Presentation of the Lord

Presentation of the Lord

Homily on “Lessons from Mary and Joseph, Simeon and Anna” on the Feast of The Presentation of the Lord (based on the Gospel of Luke 2:22-40) – Feb. 2, 2020

Today’s feast marks the Presentation of the Lord Jesus in the Temple, forty days after he was born. As the first born, according to the Law, Mary and Joseph were required to take Jesus to the Temple and “redeem” him by paying what was required by the law. At the same time, the Law required the child’s mother to offer sacrifice in order to overcome the ritual impurity brought about by childbirth.

Jesus, the Son of God, is already consecrated to the Lord. Mary, who is all-pure, immaculately conceived, still presented herself to be purified. Such is the humility of our God. Such is the humility of the Blessed Mother Mary. They submitted to the law even though they were not bound by it.

The Presentation of the Lord concludes the celebration of the Nativity – the Incarnation of God – God becoming one of us in the flesh - and with the offerings of the Virgin Mother and the prophecy of Simeon, the events now point towards Easter.

Simeon called Jesus the Light of the Nations, 'the light to enlighten the nations' including the Gentiles and so the image of Christ as the Light has led to the celebration of light countering darkness, and that is why we have the blessing of candles on this day. This day is also called Candlemas.

In the Eastern Church, this feast was called the Feast of the Encounter – meaning, this is the first encounter of the Old Testament, represented by Simeon and Anna and the Temple, with the New Testament, represented by the Lord.  Jesus is presented in the Temple following the ancient Jewish laws.  In the New Law of the Kingdom of God, Jesus' own body would become the New Temple.

When we were baptized in Christ – we received the light of Christ – and therefore we are also called to be the Light of the World… to be other Christs in the world.  At our baptism, we were also presented to God because we belong to God. 

At baptism, we also presented our children to God. The children that we have are not really ours.  They are given to us, in trust, for a time, a short time and we are asked to be mothers and fathers, mentors, guardians, protectors, teachers and friends to them but they are never really our children.  They belong to God.  If we understand this, we will be less inclined to act as owners of our children, to manipulate our children for our own needs.

In the image of Joseph and Mary presenting Jesus in the Temple, we have a wonderful model of husband and wife united in practicing the faith and in raising their child in the faith.

A scholar was conducting a study of an Amish village. The Amish live in traditional rural villages far from industrialization and technology: no computers, televisions, refrigerators and telephones. In his study of the Amish village school, the researcher noticed that Amish children never screamed or yelled. That surprised him. So he decided to check it out with the schoolteacher. He told the teacher that he had not once heard an Amish child yell, and asked him why that was so. The teacher replied, “Well, have you ever heard an Amish parent yell?” Meaning – it is clear: Like the parents, so the children!

As parents, we have the duty and privilege of raising our children in such a way that they grow up to become good and responsible citizens as well as committed children of God.

The example of Joseph and Mary, and the example of the Amish community, show us that the best way to achieve this is not just by talking and shouting at our children but by leading the way and showing them by the example of our own lives.

Our life is not just for ourselves. We are called to be a gift for others, a gift that leads them to God. This is the greatest thing about our life: We are called to give life. We are called to participate in the fruitfulness of God. We give life by enlightening others. We help other people come to the light by starting with ourselves by trying sincerely to be united with the One Who is the Light and by not fearing to show people the truth. The light shed by our lives produces a real effect in souls.

The question to us is this: Can we become more aware that we are in God’s presence now, that we too are God’s servants, and that we too are part of this story of salvation?

Every time we gather for our Eucharistic celebration here in the church, like Simeon and Ana in the temple, the House of God, we encounter Christ, and we recognize Him in the breaking of the bread, our Bread of Life.

… and very important to realize - we encounter one another. We are a blessing to one another. Do we see each other as a blessing to one another.

The meeting between Joseph, Mary and Simeon and Anna – is a blessing to both generations.  Just like our gathering now here in our Eucharistic celebration….

 – look around – various generations – the young and the elders – from different cultures …

- The Youth are graced by the wisdom of the living faith of the older generations and the elders are graced by the trust and promise of the youth.

