September 08, 2013
Sunday – Year of Faith – Ordinary Time
by Rev. Fr. Larry Tan,
S.D.B. (Salesians of Don Bosco)
6:00PM
Anticipated Sunday Mass at Sto. Nino de Paz Chapel, (Greenbelt Chapel) Makati
Who can know God’s counsel, or who can conceive what the
LORD intends? For the deliberations of mortals are timid, and unsure are our
plans. For the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs
down the mind that has many concerns. And scarce do we guess the things on
earth, and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty; but when things
are in heaven, who can search them out? Or who ever knew your counsel, except
you had given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high? And thus were the
paths of those on earth made straight.
R. (1) In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
You turn man back to dust,
saying, “Return, O children of men.”
For a thousand years in your sight
are as yesterday, now that it is past,
or as a watch of the night.
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
You make an end of them in their sleep;
the next morning they are like the changing grass,
Which at dawn springs up anew,
but by evening wilts and fades.
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
And may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
I, Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner for Christ
Jesus, urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become in
my imprisonment; I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. I should
have liked to retain him for myself, so that he might serve me on your behalf in
my imprisonment for the gospel, but I did not want to do anything without your
consent, so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary. Perhaps
this is why he was away from you for a while, that you might have him back
forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother, beloved
especially to me, but even more so to you, as a man and in the Lord. So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him
as you would me.
Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and
addressed them, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife
and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my
disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my
disciple. Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and
calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and
finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and
say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’ Or
what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with
ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him
with twenty thousand troops? But if not,
while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. In the same way, anyone of you who does not
renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”
HOMILY
Actually,
this is one of my first public appearances after my hip replacement operation.
I have been feeling the pain for the last two years, but I delayed the
operation, because of the uncertain condition of my mother when she was sick in
the U.S. But then when she finally passed away last March, I felt that it was
time to go ahead with the operation. The Makati Med diagnosed it as severe
osteoarthritis of the hips. In other words, old age. (laughs) Kaya ngayon ay
feel na feel ko na kapag sinasabi nilang 'sagad to the bones' (laughs) dahil
masakit. Di na madala ng gamot o ng pray-over, kasi ang problema ay structural,
so I had my operation done on August 14, after I got back from the U.S.
You know
these past few months, talagang nabagabag ang ating bansa dahil sa mga
nangyayari sa ating paligid. It is so unfortunate because so many people are
poor and trying to make both ends meet. There is a rise in criminality, dahil
sa kahirapan. Yesterday in the news, may binaril yata sa Batangas dahil gusto
nilang kunin ang pera para maipambayad sa kanilang placement fee overseas.
Napakaraming nagbebenta ng sampaguita, o kahit ng trapo diyan along EDSA, only
to realize na napakayaman pala ng ating bansa. 'Yon nga lang, ang yaman na 'yan
ay hindi talaga nakaka-abot sa mga mahihirap at sa mga nangangailangan, kundi
sa bulsa ng iilan.
In the
cover page of Biz News, there is a picture of the Congress and what is said
about it? It is seen as the biggest syndicate in the Philippines. It is sad.
One time, a friend of mine asked me - what ever happened to Catholic education?
Dahil sabi nga nila, karamihan sa mga napapagbintangan (daw) ay produkto ng
iba't ibang exclusive schools, at karamihan doon ay Catholic schools. Sila ay
estudyante ng....Ateneo de Manila (laughs).....estudyante ng De La Salle,
graduates pa ang iba ng AIM.....Assumption....Mabuti hindi binanggit ang Don
Bosco (laughs) Pero meron din kami do'n. Sa totoo lang, may dalawa din kami
do'n na nakasama sa picture. Nakakahiya. Imagine from prep to grade school,
hanggang sa college, sa post graduate studies.
