25th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

God’s ways are not our ways. It is not always easy to understand the ways of God.
In the Gospel parable today (Matt 20:1-16) we see the workers failing to understand why those who worked just one hour received the same wages as those who worked all day. This made those who worked hard in the heat all day became jealous of those who worked for only one hour and yet got the same pay. For them, the landowner is UNFAIR!!! And we can also say the same against the landowner –that he is unfair. The word “unfair” is easy for us to understand because in one way or the other we ourselves experienced being treated unfairly. We cannot deny that in our world, there are more people who are victims of UNFAIR TREATMENT. There are many of us who know of qualified people whose promotion is denied instead it is given to less qualified people. But the landowner justified himself, “I am not unfair!” He said –“I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius?” How come did he say this? Well, if we read again our Gospel for today, we will realize the landowner is right in saying he is not unfair. It is said, “A landowner went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.” Here the first batch of workers had agreed upon a set wage: a full day’s work for a full day’s pay. And yes, they were paid according to what they had agreed. What is unfair about this? Thus, the question is not about fairness but of envy. The first batch who worked hard in the heat all day was ENVIOUS of those who worked for only one hour and yet got the same pay. And their envy is expressed by saying “that’s not fair”. They did not realize that their experience of “unfairness” is actually the experience of envy. They felt themselves victimized and they could not see/appreciate the generosity/goodness of the landowner.
Now, we go to reflect on one of the most difficult questions of faith –Is God unfair? It reminds us of our senseless attempts to understand why some people seemingly have been in a better position than others going through life. Why does God apparently give more blessings to others but not to some? Why are there times when God seems to show partiality towards corrupt individuals while letting the innocent ones suffer?
We approach this question from our own light but the answer lies elsewhere. In other words, from our perspective, God seems to be unfair. And because we focus more on our feeling that God is “unfair”, we do not realize that we actually miss the mark of His generosity/goodness every day of our lives. If God was “fair” (balanced with an eye for an eye) we would all be condemned. “For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23).
If others have more than you it does not mean that God loves them more while He loves you less. No matter what good fortune comes to others it really doesn’t matter because as followers of Jesus our aim is to use everything for the glory of God. In any case it would be foolish to be envious of others because we only see the outside and we never know what lies behind their success. And so instead of being envious and jealous of those who have been in a better position in life than us there is a better perspective; to be grateful for what we have.
Our Bible teaches us that we are to give thanks to God at all times in all circumstances.
In Ephesians 5:20 we read, “Always and everywhere give thanks to God who is our Father.”
In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 we read, “Be happy at all times; pray constantly and for all things give thanks to God, because this is what God expects you to do in Christ Jesus.”
In Colossians 3:17 we read, “Whatever you say or do, let it be in the name of the Lord Jesus, in thanksgiving to God the Father through him.”
So even when others prosper or have more success or better chances, what can we do? We can give thanks to God for the blessings he has given to them and the blessings he has given to us. God deals differently with each of us because God loves each of us in the way that God knows best for us and his kingdom. The attitude to have is one of trust in God –whether He is fair or unfair by man’s definition. We need to listen to God who says:
“Yes, the heavens are as high above earth
as my ways are above your ways.
my thoughts above your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9)

Ascension Sunday

In our Gospel, it gives us a scene in which Jesus finally takes leave of his disciples. How will the disciples react on this? How will they respond to the loss of someone whom a bond was formed? Well, in our personal experience, we grieve after suffering a significant loss. While grieving is difficult, it must not immobilize us. Sad to say, most people who have lost someone they love experience sleeplessness, depression, and fatigue. Jesus probably knows this. So before he departs to his Father, he leaves his disciples with responsibilities though their grief has not yet subsided. Jesus knows that before grief will overwhelm his disciples, he wants them to begin the day by looking for reasons to hope. Jesus gives them comforting and motivating perspective. Jesus entrusted to his disciples a task and then he assured them of his divine assistance, saying –Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
My dear friends, our grief reveals our inclination to the past, but as it passes, it can open doors to a better future. And so for Jesus, we have to do something though we grieve. We do not just sit down and do nothing. We cannot afford to waste our time when we know we cannot take back what we have lost. We have to convince ourselves that it is time to move on. Life must go on. Just like the disciples, we need to listen to the last message of Jesus, and then our grief will soon turn to hope.
Moreover, we have to learn from this Gospel that in one way or another, we will be going to face the reality of losing someone we love. And so to avoid guilt and regrets later, we have to do our best for the people we love while with them.