Each one of us…. All of us….who gather here in the church for our Eucharistic celebration are a blessing to one another… because we are all beloved sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters in Christ, co-heirs with Christ of the kingdom of God.

There is a story told of a rabbi in ancient times who gathered his students together very early one morning, while it was still dark. He put this question to them: "How can you tell when night has ended and the day has begun?"

 One student made a suggestion: "Could it be when you can see an animal from a distance and you can tell whether it is a sheep or a goat?"

 "No, that's not it," answered the rabbi.

 Another student said: "Could it be when you look at a tree in the distance and you can tell whether it is a fig tree or a peach tree?"

 Again the rabbi answered: "No."

 After a few more guesses the students said: "Well, how do you tell when night has ended and the day has begun?"

 The rabbi answered: "It is when you look on the face of any man or woman and you see them as your brother or sister. If you cannot do this, then, no matter what time it is under the sun, it is still night."

Now, turn to the people around you and look at each other’s faces.  What do you see?

Is it still night?

… or has the day begun?

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lay Ministers' Schedule 2020

Baptism of the Lord

Solemnity of Epiphany of the Lord

Homily for the Solemnity of Epiphany of the Lord based on the Gospel of Matthew 2:1-12 - January 5, 2020

 First of all, the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord is NOT the Feast of the Three Kings. They were not even kings; they were wise men.

Epiphany means manifestation. What the Church celebrates today is God’s revelation of Himself to the whole world, not only to the “Chosen People” but also to the Gentiles, us… a revelation that changes our hearts. Our Gospel reading tells the story of a group of men searching for Christ.  You see - their story is our story.  Their search is our search.

 All people – believers and non-believers are searching – And - What are we seeking?  What is at the heart of our longing? We all want happiness – We all want a sense of personal fulfillment. And - we all would like to believe that there is a real meaning in life.  We search for truth.

 And for us Christians, we search for or we long for – Christ - because we believe that Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life who can satisfy our deepest longing.  We believe that Christ is the key to fullness of life, to meaning of life, to sense of fulfillment, to true happiness. Christ is the Light of the world, the Wisdom of God, the beginning of New Life and so we search for Him.

 But the problem is – we really quite do not know how and where to look for Christ…or maybe we even do not know what we are looking for.  Would we recognize Jesus when we meet or see Him?

 As I have shared a few weeks ago, one author wrote why the people of Jesus’ time missed Him or did not recognize Him as the Messiah because:

They were looking for A Lion, He came as a Lamb.

They were looking for a Warrior, He came as a Peace maker.

They were looking for a King, He came as a Servant.

 They were looking for someone to liberate them from Rome, He submitted to the Roman cross.

They were looking for someone to meet their temporal needs.  He came to meet their eternal needs….

 And so – there He was - standing right in front of them – they did not recognize Him – they even crucified Him… they killed him… and people continue to kill God in our age.

 We hear people say that they have already found the Lord… that they have found the truth – and yet - they are uncharitable and intolerant or impatient of those who have not had an experience similar to their experience or who do not share their particular prayer or spiritual life… which shows they are not behaving like true Christians. So, we can say that they have not really found the Lord, but they probably have only a vague notion of the Lord.

 You see - the only people Jesus was so critical of and had a problem with - were those people who thought they were better, holier than others.  

If we are intolerant of others, then others will not experience God’s presence in us. 

 Most of the people who say that they have personal relationship with Christ –  have in fact had an experience of God's presence - in their experience of God’s love for them personally…  But – we can say also that they have experienced only one or few of the many ways that God is present – and their mistake lies in the assumption that their experience of God's presence is the sum totality of God’s presence and reality.  They think that that is it.

 God is present in an infinite variety of ways in our lives and in our world.  If we focus only on one way that God is present, such as personal experience – with warm and fuzzy feelings and high emotions - we might miss many other ways God is present. 

 A retreat experience, the birth of a child, the love of a friendship or love in  marriage, even in a traumatic situation you have survived, living as a single  parent, dealing with physical challenges and sickness - all of these are additional ways we can find the Lord.   We can find Jesus even through those people who are very different from us… even through those we do not even like – and even in situations or places we would rather not go. 