And it
is something that a lot of people have been asking, and it is quite
mind-boggling, because in spite of all the things that we learn, the things
that we go through, we pride ourselves of being the only Catholic nation in
Asia, and so on and so forth, yet, there is such a wide gap between our faith
and how we live our life on earth. This is what one Jesuit says as 'split level
of Christianity'. Karamihan sa kanila, nagsisimba pa tuwing Linggo, pero
pagkatapos, nagagawa nila ang mga bagay-bagay na hindi natin maisip-isip. At
ang pinag-uusapan natin ay hindi lamang daan-daan, hindi lamang libo-libo,
hindi lang milyon....ngayon ang pinag-uusapan natin ay
bilyon....bilyon.....Kayo nagbabayad ng buwis. Kaltas kaagad 'yan, no choice,
unless of course underground ang kita ninyo. But for an ordinary worker, kaltas
kaagad 'yan, bawas kaagad. Dapat lang magalit ang tao.
Kaya nga
dito natin makikita kung ano ang binibigyan ng priority talaga ng tao - kung
ano ang ginagawa nilang Diyos sa buhay nila. The Gospel of today reminds us
that beyond and above all, we should make Jesus our top priority. If anyone
does not renounce father, mother, brother, sister, children, for God's sake,
cannot be His disciple. Not that we are supposed to hate our family or
relatives. No. God reminds us that above and beyond everyone, beyond and above
anything else, dapat ang Diyos ang number one. And this is entirely the exact
opposite of what we see today in our society. Depende kung sino at kung ano
ang ginagawa mong Diyos sa buhay mo, 'yan ang magiging direksiyon ng iyong
buhay.
And
the Lord also reminds us that we cannot serve both God and money. It's either
you love one and hate the other, or be faithful to one and not to the other. The Catholic Bishops
Conference of the Philippines already made a statement that the scam to which
many of our politicians are allegedly involved, is almost tantamount to
terrorism. Dahil biro mo, talagang nilapastangan mo ang mga taong naghihirap,
dahil sa mga bagay-bagay na ginawa nila, alang-alang lang sa kanilang
kapakanan. Habang sila ay nagpapasasa sa kanilang luho, napakarami sa ating mga
mamamayan ang talagang naghihirap at nagdurusa.
Bakit
ganyan? No wonder Mahatma Gandhi used to say na ang galing at admirable talaga
ang Ebanghelyo at ang mga morals and teachings ng Panginoon sa Ebanghelyo. But
then he says that he does not want to be a Christian, simply because he sees so
few who live by it. That is why, my dear brothers and sisters, the challenge of
the Gospel today is to put the Lord first. Therefore, kung ang Panginoon ang
pangunahin at pinakamahalaga sa buhay natin, dapat itong makita, hindi lamang
sa salita, kundi lalong-lalo na sa ating gawain. God should have the number one
place in our life.
What
does it mean, therefore, na siya ang number one, ang top priority? Kayong mga
nagsisimba dito, kung ang pagsisimba ninyo o ang pagdarasal ninyo ay hindi
nakakatulong sa inyo upang maging mas mabuting Kristiyano kayo, there's
something wrong. May problema tayo. You know, the longest journey, and also the
most difficult journey, is not the journey from Earth to Mars or any other
planet, but from here (Father Larry points at the forehead) to here (Father
points at the chest near where the heart is located). Mula sa ulo hanggang sa
puso - 12 inches lang 'yan. But that is the longest journey, and it is a
journey of a lifetime.
Pero
sana, ang ginagawa natin, tuwing Linggo, tuwing tayo'y nagdarasal, ay
makatulong naman sa atin ito unti-unti na lumapit naman o mag-synchronize ang
ating pananampalataya at ang ating paniniwala at ang ating pang-araw-araw na
gawain.
Dahil kung mahal nating ang Panginoon, ibig sabihin, gagawin natin at tutupdin
natin ang Kanyang mga utos. In the Gospel of Matthew, God said that if we love
Him, we should keep His commandments. No wonder the Catholic Bishops Conference
of the Philippines reminded our leaders, 'Do not steal; Do not covet thy
neighbor's goods.' Simply put, you cannot say you love the Lord and yet defy
His commandments. We have to abide and live by His teachings, by His
commandments. Napaka-simple lamang. The basic requirement is to follow the 10
commandments. Pero pag hindi natin ito ginagawa, ano'ng pinag-uusapan natin?