6th Sunday of Easter –A–

God is love. If we are going to make a summary of what the Bible says from the Old Testament to New Testament, we get this simple message “God is love.” God created the world out of love. When sin entered the world, God still loved the world. For He so loved the world that He gave us His only son Jesus Christ to redeem the world. Moreover, God sent Jesus not only to show how He loved us but also to teach us how to love Him and our fellow men. Jesus gave us the greatest commandments, i.e., to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind and to love your neighbor as you love yourself.
Now in the Gospel of John 14:15-21 Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” He just reiterates to us the importance of love. We obey Jesus because we love Him and we love others because it is His commandments. He means that we have to live in love and acts with love. In short, in all things we have to show love. By saying this we are reminded by the Church to undergo a formation of our hearts. We have to train our hearts to love or at least to be loving in our ways.
If we only notice, we created noble professions for the service of man. We have doctors, nurses, engineers, lawyers, etc. But before one can engage in any specific profession, he or she must undergo a formation or training. After some years of training, one has to pass the board exam or bar to be admitted to the chosen profession. Thus we have produced many doctors, nurses, engineers, lawyers, etc. who are experts in their field. However, seldom can we find doctors, nurses, engineers, or lawyers who are loving in their ways as they deal with people. Doctors would prescribe some medicine to their patients without showing any care. Nurses would check their patients but they do not bother to listen to their cries. Lawyers would treat their clients depending on the clients’ financial capacity to pay them. We have professionals who are trained intellectually but they treat people as objects. This is so because they are not trained to love or to be loving. This is ironic because most of the professionals are Catholics in our country. They suppose to show love in everything they do. But we have to accept the fact that to be a Catholic is separate from being a lawyer, a nurse, or a doctor in our present setting. That is why it is not surprising that a politician once declared “I am a congressman who is a Catholic but I am not a Catholic congressman.” It means I can choose to love or not as I can choose to be a congressman, a lawyer, a doctor or not. This should not be the case! The message of our Gospel is plain and clear. Whether one is a doctor, a nurse, a lawyer or not, he/she must love or be loving as he/she is a Catholic –a lover of Jesus Christ. In saying that we love Jesus, we become Catholics. Being Catholics, we must love and show love in all our ways. Amen.

Homily for a missing person

The inn that shelters for the night is not the journey’s end.
Our Mass for today does not put an end to our quest or search for (Name), but it gives us a “shelter for the night”. Our celebration of the Mass reminds us Christians that if we do not know what to do when someone we love is missing, we have to stick close to Jesus. Our Mass also reminds us that whenever a tragedy strikes us, the more we have to fix our eyes on Jesus. But why should we stay close to Him? Can we not just tell Jesus that we wonder if He really cares at all about us? Can He not make miracles happen and bring us back (Name) to our family/community?
My dear friends, this is what I mean when I said that our Mass gives us a “shelter for the night” –only God can give us hope during the darkest hour of our lives and so not despair.
First, instead of questioning the goodness of God, our Mass makes us aware that before Jesus faced His suffering; He celebrated the first Mass with His disciples. In His solemn celebration, Jesus has given a new meaning to suffering. It means when we suffer, we are participating in the sufferings of Jesus Christ. St. Paul said, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, for I fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ." (Col:24).
Second, when we suffer, Jesus also carries the burden with us, and then we know we are NOT ALONE in our suffering. Like St. Paul, we can say, "With Christ I am nailed to the cross. It is now no longer I that live but Christ Who lives in me" (Gal 2:19-20). When it is no longer the “I” that live but Jesus Christ is now living in us, then we see our suffering as a moment of conversion, that is, for the rebuilding of goodness in our family/community. In sharing the same experience of suffering, the pain of losing (Name), it must bring the family closer to God and to each other. This is the time to strengthen the bond as a family because you know how it hurts to lose someone in the family. We cannot afford to lose another one. To borrow the words in John 11: 50, Caiaphas the high priest said, “You don't realize that it's better for you that one man should suffer/die for the family/people than for the whole family/nation to be destroyed."
Lastly, we pray for (Name) wherever he may be that God will be merciful on him. But for us who are hoping and waiting for (Name), let us face our emptiness comforted by the words of St. Paul in the Second Letter to the Corinthians: "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. Yes my dear friends, each of us carries in our hearts the loss of a beloved, so that his/her life may also be manifested in our actions. Amen.

5th Sunday of Easter –A–

"I came out of Bataan and I shall return", this is the famous speech of Douglas MacArthur which was first made at Terowie, a small railway township in South Australia on March 20. For some Filipinos, these words gave them hope during World War II that someone would save them from their predicament. But for other Filipinos, they knew MacArthur abandoned his troops while they were written off by the Japanese.

“I shall return” –these words, in fact, suggest that one is about to be left behind, he or she has to face the “unknown”, and this is a frightening experience. Fear is there as one anticipates whether the promise to return will be fulfilled or not by the other. Fear is there because one does not know what will happen between the time of the other’s departure and his or her coming back. Fear is there because even as adults, one is really afraid of the “unknown” like a child who fears to go in the dark. What can make one keep going day by day during such time is his or her hope. Hope makes one know how to wait, while patiently enduring trials.

