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Widow’s mite

Celebration of 60 years of religious life in the Cenacle of Sr. Lily Quintos, rc Homily of Fr. James Gascon at the Cenacle Retreat House, on Nov 11, 2018: A survey was once conducted in the United States. How much percentage of your income do you give to the Church and charities? The Gallup poll asked this question to 1000 population randomly selected per religious denomination. The Baptists gave an average of 5.6% of their income; the Jews 3.8%; the mainline protestants 2.4% and the Catholics, 1.4%. This survey was done in the States. I wonder what the result will be in the Philippines? I remember a story we used to tell each other when we were young. One time, the heroes of the Philippines had a shindig in heaven. All of them were present. Then their conversation started to verge on holiness. One of them asked, who is the holiest among us? Manuel Quezon proudly stood up and said, I recite the rosary every Saturday. Hmmm, he is indeed a holy person, said the crowd. Then Ninoy stood up and said, I carry a rosary in my pocket every day, and recite it. I learned that from the Ateneo. All those present started nodding, agreeing that he is indeed holier. Then out of the blue, Rizal stood up. And there was a commotion in the crowd. How can he be holier when he even wrote a lot of anti-church literature and even condemned the Catholic faith and the Spaniards? Then with pride, Rizal stood up and said, “I may not be reciting the rosary nor carrying it in my pocket every day despite my being an Atenean; I may have written a lot of literature against the Church. But who among you here go to Church and gets to attend each and every mass, even up to this very moment. So they begin asking, how do you do it? Then he said, I find myself inside the collection basket, with my face imprinted in every single one-peso coin.   The gospel reminds us today about our duty to giving. Giving is a holy virtue. In fact, Jesus himself gave and fulfilled the prescriptions of the law to give, as for example the temple tax and the many other Jewish prescriptions. But in here, he emphasizes an important point about giving. Contrary to what we often believe that the measure of giving is what is given, Jesus tells us that the value in giving is not on what is given. It is not how much we give that counts. Rather, it is who gives that counts. I have always reminded people that when it comes to giving, nothing can limit us but our own generosity. Therefore, every act of giving reveals the person of the giver. The value of what is given is relative to the giver, not in what is given. In the Gospel, Jesus praised the widow who contributed all she had. Despite the real value of the coins, it is the “most” important contribution precisely because of who gave them. Compared to the Scribes, the Pharisees, and the wealthy, who gave from their surplus, this widow gave what a poor person needs to survive. Value is relative to the giver. (tell of the story in parish).  I remember overhearing in a mass once. The old lady was telling her son, Oh, just give the smallest bill.   But I think a more important point of the Gospel is that when we give, we are giving of ourselves. We are reminded that we cannot hold on material things that we have, we have to give then away, all of them.We would do well to recall the question asked about the wealthy man who died. “How much money did he leave? The answer came promptly. “All of it!”. As Rousseau’s admonition goes, “When a man dies, he carries in his hands only that which he has given away.” Because when we give away what we have, what lingers in the receiver is our act of kindness of a generous person who has given himself away. Each of us is called to this giving—to make our hearts written in every heart that benefits from our generosity.   And that brings us to our celebration today, which is the third important point of the Gospel. That giving is about the giver, because when one is able to give, then he is able to proclaim a song of thanksgiving to the Lord of Givers. Then he experiences the being of God, the divine giver. Perhaps, I would dare say that Sister Lily is one of those widows in our midst who gave herself. Serving the Lord for sixty years, she gives thanks today to the Divine Giver. For this divine giver has enabled her to share what she received from him. She was able to share her talents, her treasures, her time in accompanying souls looking for the Giver. And even now, she continues to inspire in us a generous heart of a giver, that in the midst of our poverty, weakness, even dwindling health, we can still give of ourselves through inspiring generosity in each one.   Bertrand Russell wrote, “To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.” Too often the comfortable give to God as though they were poor. And the poor give to Him as though they were wealthy. Let each one of us learn to give, because she who gives herself truly sings a song of thanksgiving.  And may this be the song that we sing today.        

