Gospel Reflection

February 23, 2013

Saturday – Year of Faith – Lenten Season

by Rev. Fr. (Major) Daniel D. Tansip, VHS (Vicar Forane, Vicariate of Palawan, Military Ordinariate of the Philippines)

12:15PM Mass, Sto. Nino de Paz Chapel (Greenbelt Chapel), Greenbelt, Makati

                         

Reading 1 Dt 26:16-19

Moses spoke to the people, saying: “This day the LORD, your God, commands you to observe these statutes and decrees.
Be careful, then, to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. Today you are making this agreement with the LORD: he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees, and to hearken to his voice. And today the LORD is making this agreement with you: you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you; and provided you keep all his commandments, he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory above all other nations he has made, and you will be a people sacred to the LORD, your God, as he promised.”

Responsorial Psalm Ps 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8

R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
You have commanded that your precepts
be diligently kept.
Oh, that I might be firm in the ways
of keeping your statutes!
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
I will give you thanks with an upright heart,
when I have learned your just ordinances.
I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

Gospel Mt 5:43-48

Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said,You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers and sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

HOMILY

Tayo po ngayon ay nasa ikalabing-isang araw na sa panahon ng Kuwaresma. Ang panahon po ng Kuwaresma ay binibigyang katangian ang higit pang pag-iibayo sa pagsasanay o training. Hindi po tayo lalago sa ating buhay espirituwal hangga't wala po tayong effort na ginagawa. 'Yong totohanang gagawin at susundin ang mga panawagan ng Kuwaresma. Hindi po ito madaling gawin, kahit na sabihin po natin na taon-taon namang nagdaraan ang simbahan sa panahon ng Kuwaresma. Taon-taon naman na nakikita natin at nararanasan natin ang panahon ng Kuwaresma. Kailangan natin ng ibayong paggawa, base po sa ating pang-unawa sa mga napapaloob na gawain sa Kuwaresma.

Ipinapahayag po sa ating Ebanghelyong narinig ang dalawang mahalagang batas ng Diyos na sa totoong buhay, sa panahon po natin ngayon, ay tila mahihirapan po tayong sundin, kung hindi po buo ang ating kalooban kay Lord. Ang mahalin mo ang iyong kaaway, at ang maging perfect sapagkat ang Diyos ay perfect being. Mayroon po ba sa atin ditong perfect? Pakitaas po ang kamay. Wala naman siguro. 

Meron po ba ditong mahal ang kanyang kaaway? Sino pa sa inyo ang nagmamahal sa kaaway? Itaas po ang kamay. Halimbawa kayo po ay Daddy. Papayagan po ba ninyo ang inyong anak na dalaga kung may nag-imbita sa kanya sa prom, pero ang nag-imbita ay kaaway ng anak mong lalaki, at palagi pang binu-bully ang isa mo pang anak na maliit? Tatanggapin ba ng Tatay na ipagkatiwala ang kanyang anak sa kaaway? Of course, hindi. Hindi po ba? 

Mga kapatid, kung titignan po natin, tila napakahirap mahalin ang kaaway. Sa papaanong paraan po natin mamahalin ang ating kaaway? Higit na makatutulong sa ating pang-unawa kung sisimulan po nating itama ang understanding po natin base sa uri ng love na itinuturo ni Kristo sa Ebanghelyo ni San Mateo. Sa Kanyang mga tagapakinig at disipulo, at sa panahon natin ngayon, when Jesus Christ tells us to love our enemies, He is not demanding us to produce some warmth toward the people who have wronged us. He does not expect us to be inhuman, or to pretend to be what we do not like. The love He calls us is rooted in our free decision on what is good for our enemy. No matter what pain he has caused you, ipagdasal mo ang iyong kaaway. Sino po sa inyo ang nagdarasal para sa kanyang kaaway? Paano po natin ipagdarasal ang ating kaaway? Ipagdarasal po ba natin siya para mapahamak? Hindi. Ipagdarasal natin ang ating mga kaaway nang harinawa'y maging mabuting tao siya. 

Jesus said that we should be perfect, just like our heavenly Father is perfect. But how can we expect to be perfect like God? It sounds like Jesus is expecting us to be flawless, and we know that we cannot live up to such demand. We get distracted, we forget things. We make mistakes, not to mention our many sins. We are very far from perfection. Just as we need to understand how Jesus uses the word 'love', we also need to correctly understand what God means by the word 'perfect'. 

The word 'perfect' here is not about scoring the highest rank. Jesus is calling us to be perfect, in the sense of being whole or fully developed. We are perfect if we realize fully the purpose for which we have been created. And we are created to love. So Jesus is calling us to the highest standards of love. Mahalin mo ang iyong kapwa-tao. Wala ka dapat kinikilingan sa iyong pagmamahal. 

Sa atin kasi, mahal lang natin 'yong nagmamahal sa atin. Eh paano 'yong hindi nagmamahal sa atin - mamahalin mo ba? Paano kung ang taong 'yon ay araw-araw kang binibigyan ng problema, mamahalin mo ba 'yon? Paano 'yong mga taong umaaway sa atin, mamahalin mo ba sila? But that is the perfect love that Jesus is telling us. If we want to follow the Lord, we cannot be completely loving only those who love us. If we love some people but not others, our love is still imperfect. 

Let us ask ourselves, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Does our heart open to the Lord's transforming love, so that we can love as He loves us? Are we really exerting effort to love those who are difficult to love? Do we really pray for our enemies? Ipinagdarasal ba natin na sana ay magkaroon ng kabutihan ang ating mga kaaway? Hilingin po natin ang grasya ng Diyos, at humingi rin tayo ng kalakasan na nagmumula sa Kanya, para po matutunan nating mahalin ang lahat, at maging perfect, sapagkat ito ang panawagan sa atin ng Diyos. Sa ngalan ng Ama, ng Anak, at ng Espiritu Santo, Amen.  

Praying for One's Enemies - click here