gate. We should do our share, exert effort and discipline ourselves to pursue good and avoid evil.

My dear friends, salvation is God’s gift to us. There is enough space for all of us in the kingdom of heaven. In this mass let us beg for the grace that we may be motivated to exert effort in entering the narrow gate so that we may one day see each other in the Kingdom of God. Amen.

August 14, 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 14, 2016

20th Sunday in OT

Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10; Hebrews 12:1-4; Luke 12:49-53

There is this story about a child who asked his father to help him do the assignment in his history class. They were supposed to answer the question: How do wars begin? The father said to his child, “Well, wars begin when for example, the Philippines attacks the U.S.” The mother heard the answer and replied, “How could that happen? The Philippines and the U.S. are allies.” The father replied, “That was just an example.” The mother said, “How can you expect our child to learn by giving him wrong examples?” The father got irritated and said, “Will you please shut up!” The mother also said, “You shut up too!” The child intervened and said to his parents, “Mom, Dad, please stop. Now I know how war begins.”

The strong words of Jesus in today’s gospel might give us an impression that war is coming. He said: “I have come not to bring peace, but division – even among family members.” Is this being consistent with our image of Jesus as the bringer of peace and unity? What kind of division will Jesus bring about?

Let us reflect on this in three points:

JESUS CALLS US TO A WAR NOT AGAINST EACH OTHER BUT AGAINST EVIL. Goodness will always be in conflict with evil. They can never go together.  Jeremiah in the first reading experienced this reality. He proclaimed the truth that came from God. Jeremiah’s message was meant to awaken the people to return to the Lord. This explains why the princes, who were deeply disturbed by the message of Jeremiah, wanted to eliminate him. Evil would always want to silence goodness. Sometimes this can happen among family members. We should be at war against these evil forces: pride, lust, adultery, anger, envy, injustice and many more. These evil forces will cause division and destroy our family. To be at war against these forces is never easy. We will surely encounter opposition from people. What should we remember in the midst of this reality?

FIX OUR EYES ON JESUS. Our second reading reminds us that we can survive in engaging at war against these evil forces when we fix our eyes on Jesus. Why? Because Jesus himself experienced how difficult it is to be at war against these evil forces. Jesus experienced opposition, rejection, humiliation, suffering and even death. But what did Jesus do? He never gave up. So when we fix our eyes on Jesus, we see in him a model of faith because He persevered until the end no matter what the cost is. In what concrete way can we fix our eyes on Jesus?

BE FAITHFUL TO OUR BAPTISMAL PROMISES. Jesus in the gospel speaks of His great anguish in anticipating his baptism. He is referring here to the baptism of suffering that He will have to face. Perhaps we can also look at our own baptism – particularly our fidelity to the promises we made when we were baptized. What are those promises? We promised to reject sin. We promised to reject Satan and all his empty promises. Have we been striving to be faithful to these promises? Are we still disturbed every time we fail to be true to these promises? When Jesus was baptized, He remained faithful to the Lord until the end. Let us also strive to remain faithful to the promises we made when we were baptized.

In this mass let us pray for the grace of fortitude as we engage in a war against evil. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus so that we may be inspired to remain faithful to our baptismal promises.  Amen.

August 07, 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 7, 2016

19th Sunday OT

Wisdom 18:6-9; Psalm 33; Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 or Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-12; Luke 12:32-48 or Luke 12:35-40

I remember this story about an old lady who was brought into the hospital for an operation.  As she was being wheeled into the operating room, she got nervous and said to the doctor, “Doc please be gentle with me; this is my first time to be operated on.” The young doctor glanced at her and said, “Ma’am don’t worry, we are in the same situation. This is also my first time to do an operation.”

If the doctor tells you that your operation will be successful and you believe his word even if you’re totally ignorant of how it will work out, that’s faith. The same is true with faith in God. There are many ways of describing faith. But how do our readings for today describe faith in God?

Let us reflect on this in three points:

FAITH IS BELIEVING IN GOD EVEN IF WE DO NOT SEE HIM. This was how the Jews experienced faith in God in the first reading. God promised them that He will save them from slavery in Egypt. The first reading described how the Jews prepared themselves that night when they are about to leave Egypt.  But prior to this event, remember that Moses talked to Pharaoh many times to allow the Jews to leave Egypt, but Pharaoh refused to let them go. But how come the Jews were sure that God would lead them out of slavery in Egypt that night? The reading says, it is because of faith. They have not yet seen God. But since they believe in God’s promise, they prepared that night and believed that something good will happen to them. True enough, that night God led them out of slavery in Egypt.

My dear friends, some people say that to see is to believe. But our first reading tells us that even if we cannot see God, we can believe in Him. This is faith. Why should we believe in a God whom we cannot see?

FAITH IS BELIEVING IN A TRUSTWORTHY GOD. The second reading tells us that God’s word is credible and He will never ever fail us. Just look at the experience of Abraham and Sarah - at the age of 75, God called Abraham and promised that he will be given a vast land and many descendants. That seemed humanly impossible especially when you have reached that age of maturity in life. If Abraham was 75 years old, Sarah his wife must also be in the same age range. But since Abraham and Sarah thought the one who made the promise is worthy of trust and worthy of belief, even if the promises seemed absurd and impossible, they chose to believe and have faith in God. True enough, in God’s time, God fulfilled his promise. 25 years later, Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah. And many years after that, God gave the Israelites the promised land of Canaan to the descendants of Abraham.  This tells us that we can never be wrong in believing in God. God is faithful to His promise. He is worthy of our trust. He is worthy of our belief. He is worthy of our faith. How do we cultivate our faith in God?