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Feast of St. Thérèse Couderc (2018)

Homily of  Fr. Silvino L. Borres, Jr., SJ on the FEAST OF ST. THÉRÈSE COUDERC on Sept 26, 2018   Our readings this morning are beautiful . They are carefully chosen to give us a glimpse into the richness of the  life and spirituality of St. Thérèse. Three things or themes stand out for me from these readings, namely:  desire for God, vulnerability and fecundity.     First, DESIRE FOR GOD: The 1streading (Ex. 33:18-23) talks of an ancient desire for God and sung for all ages, from one generation to the next:  “Lord, show us your face.”  This is echoed by the responsorial psalm where we hear the psalmist’ heartache for God.   “My soul is thirsting for the Lord, when shall I see him face to face?”   St. Thérèse shares the same desire.  She would refer to herself as “this poor soul who is always hungry for her God, and will always sigh for him until she is entirely united with him.  But she had accepted the fact that the realization of such desire can’t be on earth.  But nonetheless, there was never moment she would not pine for her beloved.”  She recognized that it was this desire which launched her on a spiritual adventure and one which transformed her, as this desire deepened, into a devoted servant of God, available to Him, at every moment of her life, be it a mission, a daily challenge or occasions for suffering.   She had wished the same thing for all the people she encountered.  I think she wished everyone to be closer to God.     She must have seen the hunger and thirst for God among the pilgrims, particularly the women, visiting the shrine of Saint John Francis Regis. Years later, under her influence, these women would receive guidance  to deepen their prayer and grow in their spiritual life.   Second, VULNERABILITY.    Like other Christian mystics, Saint Thérèse Couderc experienced from her own life and prayer that the path to happiness is handing oneself over to God, in union with the self-giving of Christ. In 1864 she writes:.   “To surrender oneself is more than to devote oneself, more than to give oneself, it is even something more than to abandon oneself to God. In a word, to surrender oneself is to die to everything and to self, to be no longer concerned with self except to keep it continually turned toward God.”   (St. Therese Couderc: Her Writings)   To surrender oneself to God is to accept the call to dispossession, to embrace a life of vulnerability as the gospel we just read reminds us: Unless a grain of wheat dies, it will not bear fruit.   Fr. Florencio Segura, SJ calls this surrender to God as “tough, terrifying, and radical”.  It is because it is a call “to lose one’s life,” to the most radical dispossession of our certainties, of everything that supports our life.   It is a call not to rely on anything.  It is to relinquish the security of material things, the comfort and affection of our loved ones and family, and the assurance of control, power and self-sufficiency.   This notion, of course, of dispossession, would sound ridiculous and absurd to a world long accustomed to violence and coercion as a way of proceeding.   St. Thérèse would experience this vulnerability in her own life, welcoming the call to dispossession.   She underwent humiliations during her time as a nun. She was removed from her office and replaced with a new novice as the “Foundress Superior” in a severe humiliating move.   And even long after this superior-novice was replaced with another, the humiliation of St. Thérèse continued.   Finally, FECUNDITY, FRUITFULNESS. Unless a grain of wheat dies, it will not bear fruit.    Henri Nouwen, well-renowed   spiritual writer, gave an exquisite observation on the mystery of suffering. He said that “where vulnerability is experienced, ours or those of others, we see life bursting forth!”    As ancient wisdom reminds us, sufferings and deaths are conditions for fruitfulness or fecundity.They are occasions of growth and bearing fruit.  It is God’s vulnerability that won for us our redemption and salvation.  Jesus brought us new life in ultimate vulnerability. He came to us as a small child, dependent on the care and protection of others. He lived for us a poor preacher, without any political, economic or military power.  He died for us nailed to  a cross as a common criminal.   Long before Henri Nouwen articulated it, it had been a consoling thought for St. Thérèse as she faced her own crosses, prompting her to say: “I cannot ask God to deliver me from these sufferings but only strength to suffer …”   It is easy to mistake fruitfulness or fecundity for efficiency and productivity given contemporary society’s pre-occupation with accomplishments and success.  However, the call to live a fruitful life does not necessarily imply a call to be productive.  You can still be flourishing and fruitful even in the midst of pain and suffering as Jesus did, as St. Thérèse Courderc did.  From its humble beginnings in La Louvesc, France, the spiritual ministry of the Religious of the Cenacle continues, kept alive by more than 400 sisters in over 17 countries throughout the world.  Pius XII talked about how the prayers of St. Thérèse had saved thousands, sanctified them, raising them even to heroism of virtue and zeal. (Beatification, 1951).   And so, we have here before us a heart of a saint that is devoted to God,accepting the summons of vulnerability and self-surrender  as a path to  discipleship and fruitfulness.    As she has served God faithfully, we join Him in honoring St. Thérèse today. St. Thérèse Couderc, pray for us.  

