Friday, October 4, 2013
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
27th Sunday in OT (C) - The Faith of a Servant
The Faith of a Servant
27th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Luke 17: 5-10
October 6, 2013
GOSPEL
READING: The Mustard Seed
The apostles said to the
Lord, "Increase our faith." The
Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say
to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey
you.
"Who among you would
say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the
field, 'Come here immediately and take your place at table'? Would he not
rather say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your
apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am
finished'? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was
commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all
you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what
we were obliged to do.'"
REFLECTION: The Faith of
a Servant
The
apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” A sincere and genuine request, indeed! It
invites us to look at the level of our own faith, of how much belief we have in
the words of Jesus. But see how the Lord responded, “If you have faith the
size of a mustard seed…” How considerate the Lord is to His disciples and
to us! He does not demand of them a faith they cannot produce but leads them to
be grateful for what they have. For faith can only come as a gift from God, we
can only be thankful for His graciousness—He gives only what is best for us.
The Lord continues, “…you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and
planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” Jesus teaches us that when it
comes to carrying out God’s work, what counts most is how much faith do we put
in Him as we live out our vocation, a faith the surrenders our entire being to
His service.
The Scriptures abound with
ordinary people who had firm faith in God: “God himself will provide…”
Abraham said before he was about to sacrifice his son, Isaac. (Gen. 22:8) David
spoke up to the Philistines before his battle with Goliath, “…for the battle
is the Lord’s” (1 Sam. 17:47); “You are God in Israel… I am your
servant… I have done all these things at your bidding,” the prophet Elijah
proclaimed before he won over the prophets of Baal. (1 Kings 18:36) The
centurion, at whom Jesus was amazed, said with confidence, “Only speak the
word and let my servant be healed.” (Luke 8:42) And the words “I am the
servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word,” the Blessed
Mother spoke as her humble fiat to God’s wonderful plan of
salvation. (Luke 1:38) It was not during secure times were they able to utter
these words of faith. Indeed, our faith grows when we persevere in carrying out
the will of God in the most trying and confusing times in our life.
Nonetheless, today’s Gospel invites us also to see God’s grace working in us,
not only in exceptional moments, but also as we live our ordinary lives and go
about our daily duties.
I just had my perpetual
profession of vows, and I know that prior to this occasion, my path was filled
with distress. But placing my confidence in His love, no matter how dark the
times were, I knew in my heart the Lord never abandoned me. It is gratitude for
His abounding graciousness and the gift of faith that moved me to make and
fulfill my vows. After that significant event, I continue my journey as a
religious, more open to His love and mercy, as I go about doing my part in the
fulfillment of Christ’s mission, particularly with the orphans and the special
children here at Bahay ni San Jose.
Indeed, times are not always easy but God’s grace continues to sustain me. The
mustard seed-like faith that led me to respond to God’s call is the same faith
that tells me that all that I have and all that I do come from Him, leading me
to say in all humility, “I am an unprofitable servant, I have done only what
I was obliged to do.”
To
God be glory and honor, now and forever!
ABOUT THE SHARER:
SR. ANNA MARIE B.
FRANCISCO, OP is a professed religious sister
of the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of St. Joseph. She is presently assigned at Bahay ni
San Jose: Home for Special Children in San Antonio, Nueva Ecija.
E-mail address: saf_op827@yahoo.com
KEYWORDS: Year C, OP Sisters, Faith, Trust, Confidence
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
26th Sunday in OT (C) - Disconnection
26th SUNDAY IN
ORDINARY TIME
Luke
16:19-31
September
29, 2013
“There was a rich man who dressed in purple
garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with
sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from
the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.
When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom
of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he
was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his
side. And he cried out, ‘Father
Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water
and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’ Abraham replied, ‘My child, remember that you
received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received
what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.
Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to
prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or
from your side to ours.’ He said, ‘Then I beg you,
father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too
come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them
listen to them.’ He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone
from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the
prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the
dead.’”
