Gospel Reflection

January 27, 2014

Monday – Ordinary Time

by Rev. Fr. by Rev. Fr. Prudencio 'Jun' T. Solomon, Jr., Parochial Vicar, Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto Parish, Sampaloc, Manila
12:15PM Mass, Mary, Queen of Peace Shrine (Our Lady of Peace Quasi Parish/EDSA Shrine)

 

Reading 1 2 sm 5:1-7, 10

All the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron and said: “Here we are, your bone and your flesh. In days past, when Saul was our king,  it was you who led the children of Israel out and brought them back. And the LORD said to you, ‘You shall shepherd my people Israel  and shall be commander of Israel.’” When all the elders of Israel came to David in Hebron, King David made an agreement with them there before the LORD,  and they anointed him king of Israel. David was thirty years old when he became king,  and he reigned for forty years: seven years and six months in Hebron over Judah, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem over all Israel and Judah.

Then the king and his men set out for Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the region. David was told, “You cannot enter here:  the blind and the lame will drive you away!” which was their way of saying, “David cannot enter here.” But David did take the stronghold of Zion, which is the City of David.

David grew steadily more powerful, for the LORD of hosts was with him.

 

Responsorial Psalm ps 89:20, 21-22, 25-26

R. (25a) My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.
Once you spoke in a vision,
and to your faithful ones you said:
“On a champion I have placed a crown;
over the people I have set a youth.”
R. My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.
“I have found David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have anointed him,
That my hand may be always with him,
and that my arm may make him strong.”
R. My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.
“My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him,
and through my name shall his horn be exalted.
I will set his hand upon the sea,
his right hand upon the rivers.”
R. My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.

 

Gospel mk 3:22-30

The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “By the prince of demons he drives out demons.”

Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself,  that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him. But no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house. Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” For they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

HOMILY

"Sa pamamagitan ng prinsipe ng mga demonyo, siya'y nagpapalayas ng mga demonyo."

Mga kapatid, ito ang paratang ng mga Eskriba na mula sa Herusalem, na ating narinig sa ating Ebanghelyo. Pinaratangan nila na si Hesus, sa Kanyang pagpapalayas ng mga masasamang espiritu, ay nasa impluwensiya ng prinsipe ng mga demonyo. Hindi nila matanggap na ang isang taong katulad ni Hesus ay nakapagpapalayas ng mga masasamang espiritu. Bakit? Sapagkat para sa kanila, hindi karaniwang ginagawa ito ng isang tao. Ito ay maaari lamang gawin ng isang taong banal, ng isang taong ang kapangyarihan ay mula sa Diyos.

At iyon ang hindi nila matanggap. Na si Hesus ay banal. Na si Hesus at ang Kanyang kapangyarihan ay mula sa Ama. Sapagkat ang akala nila, sila lamang ang laging tama. Ang akala nila'y sila lamang ang laging banal. Sila lamang ang laging kinasisiyahan ng Diyos. Kaya't gumawa sila ng isang maling paratang, isang paninirang-puri, upang maisalba ang kanilang pangalan, ang kanilang reputasyon, ang kanilang pride. Hindi nila kayang lunukin na sila'y manliit at mapahiya sa harapan ng mga tao.

Mga kapatid, ang maling pagpaparatang, paninirang puri - lalong-lalo na kung ito ay ginagawa para maisalba ang sarili sa kahihiyan sa mukha ng ibang tao - ay nakapandaraya at nakapangloloko ng iba. Madaling gawin ngunit naiisahan din natin ang ating sarili, sapagkat tinatanggal natin sa ating sarili ang biyayang hatid ng buhay na walang hanggan. Maling pagpaparatang, paninirang puri...ito'y isang pamamaraan ng panloloko sa ibang tao, ngunit tayo ang tinatamaan. Tayo din ang humahakot sa ibinibigay nitong kaparusahan, habang tinatanggal natin sa atin ang biyaya ng buhay na walang hanggan.