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The Joy and Sufferings of a Saint

Homily of Fr. James Ucab at the Cenacle Retreat House, on Sept 23, 2018:   Good afternoon dear Sisters and Dear Brothers. Today we are now on the 7th day of our novena as we prepare for the feast Of our dear St. Thérèse Couderc. And the theme is Joy. St. Thérèse Couderc once said and I quote, I experienced a joy and a happiness it is not possible to describe. And on another instance she said, We should never allow a single thought of sadness to come into our hearts, since we have within us the one who is the joy of Angels. [Hmmm..] So edifying words. Hearing those words of St. Thérèse Couderc made me imagine an image of a Saint wearing the black habit living a holy, comfortable, and stress-free life. But wait, there’s more. Before I will be carried away because of my beautiful imagination and contemplation of the life of St Thérèse Couderc, let me have a glimpse of her life again to validate, hopefully, my imagination of the Saint’s life. According to my source, the Saint underwent humiliations during her time as a nun for she was forced to resign from her position of Superior and was ridiculed and mocked due to false accusations made against her, though this softened towards the end of her life. Is my source correct, Sisters? Again according to my source, after the death of the Fr. Jean-Pierre Etienne Terme, a scheming religious made an incorrect financial report in order to demoralize St Thérèse Couderc. Unfortunately, the fake news reached the Provincial of the Jesuits, Fr. Renault, and he removed her from her post and she was replaced by a Novice who was also removed later from the post. She was humiliated and was banished for some period of time. This story is but a tiny information about her sufferings. I am curious and I wanted to read the correspondence she made which I know is tenderly kept by the Sisters. There maybe we can find more details of her suffering. Let me go back to my words earlier describing St. Thérèse Couderc: a Saint wearing the black habit living a holy, comfortable, and stress-free life. The story of St Thérèse Couderc is not quite unique. There are also other persons who experienced a similar kind of experience. For instance, the Servant of Yahweh in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, the just person in our first reading today,Bl. Therese de Souberan a French founder of the Auxiliatrice Sisters, Sta. RafaelaMaria Porras the Foundress of the ACI Sisters, and of course our very own Jesus Christ Going back to St. Thérèse Couderc, but what really made St. Thérèse Couderc a Saint and a person worth imitating? Is it her suffering and humiliations? Personal opinion lang po. I guess, it is unfair and it is not right to say that in order for us to become Saints, we need to experience humiliations and sufferings. Na, in order for us to become an exemplary religious or priest we have to become the “victim…” the famous pa victim effect. I believe and I am convinced that what made St. Thérèse Holy and worth imitating is her commitment to do the will of God with joy despite the sufferings and humiliations she experienced as a Foundress and as a Consecrated person.

Homilies, News & Announcements, Soul Food

The Extravagant God (Parable of the Seeds and the Sower)

Homily of Fr. Eric Genilo, SJ @Cenacle Retreat House, Sept 22, 2018 In the parable of the sower in our gospel, we notice something curious. The sower seems to scatter seeds indiscriminately. Not only do some of the seeds fall on fertile soil, some fall also on rocky or thorny soil. Normally, a farmer who sows seeds would be careful where he scatters his seeds. Seeds are costly for an ordinary farmer and he would not want to waste his seeds on rocky or thorny soil where they have little chance of growing to maturity. He would choose to scatter his seeds only on fertile soil where the probability of a more bountiful harvest is higher.  But in our parable, the sower is no ordinary farmer. The sower represents God and the seeds represent the word of God proclaimed to all who would hear and listen. The Indiscriminate way the sower in our parable scattered the seeds reflects the extravagance of God’s goodness and kindness. God does not just send his word to those who are already able and ready to respond with generosity. God also sends his word even to those who, because of their circumstances or their formation are unable to respond with their whole heart and whole strength. God’s word is not just for an elite group of perfect disciples. And we should never exclude some people from receiving God’s word simply because of their sinfulness and weakness. It precisely to the sinners and those rejected and marginalised by society that Jesus was sent to proclaim the good news of God. Let us not interpret our parable today as a justification to exclude and judge others as unworthy of receiving God’s word and God’s mercy because of their sinful situation. The extravagance of the sower in scattering the seeds on all kinds of soil reminds us that the word of God is meant for everybody and we should strive to overcome whatever obstacles or temptations that prevent others from receiving and living out the gift of God’s good news. God’s love and God’s grace are unlimited, and could never be exhausted. So we should not be troubled if some of our brothers and sisters are initially unresponsive to the invitation of God to them. Rather than consider God’s word as being wasted by on unresponsive persons, let us look at the bigger picture of God’s great plan of salvation. God’s spirit never ceases to speak in the hearts of every man and woman and through the mysterious ways of God’s grace each one eventually find their way back to God. We can help one another to find God and respond to his word. But ultimately it is God’s grace that will transform rocky and thorny soil to fertile and fruitful soil. Let us encourage and pray for one another as we strive to be more receptive to God’s word to us each day. May we support and encourage those who are weak among us and may we never forget the goodness and faithfulness of God for all his children.      