FAITH IS MAINTAINING OUR CONNECTION WITH GOD. Jesus in the Gospel tells the story of a foolish servant who loses his connection with the master, the moment the master leaves the house. He takes advantage of the situation and assumes the role of being the master: he becomes abusive to his co-workers and does not think that the master will return at a time when he least expects it. He is a foolish servant because he easily forgets who the real master is.

That is why Jesus tells us we must be vigilant and prepared. How? By not losing our connection with the master. Even if the Master seems to be absent, even if we cannot see the Lord with our eyes, maintain your connection with Jesus. Let us not terminate our connection so that we may not do things that are against His will. This is what we call faith. This is the faith that Abraham and Sarah exemplified in the second reading. This is the faith that the Jews manifested in the first reading.

What kind of servants are we? Are like the faithful servant who maintains our connection with God even if we do not see him? Or are we like the foolish servant who terminates our connection with God? In this mass let us beg for the grace to have faith in God even if we cannot see Him. Our God is worthy of our belief and trust. Let us maintain and strengthen our connection with God at all times.  Amen.

July 31, 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 31, 2016

18th Sunday in OT

Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23; Psalm 95; Colossians 3:1-5. 9-11; Luke 12:13-21

I remember a story about a man who wanted to get rich. He said: “I wish I could see the lotto winning numbers ahead of the draw and become the richest man in the world.” This man got his wish. The following day, he saw at his door a newspaper dated one week ahead. The man was excited as he turned to the page where the winning numbers were listed. He was already imagining what he would do with the multi-million money. But as he turned the pages, his heart skipped a beat.  For there he saw his name printed in big, bold letters – in the obituary!  On the day he was going to win all those millions, he was also going to die. The point of the story is similar to the gospel parable about the rich fool. Why did Jesus call this rich man a fool? What kind of wealth must one pursue to be rich in the eyes of God?

Let us reflect on this in three points:

ASPIRING ONLY FOR MATERIAL WEALTH MADE THE RICH MAN A FOOL. Why? Because our first reading tells us that when you aspire only for material wealth, everything is vain. Everything is empty. Everything is pointless. Imagine, all your life is devoted to work and because of perseverance, you earn something and become rich. But when your life on earth is ended, all your wealth and riches will be given to someone else who did not work to gain it. It will be given to someone who did not even lift a finger to earn it. Isn’t that pointless? You work and in the end, you do not enjoy the fruits of your labor. Is this true and meaningful wealth? Wealth that you do not enjoy?

That is why Jesus challenged the rich man in the gospel: Why are you interested in material wealth? It cannot guarantee your life. Wealth cannot buy an extension of your life. Maybe just a few days or weeks extension due to medicines and procedures that you are able to pay. But in the end, we will all die. And when we die, we cannot bring in the next life even a single centavo. So what must we do to avoid the mistake of pursuing only for material wealth?

ASPIRE FOR HEAVENLY THINGS. Paul says in the second reading: “Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.” Paul enumerates the false riches and wealth.  What are those? Fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, lust, adultery. These are the things that we should not work for. Many people become materially rich by doing these things. But is this true wealth? Paul says we should work for things of God. What does this mean? Paul is not telling us to stop our work and escape from doing our profession. No. Paul rather says that while we are pursuing these earthly matters, while we are pursuing our decent work here on earth, we should also pursue heavenly matters. We should pursue things that matters to God: pursue love, honesty, forgiveness, mercy, compassion and obedience to the Lord’s commandments. These are the heavenly things that matter to God. What will happen to us when we pursue heavenly things?

ASPIRING FOR HEAVENLY THINGS WILL MAKE US RICH IN THE EYES OF GOD. Perhaps you have already encountered agents selling pension plans that will ensure you financial security in the future. Yes, they may be helpful. But remember, let us not commit the mistake of the rich man who aspired only for material wealth.  If we want real security in the future, then we must look beyond the material world.  We must put our security not on material things but on God.

There’s a story about a rich matron who died and went to heaven. St. Peter escorted her to a place in heaven that is full of mansions. The rich lady saw one house that was exceptionally beautiful and asked who lived there. “You will be surprised,” said St. Peter. “That is the home of your household help.” “Well,” the lady said smiling, “if my helper gets a place like that, I certainly look forward to having a more grandiose mansion.” Soon they came to a small alley where there are small houses. St. Peter stopped and said, “Lady, you will live in that hut.” “Me, live in that small house? This is an insult.” St. Peter explained to the woman, “You must understand that we only build your home up here with the material you send ahead while you’re still on earth.” The materials we are supposed to send ahead are obviously not cement, sand and gravel. The materials are our good works, our acts of kindness and piety. We must also invest to become rich in the eyes of God. This is real wealth that we can bring to the next life. 

In this mass let us pray for the grace that we may not aspire only for material wealth. Let us also aspire for heavenly treasures so that we may be rich in the eyes of God.  Amen.