God’s Generosity and Invitation to Love

Reflection on “God’s Generosity and Invitation to Love” based on the Gospel of Matthew 20:1-16 (25th Sunday in Ordinary Time):

In the kingdom of God, there is family, community – not just as a society or group of individuals.  In a society – there is this “we-and-them”, there is rivalry - survival of the fittest.  But, in a family, there is only “all - we – us” - and NO them. There is the spirit of co-operation rather than competition.  

In the Gospel parable, the workers in the vineyard complained because they saw each other not as family members but as rivals, as competitors.  If the latecomers in the vineyard were seen as family members of the early workers, the early workers would have rejoiced with them at their good fortune rather than grumbling.  There is one popular “oldies” song that goes: “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.”

We need to expand our concept of family beyond our blood relatives - because we are all members of the same Body of Christ, of one Spirit, with one heavenly Father… who is so generous … who sees all of us as His sons and daughters… and so we are brothers and sisters.

You see - The Gospel parable is really about God’s generosity, His grace, His goodness and mercy and His invitation to us into a more intimate relationship and not so much about fairness- but about relationship.

The problem is we often get caught up on issues of fairness – comparing ourselves with others, with one another.

We often feel discontented - because we often compare our lives with those who are doing better, with those who have more.  You see - there will always be someone richer, healthier, more talented, or better looking than we are.….

So, when it seems life is unfair - we need to take a fresh look at the good things in our lives – the things we often take for granted.  When we “feel cheated in life”, let us just think of those with less – the less fortunate - and not those with more.

The workers in the parable did not feel they were mistreated when they were hired - first.  It is only when the owner extended his generosity to the workers hired late in the day.  You see - We usually do not have problems with people’s generosity, with God’s generosity to us - when we are the ones receiving it – when others are envious of us - because we feel special.

In a way – it is like - when we come before God for our sins, we ask for Mercy but when it comes to other people’s sins or faults particularly against us, we demand justice.

All of us are like the workers in the parable who were hired later in the day… and so, we can say that we are all “latecomers.” 

If we want to compare ourselves with others – let us compare ourselves with the saints who are as ordinary people as we are. Compared to the saints who served God faithfully and who gave up their lives for the sake of the Gospel, serving others - St. Paul, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. Francis of Assissi, countless martyrs and saints, how do you think we are - compared to them?  - But God is equally generous and compassionate with the saints as He is with us.  He loves us, offers us His divine life – No Less… Everything is by the grace of God.

So, when we feel cheated in life, treated unfairly; when it seems life is so unfair – when bad things happen even to good people and the bad people seem to be the ones enjoying life and the ones prospering – we need to continue to trust God – his goodness, that He is just…that He is in control….even when things do not make any sense and even when we cannot understand.

In the grand scheme of things, we can see only a very tiny portion of the big picture… of God’s plan… 

We need to be in a relationship of love and trust with our God instead of on the basis of what is in it for me.

Here’s the big question for all of us:  Why do we follow Jesus, why do we obey his teachings? Why do we obey the Ten Commandments? Why are we here – why do we come to Mass?

– Is it because we want to go to heaven – and because we are afraid to go to hell?

Do we follow Jesus so He will bless us? … so that he'll make our family happy? So that bad things will not happen to us?  Do we pray the rosary or the novenas or go to pilgrimages or first Fridays or First Saturdays because of the promises - that no misfortune will come to us… that we will receive all the “indulgences”.

I am not saying those are bad motivations.  But we need to go beyond those motives.  Because – in a way we can say – with all due respect – those motives are the same as saying: “What is in it for me, Lord, if I do all those things?

When we go to confession – one of the versions of the Act of Contrition – we say: “I detest all my sins because I fear the loss of heaven and the pains of hell – (and here’s the most important part) - but most of all - because I offended thee my God who are all good and deserving of all my love…”… out of love…relationship of love….We cannot earn our way to heaven. Again, everything is grace.

All of the parables that Jesus told - always have - as the core purpose - to teach us something about our relationship with God. 

From this perspective - we can understand Paul’s letter to Philippians (1:21) – we heard from our second reading. Paul is not focusing on himself but on his relationship with Christ – with God.

Basically - St. Paul was saying: "For me life means Christ. Even if I die, it doesn't matter.  If I live – thanks be to God! - there' so much more I want to give. If I die - thanks be to God! – that means I will be with God!  If I live, I can continue to bring others to God. I am not going to live for what I can get out of life.”