REFLECTION: “Disconnection”
When
I was in high school, our Science teacher asked us to do a group project to be
submitted a week after. Our group agreed to do the project at the house of one
of our classmates. It happened that my group mates were the top guns of our class.
So, I thought to myself that they could already finish the project even without
my help. I decided not to go there and told them that my mother asked me for an
errand. I lied. I did not really carry any errand but I only played chess at
the city park on the day of our work. I saw our project during the submission
day and it was, indeed, perfectly done. My group mates were very happy with the
outcome of their work and, of course, with the excellent grade given to our
group. I joined them with their celebration. But behind every smile and
laughter, pain of guilt was piercing my heart. I felt unworthy of the
accomplishment of our group. It gave me a kind of feeling of isolation,
uneasiness. It was as if there was a great “chasm” that separates me from their
merriment.
The
story of the rich man in our Gospel today is about his suffering, a suffering
from great isolation, his deep longing for somebody who could help him ease the
pain of loneliness, somebody who could at least give him a drop of water to
quench his “thirst” for a companion. But no one could come near him because of
the great chasm that separates him away from his father Abraham and Lazarus and
to the rest of his loved ones. He was all alone. His situation apparently tells
us that pain must be so intense that he thought immediately of his brothers. He
was hoping that they may not experience the same fate by begging God to send
Lazarus to warn them. Yet God rejected his request. Instead, he totally cut off
all his means of communication.
It
is the feeling of being taken for granted that really hurts the most especially
if it is done to you by someone really close to you, someone whom you really
expect to be caring for you and loving you. In our story, the fact that Lazarus
was able to pick up the crumbs under the table of the rich man suggests that he
must be one of the rich man’s relatives, friends or maybe servants, somebody
whom he knows personally. Thus, the closeness of Lazarus and the rich man, in
terms of distance and relationship, added more to the pain that tormented
Lazarus in his earthly life. Apparently, the rich man is guilty of sin of
omission; a sin that is committed by not doing what is ought to be done,
basically good acts towards our brethren, to ourselves and to God. In the case
of the rich man, he deprived Lazarus (not to be confused with Lazarus, the brother
of Martha and Mary) of his basic needs in life; food, water, shelter, medicines,
etc. Rather than extending his arms, he turned his back away from him, treating
Lazarus as if he does not exist. At that very point, he deliberately cut off
his connection to him. He gave up his obligations towards him and totally
neglected him. He might have thought that by doing so, by denying his
existence, Lazarus would never become a burden to him anymore. But he was
wrong. Little did he know that after his earthly life, he will find himself all
alone, separated from everyone. Now, his suffering is even worse than what
Lazarus experienced during his earthly life.
We always
isolate ourselves from God, from others, every time we commit sin. We isolate
ourselves by failing to express our charity to our needy brethren. We isolate
ourselves every time we fail to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the
homeless, visit a sick person, a prisoner, bury the dead; when we do not
correct others of their faults and teach them of good things to be done, when
we do not pray for others for the conversion of our fellow sinners, when we
fail to love our brothers and sisters, especially our poor brethren.
We
create our own “chasm” that isolates us from others and from God, the source of
our life and happiness, by not doing our part in realizing the plan of God for
all of us, by being selfish and self-centered. We have to overcome this
isolation by being generous and charitable to other. Let us act now and start
building connections with all humanity by doing good things at all times.
ABOUT THE SHARER:
SEM. EMIL D. VALEZA, O.P. is member of the Dominican Clerical
Fraternity of the Philippines. He is a Theology IV student of the University of
Santo Tomas the Archdiocese of Caceres.