Palabas lang ang pananampalataya natin. And that is why we speak of the split
level of Christianity.
The
Gospel of today, my dear brothers and sisters, challenges us. Ano ba talaga?
Sino ba talaga ang minamahal natin, at ano ba talaga ang binibigyan natin ng
kahulugan? Tandaan ninyo, tandaan nating lahat....Sino ba talaga ang
ginagawa nating Diyos ng buhay natin? Ang pera, hindi n'yo mababaon, hindi
n'yo madadala. Ang iba sa mga mambabatas natin, nobenta na....Nobenta na!
(laughs) Ilang taon na lang ang naiiwan at natitira sa buhay mo. Kahit na gaano
kalawak ang lupa mo, ang kailangan mo 6 by 4 lang - ito parang itong altar lang
(laughs). At kung ikaw ay ike-cremate, siguro 'yan, isang lalagyan ka lang ng
kandila, palakihan mo lang nang kaunti ang casing (laughs)
Kahit na
may sampu o dalawampu kang Hermes, hindi mo naman isasaksak sa kabaong mo 'yan
eh. (laughs) And besides, hindi mo naman pwedeng gamitin ang sampu o
dalawampung Hermes nang sabay-sabay. Hello....Alangan namang maglalakad ka dito
sa Greenbelt tapos nakadipa ka dala mo lahat ng Hermes mo. (laughs) Ano ka -
sira? (loud laughs) Kahit na ilang libo pa ang sapatos mo, isa lang ang pwede
mong suotin eh. At pag ika'y nakaburol, medyas ka lang. (laughs) Kahit na gaano
kadami ang iyong jewelry, siguro sa wake pwede pa ilagay 'yan, pero pag
ililibing na, tinatanggal 'yon. Otherwise, huhukayin ng magnanakaw ang libingan
mo. (laughs)
As the
saying goes, in the U.S., 'you do not see a funeral procession with a u-haul in
line'. O sige, kung hindi n'yo alam ang u-haul, 'lipat-bahay' na lang, para
local. (laughs) Ibig sabihin, wala kang bitbit, wala kang dala, pag namatay ka
na. After all has been said and done, what you can only bring before the
Lord is yourself, and the good that you have done, while you were still alive.
And woe to those na maraming atraso sa Panginoon. Imagine, haharap ka sa
Panginoon na maraming bagahe. Di ba nakakatakot? Di ka ba natatakot para sa
kaluluwa mo? That is why blessed are those who live in the ways of the Lord.
Pag harap nila, wala silang takot.
Sino
ngayon ang parang daga o parang ipis na kung anu-ano ang mga dahilan? Ang hirap
pa ng mga dahilan nila, nakaka-gago pa. Ginagago pa tayo. Double jeopardy. Pero
kung hindi man sila makakatikim ng hustisya dito sa lupa, ang Diyos ang may
huling salita. Sinasabi nga natin na ang Diyos ay mapagmahal at maawain, tama ka.
But at the end of the day, at the twilight of our lives, the Lord is just, and
He will judge us according to our deeds. Nakakatakot kung tayo ay may mga
bagahe, mga atraso na hindi maayos. And so, the only thing that we can bring
before the Lord is none other than a life well lived.
So, my
dear brothers and sisters, ngayon pa lang, sikapin natin na mamuhay nang
matuwid at maayos, because that is what the Lord wants from us - to put Him
first. The challenge is to make Him our top priority. And how do we show
it? Not only in words, but in our actions, by trying to live God's commandments
as faithfully as we can, in our relationship with one another, as well as by
living a life of love and justice. Let us pray in this Holy Eucharist that we
may be given the strength and the grace to be always faithful to the Lord, not
only in words, but importantly, in our life.