That is how he found contentment in whatever circumstances he found himself in – even in prison… where he wrote this letter of encouragement.

… And so – for us - What happens now if after doing all our devotions – God forbid – what if bad things would happen to us? – What happens when we feel cheated by life?  Unfortunately, that is when people lose faith.  They no longer see God as good but unfair.  God does not seem to be real anymore.

Salvation is really when following Christ is no longer about us – no longer about ME, MY, OURS…  Salvation is about Jesus and our love for our neighbor and the life that we give – the life that we share… Jesus said:  “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake (for the sake of the Gospel) will find it.”  (Matthew 16:25)

So, my brothers and sisters in Christ, let us examine our reasons why we do what we do, why we follow Christ.  Let us be honest with ourselves.  Let us continue to pray for the Lord to purify our intentions, to increase our love for God and our neighbor….

…Let us pray that we may serve God and our neighbors - with joyful, grateful and generous hearts, not looking for how much we can get - but rather looking for how much we can give, how deep we can love.

At the end of our lives, that is all we can take with us – how much we have given of ourselves – how much we have loved, what we carry in our hearts.

(Homily for 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time Cycle A 
Readings: Isaiah 55:6-9 Philippian 1:20-24,27 Matthew 20:1-16)

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Loving and Forgiving Instead of Judging

Generally - When someone hurts us, we immediately draw a vision or image of that person. You kind of paint a picture in your mind of the kind of person he or she is….you kind of judge the person based on what you think in terms of the hurt – “she is mean, he’s so arrogant, insensitive, heartless, etc.” and when you talk to other people, they might even add to your growing prejudice…. So, if you were to draw a picture, you might even draw a monster, even with horns, etc.

But - Remember, your perception or what you think is not always reality.  We react to what we think which – maybe - is not the reality… meaning, there is a possibility that you could be wrong or that you could have misunderstood and therefore you could have been quick to judge.

Assuming you were right to feel offended, the only way to heal ourselves of those hurts is through forgiveness. It is not enough to be right, and yet you are so unloving, unforgiving.

Forgiving begins when we give up the horrible image we have in our mind of that person who hurt us. Meaning - We must come to a new vision of that person, not simply as the person who hurt us, but as a weak and sinful faulty person who also has needs and hurts, and so we try to understand what caused him or her to behave in that way or to say such a thing or why he failed to do what you expected.

At the cross, Jesus said: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” …meaning – why would you condemn someone who does not know any better…

You might say: “But he is already an adult, he should know better”… but you see – there are people –even adults in their 60’s 70’s and 80’s - who still don’t get it. 

You see - the problem is: when we come before God for our sins, we ask for Mercy but when it comes to other people’s sins or faults particularly against us, we demand justice.

Again - Forgiving begins when we give up the horrible image we have in our mind of that person who hurt us and coming up with a new image. And so - With that new image - Consequently, there is a new feeling towards the person. The new vision brings a new feeling because now you see this person more realistically.

And then – the next stage, so to speak is - there must be a surrendering of the right to get even. We simply give it up. Yes – you might think you have every right to get even as you might think, but we simply give it up or let it go.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, results to both parties – ending up both being blind and toothless.

On our own, we cannot forgive but by the grace of God we can, and with the grace of God we can even go beyond giving up our right to get even, we can even begin to wish that person who hurt us well… which is really a miracle.

As has been said: “To err is human, to forgive is divine.” (Alexander Pope)

The process of forgiving is fulfilled when you can want good for the person who has wronged you instead of wishing evil to fall upon him or her… The good of the person then will be your intention for approaching that person, as we heard in our first reading and in our Gospel reading, to help the person grow and become a better person… not to get even.

Then you can say you fulfilled the commandment “Love your enemy”.. “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” because love – true love is willing the good of the other… even if the person is unloveable.

Jesus died for us even while we were still sinners.

St. Pope Gregory the Great whose Feast Day we celebrated last Thursday wrote this on Praying for Enemies and Forgiveness:

Quote: “How frequently we offer a prayer for our enemies but we do it because we are commanded to and not out of love for them.

The judge of our souls consider our hearts rather than our words.  Jesus included a condition in the prayer: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Sometimes we say those words without carrying them out.  We must not allow any malice at all to remain in our own hearts.

