May 25, 2013
Saturday – Year of Faith – Ordinary Time
by Rev. Fr. Ernie M. Cruz, SDB -
Rector, St. John Bosco Parish Church, Makati
6:30AM Mass, St. John Bosco Parish
Church, Makati
Reading 1 Sir
17:1-15
God from the earth created man, and in his own image he made
him. He makes man return to earth again, and endows him with a strength of his
own. Limited days of life he gives him, with power over all things else on
earth. He puts the fear of him in all flesh, and gives him rule over beasts and
birds. He created for them counsel, and a tongue and eyes and ears, and an inventive heart, and filled them with
the discipline of understanding. He created in them knowledge of the spirit; With
wisdom he fills their heart; good and evil he shows them. He put the fear of
himself upon their hearts, and showed them his mighty works, That they might glory
in the wonder of his deeds and praise his holy name. He has set before them
knowledge, a law of life as their inheritance; An everlasting covenant he has
made with them, his justice and his judgments he has revealed to them. His majestic
glory their eyes beheld, his glorious voice their ears heard. He says to them,
“Avoid all evil”; each of them he gives precepts about his fellow men. Their
ways are ever known to him, they cannot be hidden from his eyes. Over every
nation he places a ruler, but God’s own portion is Israel. All their actions
are clear as the sun to him, his eyes are ever upon their ways.
R. (see 17) The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those
who fear him.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him,
For he knows how we are formed;
he remembers that we are dust.
R. The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Man’s days are like those of grass;
like a flower of the field he blooms;
The wind sweeps over him and he is gone,
and his place knows him no more.
R. The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
But the kindness of the LORD is from eternity
to eternity toward those who fear him,
And his justice toward children’s children
among those who keep his covenant.
R. The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him,
For he knows how we are formed;
he remembers that we are dust.
R. The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Man’s days are like those of grass;
like a flower of the field he blooms;
The wind sweeps over him and he is gone,
and his place knows him no more.
R. The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
But the kindness of the LORD is from eternity
to eternity toward those who fear him,
And his justice toward children’s children
among those who keep his covenant.
R. The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
People were bringing children to Jesus that he might touch
them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant
and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the
Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not
accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” Then he embraced the
children and blessed them, placing his hands on them.
HOMILY
Yesterday afternoon, the parish
organized a procession. It was a little different because it was a procession
of children. Father Dennis chose 24 titles of the Blessed Mother, and made the
children put on the attire of the Blessed Mother according to the title. Iba't
iba. Mayroong isang title...'yong parang chef 'yong kanyang ulo.
But one thing was very interesting.
They were walking along Glorietta 5 ending in the chapel of Glorietta....or
Greenbelt ba 'yon? And then when they arrived after some time of singing,
each of those "Ineng Maria" offered flowers to the statue of the
Blessed Mother in the chapel. It was so beautiful, when I was just facing them,
because some of the kids would place the flowers, and look at the statue,
and some of them will even close their eyes in short prayer. Ang gandang
tignan, kasi parang very limpid ang tingin ng mga bata. It is so
nice to see; very uplifting.
Our Gospel today talks about
children - how Jesus loves children, and how the Church places importance on
children, because they are the treasure and future of the Church. Very often,
we will encounter ourselves people with certain comments. Comments like, "Ang
childish naman ng taong ito. Ang tanda tanda na, parang bata pa."
But then, there are also comments like, "Ang ganda ng aura ng
taong ito, parang very childlike." These are two opposites in the
spectrum of human relationships. One connotes selfishness, anger, the attitude
of 'this is mine', 'this is my right', 'everything is for me', 'akin lang
ito'. While on the other, you will find the opposite of it - a person able
to enjoy, one who is open to the wonders of nature. Parang open sila
sa wonder and awe. Everything is beautiful. They are open to anything that
connotes trust. 'Yon 'yong attitude ng mga bata whom Jesus was
referring to when He said, 'Unless you become like these again, you will not
enter the Kingdom of God."
One can only understand the First
Reading of today with an attitude of openness. That there is something
different. When a person is open to anything, the sweetness of a child is
irresistible. Sabi nga noong isang araw ng aking dating kasamahan sa parokya...he
was actually the parish council president in the parish where I came from...noong
nagka-apo siya, tawag siya nang tawag, sabi niya, "Ang sarap, Father. Ang
sarap magka-apo." Paulit-ulit 'yong salitang sarap. "Ang
sarap Father, tinitignan ko lang siya. Paminsan-minsan nakakangiti siya,
ang sarap sarap. Parang gustong-gusto kong palaging nagpupunta sa bahay ng
aking anak para hawakan ko lang ang apo ko." Even the simplicity of
the child is transferred to the grandfather.
A child does not have status. A
child does not have position, not even intelligence. A child is always as he
is, facing the people. And this is what the Lord expects from us. We cannot
offer anything to the Lord, we offer ourselves as we are. And aware that although we have grown, we still are the same
person wanting to see the Lord, wanting to experience everything that comes
from the Lord - everything that brings us to awe and wonder, and that is the
goodness of God.
We cannot present anything else
other than ourselves, and the Lord is already contented seeing the very us, in
relating with Him. That we just face Him with our own nothingness. The Lord really would like to see that in us.
As we continue our celebration
today, let us look into our actuation - sometimes our attitude - into the
opposite side of relationships. That opposite side of the beauty of being
childlike. In the Gospel, the Lord embraced the children and touched them. The
Lord was attractive to the children, all because of that aura. When one does
not have anything to pride himself of, there is only the goodness of God that
comes out of him. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit, Amen.