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Be on guard

Homily of Fr. Joel Liwanag, S.J. on August 30, 2018 at the  Cenacle Retreat House:   My dear brothers and sisters, the message of Jesus in today’s Gospel is loud and clear: Stay awake! Be on guard! Don’t fall into complacency because you do not know when the master is coming. The question, however, is: HOW? How do we stay awake? How do we avoid falling into a spiritual slumber? How do we make sure that when the master comes, we will be ready? To answer this question, I guess we need to go back to our experiences of staying awake. In our ordinary life, how do we stay awake? What is it that keeps us awake? This morning, allow me to call attention to three ways. First, we usually stay awake by taking in caffeine – by drinking coffee or soft drinks or some other energy drink. Those among you who’ve had to stay up late to finish something have probably tried this. If we apply this to our spiritual life, one way to stay awake is to find something that will perk up our faith. Some, for instance, would join charismatic prayer groups and participate in livelier forms of worship. Others would go on a silent retreat and spend days in quiet prayer. Some would try to incorporate music into their prayer routine. The point my dear friends is to find something that will awaken the spirit within us every now and then.   I invite you now to ask yourself: how is my faith life, my spiritual life, my prayer life? If you find yourself in some sort of plateau, if you find your faith life lacking in dynamism, perhaps you can ask yourself: what can I do to perk up the spirit within? What can I do to keep the spirit alive? Aside from taking in caffeine, another way to stay awake is by surrounding ourselves with friends who can keep us company. Those among you who’ve experienced long distance driving know how helpful it is to have a companion who will engage you in a conversation throughout the journey. My dear friends, in our spiritual life, one way through which we can keep ourselves awake is by having friends who are willing to accompany us in our journey of faith. I guess this is really the value of community. If you are part of a community, someone will be there to remind you when you are going astray. Someone will be there to wake you up the moment you are starting to doze off. Ask yourself now: Do I have such friends? Do I have such companions who can help me stay awake?   Finally, the third way through which we usually stay awake is by keeping ourselves busy. If we are occupied, if we are busy doing things, the lesser the chances for us to fall asleep. But if we are idle, if we are doing nothing, then the tendency to doze off is strong. In our spiritual life, we can say that it is similar. When our spiritual life is idle, then we fall into a spiritual slumber. As the saying goes, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” The key therefore is to find something worthwhile to do, something that can keep our faith alive. In the Letter of James, it is written: “Faith without good works is dead.” Thus, one way to keep our faith alive is to engage in good works, for instance, by doing corporal works of mercy – feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, comforting the sick. My dear friends, if we want to keep our faith truly alive, then we cannot but engage in good works. I invite you to ask yourself now: Is my faith kept alive by good works? What good works am I engaged in at the moment? If you find yourself lacking in this area, it’s not too late. Try to find something worthwhile make your faith come to life. And so, my dear friends, as our Lord Jesus invites us to stay awake, let us keep in mind these three ways through which we can do this: first, by  finding something that will perk up our spiritual life. Second, by findinf friends who can accompany us in our faith journey. And third, by engaging in good works that will keep our faith alive. Let us pray that when the Master comes, we will all be awake, ready to meet Him and say: Lord, we have kept our faith alive. Amen.

