18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

William Barclay once told a story. His story goes like this: one day a man met a beggar and said, "God give you a good day, my friend."  The beggar said, "I thank God I've never had a bad one."  "Then may God give you a happy life," said the man.  "Thank God, I am never unhappy."  The man asked, "What do you mean?"  "Well," said the beggar, "when it is fine, I thank God. When it rains, I thank God. When I have plenty, I thank God. When I am hungry, I thank God. And since what God wills is what I want, how can I say that I am unhappy when I am not?"  The man looked at him in astonishment and asked, "Who are you?"  "I am a king," said the beggar." And where is your kingdom? "  The beggar answered quietly, "Here in my heart." The man concluded, "A really religious person does not worry. Worry is basically irreligious." My dear friends, our religion does not teach us to hate money, property, inheritance, bank accounts, or anything like these. In fact, we need money to build churches, chapels, parsonages, etc. Why do some parishes make a second collection if our priests are allergic to money? Why do we accept the money given to us after we bless a vehicle or a bicycle if we do not need it? Well, we all need money or at least properties which we can exchange for money. And what our religion requires is for us to be prudent enough in dealing with these things. We are called to realize that we have to depend on God and consider those things including money as his gifts to us. We have to avoid depending too much on our money and property to the extent that we exclude God in our life. In our Gospel according to Luke 12:13-2, Jesus clearly said, "a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." This reminds us today that we should not be confident enough that we have money, properties, insurance benefits, etc. to ensure a better life especially established for our future. Rather, we should treasure God who treasures us. This is what it means to be religious -to allow God to be the God of our life. With God, we can do in one year what our money can do in one day or what our money can do in one year, God can do it for us in one day. If God is with us, there are still troubles along our way. But we do not worry that much because he will make a way for us. We are God's treasure and he will always show to us that he takes care of everything. He will always provide us what we need in due time. To end, allow me to share my experience of God's divine providence. I remember when I arrived in this poor parish of CaMaCa last June 19, 2012, I first saw there are many things to be done especially for the repair and maintenance of the church and the convent. With 15 Altar Knights and with Reverend Adonis, I lived according to our means. We had noodles for breakfast, sardines for our lunch and miswa for our dinner. We had over 1000 peso for our electric bill and another over 1000 peso for our water bill. We only had a total of 700 pesos collection for our three masses on Sundays. No collections or stipends for the daily masses.  My personal savings ran out. A sack of rice which I brought with me was not sufficient for two months. If I were not the parish priest, I could have abandoned the parish. Despite all my worries, God has revealed himself that he takes care of everything. I never asked my friends yet in Aklan or in BF Homes to help me, because God has already been there to provide. All my bills were paid in no way I could explain. Rice was and is never a problem as each student from elementary schools would  offer a handful of it to me during my monthly mass in their schools. Believe me you, we could fill up our empty container with rice good for ten people and for our one month consumption. Our church and convent facilities were almost all repaired except for some areas left for a major repair. Our grotto was completely finished with one overseas worker financed the project because his prayers were answered through the intercession of our patron saint. At present, our Parish Finance Council always has to report to us our financial deficit, yet we never have debts enough to suffocate us. We only have 50 peso budget for our food per day, yet five to ten people who eat with me never go hungry. The most amazing fact I wish to share happened when I needed  to change the tires of my car. I decided to abandon my car because I did not have money to purchase its tires. Then a stranger called me up to seek for my advice. She never told me her name or address. She only told me her problems. Then she asked for my address after I counseled her. The next day I was surprised to receive 20 thousand pesos from her as her sign of gratitude. I was able to buy the tires I needed then. I never heard of her since then but God made her an instrument to restore my peace of mind. If God does not provide, how can I or we survive? I share my story not to boast myself but to boast God who has done great things to me. I am weak and sometimes have doubts, yet God has always the way to strengthen me to get rid of doubts. Truly, a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possession but in God's divine providence. Amen.