Remember what Jesus taught us: Forgive and you will be forgiven.  Let us forgive others then - so that we, too may be forgiven.” (Unquote)

If you have been hurt - Do yourself a favor, forgive… to free yourself of the toxicity that can poison your soul. Of course, it is much easier said than done.

If the saints, who are as ordinary people as we are, can do it, by the grace of God, we can do it.

Judgment belongs to God.

If you cannot forgive, maybe you need to examine your own relationship with God and your own experience of forgiveness, of being forgiven.

As Thomas Merton said: “We are not at peace with others because we are not at peace with ourselves, and we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God.

If you think about it: Who are we to cast off someone whom Jesus has seen fit to redeem? Who are we to condemn someone whom Jesus has died for? Jesus died for all of us… for people of all times.

Think of the person you have a hard time forgiving and imagine Jesus telling you: “I already paid for his or her sins.” and so, “Be Merciful”.

Forgiving someone falling short of our expectations does not mean glossing over sin, but it does mean always trying to treat people with the respect and honor they deserve as beloved children of God – as brothers and sisters who have great dignity in God's eyes.

Mercy is not about pretending that something has not happened, that sin doesn't matter. Mercy is about accepting to love as one is.

St. Mother Teresa said: “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

As we heard in the second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans:

“Brothers and sisters:  Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another”.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, over time – if we persevere – like the Saints – we can become more like Jesus. And that’s the challenge for us. And so the question is: Will we stand fast in our ways, our ways of thinking or will we let the Holy Spirit continue to mold us and to shape us?

The next time you find yourself ready to judge someone, ask yourself this, “How would Jesus react in this situation?” What is the most loving thing to do? … and then you “Pause” and let the Spirit give you His insight. You’ll be amazed by how much peace and wisdom He can give you!

God bless…

Homily for the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A
Readings:Ezekiel 33:7-9 Romans 13:8-10 Matthew 18:15-20

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Twenty- First Sunday in Ordinary Time

2020 Financial Report

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

God Provides Through Us

There is a profound liturgical action that takes place at the ordination of a deacon. After the bishop lays his hands on the candidate and says the prayer of ordination, and after the deacon is vested, the bishop hands the new deacon the Book of the Gospels and says, “Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you now are.  Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.”  “Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.”  

Meaning - No one can proclaim the gospel unless he believes in the gospel and unless he lives these gospel beliefs.  This is fundamental to all Christians – the message is for all of us – not just for the clergies.

“Believe what you read” – meaning - believe the Gospel – but of course – first of all – we need to spend time reading the Scriptures through which God communicates to us in a personal way.  Second Vatican Council document put it this way: “In the Sacred Scriptures, the Father who is in heaven meets His children with great love and talks with them about His great love fulfilled in Christ.  In reading the Scriptures, we therefore encounter Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

“Believe what you read” - “Teach what you believe” - Everyone is called by Christ to proclaim His Gospel.  All of us are empowered for this mission.  We have the gifts of the Eucharist to sustain us.  We have the power of the Holy Spirit poured unto all of us at our baptism and confirmation.  We have the guidance of our Mother Mary…

“Teach what you believe” “Practice what you teach.” – Walk the Talk.

A father was giving a sermon to his teenage son.  The teenager replied: “What you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you are saying.”

Let us hope and pray that our children or anyone will not say or even think of saying that to us.

There is a phrase that goes, “You cannot give what you do not have.” It applies to all Christians.

When we live our lives in relationship and in communion with God, who gives of Himself to us, we become conformed to God’s grace and so we become channels or instruments of God’s grace and we ourselves become grace and when we in turn give what we receive, we find it multiplied beyond what we can imagine.  

We are all called to give ourselves in loving service of God and others as a continuation of Christ. The word Christ means Anointed and we were all Anointed at our baptism and confirmation – We are the Body of Christ.

In our Christian service, others must discover Christ in us because if we are not giving Christ to others – if we are filled with our ego and self-centeredness and our own agenda; if those whom we serve are not encountering Jesus in us, then our service is simply not true Christian service. It might be considered only as good charitable work, a philanthropy, it might be empathy; but it falls short of genuine Christian service if those whom we serve do not discover Christ – if they do not encounter Christ through us.