 No one can claim that - he has God figured out – that he has discovered all of Christ and everything that Jesus can mean in his life.  No matter how strong we may be in our faith, there must always be some area of our lives where we are still searching for Christ.

 During the days of His public ministry, Jesus could be found in all sorts of places – sometimes in the temple, sometimes in the synagogue, sometimes at parties and banquets.  But the place where Jesus could most often be found was with people who needed him.  Some of them were sick, some were hungry, some were sad, some were lost or so deep in sin.

 Jesus said: “I came not to be served but to serve…” and so Jesus had a deep commitment to be with people who needed him.  That is where he most often could be found.

That – still - might be the most logical place for us to search for him today.

 Let me tell you a true story about a church – located in one of the poorest sections of Los Angeles.  On one Sunday of Advent, the pastor preached a sermon about the strange way we celebrate Christmas.  We call it the birthday of Jesus, but we exchange gifts among ourselves. So, he suggested that it would be far more appropriate if they would give something to Jesus on his birthday. 

 But he conceded that this would be difficult to do, since no one knew Jesus’ address.  He ended his sermon by telling the people that he had learned where Jesus lives.  And if they would come back the following week, he would give them the Lord’s address so they could present their gifts to him.

 The next Sunday, the church was packed, and the pastor stood in the pulpit with a stack of more than one thousand cards.  Each contained the name and address of a needy family.  Some of them needed food; some needed clothes, some needed shelter.  All of them needed something.  One by one he distributed the cards to the people.  And then he said:  “Now - you know - where Jesus lives.  This year you can give a birthday present to him.”

My brothers and sisters - Like the Magi, all of us are searching for Christ. 

 Where can we find Christ?  The most logical place to look is among the people who need Christ most.

Epiphany of the Lord

Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

Feast of Holy Family

Holy Family.  These two words – Holy and Family – unfortunately are scorned in our society today.  When people hear the word Holy - people think - too traditional – too serious – such a kill joy to be holy…

Feast of Holy Family (based on the Gospel of Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23)

December 29, 2019

Holy Family.  These two words – Holy and Family – unfortunately are scorned in our society today.  When people hear the word Holy - people think - too traditional – too serious – such a kill joy to be holy… and it is so unfortunate because people do not realize that true lasting joy and happiness, fullness of life can be found in a holy life, God-centered life.

The word Family – this word is being re-defined now in our society and it now means all kinds of living arrangements or non-traditional families people get into…  anything goes… nowadays.  Families have been and continue to be greatly challenged and threatened from all fronts.  

And yet - we still cannot deny that families are a treasure all of us must value and protect and it is a great challenge for all of us to nurture this treasure that God has given us… our family as a gift from God.

The heart of our parish is not this church. The heart of the universal church is not the Vatican. The heart of the church is the family… the domestic church -  the foundation and hope of our society. 

Pope Francis and Cardinal Luis Tagle both mentioned that we should pay attention to our youth, the young people.

And the family is still the single most significant influence to the youth. The quality of our youth reflects to us the state and quality of society. The state of the youth reflects to us what is happening in the family.

That is why it is so disburbing to hear and watch in the news cases of teen suicides and crimes being committed by the youth.

So - The question to us is this: How is our own family doing?

This last Sunday of the calendar year is a wonderful time to celebrate the feast of the Holy Family…an ideal time to ask ourselves: how is my own family doing?  Is there peace at our homes? Is there Love? Is there forgiveness? Do we place God above all? 

Let us ask ourselves, what needs to be changed and what more can we do to make our family not only better but holier? Do the members of our families see in each other – a gift from God?

In our modern secular – even atheistic society, people have some ideas of what makes families well adjusted, psychologically balanced, healthy, happy families:

• Such as good communications, mutual respect, right balance of authority and obedience; parents know when to let go of their children timely and appropriately, etc. –  

 Admittedly - they are practical - helpful - good advise – to be a happier functional family – even non-believers subscribe to these principles or “common sense” values… But - the question is – are those enough to make us a Holy Family?...  as God meant for us… so that we will be truly blessed.