Gospel Reflection

January 20, 2014

Monday – Ordinary Time

by Fr. Carmelo Esteban, Monfort Missionaries
5:30PM Mass, Mary, Queen of Peace Shrine (Our Lady of Peace Quasi Parish/EDSA Shrine)

Reading 1 1 sm 15:16-23

Samuel said to Saul: “Stop! Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” Saul replied, “Speak!”  Samuel then said: “Though little in your own esteem, are you not leader of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king of Israel and sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and put the sinful Amalekites under a ban of destruction. Fight against them until you have exterminated them.’ Why then have you disobeyed the LORD? You have pounced on the spoil, thus displeasing the LORD.” Saul answered Samuel: “I did indeed obey the LORD and fulfill the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought back Agag, and I have destroyed Amalek under the ban. But from the spoil the men took sheep and oxen, the best of what had been banned, to sacrifice to the LORD their God in Gilgal.” But Samuel said: “Does the LORD so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obedience to the command of the LORD? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission than the fat of rams. For a sin like divination is rebellion, and presumption is the crime of idolatry. Because you have rejected the command of the LORD, he, too, has rejected you as ruler.”

 

Responsorial Psalm ps 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23

R. (23b) To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always.
I take from your house no bullock,
no goats out of your fold.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

 

Gospel mk 2:18-22

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to Jesus and objected, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”

HOMILY

Ang pinaka-issue dito sa Gospel ay hindi ma-recognize ng mga tao na si Hesus nga ang Messiah. They did not believe in Jesus, they did not have faith in Him. That is why the people loved to compare Jesus with other religious leaders.

As we all know, by virtue of our baptism, all of us have been given the gift of faith. Faith is a gift that has been freely given to us by God. Hindi po natin ito hiningi. Faith connects us to God, and God to us. Ano man po ang mangyari ay hindi po ito mawawala sa atin. Hindi nga po ito nawawala, ngunit ang tungkulin ng Simbahan at ng Liturhiya ay palaguin at pagtibayin ang ating pananampalataya, at gamitin natin ito. Hindi ito palakihan o paramihan, dahil kapag sinabing faith, gaano man kaliit ito, kapag ito ay ginamit, ito ay effective.

Nabanggit ko ito sapagkat makikita ninyo na nitong nakaraang taon, tayo ay nilindol, binagyo, ngunit makikita ninyo ang tibay ng pananampalataya ng ating mga kababayan. Kahit na masira pa ang mga simbahan ay hindi masisira ang ating pananampalataya. Buhay na buhay ang ating faith. But we must remember that there are forces, both external and internal, temptations and challenges that may shake our faith. Therefore, we must be aware of these forces and keep our faith strong.

At paano natin gagawin ito? Kailangan nating pakinggan at isabuhay ang Mabuting Balita. Ito ang hamon ng Liturhiya sa atin. Habang isinasabuhay natin ang Mabuting Balita, mapapansin natin na mayroong pagbabago sa atin. And this is what God wants from us - to change for the better. Ngunit ito ay nakasalalay din sa atin. Kahit kagustuhan ng Diyos, kung ayaw naman natin ay hindi rin mangyayari. God already knows our weaknesses but if He sees us making an effort to change, we will receive God's graces.

In our First Reading, we can see Saul whom God loved so much. Kaya lang noong nagtagal, naging mapagmalaki si Saul. Saul thought that his ways were better than the Lord's. Eventually, God was angry at Saul and he was replaced by another king, who is David. This is an example of disobedience and lack of faith in God. Nawa sa misang ito ay makita natin kung paano pakinggan at isabuhay sa araw-araw ang Mabuting Balita.

Gospel Reflection

October 28, 2013

Monday – Year of Faith – Ordinary Time

Feast of Saint Simon and Jude, Apostles

12:15PM Mass, Chapel of the Eucharistic Lord (Megamall Chapel)

Reading 1 Eph 2:19-22

Brothers and sisters: You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God,  built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Responsorial Psalm PS 19:2-3, 4-5

R. (5a) Their message goes out through all the earth.
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day pours out the word to day,
and night to night imparts knowledge.
R. Their message goes out through all the earth.
Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.
R. Their message goes out through all the earth.

Gospel Lk 6:12-16

Jesus went up to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

HOMILY

My dear brothers and sisters, each of one of us has made a major decision at some point in our lives, and for sure, later on, we will still have to make major decisions. The question is - what do we do when we have to make major decisions, like getting married, studying, looking for a job? What do we do before making an important decision? Some of us think and study all aspects of the situation, while some of us rely on our emotions, or on what we feel.

We heard in the Gospel today that before making the major decision of selecting his Apostles, what did Jesus do? The night before, He spent His time praying to the Father. How about us? Do we also pray before making major and important decisions? We should not forget what Jesus did - we have to pray. It is in prayer that we are enlightened. In praying, we will be able to see and understanding things better. It will help us to be back again and stay at the right direction.