Like John the Baptist, we must decrease so that Jesus can increase in us, so that our brothers and sisters are not cheated out of encountering Christ whom they secretly long to discover in each of us.

We need to realize that the presence of the Lord is not ours to keep for ourselves and for our own benefit and salvation.  He is given to us so that we can bring His Love to others.

A lot of people nowadays, young and not so young are hungry and thirsty, so to speak, and have even lost sense of what life is all about.

The readings today help us recognize the gifts we have been given and the responsibility we have to give them to others.  From our first reading from the book of the Prophet Isaiah: “Come to the water, you who are thirsty.  Come eat - you who are hungry. “

The second reading, from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, tells us that no one and nothing can take the Source of Life from us. “What can separate us from the love of Christ? Anguish, or persecution, or nakedness, or famine or the sword or Covid19 pandemic?  NO.  Not even death.  Nothing can take Christ from us – But - We can reject Him. We are free to choose.

Our responsibility to stay united to the Lord has a deeper dimension than our own personal needs.   We need to be united to the Lord out of a responsibility to the spiritual lives of others – so we can bring Christ to them and them to Christ.

People think of Christianity only in terms of good works to be done or service to be rendered… but that is not all.  Yes - we are called to pick up our cross daily and follow Christ – which is not easy – to say the least… because to follow Christ requires our whole being.

But - as Christians - we are called to follow the highest ethic – the highest standard - that the world has ever heard… and, trying to do that in our own strength is like trying to feed five thousand people with fives loaves and two fish.  We cannot do that and so, the Gospel offers us help. 

We need to realize and experience the need of others.  We need to recognize our own limitations and emptiness, our inability to help.  And so - We need to go to the Lord, and He gives us the ability to provide. This is the Good News, the Gospel…for nothing can prevent us from being united to the One who provides for us.

How beautifully positive the readings are for today.  God will always provide. 

We have only to go to Him, stay united to Him, and we will receive bread for His people… meaning, we will receive blessings – the grace we need – not only for ourselves but for His people.

So – my brothers and sisters in Christ - Let us give Jesus whatever we have and He will multiply them for the good of others.

In Luke 4:16-20: Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring glad tidings to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free…”

Then Jesus said: “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Meaning – And the Word became flesh.

That is a call for all of us as the Body of Christ.

St. Teresa of Avila said it so beautifully:  “Christ has no body now on earth but yours; yours are the eyes with which He looks with compassion on this world; yours are the feet with which He walks to do good; yours are the hands with which He blesses the world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

Like Jesus, the Bread of Life; like the Eucharist, our lives must be blessed, broken and shared and poured out in loving service of God and others.

Amen.

Aug. 2, 2020

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time  -  Cycle A

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wheat and Weeds

Homily on “Wheat and Weeds in Our Lives” based on the Gospel reading (Matthew 13: 24-43):

Like many of you, one of my favorite hobbies is gardening. In fact, I even have a worm compost bin and I use the worm castings to fertilize the plants and trees. 

I try my best to have a really nice garden.  But, I also accept the reality that my garden will never look as beautiful as what you can see in Gardens magazines and the ads.

That is the reality of life as well.  Jesus tells us also that we can expect weeds along with our good plants throughout our lives.  He tells his disciples that in this world the good will exist along with the evil and it is going to be that way to the end of time. That's life and we have to expect to deal with that reality. 

It is a fact of our society and a fact in our own personal lives.  All of us experience good and bad in ourselves.  We strive to be good, to do good and to live a life pleasing to God the best we can, but we all fail at times and we sin.  We all have weeds in the garden of our life.  So, what do we do about it?

Let us start with the bigger picture - Where our society is concerned, Jesus gives us the answer.  We have to be the yeast of our society.  It is our task as followers of Christ to be active in our society to eventually leaven the whole batch.  I know its easy to say, "What can one person do?"  But that is exactly it.  Change has to start with one person, with one act, with one idea. 

Let me tell you a true story – just recently

Overseas Filipina Worker in Dubai - Feby Dela Peña offers 200 free meals a day to Dubai’s hungry jobless migrants- hit hard by the Corona virus shutdown.

Febi, who is also unemployed herself, said: “We’re poor, to be honest, but it’s not a reason for me not to help.  She relies on her husband’s modest income from a sales job.

She was able to buy about $130 worth of groceries, including 30 frozen chickens and sacks of rice, to startwith…and she began to cook.