However, what will be the basis of our hope? –what shall we depend upon? Most often, we rely on the promise made by the person. We hope that he or she will do what he or she has told us. Yet how many times have we been frustrated by unfulfilled promises or empty promises? Our hope is in vain. There are many wives who are totally abandoned by their husbands though the latter promised to love until death. There are many children who have been out of school because of peer pressure and have forgotten their promise to their parents to study and finish their school. There are those who promise to pay what they owe but you cannot find their whereabouts anymore. In the course of time, it has become clear that one’s hope is diminishing.

So what shall we do? Do we have to abandon our hope? Well it is but timely to evaluate our life and give ourselves a new basis, a new foundation on which our hope can stand. We have to place our hope on what can stimulate our energies to endure all things while waiting. Our hope can only be for Jesus. He said in John 14: 1-12, “Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me.” Jesus is the foundation of our hope. He alone can guarantee us of the possibility of the happening or arriving of what we are awaiting. Our hope in Jesus is necessary for us to be able to “receive what is promised”. A wife can hope that her husband will change his mind and return to her as she hopes in the Lord. Parents can hope that their children will finish their studies as they pray to Jesus for their guidance. This same hope in the Lord can help us face our fear; face the “unknown” especially when our beloved one says “I shall return”. Moreover, our hope is always certain in Jesus. When no one listens to us any more, Jesus still listens to us. When we can no longer talk to anyone or call upon anyone, we can always talk to Him. When there is no longer anyone to help us deal with a need, he can help us. When we are placed in a solitary confinement, we are never totally alone because we can still pray and talk to Jesus. We have to remember then every time we are troubled, pray to Jesus and put our hope in Him, only in Him. Amen.

4th Sunday of Easter –A–

Today’s trend is on consumption and consumerism. Consumption and consumerism reflect that one’s quality of life depends on the quantity of one’s financial assets, savings or money. If one has enough money, then he can buy what he wants. In getting what he wants, he can live a quality life. Adversely, if one has no money, then he cannot buy anything. If he cannot buy any thing, then his life is miserable. This trending has also affected the way we live with our faith. In the church, those who have money can make a list of their intentions and forward it to the parish office to be read within the mass. Those who lack money seldom make a list of their intentions to be prayed over during the mass. In some parishes, there are many couples who are not married in the church. They say it is expensive and they cannot afford to pay the expenses for a church wedding. For them, they have to spend what they earned for something else. It is all about money.
It is true that we need money especially that consumption and consumerism are at a high cost. But today’s Gospel reminds us that our life must not be based on the money that we have but on God who has everything in His hands. In John 10:11-18, Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd; I know mine, and mine know me." This is what some Catholics forget. Though we may not have enough money, we can rely on God for our needs. We think of the world which sells us air as we use our electric fan, but we forget to think of God who has given us, rich and poor, air for free. We think of the world which sells as water as we buy a bottled water, but we forget about God has provided us water for free. Yes, God is a good shepherd. He knows what we need and He knows how limited we are, thus He provides us what is best for us. We need only to trust Him. Our life cannot depend on money because money may come and go. It is only in God that we can entrust our life because He is constant, He will always be with us as our Good Shepherd.

3rd Sunday of Easter -A-

How quickly we fall back from nothing to nothing when everything we build is destroyed in an instant. We think life is a simple product of chances and luck; you are lucky if your life is “up” and you are sorry when it is “down”. In Luke 24: 13-35, the two disciples discussed about Jesus. Jesus lived a good life but died a terrible death. For them, it was a sad fate or destiny, a bad ending for a good beginning of one’s life. Worst, the body of Jesus was missing instead of seeing it laid down in the tomb to rest. The disciples could not do anything to prevent what had happened. Life is indeed beyond one’s control. In this kind of mentality, one’s future depends on pure luck or chances. In this kind of mentality, one lives in the randomness of the world events. It will only lead one to think: Why work so hard today if in the future, you will lose everything that you have earned? Why be good today if in the future people will destroy your name or reputation? Drink and be merry for tomorrow we will die.
It is at this point that Jesus drew near and walked with the two disciples. Jesus knew that only when the future is certain as a positive reality does it become possible to live the present as well. So He explained that everything happened according to the will of God. It is not pure luck and chances which ultimately govern the world and mankind, but a personal God. And if we know this God, then truly pure luck or mere chances no longer have the last say; rather it is the will of God. This explanation of Jesus is not only “informative” but “performative”. That means: Jesus does not merely communicate things that can be known—it is one that makes things happen and is life-changing. The dark door of time, of the future, has been thrown open. The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life. Jesus teaches the essential art: the art of being authentically human—the art of living and dying. He shows us the way to live according to the will of God. He also shows us the way beyond death. Everything that is happening in our world is in God’s hands.
By saying this, we can say to ourselves that Jesus knows even the path that passes through the valley of death; He has conquered death, and He has returned to accompany us now and to give us the certainty that, together with him, we can find a way through. Our life is not a product of pure luck or chances; it is not a result of accidents and coincidence but of God’s divine providence.