Author name: webweaver

The Rich Man and Lazarus Brothers and sisters, tonight we celebrate the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Church also dedicates this Sunday to seafarers and migrants. Today, this Saturday, is also the birthday of Saint Alphonsus, the founder of the Redemptorists, and the anniversary of the Province of Cebu, which in the future will become the Province of the Philippines. Maybe tonight is also our last Mass together, as a batch, for tomorrow we will be dispersed to our respective ministry. We are so grateful for the past two weeks, especially to our facilitators, because we have learned so much- from the elements of faith, to religious experience, and from religious experience to discernment. And from discernment to being aware of AI, and from AI to the need of supervision. All of these are very important and must be considered in spiritual direction. Through these, I have come to appreciate even more the art of listening, not only the importance of listening to someone, but also of listening to oneself, and of discovering together what God is telling us, to see what God is doing in our lives, self-awareness as sometimes call it, because all of these come from our desire to be with God and to follow his will. For me, this is a daunting task. In the ministry of spiritual direction, as we have already heard, we cannot separate our very selves from the ministry. As much as we ask the person to see God in their life, so much more are we called to see God in our own personal life. We are supposed to see God first, before we can help others see Him in theirs. We cannot split our being from what we are doing. We cannot pan for gold unless we know what gold is. Only then can we truly journey with the person that we accompany. This is our calling: to journey with others. In today’s Gospel, we hear the story of Lazarus. Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man lived in comfort, eating and drinking every day. Just outside his gate lay poor Lazarus, hungry and covered with sores. Dogs even came to lick his wounds. But the rich man never cared and was never bothered. He was indifferent. He never had the intention, or even the willingness, to help, to touch the wounds of Lazarus, much less to listen to Lazarus. In other words, for him it was none of his business. But for us, especially us religious and priest, it is our business: to feel what others feel and to see what others see. If we truly love one another, we cannot remain indifferent. We are called to be neighbors to everyone especially the poor. I hope we can also offer spiritual direction to poor people. This means taking responsibility for the needs of others and being able to listen to the silent plea of their hearts, to their deep desire to connect with God. I remember an experience from my childhood. There was a little girl in our neighborhood left alone by her parents. My aunt noticed that it was already lunchtime and the parents had not returned. The child simply stayed in their house, in their veranda, waiting. It was getting late, maybe around 2PM, and my aunt was sure she was hungry. So my aunt called the child into our home and offered her food. I will never forget that girl, on how she devoured her food. Though shy, as obviously as she was, she ate it all the food my aunt offered to her.  She was able to escape hunger that day because of my aunt’s simple act of care and kindness. My aunt didn’t preach, she didn’t explain anything to me, but her actions pointed me towards God. And that is what Jesus is asking of us: to see, to feel, and to act. Even small gestures of concern can save someone from pain, hunger or loneliness. So, it is good to reflect on these brothers and sisters. How are we as neighbors to our fellow human beings? Do we help them? Are we always available to them? Do we share our precious time with them? Human as we are, we know that we cannot perfectly give ourselves to others. But God continues to challenge us: it is by giving that we receive; it is by offering ourselves that we experience perfect love just like the song we sang yesterday. I was a little sentimental yesterday when we sang that song. It was my aunt’s favorite song. She often sang it when I was a child, which is why I’m so familiar with it. As we continue this Holy Eucharist, let us pray for hearts that listen, hearts that hear the quiet cries of those around us and the gentle voice of God within us. As mentioned in our morning prayer, spiritual direction doesn’t end here. It is a continual process of learning, listening, and discernment as we seek God in the algorithm of our soul. Amen. Homily delivered by Fr Ritchie Cuaton, CSrRAnticipated 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time27 September 2025Holy Family Retreat House, Busay, Cebu

TO DIE TO SELF Homily delivered by Fr. Miguel Gaspe, CSsr on the Feast of Saint Thérèse Couderc, co-founder of Cenacle SistersHoly Family Redemptorist Retreat House, Busay, Cebu City26 September 2025 A common thread in the stories of most religious founders in the history of the Church is their shared religious experience.   It can be experienced through immense joy and gladness. Yet, we also know that even in times of trial and challenge, God’s presence can still be felt. When Therese Couderc was forced to resign from various positions in the Congregation due to false accusations against her, she saw this as an opportunity to hold to her faith and trust in God. It is in these encounters of “deaths” that she was raised to “life”. From this experience, she made the most of it as an opportunity for personal growth and in the mission she was called to serve. “A grain of wheat that falls to the earth must die to bear fruit.” This is a profound example that Jesus uses to help his disciples understand what it means to follow him. One has to die to self. What does it mean to die to oneself? To die to self is the ability to delve deeper into one’s being, confronting one’s own strengths and weaknesses, while allowing God to penetrate the heart and mind. From this movement, a renewed self emerges, putting behind perspectives that are no longer helpful in our journey. A renewed self that nourishes life around him. In the past few days in the workshop, we have been taught about the skills required in conducting spiritual direction (SD). However, as we progressed, what we were taught was not only the “hows” of doing SD, but also the “being” of becoming a spiritual director. Later, we realize that to grow in the spiritual life is an experience of a never-ending cycle of discovery, reflection, and surrender. One has to surrender, has to encounter death if one desires to live life to the fullest.  May the spirit of our holy founders and confreres continue to inspire us in the work of bringing all people closer to God. Amen.