Homilies, Soul Food

The Sower and the seeds (Homily)

Homily of Fr. Oliver Dy, S.J. on July 27, 2018 at the  Cenacle Retreat House:   I wish to share three points drawn from the Gospel reading for today, which is an explanation by Jesus and by the early church of the text of the parable of the sower: First, it is in very nature and task of the sower to sow, and this amidst the full knowledge that not all seeds sown will bear fruit, that some seeds, sometimes even many seeds, would be wasted. Yet the sower continues to sow: the Father’s generosity as a sower of blessings and graces does not depend on whether human freedom appreciates or neglects the gifts bestowed by God to each in his own wisdom and love. It is the very nature of God to give Godself. Indeed, to perpetually diffuse goodness is the very act that defines God as God. God remains a sower, a generous giver, regardless of the eventual fate of the seed in its interaction with the conditions related to the mystery of human freedom. Elsewhere in the gospel, Jesus states that the Father makes the sun shine on both the good and the bad; here Jesus makes the same point by describing the Father as a sower who sows in the face of the reality that not all seeds will produce the intended fruit. There is an implicit invitation here for us. If we allow ourselves to become perfected just as the Father is perfect, we too must continue to sow seeds of life to the world, to be life-giving like the Father amidst the likelihood and reality of failure and waste of human energies. After all, the main point of the parable is success and abundance, and this also an irremovable possibility that belongs to the same mystery of human freedom. There is the rich soil that promise a harvest. There is the guarantee and promise of fruitfulness, but this is preconditioned on the fact that there is a Father who sows seeds goodness always and everywhere.   Second, what God bestows comes in form of a seed, not a sapling, much less a fully grown plant. Inscribed into the very character of a seed is the law of growth. It belongs to the very biology of the seed to transform itself in due time into something other than a seed: that is, the seed dies to its being a seed in order to truly become itself. The harvest is thereforeborne of out of this process of transformation and growth where the death of seed leads to its becoming a fruit-bearing plant. The call is therefore never remain a seed, not to let the seed stagnate as seed, but to let it flow with inscribed law of growth of which dying is a fundamental part. (Unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth dies can it only then bear fruit.)   Third, as an agriculturalist may tell us, soil is a transformable material. An infertile ground can be transformed into rich soil, and a plot of rich soil can eventually lose its quality of fertility. A desert can become a forest, and a forest a desert. Things can change. This suggests that we should not despair too easily if we find the soil of our lives to be barren. Likewise, neither should we be too presumptuous when we presently find our life circumstances as rich soil. Situations and contexts can and do shift over time, sometimes for the better, at other times for the worse. The lesson is to live in hope, which is the virtue that runs diametrically opposite depair on the one hand, and overconfident presumption on the other. To live in hope is to respect the changing seasons and landscapes of the pilgrimage of life, to always remain in the identity of being a wayfarer, to keep walking on the journey whatever one’s situation in life is, in whatever season or phase of life one currently finds oneself in (homo viator, status viatoris).   In sum, here then are three takeaways: 1. The law of generous self-giving amidst the reality of waste and failure. 2. The law of growth in the face of the temptation of stagnation and self-preservation. 3. The law of hope amid the vicissitudes of human history, both individual and collective.

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Ikaw, ano ang ipinaglalaban mo?

