Gospel Reflection

August 26, 2012

Sunday

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

by Rev. Fr. Jun Sescon

Greenbelt

First Reading:               Joshua 24:1-2, 15-18

Psalm:                         Psalm 34:2-3, 16-21

Second Reading:           Ephesians 5:21-32 or 5:2, 25-32

Gospel:                        John 6:60-69    

60 Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at it, said to them, "Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you that do not believe." For Jesus knew from the first who those were that did not believe, and who it was that would betray him. 65 And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." 66 After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. 67 Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."

HOMILY

Father Jun reminded us that for six Sundays now, the theme of the Gospels points to Jesus as the Bread of Life. But today’s Gospel showed that as Jesus said that He is the Bread of Life and that His Word is spirit and life, many could not accept and began to abandon Him.

Many deserted Jesus and chose not to follow Him anymore. We should then ask ourselves – Up to what extent are we following the Lord? Are we really determined to follow Him?

Father shared that he reads the Bible and tries to understand the passages, but the passages that disturb him most are those that he understands. As he understands, he realizes that it is very difficult to follow and obey. It is sad that those who abandon God are those who understand His Word, but could not accept what is being taught, so they leave and walk away.

Today the Lord is telling us that this can’t be. To follow Jesus is to take up our cross, that it may change us – our life, our heart – and not to change God. It cannot be that we say yes to Resurrection, and no to Crucifixion. Love, yes, but commitment, no. Charity, yes, but justice, no. We cannot have one without the other. Pain comes with birth, night comes with day. It is difficult but that it is the only way to follow Christ.

The untimely death of Sec. Jesse Robredo and the discovery of his life as a true public servant inspired us. Some even extolled him as he was a good man, na para bang hirap na hirap na tayong makakita nang tulad niya. But this should not be the case. Jesse should not be the only one. Goodness should be the way of life of all of us. It should be the norm, not the exception. We should all be like that.

We should pray that one day, we will not be surprised to have very good leaders like Jesse. We pray for that day that goodness in us will no longer be unique, that goodness may be our way of life. We are called by God to follow Him. In October, Blessed Pedro Calungsod will already be canonized as a saint. We should be like him. We should all strive to be saints. We should be faithful to our vocation as Christians – to follow the Lord, to be good, to be saints – committed to the ideas that we professed. Do we really believe in the truth that we believe in God? Jesus asks, “Do you believe in Me, or are you also going away?”

“Lord, we are all here because we want to tell you that we believe. Pardon us if at times, we renounce our faith and abandon our relationship with You when the going gets tough. Strengthen us, embolden us to be faithful. Thank you for always being there with us and for us. May we be constant and true. Remind us of Your presence, that we may live our faith, change our ways, and never leave you anymore, Amen.”

 

Joy of Quotes

We know purity, not only by reason and law, but also by the heart.

Set an example for believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
1 Timothy 4:12

Food for Our Soul

Remain Steadfast In The Faith

1 Peter 5:8–9 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith…

When I was a teenager, I was taught that if I wanted to resist the devil, I had to rebuke him. So whenever an evil thought came to my mind or I was tempted, I found myself saying, “I resist you, devil, in Jesus’ name! I bind you, devil! Go away from me, devil! I rebuke you in Jesus’ name!”  This went on until God showed me one day that though I had “resisted” the devil, I had spent more time talking to him than to God! I was more conscious of the devil than of God throughout the day.  I checked the Word of God and realized that we resist the devil not by focusing on resisting him, but by being established in the faith that we are made right with God through Jesus’ blood, that we are the righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21)  Yes, the devil will continue to remind you of your mistakes, failures and sins. And he will tell you that because of these things, you cannot receive your healing, that you will have to pay for your mistakes or that something bad will happen to your family. He will accuse you, condemn you and try to persuade your heart to believe that he can do bad things to you.  But the truth is that the devil cannot enforce anything in your life if he cannot persuade your heart. And your heart cannot be persuaded if it is “steadfast in the faith”, if it is established in righteousness. God says that once you are established in righteousness, “You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you”. (Isaiah 54:14) So now that my heart is established in righteousness, I can boldly declare, “Yes, I may have these problems in my life, but I am not guilty in God’s eyes. I am justified in God’s eyes by faith because of what Christ has done. I am righteous by Jesus’ blood!” My friend, that is how you resist the devil and become undevourable!

Speaking from the Heart

To God, 

Be thankful 

that we live another day or we may live just fade away like a memory.

