OUR PARISH PRIEST

WHEN MEMORY TURNS TO FESTIVITY Catholics will flock to churches, cemeteries and memorial parks November 1and 2 to celebrate monuments of faith. Both feasts point to life.   Both feasts are rooted in memory.   Both feasts are fuelled by love. What can be more biblical than God’s love that transforms sinners into saints and purifies souls so they can inherit heaven.   It’s all very biblical! Why do we remember?   Why do we hope in a life promised to us?   It is because we have experienced love. God’s love is so powerful an invitation and so attractive a prospect that many people lived their lives as a preparation for a fuller, richer, more abundant life with God.   These are the saints, those who were faithful on earth and thus victorious in heaven. These are the saints we know and venerate in the church but also the nameless saints who silently walked this earth filling other people’s lives with love.   They felt Go...

I-RECYCLE ANG BASURA Mahal ng Diyos ang buong nilalang niya. Ito ang sinasabi sa atin ng unang pagbasa (Karunungan 11). Pinahahalagahan niya ang lahat ng kanyang ginawa. Kung ganito kabuti ang Diyos sa mundo, paano pa kaya ang kanyang pag-ibig sa tao na kanyang kamukha at kawangis? Di ba lalong ganap ang kanyang habag… at pinatatawad niya ang kasalanan ng tao upang lalo pang magbagong-loob? Nakakagulat nga ang unang pagbasa kasi nauna pa ang pagpapatawad kaysa sa paghingi ng tao ng tawad. Tunay nga na walang kondisyon ang pagmamahal sa atin ng Diyos. Mahal niya ikaw at ako kung anuman tayo ngayon… at kapag natanto natin ito, doon mamumulaklak ang pagbabago sa ating puso.   Tunay nga na siya ang “Panginoon at mangingibig ng mga kaluluwa.” Paghahanda pa lamang ito sa mabuting balita kung saan naroon ang nakatatawang tagpo ni Zakeo, ang mayamang pandak.   Sa Israel ngayon, sa bawat pilgrimage, humihinto ang mga tao sa isang lugar na mar...

RECYCLING THE “TRASH” The Lord loves all his creation. He “loves all things,” as the first reading tells us (Wis 11). He values all that he has created. If God can be this caring and compassionate to the world he made, how can he not all the more show his total devotion and love to the men and women he fashioned in his own image and likeness.   “You have compassion on all… you overlook people’s sins that they may repent.” It is surprising that the forgiveness mentioned here seems to be granted even before the repentance!   There is no condition to God’s love. He loves you and me just as we are… and if we realize this, the grace of conversion can start to happen in our hearts.   Truly, he is “Lord and lover of souls…” And this prepares us for the gospel with the funny episode of Zacchaeus, the filthy rich man with the height problem. In the Holy Land today, pilgrimages stop at a place where there are sycamore trees, the most like...

The first thing we must be convinced of in our lives is that all the good we can do comes only from God: “Apart from Me, you can do nothing,” (Jn 15:5). Jesus did not say, “You cannot do much,” but “you can do nothing.”  

--> ANG DIYOS AT ANG MAPAGPAKUMBABA Ang mga pagbasa ngayon ay nakatuon sa taong mababang-loob sa harap ng Diyos. Sino ba ang mapagkumbaba? Sa unang pagbasa, Sirac 35, ang mababang-loob ay ang mahirap, ang walang maaasahang materyal na suporta, ang walang mabalingan na kapwa upang tumulong sa kanya. Sa ikalawang pagbasa, 2 Tim 4, sinasabi ni San Pablo na siya ay iniwanan ng lahat, at nang huli, Diyos lamang ang kanyang tunay na kinapitan sa kagipitan. Sinamahan siya ng Diyos at pinalakas siya. Sa mata ng Diyos, ang tunay na mapagkumbaba ay ang taong tumatanggap, nakakaranas at nakakaunawa ng kanyang tunay na pagiging dukha sa mundong ito at dahil doon ay sa Diyos lamang bumabaling para kumuha ng pag-asa sa mga pangako ng Panginoon. Sa Mabuting Balita, nakikita natin ang publikano na nagdarasal na may tunay na pagsuko sa Diyos. Ang publikano ay mayaman, maimpluwensya, makapangyarihan. Kahit kinamumuhian siya ng marami dahil sa pagkolekta ng...