Me Save My friend JM is the only person I know whose full name is “JM.” His dad named him Joseph Marlow. But when he abandoned the family, JM’s maternal lolo had his name legally changed to just “JM.” JM works as a janitor in a McDonald’s. He hits the road at 5am every day, rain or shine, baha or more baha. He moves frozen stuff from the freezer, first thing, & sets them down near the stoves. Then, all day long, he mops the floor, clears tables, & washes & washes & washes dishes. The other janitor is slack, he says. He leaves a heap of dirty dishes by the sink before break-time, but never helps JM wash them after the break. But my friend takes it all in silence every day. All in silence. JM has 2 dreams, his “tower,” let’s say. First, he wants to buy a small house where his wife & his 12-year-old son can live. But because that’s not going to happen anytime soon, his 2nd dream is to buy a small, portable keyboard for his son. The kid sings in church & has shown increasing interest in the piano. Every Saturday night, JM walks him to choir rehearsals at the nearby chapel. JM is proudest, though, when the kid sings solo at the responsorial psalm on some Sundays. He always takes a picture & sends it to me. JM has told me many times: “Me save. Me buy piano for son.” Yes, he says it like that. “Me save. Me buy piano for son.” He says it w/ his hands. JM was born deaf. He doesn’t know what a song or a piano sounds like. But one day, “me buy piano for son.” JM’s tower, sisters & brothers: a small house & a portable keyboard.  Our Gospel today continues the story where a Pharisee invited Jesus for a meal. Jesus saw how guests picked places of honor at the table, the upper crusters. So, he finally said, “Which of you wishing to construct a tower doesn’t first calculate how much it’ll cost to complete it? Otherwise, after laying the foundation, but running out of money to finish the work, onlookers should laugh at you & say, ‘This one began to build but didn’t have the resources to finish.’” Maybe, the shorthand in Tagalog could be: “’Yan. Ang tayog kasi ng lipad.” Whenever I think of JM, of course I compare his life to that of the contractors & so-called public “servants” who infuriate us these days. All these years, imagine how they’ve been living off of the tired & sweaty backs of honest, hard-working people like JM; their all-expense-paid life. “How much higher do you want those towers to go?” I really want to ask them. “Kulang pa ba? How many more cars, mansions, ‘Jet-2 getaways’ will you steal for? How many more bags, shoes, clothes, jewelry do your children need to show off before they begin to feel important? Kulang pa ba?!” And where & how do these people think all this will end? Saan ang katapusan? If there are some of you here, sisters & brothers, who are friends or relatives w/ the people I’m talking about, can you ask? Tell them you’re asking for a friend. How do they think all this will end? Because there is an end. From what Jesus taught us, we either spend this life giving back, or spend the next life paying back, until we’ve “paid the last penny.” For 300 years from the first Pentecost, Christianity was forbidden under pain of death by crucifixion, burning, or feeding to wild animals. Following Jesus was virtually a death wish; suicidal, if you want. So, imagine how someone deciding to follow Jesus would run afoul even of his own family. That line: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, & even his own life, cannot be my disciple”? That line reminds me of an unico hijo friend. When he finally broke it to his rich parents that he wanted to be a priest, his father said, “You might as well kill me if you’re just going to be a priest.” How families must’ve pleaded w/ their children back in the day, dissuading them from joining this underground movement that Jesus started. I could hear the parents say, “Why are you doing this to us? Do you hate us? You love this Jesus more?” Today, though, we hear scheming contractors & “public servants” even utter Jesus’ name & lovingly. But discipleship doesn’t have anything to do with it at all. Haven’t they noticed, even from history alone: not all the money in the world will ever finish monuments of avarice & deception. Like termites through the toughest wood, fate & retribution will eat away, slowly & patiently, at every foundation laid in greed & fraud. Just when they think they’ve topped the tower, the flawed foundation will have begun to fissure. JM’s “tower” is modest enough. I hope he sees it through, sa awa ng Diyos. The little dream house might not come anytime soon, not on a McDonald’s salary. That portable keyboard, though, that one’s doable. “Me save,” he says. “Buy keyboard for son.” Imagine the day when JM sees his son play the keyboard he brings home w/ great love, & sees him play a psalm & sing it. Sweet, sweet music only a deaf father’s heart can hear. Loud & clear. Homily delivered by Fr. Arnel Aquino, SJ23rd Sunday in Ordinary TimeCenacle Retreat House6 September 2025