March 16, 2013
Saturday – Year of Faith – Lenten Seasons
by Rev. Fr. Ramil Rigunay (Bahay Pari, San Carlos Seminary, Guadalupe, Makati)
12:15PM Mass, Sto. Nino de Paz Chapel, Greenbelt, Makati
I knew their plot because the LORD informed me; at that time you, O LORD, showed me their doings.
Yet I, like a trusting lamb led to slaughter, had not realized that they were hatching plots against me: “Let us destroy the tree in its vigor; let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will be spoken no more.”
But, you, O LORD of hosts, O just Judge, searcher of mind and heart, Let me witness the vengeance you take on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause!
Yet I, like a trusting lamb led to slaughter, had not realized that they were hatching plots against me: “Let us destroy the tree in its vigor; let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will be spoken no more.”
But, you, O LORD of hosts, O just Judge, searcher of mind and heart, Let me witness the vengeance you take on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause!
R. (2a) O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
O LORD, my God, in you I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and rescue me,
Lest I become like the lion’s prey,
to be torn to pieces, with no one to rescue me.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
Do me justice, O LORD, because I am just,
and because of the innocence that is mine.
Let the malice of the wicked come to an end,
but sustain the just,
O searcher of heart and soul, O just God.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
A shield before me is God,
who saves the upright of heart;
A just judge is God,
a God who punishes day by day.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
O LORD, my God, in you I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and rescue me,
Lest I become like the lion’s prey,
to be torn to pieces, with no one to rescue me.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
Do me justice, O LORD, because I am just,
and because of the innocence that is mine.
Let the malice of the wicked come to an end,
but sustain the just,
O searcher of heart and soul, O just God.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
A shield before me is God,
who saves the upright of heart;
A just judge is God,
a God who punishes day by day.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said, “This is truly the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he? Does not Scripture say that the Christ will be of David’s family and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” So a division occurred in the crowd because of him. Some of them even wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not bring him?” The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this man.” So the Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed.” Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them, “Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?” They answered and said to him, “You are not from Galilee also, are you? Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
Then each went to his own house.
So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not bring him?” The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this man.” So the Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed.” Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them, “Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?” They answered and said to him, “You are not from Galilee also, are you? Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
Then each went to his own house.
HOMILY
Nadinig po natin sa Unang Pagbasa ang tungkol sa buhay ni propeta Jeremias. Kung mayroon mang isang paniniwala si propeta Jeremias tungkol sa Panginoong Diyos, ito ay ang kanyang paniniwala na ang Diyos ay makatarungan. Our God is a God of justice.
But before we attain this justice, first, we have to lay down our common understanding of what justice is. Sabi po ng iba, ang hustisya o katarungan ay ang pagpili nang tama o kung ano ang nararapat. At ang bunga ng hustisya o katarungan ay walang iba kundi kapayapaan. I remember one of the many encyclicals of the late Pope Paul VI. Ang sabi po niya, development is the new name for peace. Magiging progressive o successful ang isang bayan kung mayroon itong hustisya o kapayapaan.
Pumunta naman po tayo sa Responsorial Psalm. It says that our God is the God of hope. Ang ating Panginoon ang Diyos ng pag-asa. Ang ating Diyos ng pag-asa ay siya ring ating Diyos na matuwid. Ngunit paano ba ang maging matuwid? Ano ba ang ibig sabihin ng pagkakaroon ng matuwid na pamumuhay o 'yong sinasabing matuwid na landas, matuwid na daan? Bago po natin makuha ito, dapat pong tayo ay may mga bridges of justice, hope, love and of peace.
Narinig din po natin sa ating Ebanghelyo ngayon ang pananampalataya ni Nicodemus. Naniniwala siya na ang Panginoong Hesukristo ay siyang sugo ng Panginoong Diyos Ama upang magbigay ng kapayapaan, ng katarungan sa mundong ibabaw. Pero ang problema, ang mga Phariseo at mga Sacerdote ay hindi naniniwala na mayroong isang tao na manggagaling sa Judea, na anak ng isang hamak lamang na karpintero at ng isang plain housewife.
Sometimes, we are like the Pharisees and the Sadduccees. We have the tendency to put Jesus, to put God in a box. It is a challenge for us, especially now during this Lenten Season, to believe in God, and to give Him justice, just as God gives us His justice.
Sa panahon po ng Kuwaresma, hayaan nating ang ating sarili mismo ang makipaghalubilo sa Panginoong Diyos. Hayaan nating tayo ang magbigay at magpadama ng pagmamahal sa ating Panginoong Diyos sa pamamagitan ng pagmamahal natin sa ating kapwa. Now that we have a new Pope, we pray that our holy, one, universal and Catholic Church, may be a church of justice and hope, and may be a sign of God's Kingdom. Amen.