--> THE HUMBLE ONE IS PLEASING TO GOD The readings this Sunday focus our attention on the humble person before God. Who is the truly humble person?  The first reading from Sirach 35 equates the humble with the poor, the one who has no material and human support from others, the vulnerable.  The second reading from St. Paul (2 Tim 4) recalls the apostle’s abandonment by people he relied on and in the end, he found himself with God alone to face his difficulties: The Lord stood by me and strengthened me. In the eyes of God, the truly humble is the person who accepts, experiences, realizes his radical poverty in the world and therefore clings only to the remaining hope – the promises of God! In the gospel, the publican prays with total surrender to God in the temple. The publican is supposed to be rich, influential, and powerful. Yes, he is hated by most people whose taxes he collects, but because he has position and property, he must ha...

--> WILL HE BE SLOW TO ANSWER? A friend called me the other day upon arriving for his vacation from his work in the Middle East. He related to me the story of his struggles while he was starting there. I never knew how much he suffered. When his first contract expired he joined many workmates to a neighboring island while they awaited the renewal of their contract. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months. They received no call from their employer. Some have decided to return home. Some resolved to wait still more. Meanwhile, he used up all his savings. One of his companions committed suicide. Others sank into depression and almost lost their minds. My friend suffered with his companions and his pain was great. Thankfully he held on to prayer. He joined a group of people who come together to pray and study the Bible. His faith was shaken and tried and many times he almost skipped his prayers and his bible group. But by the grace of God, he b...

--> MAGIGING MABAGAL BA SIYA SA PAGSAGOT? Pagdating ng kaibigan ko mula sa Middle East, tinawagan niya ako at nagkuwento siya ng kanyang mga pagsubok doon. Hindi ko alam na grabe pala ang pinagdaanan niya. Nang matapos ang kontrata, kasama ang mga katrabaho niya, nagpunta sila sa isang isla habang naghihintay ng renewal ng kontrata.  Dumaan ang mga araw, ang mga linggo, ang mga buwan – pero walang tawag mula sa employer. Umuwi na ang iba. Nagpasya naman silang maghintay at makipagsapalaran pa. Samantala, naubos na ang mga naipon niya. Isa sa mga kasamahan niya ay nag-suicide. Maraming na-depressed at halos mabaliw sa lungkot at pag-aalala. Ang kaibigan ko ay nagdusa tulag ng maraming kasama niya. Buti na lang, naalala niya magdasal. Sumali siya sa isang Bible group ng mga kapwa manggagawa. Nayanig ang kanyang pananampalataya at tila nais na niyang bumitaw sa dasal at sa Bible group niya. Sa biyaya ng Diyos, inialay niya ang lahat ng h...

ITATAAS TAYO NG SIMPLENG PASASALAMAT Sa Mabuting Balita ngayon (Lk 17) masayang inilalarawan kung paano nabuo ang araw ni Hesus at napuno siya ng galak. Kahit isa lamang sa mga sampung pinagaling na ketongin ang nagbalik upang magpasalamat, nag-uumapaw ang puso ng Panginoon. Sa ating buhay na puno ng hamon at paghihirap, mula umaga hanggang gabi, araw pagkatapos ng bawat araw, isa sa mga mahirap gawin ang buksan ang bibig at umusal ng pasasalamat sa Panginoon. Mahirap maalalang purihin at pasalamatan ang Diyos kung ang buhay ay parang panay bugbog ang dala sa atin. Pero sa mabuting balita isang mahalagang batas ng buhay espiritwal ang sinasabi sa atin – ang pasasalamat at papuri ang nagtataas sa atin mula sa mga paghihirap at nagdadala ng pag-asa, kapayapaan at kagalakan.. kahit manatili pa ang pait, alam nating tayo ay matagumpay na dahil alam pa rin natin kung paano magpasalamat. Isang bunga ng paghihirap ay ang mapanirang diwa ng p...

GRATITUDE LIFTS US UP Today’s gospel (Lk 17) happily illustrates how thanksgiving made Jesus’ day and gave him joy. Even if only one healed leper remembered to return and give thanks, the Lord’s joy over this leper is obvious. In our life filled with daily challenges and many sufferings, from morning til night, day in and day out, one of the most difficult things to do is open our lips and utter words of thanks to the Lord.   It is hard to remember praise and thanksgiving when life seems to be giving us a hard beating each day. But the gospel tells us a very important law in spiritual life – gratitude and praise to God lifts us above our sufferings and gives us hope, peace and joy… even if the pain lingers, we are already victors because we know how to give thanks. One of the tendencies that stem from suffering is the destructive spirit of victimhood. Instead of confronting life, we embrace perpetual defeat, we incessantly look fo...