Gospel Reflection

April 25, 2013

Thursday – Year of Faith – Easter Season

Feast of Saint Mark, Evangelist

by Rev. Fr. Benjamin “Benjo” Fajota (Vice Rector of the EDSA Shrine)

12:15PM Mass, Mary, Queen of Peace Shrine (Our Lady of Peace Quasi Parish/EDSA Shrine)

                         

Reading 1 1 Pt 5:5b-14

Beloved: Clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for: God opposes the proud but bestows favor on the humble. So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.

Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the world undergo the same sufferings. The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little. To him be dominion forever. Amen.

I write you this briefly through Silvanus, whom I consider a faithful brother, exhorting you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Remain firm in it. The chosen one at Babylon sends you greeting, as does Mark, my son. Greet one another with a loving kiss. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Responsorial Psalm PS 89:2-3, 6-7, 16-17

R. (2) For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The favors of the LORD I will sing forever;
through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.
For you have said, “My kindness is established forever”;
in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness.
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The heavens proclaim your wonders, O LORD,
and your faithfulness, in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies can rank with the LORD?
Who is like the LORD among the sons of God?
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.
At your name they rejoice all the day,
and through your justice they are exalted.
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Gospel Mk 16:15-20

Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages.They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

HOMILY

The late Archbishop of El Salvador, Oscar Romero, once said, "The Church must be ready to suffer in proclaiming the truth of the Gospel. It must be ready to point out sin, and to uproot the causes of sin in our society." And he continued to say that in a society full of sores, full of wounds, full of inflictions, it will cringe and will always would not accept when the Church will point out its sins and the causes of sins. But the Church must be ready to suffer.

And this is why the Church continues to proclaim the Gospel in terms of what is happening in our society. There are a lot of rising and new types of beliefs, attitudes and ideas that the world is embracing. But it does not really know that it is already embracing these truths, like the pandemic rise of internet pornography, the sense of consumerism and materialism that economists, traders and businessmen are always throwing to us, the rise of atheism in our society.

A lot of people no longer believe and no longer accept the sacredness of the celebration of the Eucharist. Why? Because of our failure. Failure to proclaim Christ and His Gospel in the way we live, in our lifestyle. Hindi na naniniwala ang tao na mayroong Diyos, na mayroong kahulugan at kahalagahan pa ang pagdiriwang ng Eukaristiya, dahil hindi naman nila nakikita ang bunga ng ating pagdiriwang sa ating pang-araw araw na pamumuhay. Kaya patuloy ang simbahan na nagpapahayag ng katotohanan para ipalaganap ang kaharian ng Diyos.

Tingnan po natin sa ating lipunan. Ngayon ay darating na naman ang halalan. Marami na tayong naririnig na kung anu-anong pandaraya at panlalamang lamang ang nagagawa. Pero hindi tayo nagsasalita. Dahil sinasabi natin, they are so powerful, they are already entrenched in authority, we cannot go against them. But Jesus Christ suffered so much because He took the risk of proclaiming the truth, of trying to get out of a popular system, of what is happening in the society.

Kaya nga ba't kung ano po ang nangyayari sa ating gobyerno o sa ating pamahalaan, hindi tayo pwedeng tumatahimik lamang. Hindi nila pwedeng sabihin kung bakit ang Simbahan ay nakikialam sa pagpapatakbo ng gobyerno. Hindi po sa pagpapatakbo tayo nakikialam, kundi sa uri ng pagpapatakbo ng ating bayan. Tingnan natin kung paano pa rin ngayon, kahit sinasabing tumataas ang punto ng ating ekonomiya, a lot of people are still living below poverty level, because a lot of people are still so greedy with power, with wealth, with fame. And we must not stop proclaiming the truth, no matter what it costs, even if we have to suffer, like what Jesus suffered.

Mga kapatid, ang pagpapahayag po ng kahulugan ng tunay na Ebanghelyo ng katotohanan ay ang pagsasabuhay nito. Hindi lamang sa pananalita, kung hindi sa ating araw-araw na paggawa. Amen.