  SinaFr. Zacarias Agatep at Fr. Roberto Salac ng mga diosesano, sinaFr Nilo Valerio ngmgaSVD, Fr Tulio Favali ng mgaPIME, Fr. Rosaleo Romano ng mgaRedemptorist, at Fr Godofredo Alingal ng mga Heswita, sila noong nakaraang regimen ngMartial Law…tapos, nitong nakaraang 6 na buwan, sinaFr. Mark Ventura naman, Fr. Marcelito Paez, at Fr. Richmond Nilo. What did all these priests have in common? Well, 2 things. Love & hate. First, love; all of them loved the poor, especially farmers & displaced Filipinos. And the poor loved them back very dearly, by the way. The 2ndthing they have in common? Hate. The rich landowners hated them because they organized the farmers in their parishes to clamor for their fair share. The mining entrepreneurs hated them for teaching the people to guard their claim over their land. And worst, the politicians cashing in millions, they hated these priests, too, for being a threat to their cash-flow. I guess there’s a 3rdthat these fathers have in common. They were all killed, from Fr. Agatep to Fr. Nilo. Pero mula po noongMartial Law magpasahanggang-ngayon, wala pa pong nasasakdal na mastermind. Puroscapegoat po ang pinoposasan, para may masabing may nahuli na. But back then as now, no landowner, miner, nor politician has ever had to answer for the priestly murders even when the whole world knows that the real killers are not only those who actually pull the trigger, but also those who pay them & make them. Pero ‘ika nga niGinoong Tito Sotto tungkol sa3 paring namatay sa loob ng6 lamang na buwan, “It’s just a coincidence.” Our man for the day is the Lord’s first cousin, John the Baptist. We all know from the bible & from religion class that John would grow up to be the herald of the Messiah. He “prepared the way of the Lord.” See, for many centuries, the Israelites were waiting for the Messiah to come. When John the Baptist grew up, he got busy getting the people ready for that coming. How? By telling them to turn away from sin, to repent from their sinful ways, & be baptized in the River Jordan. Wala siyang pinalampas. Wala siyang sinanto. Ang mali ay mali.Ang kaslanan ay kasalanan. This is why he called out even the king himself, Herod, & brazenly told him, “Mahal na hari, mali po ‘yang ginagawa ninyong inasawa ninyo sarili niyong hipag.” So, because truth hurt, Herod’s wife-slash-sister-in-law plotted John’s execution—via her dancing daughter, Salome, & took advantage of his husband’s drunken arrogance. Who would’ve known that “preparing the way of Lord” would also turn out to being killed by governance, the very same way by which Jesus would be killed—by governance? These past weeks, I’ve been looking at pictures of the murdered 3 priests. I actually feel hatred for our governance. I feel enraged at law enforcement who cave in to governance that commissions the murders. But that’s not half of what I feel about myself. I see the faces of these 3 murdered priests whom I consider my brothers, & I feel embarrassment about myself, more than hatred for governance, more anger at law enforcement. Because a voice in my head says, “Sige nga, habang nagkakamatayan ang mga kapatid mong pari dahil ipinaglaban nila ang mga dukha, eh, ikaw, Arnel, anong ipinaglalaban mo bilang alagad ng Diyos? O hanggang feelings-feelingska lang?” Maybe this homily would’ve been more appropriate on August 29, the commemoration of the beheading of John the Baptist, rather than today, his birthday. But I was thinking, the power of John’s birth lay in how he lived out his mission in life. And the power of his mission in life lay in his courage to die for his cause. So, yes, we celebrate John’s birth today—but that birth was the birth of a martyr; a martyr who went & lived in the margins. This brought him to the edge; the edge of Herodias’ patience, & finally, the edge of a sword. But, do you notice, dear sisters & brothers, even if governance tries to hide the truth by killing the truth-tellers, the victims’ deaths render the lie only the more glaring. I don’t think John the Baptist, or any of the priests wantedto be killed. Who in his right mind would deliberately put himself in harm’s way & be no good to the people he’s fighting for if he’s dead? Suicide never helps the cause. But see, that’s the difference between dying for the truth & killing for a lie. When you die for the truth, the world raises you as a hero. When you kill for a lie, that’s because you can’t stand the truth. So, this means you’re just one more coward who just happens to have a lot of power. But that’s all you are. Yung dalawang magpinsan, si Juan Bautista at si Hesus—pareho ang kinahinatnan. Pinagpapatay dahil nagsabi ng, at nabuhay sa, katotohanan. Maybe, that’s an answer to my embarrassing self-question. Maybe that’s the lesson I must keep learning as a priest. That even if I don’t have the makings of a prophet, even less a martyr like my brother-priests who died for the truth, that I should at least keep telling the truth, & keep living in the truth…even if it doesn’t kill me…even if it only hurts. Matanong ko nga kayong mga magulang dito. I know that you’re all raising your children to always tell the truth, & always be on the side of the truth. Now what if one day, your child asks you: “Dad, mom, how far do you want me to tell the truth? How far must I take the side of the truth?” What would you say? How far? Because how far we allow ourselves to tell the truth & be on truth’s side might later spell the difference between being someone who will die for the truth or kill for a lie. St. John the Baptist, pray for us.   Homily of Fr. Arnel Aquino, S.J. for Vigil Mass for

Homilies, Soul Food

“By what authority are you doing these things?” Quo warranto?