Be thankful 

that behind everything storm is surely the rainbow of hope and sunshine.

Be thankful 

for our mistakes because life would be so boring if we were all perfect.

Be thankful

for stress so that we can be reminded to relax and put variety in our lives.

Have a thousand and one reasons to 

BE  THANKFUL

Stay being kind and happy

God bless

Gospel Reflection

August 24, 2012

Friday

St. Bartholomew, Apostle (Feast)

by Rev. Fr. Deo Florencio (Lorenzo Mission Institute)

Megamall

First Reading:               Revelation 21:9-14

Psalm:                         Psalm 145:10-13, 17-18

Gospel:                        John 1:45-51    

45 Philip found Nathan'a-el, and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." 46 Nathan'a-el said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." 47 Jesus saw Nathan'a-el coming to him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" 48 Nathan'a-el said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." 49 Nathan'a-el answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" 50 Jesus answered him, "Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these." 51 And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."

HOMILY

The Gospel today is about Jesus seeing Nathaniel under the fig tree.

Fr. Deo said that according to Bible scholars, Nathaniel is the real Bartholomew. Little do we know about the apostles. Matthew was a tax collector and an outcast, Simon was involved in terrorism, while others were fishermen, ordinary people and even sinners. Paano sila nagkaroon ng karapatan na maging foundation ng ating church? Why did God choose them to lead the Church and make other people to be like Christ in holiness?

Jesus saw His Apostles beyond who they were. Jesus saw them in God’s eyes and according to God’s plan. Jesus saw in them what they can become. Even if they were sinners, God had a greater plan for them. Like Jesus, do we also see others beyond their external appearance or their condition? Do we see the potentials of a person or what is in the mind of God for that person?

 

St. Bartholomew, Apostle – Pray for us 

Gospel Reflection

August 23, 2012

Thursday

St. Rose of Lima (Optional Memorial)

by Rev. Fr. Agapito "Aga" Tarog (Immaculate Conception Parish, Las Pinas)

Megamall

First Reading:               Ezekiel 36:23-28

Psalm:                         Psalm 51:12-15, 18-19

Gospel:                        Matthew 22:1-14           

1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, `Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.' 5 But they made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, `The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.' 10 And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 "But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment; 12 and he said to him, `Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, `Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.' 14 For many are called, but few are chosen."

HOMILY

The parable of Jesus today is based on a normal Jewish custom. During the time of Jesus, when one invites a guest to a feast or a party, there are 2 announcements. One is the preliminary notice which is made in advance, and is without a date yet. The preliminary notice serves to alert the guests that there will be an upcoming feast or party. Second would be the final announcement or final summons. During the final announcement, the invitees are expected to prepare and be ready to attend on the day of the celebration.

Regrettably, in the parable, people were busy or chose to ignore the wedding feast. And the wedding feast being referred to in the parable is God's Kingdom. What then does the parable wish to convey?

First, the parable says that God is preparing a feast for all of us. The feast is a celebration of our reunification with God our Father in His Kingdom, and a gathering of all the scattered children of God in His household, His eternal dwelling place.

We all know that the invitation was extended to the Jews, as the chosen people of God. However, "many of them did not come", as they failed to recognize God in the person of Jesus who walked amongst them. But the feast is ready, and the King now extends his invitation to others, which in this case, are those who are not the chosen people - the sinners, the Gentiles, the rest of us. Tayo 'yon. We were not entitled, yet we have been given the privilege to join in the banquet of God. This is called God's grace, which was given to us through His providence and goodness. We should be thankful and appreciative of this grace. 

Second, the parable speaks of the 'wedding garment" to be worn at the feast. Father said that we have been invited to the feast when we were baptized. And during our baptism, we were given the (spiritual) "garment" to wear in preparation for God's party. But of course, along the way, our garments get dirty, through sin, thus we ought to make it clean in preparation for the feast. And every day, God gives us the chance to prepare for the feast - when we celebrate the mass, and through the Sacrament of Reconciliation (confession). Are we careful enough to keep our garments ready - in all its purity and cleanliness - when we are already called by God to His feast? Or are our garments dirty? Do we take effort to make our garments clean through the Sacrament of Reconciliation?

God has already provided everything we need for us to be ready for His feast. Let us pray for the grace that we may prepare ourselves, so that we may not be caught flat-footed when God already calls us to the ultimate entry into His celebration in heaven.  

St. Rose of Lima - Pray for us