Jesus' Apostles faced a lot of challenges in their life, but they remained steadfast through prayer. Prayer will strengthen our faith, and give us renewed courage to remain faithful, humble and active missionaries of the Lord. Let us, therefore, not forget to spend time in prayer.  

Gospel Reflection

October 21, 2013

Monday – Year of Faith – Ordinary Time

by Rev. Fr. Carmelo Esteban, Monfort Missionaries
5:30PM Mass, Mary, Queen of Peace Shrine (Our Lady of Peace Quasi Parish/EDSA Shrine)

Reading 1 Rom 4:20-25

Brothers and sisters: Abraham did not doubt God’s promise in unbelief; rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God and was fully convinced that what God had promised he was also able to do. That is why it was credited to him as righteousness. But it was not for him alone that it was written that it was credited to him; it was also for us, to whom it will be credited, who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over for our transgressions and was raised for our justification.

Responsorial Psalm Lk 1:69-70, 71-72, 73-75

R. (see 68) Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people.
He has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
R. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
R. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
R. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people.

Gospel Lk 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”

HOMILY

You know, I always say that when we hear mass, we can see the difference of the mass compared to other church activities. In the mass, we always hear the Good News, ang Mabuting Balita. Pero alam n'yo, madaling ikalat ang hindi mabuti. Pero pag good news, ang hirap ikalat. Kaya sinasabi ko sa mga nagsisimba, pag-uwi ninyo sa inyong mga bahay, tanungin ninyo kung ano'ng good news ang nakuha ninyo sa misa.

Ang Gospel natin today ay paulit-ulit n'yo nang narinig. Ito ay walang paliguy-ligoy at malinaw ang gustong sabihin ni Hesus. Huwag tayong maging sakim. Kasi 'yan po ang trend ngayon sa society. Kailangan kang maging sakim, kasi pag hindi ka sakim, hindi ka 'in'. (laughs) And the more you have, mas ok. But Jesus is teaching us the reverse. We should not be selfish. We need to learn how to give sincerely, and be generous.

Even if we do not see God, He is always involved in everything we do, every day in our lives. And the Lord will not forsake us. We are all aware that a major earthquake hit Bohol last week. But we can see how resilient and how strong the Filipino's faith is. Even if most of the churches in Bohol have collapsed, the Filipinos continue to be steadfast in their faith. Don't forget - nauna ang pagiging Kristiyano natin, kaysa sa pagtayo ng mga simbahan. Faith is a gift from God, at hindi 'yan babawiin ng Diyos sa atin. At pag ang Diyos ang nagbigay, bigay-todo. Sa atin na 'yon, freely given by Him, with no strings attached. And the Gospel is telling us that however small faith is, it is effective, therefore, we have to use it.

Three days ago, I went buy food in a fastfood restaurant. And I saw three high school students from a very famous Catholic school in Quezon City. Magkasunod lang kami sa pila. And when these students got their food, sa sobrang gutom siguro nila, I did not see them pray before eating. I know they pray a lot in school. Pero bakit sa fastfood, hindi sila nagdarasal? At tsaka bihira akong makakita ng mga taong nagdarasal sa restaurant. Jackpot pa kung makakita ako ng isa, at kung makakita man ako, parang may arthritis. (laughs) Parang hirap na hirap mag-sign of the cross, oo. Hindi ko alam kung nahihiya, o hindi makita ang koneksiyon.

Then one time, I was in the airport, waiting to board. And when I am alone, I look for a place where I can pray my rosary. Gusto ko 'yong lugar na wala akong makikita, so jackpot nakakita ako ng ganoong lugar, where I can see the other planes taking off and landing, so tuwang tuwa ako. Pero kauupo ko pa lang, may umupo doon sa harap ko. Sabi ko, sa dami ba naman ng mauupuan, doon pa siya umupo sa harapan ko. (laughs) Pagkatapos, itong mamang ito, pagkaupo niya, bigla siyang naglatag ng mantle. Akala ko magpi-picnic kami. (laughs) Pero ang mama ay biglang lumuhod at nagdasal. Wala akong naintindihan sa kanyang dasal, maliban sa isang salita - Allah. Wow, very bold and very courageous ang mama, in professing his faith. In a country where Christianity is dominant, there is a Muslim praying, and it is very good witnessing. Pero ang karamihan sa atin, ano? Very compartmentalized ang faith.

Let us pray in this mass that we may use our faith and make it grow. At gamitin natin ang pananampalatayang ito, upang tayo ay huwag maging sakim.