Jesus is asked: Quo warranto? Have you heard of Catherine of Sienna’s letters? During her time, around the 14th century, if you receive a letter from this feisty nun, you would tremble. Pope Gregory XI did receive such letters. Pope Gregory was the last of the Avignon Popes, when the Papacy was transferred in France. Many Catholics wanted the Pope back in Rome and so Sr Catherine joined in this advocacy. She wrote extensively to Pope Gregory XI. She wrote, for example: “Since Christ has given you authority and you have accepted it, you ought to be using the power and strength that is yours. If you don’t intend to use it, it would be better and more to God’s honor and the good of your soul to resign! If I were in your place, I would be afraid of incurring divine judgment….Cursed be you, for time and power were entrusted to you and you did not use them!” (Can you imagine yourself writing Pope Francis those words?) Gregory relented and yet when he dilly-dallied, Catherine wrote him these scathing words: “Go, manly! It is God who moves you.” If you translate that in Filipino, it would be like, “Hoy, magpakalalaki ka naman!” One thing you can say about Catherine, she had no hang up with authority. More than titles, positions, privileges, she was concerned about what is right, what is truthful, what is proper, and what is moral and ethical. Which brings us to our Gospel for today. In the Gospel today, the Jewish authorities—the whole caboodle of the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees—questioned his authority. Jesus, of course, had just cleansed the Temple of the sellers and buyers that were corrupting it. But rather than reflect on why Jesus did what he did, they were asking by whose authority (QUO WARRANTO!) he did what he did, and thereby missed the point. Certainly they were hang up, enamored, obsessed with authority, which for them was either the traditional Jewish authority or the legal Roman authority. But Jesus was neither one. He was simply a lay person. Does that therefore make his words and deeds not count at all? Jesus would expose them by the question that he asked them in return, about the authority of John. And in their internal discussion, they were exposed. If we say this…but if we say that. They were not concerned at all about the truth or what is right, what is proper, what is moral or ethical. They only wanted to gain political points. We can therefore reflect on the folly of these Jewish authorities. Are we like them, hang up, obsessed, enamored with positions, titles and privileges. Or, like Catherine of Sienna, are we more concerned with the truth, the moral, the ethical?   Homily of Fr. Nono Alfonso, SJ for Saturday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time (2 June 2018), Cenacle Retreat House.   Photo source: thegospelcoalition.org

General, Homilies, Soul Food, Updates and Activities

A permanent & unshakable character of God – Santo Niño

Homily from Fr. Arnel Aquino S.J. on January 20, 2018, Feast of Sto. Niño, Holy Child Jesus, at the Cenacle Retreat House. On the 1st week of the new year, I went home to Davao to visit with my dad for a week. One day, I decided to walk from the Jesuit Residence to San Pedro Cathedral. My mom used to love hearing mass there. The church is a good walk, around 2.5, 3 km from the JesRes. So walk I did, one Sunday afternoon, to catch the 5:30 Cebuano mass. Just 5 minutes into my walk, a little girl, about 1/3 of my height, broke into my direction, walking a few paces in front of me. From the way the little girl walked—which was really more of an “advanced toddle”—she must’ve been around 4 years old. She was in rags, too, so easily a street urchin, but cute as button like all kids her age—curly hair, fat cheeks, feet like little pandesals! And, my God, she was going at a good clip, because as I kept my pace, I wasn’t gaining on her. Ten minutes in, the little girl was still walking, no sign of stopping or turning back; no sign of anyone coming to meet her. So it struck me silly to realize this child was really alone! And she & I were the only ones going my direction at the time. Or maybe I didn’t notice the others because I was busy being roped in to watch over the little girl. Ten minutes in, she was still walking. For a 4-yr-old, that’s a pretty long time & a pretty long way. I very strongly felt the urge to catch up with her & assume full responsibility, but I didn’t, because I was so curious to find out (a) where she was headed all by her lonesome, & (b) why there wasn’t a hint of “lost-ness” or fear or panic in her at all. On the contrary, she looked like she knew exactly what she was doing & where she was headed. “Still,” said my superego, “she’s just a 4-year-old kid, are you blind?” Before I knew it, she had gone off the sidewalk, crossed the street, & disappeared into a crowd on the other side. Minutes later, I couldn’t concentrate on the mass. I swore I’d probably have never lived it down if news the next day said “4-year-old girl found dead on C.M. Recto St.” When you see a child—especially one who “looks” alone, or “seems” alone—the first question in your head is: “Sinong magulang ng batang ito?” Why? Because if we think “sea” & immediately think water, if we think desert & immediately think dry, if we think “breathe” & immediately think air—when we think & see a child, we immediately think relationship, relatedness. That’s why there’s nothing sadder than an orphaned child, or a foundling. Deep in all human hearts, a child must never be alone. A child immeidately calls forth relationship, relatedness, connection. This is the first reason why I think the feast of the Santo Niño is important in our faith, sisters & brothers. The Santo Niño is the “infant-God,” the “child-God” who reminds us of a permanent & unshakable character of God which we often forget or take for granted: that immediately & once & for all, God is related to us, immediately & once & for all, connected to us, in a relationship with us, as his free choice, out of his free love. I wish to emphasize this, dear sisters & brothers, because many of us do not often think of God as immediately & once & for all related to us, in a relationship with us, loving us. Our default is often an image of God “above” us, isolated in all his power, like a benevolent overlord, a patient  prefect of discipline, a quiet moral policeman—all of which are “official” terms but hardly relational terms. That’s why we need the feast of the Santo Niño, & quite desperately so. It’s the infant-God’s way of reminding us who he is in his very essence: a God who is freely, immediately, & once & for all related to us, connected to us, in a relationship with us. If we take that seriously, it should make many of us turn a corner in our faith & religiosity. And just like it’s unnerving to see a 4-year-old child walking alone, it should unnerve us if we’ve always believed that God, to be God, should be asunder from us. Because, you & I know that he never is. No, not even when we sin. God never disconnects even if we do. You’ve also heard it said many times that the Christ-child reminds us of how deeply, vulnerably human Jesus was. Allow me to add a little something to that. When I saw the vulnerable little girl that Sunday afternoon, she made me feel vulnerable. Even if she & I were related in no way, shape, or form—her being just a child on a sidewalk straightaway roped me in, to assume some way, shape, or form of responsibility over her. Unbeknownst to her, she committed me to a very basic connection, a fundamental responsibility. Suddenly, I was disturbed by the challenge to care, to go beyond my comfort zone, to change direction; all of which I did not do that afternoon, because, shame on me, I was “running late”,  headed on a straight path to, of all places, church. That’s the 2nd reason I realized why the feast of the Santo Niño is important to us, dear sisters & brothers. Not only is an “infant-God” immediately & once & for all related to us—that relationship must make us feel vulnerable enough so that we do our part in it: to assume responsibility over it, to care for even the most fundamental connection, to push beyond our comfort zones or even change direction if needed…& in my case, vulnerable enough to feel deeply terrible if we don’t,