Like most migrant workers in Dubai, the family lives in a shared flat.  When her 11 housemates found out about her plan –– those who could - chipped in - as well. That is how Feby, age 34, launched the project she calls Ayuda – which means help. 

She said: “Life is so hard and people don’t have anyone to depend on,”

“It’s a big thing if you can help even 10 people not to sleep hungry,”

And when word of her efforts spread on social media, people began dropping off cartons of eggs and bags of rice. In fact, an influential Emirati blogger gave her 10,000 dirhams = about $2,700 US dollars.

Meaning - Feby’s single act grew and grew.  More and more people became involved in the work… like the mustard seed which starts very small and grows large.

It all happened because one woman had an idea and felt a need to help her fellow human beings who are in need. 

People, even believers ask: With all the troubles in the world, it seems God is not doing anything?  You see- God is doing something.

The question to you and me is this: What am I doing – what are you doing?  We have so many problems facing us today that may seem so overwhelming.  Where do we start?  What problem is most important?  What can we do?

We can all follow the example of Feby and start doing something, no matter how small… and we can start with our families.

There is this belief in our society that you can fix anything by throwing money at it.  That's not the answer here.  It takes personal involvement to be yeast.   That is what it takes.  We have to become personally involved in our world to make this world a better place.  To be true followers of Jesus, we have to pick up our own cross. 

Not everyone is not called to be a Mother Theresa or be like Feby.

We do not have to look far.  Let us start with our own families, our own circle of friends.. There are so many people in need not only of material things, but also emotionally, psychologically, spiritually.

Here at St. Catherine’s, we have such indescribably amazing volunteers and ministers who help Fr. Glenn adapt to the ever new and changing challenges to continue to shepherd the faithful in these troubling times and to lead our faith community in worship.

Let us pray that God will make our hearts more and more attentive to the needs of others.  As we heard in the Gospel, “Those who have hears, ought to hear.”

Pope Francis said: “Do not be afraid to devote your life to God and to others; it pays! For life is a gift we receive only when we give ourselves away, and our deepest joy comes from saying yes to love, without ifs and buts.”

Now - How about when it comes to our personal life? We all have good plants and weeds in our personal life.  Most of us like to think of ourselves as essentially good people. And there is truth in that image of ourselves, but we all know there is another side to every one of us. 

At times, for seemingly no reason, we are in a bad mood or ill temper, irritable, and at times we get angry so easily… at times we can become so selfish and downright mean… and so, we recognize the duplicity of our nature.  Within the individual human heart there is a capacity for both good and evil. In every one of us, there is a strange mixture between the wheat and the weeds, so to speak.

Every person is a sinner; that - we cannot deny. But - every person is a potential saint; this we need to believe.

Jesus understood the dark side of human nature better than anyone else. He knew what it could do.  It nailed him to the cross.  But he kept believing that people were redeemable, and believed it - so deeply - that he bet his life on it. 

As Father Robert Barron said: “God’s purpose is not to destroy the enemy but to change him…. Not to destroy the enemy culture but to convert it.  Why does God not just eliminate his enemies? … just get rid of them - because God loves His enemies… and so the Church’s purpose, and so our purpose is not so much to destroy our enemies but to convert them…”

So, when we are tempted to lose faith in people including ourselves, all we need to do is look to Christ.  Jesus keeps believing in the human race.  He keeps believing in our world.  But most of all, Jesus keeps us believing in ourselves.

Our job as followers of Christ is to try – to aim - for that perfect holy life,   Our job is to recognize the fact that there will always be weeds of sin cropping up in our life.  And so - we need to cultivate, nurture - to mulch – so to speak - with the Sacraments; we need to fertilize with prayer and we need to weed with the Sacrament of Penance. 

Our personal life will never be perfect, just as our society will never be perfect… But - that does not mean that we stop trying to make it so.  We all need to plant that mustard seed of Faith and nourish it so that it can grow and grow towards perfection. 

As we go forth from this Eucharistic celebration today, let us all resolve to take on the task of doing something about a problem in our society – starting with our own families - no matter how small - and to do something in our own personal life to draw us all closer to Jesus.

Amen… which means - So be it.

July 19, 2020

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary time

Most Holy Trinity (June 7)

Pentecost (May 31)

Ascension of the Lord (May 24)