The atheists – they say: “goodness without God is good enough…so, be good for goodness sake.”  We even hear that phrase as part of a popular Christmas song…. Well, in truth, that is not good enough – because it must be – “Be good for God’s sake”, for the love of God… 

Even among the religious, church goers, the faithful – we often hear family members – for example -saying:  I am OK compared to that guy …I am not such a bad parent compared to others… so – I am OK -  or my family is OK compared to that family….

Comparing our families with other families - is NOT JUST, it is NOT WISE –

Yet, many of us think or say this.  "I wish my children were like theirs.  I wish my husband was like her husband or I wish my wife was like his wife.  I wish my parents were like my friend’s parents. " And so we use others as our standard.

That is wrong - because every family is a unique relationship of unique individuals, and every family has challenges which neighbors usually do not see.  In fact, we really do not know everything that happens inside other people’s homes – once they close their doors. So, we really cannot judge whether a family is good or bad.

If we really want to compare ourselves as individuals and as a family – let us look at the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Of course, people will quickly argue, “Jesus is God, Mary was immaculately conceived, and Joseph had to be a saint to be able to deal with everything that happened. How can we possibly be like them?”

We forget that the three of them, including Jesus, were just as human as we are – fully human. Theirs was a real family who experienced many of the same challenges each of us experience. At the beginning of their family life, there was talk of divorce when Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant even before they lived together. You can just imagine the confusion and dilemma Joseph must have experienced feeling betrayed.  Joseph must have felt terrible when he had to bring his wife to a stable to give birth to their child, and then used the feeding box for animals to lay the baby.  

After Jesus’ birth, as we heard in the Gospel, they had to escape from Herod’s murderous intention, so they lived in a foreign country, Egypt, away from their families and friends.

When Jesus was twelve, His parents searched for Him everywhere for three days.  You see, just like any family – they had their share of struggles and occasional tensions and misunderstandings.

 Mary found herself at the foot of the cross of her young son, brutally tortured and crucified.

Still, the Holy Family made it through the difficulties of their family life – How? - They had great faith and obedience to God’s will.  Joseph – in obedience to God took Mary as his wife even after he found out that Mary was already pregnant.  Joseph had faith that God would help him protect the child and Mary – and so, as instructed - he moved his family to Egypt. 

Mary – in faith – said yes to God’s plan even without understanding, without knowing what the future holds.  Jesus, obedient to God the Father - emptied Himself of His divinity, became one of us and He had faith that God the Father is working through His parents to care for Him and so He was obedient to Mary and Joseph. 

So, what makes them holy?  Jesus, Mary and Joseph loved each other – out of obedience to God the Father, out of love for God… rooted in their own personal trusting relationship with God the Father.  Each of them trusted the Heavenly Father.  They placed their love for each other – for their neighbors – within the wider, broader and deeper context and framework of their love for God the Father… … not just for goodness’ sake… but for the love of God.

Holy families do not just happen. They are something we all consciously create every day – that every member of the family create and make constant effort – every day - by working together and persevering – even - in tough times.

Admittedly, within our families we experience the heights of joy and also the depths of pain…God is present in the love, acceptance and forgiveness we offer our loved ones.

Our world desperately needs holy families; well-formed families whose children can grow and go on to form new well-formed holy families…

Often, it is the example of Christian families that attract others to faith.   Like the Holy Family, our families have a mission.  Blessings come with a mission. We are called to be a blessing to others, to promote God’s message of love, grace and mercy in the world through our examples and our actions as parents, as husbands and wives, as sons and daughters,

The Gospel was born into the family.  The Word became flesh in the family; and through our families, let the Gospel be proclaimed.

May all our families be holy.

Grace-filled Holy New Year to Everyone!!!

Merry Christmas from Our Pastor!

Come Join us for Mass this Christmas!

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Mission- More Work, More Grace

Today is World Mission Sunday - a day set aside for Catholics worldwide to revive our missionary awareness and commitment…a day to reflect on how to pass on the faith.