General, Homilies, Soul Food, Updates and Activities

What is your wish this season?

Homily from Fr. Mario Francisco, S.J. on January 1, 2018, Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, at the Cenacle Retreat House.   I pose what may seem an unlikely question to each of you, from the youngest in body to the young at heart: What is your wish this season? I ask this because this season makes sense only for those who wish. It could be anything from the priced/ prized—like a housedress with a euro pricetag (no names) to what an old Mastercard ad calls that which is priceless . Our usual measure of joy this season is the match between what we wish for and what we receive, between promise and fulfilment. Thus we count our blessings – heartfelt laughter with family and friends, health in body and spirit, broken hearts mended and hurts forgiven, fruitful ministries, generosity for those in need. We have indeed much to be joyful about . But what gives if wish and gift, promise and fulfilment do not match? I suppose you remember one gift you wished for but did not get. That unfulfilled wish could sow seeds of disappointment and blame at those we call “walang isang salita” —first at Santa Claus and then when we’ re older, parents. This broken promise could multiply hidden in our selves, and grow from tampo or mahay into resentment and anger, hitting at close targets, like those around us or at long-range, at life in general. Thus the world becomes a garden overgrown with broken vows, painful secrets , campaign promises , bullying posts and fake news weeded backyard where words betray and stifle. Does this season’ s meaning vanish into thin air for those of us left with empty words in this earth—patch outside Eden? We know that God comes to us at this season , not as Santa Claus, not as the All-Powerfu1 and the All-Wealthy but as Word, the Word spoken by the Father. He spoke before through others – prophets, holy women and men of Israel – but now, he gives us his Word—the only Word more solid than anything in the universe, because it is not thin air but made visible, made flesh and this Word’s promise never broken. As we say, “Ang kanyang pangako’y hindi kailanman mapapako [His promise will not be nailed and remain just a promise] ” although we know too that this Word would be nailed on the cross as fulfilment of his promise . My dear friends, with this singular gift to us of God’s only-begotten Word made solid in the flesh in Jesus, human words, our very words, though flimsy and fragile , gain weight, because Jesus spoke with these same words to family and followers, to the suffering and the powerful, to little children and to his heavenly Father. Let us then echo his voice and speak to each other, face to face or in digital space, with words of truthfulness and fidelity of generosity and compassion . This season we have great reason to be joyful. We express thanks for countless gifts and fulfilled wishes . But more than wish fulfilment and most of all, we sing our gratitude for the unbroken promise of God’ s Word made flesh and for the worth and weight that it gives our own fumbling words to each other .

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