KEYWORDS:
Ordinary Time, Cycle C, OP Domfrat, Guilt, Suffering, Isolation, Longing, Loneliness, Parable, Sin,
Love
Monday, September 23, 2013
iLUMEN: Sharing the Light of Faith
iLUMEN: Sharing the Light of Faith
is a video catechism project of the
Institute of Preaching, Office for Social Communication
with the Dominican Family Commission on Social Communication
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
25th Sunday in OT (C) - Riches to Heaven
25th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Luke 16:10-13
September 22, 2013
GOSPEL READING: Application of the Parable of the Parable of the Dishonest Steward
The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also
trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small
matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who
will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will
give you what is yours? No servant can serve two
masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to
one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
REFLECTION: Riches to Heaven
It is a nice story to hear whenever a taxi driver or janitor would return
a large sum of money left by a customer. That money could help them change the
status of their life, but they chose to be an honest man. Some stories would
irritate our ears. We hear scandals over public funds used by corrupt
individuals. Nowadays, money can easily turn into an object of temptation. Will
we uphold good virtues or shall we give in to greed? Our Lord reminds us of
this fact. He said, “Man cannot serve
both mammon and God.” The riches of this earth are entrusted to man from
the very beginning. God entrusted to Adam the stewardship of this earth, and
gave Adam the privilege of naming the plants and animals. The worldly treasures
should be seen as means to build treasures in heaven.
Our Lord calls us to gain spiritual wealth through the earthly goods. In
the recent calamities, people are encouraged to help those who are affected by
the typhoons. Some cook meals, others gather clean clothes, and some would
volunteer to help in the distribution of these relief goods. Imagine how many
people could be helped if a person shares. If companies would truly embrace
corporate responsibility, how many uplifting projects can be organized for the
needy? The spirit of true charity overpowers the wickedness of money. Money
becomes an instrument to show our care for others, which is the essence of
Christian brotherhood – to love one another. Our Lord tells us to detach
ourselves from the material wealth, because it enslaves us in greed and hardens
our hearts.
As ordinary people, lay Christians were privileged to manage our
financial resources. God entrusted to us riches, and gave us freedom to utilize
our resources. Our freedom enables us to make decision about the material
things we possess. That freedom should also move us to become more responsible
in our actions. We should realize that our actions have consequences. When
treasures and money are involved two virtues always pop in my mind: temperance
and charity. The virtue of temperance is not just about controlling our
emotions, but having mastery over our whims and pleasures. Large amount of
money might lure us to buy things we don’t need, and to buy luxurious items.
Similarly, in the Parable of the Unfaithful Steward, he wasted the
master’s goods. Pope Francis said that whenever wasting food is like stealing
from the table of the poor.[1] We
might fall in the trap of consumerism, but through the virtue of temperance we
would control our expenditures and acquire only what is necessary. We would
gain mastery of ourselves and we will learn how to weigh the value of material
things. Our moderation will have deeper meaning whenever we mortify our urge of
buying and offer it to something greater.
They say Christians have charitable hearts which make them distinct in
the early years of Christianity. I believe that Our Lord truly inspired them to
be generous to one another. One of my friends said that it is not evil to
aspire greater wealth. She said, “Be
hopeful and keep on dreaming, don’t you see how much good you could do if you
have great wealth.” It gave me another perspective of money and material
wealth. Yes, some people go astray when they have huge wealth and become greedy,
too. But as long as our heart follows God’s voice, material wealth will become
a passport to heaven. We are always reminded by Our Lord to serve God and not
the mammon, and we should always adhere to that. If we had all the resources in
the world, won’t we ask God, the Creator of universe to guide us? God knows
everything, and God has the perfect knowledge of creating good in this world. He
will certainly love to hear your voice. We must seek His advice with our
decisions. God will not only guide us, but He will help us to become detached
from the worldly goods. He will stretch out our arms to become charitable.
Hence, we would never be a slave of money, but a servant of God who is willing
to share his material possessions for the good of the many.
ABOUT THE SHARER:
MS. ANNA GEFRELIZ PEÑARANDA is a graduate of
Bachelor of Library and Information Science at the University of Santo Tomas. She
is currently the librarian of the Philippine Dominican Center of Institutional
Studies.
KEYWORDS:
Ordinary
Time, Cycle C, OP Institutions, Corruption, Greed, Charity, Love, Wealth,
Money, Temperance, Generosity
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