We recommit ourselves to our common vocation, by virtue of our Baptism, to be missionaries, through prayer, participation in the Eucharist, and by providing financial support and concrete help to all the missions of the world".

Today we share in those celebrations taking place in every parish, seminary, school and convent all over the world.

In the Gospel - Jesus told His disciples and is telling us about the necessity to pray always and not lose heart.”

Let us pray especially for Missionaries for perseverance and for them not to lose heart.

St. Francis Xavier, S.J. , along with St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower - are the patron saints of missionaries. Let us ask for their intercessions for missionaries and all missionary works.

Talking about missionaries - Our Pastor Father Glenn actually is a missionary belonging to the Mission Society of the Philippines… Actually, he was in Korea for at least15 years and spent some time in Bangladesh; and so, let us pray for Fr. Glenn and provide him all the support we can in any way and let us pray for all MSP missionaries.

Please always include Father Glenn in your prayers. Let us also pray hard that God will send a parochial vicar to our parish as soon as possible so Father Glenn can find time to rest. Every now and then we check on Father Glenn because we are concerned about him and, being a true missionary, he said: “More work, more grace.” Inspiring! There is so much truth in that.

The will of God will not take us to where His grace cannot sustain us.

The more we share our faith, the stronger our faith becomes.

The Mission Society of the Philippines (or MSP) was established by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), and so the MSP serves as the official and chief missionary arm of the Catholic Church of the Philippines… as a gift to the world in gratitude for the faith and blessings brought to the Philippines also by missionaries.

The MSP now has been working in five continents and at least twelve countries in the world including the United States and that is why Father Glenn is here and we are so blessed.

One of the many missionary visions or goals of MSP is to instill missionary consciousness to the Filipino migrants, making them partners and instruments of missionary vocation.

And so – let us use ourselves as an example. We - who are migrants here in America – we are here not just to enjoy ourselves with the comforts and pleasures and material prosperity – we have a mission - there is a reason why we are here… in fact – we have a mission wherever we find ourselves in.

We are all so blessed…. And our Blessings come with a mission.

Pope Francis, a Jesuit priest, a missionary himself said: “I am a mission, always; you are a mission, always; every baptized man and woman is a mission.”

St. Teresa of Calcutta said and it is still true today: “There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.”

She said: “The greatest disease in the West today is not physical illness or disease; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love.

The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty -- it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There's a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God.”

Therefore – we should see the West – America for example – as our mission field. We live in a very secular and even atheistic society to say the least.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said: “The world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort; you were made for greatness.” - meaning – we were made for holiness… set apart for God. We are in this world – but not of it.

We always have to remember as the Scripture says: Much more has been given to you – much more is expected of you. And we need to share this vision and mission to our children who are born and raised here for them to continue the mission… and so we need start in our own families. We need to tell our children our faith stories.

Those of us who made it here in America – we are not only so materially blessed in so many ways – we also have the freedom – including freedom to practice our faith unlike in many areas in the world. In fact, there is too much of everything here in our society – materially and in terms of freedom – anything goes pretty much including morally - that people lose sight of what really matters in life and that is the danger for all of us.

If we are not careful – we who migrated here, we initially might have been materially poor but spiritually rich when we left our country but because of attractions and attachments to material things and comfort and pleasure and new found freedom – we might be finding ourselves now – materially rich but spiritually poor… and worse even – there are those – both financially poor and spiritually poor.

For many of us who are first generation immigrants – coming from a Third World Country like the Philippines - We know what it is like to be without – we know how to persevere and not lose heart and not lose hope even in the midst of struggles and pains - that is a gift we need to share with those who were born with a silver spoon – so to speak - who do not know how to deal with sufferings and struggles in life.

Reality check - Life is getting tougher and tougher even here in America – illness due to too much pleasure and too much consumption of all kinds; violence, financial problems, degradation in moral values, etc.

Many people around us do not know how to deal with struggles – their threshold for pain is so low and so they are the ones who give up on life so easily because they do not know any better.

And so – as Christians – we are called to be light of the world, the salt of the earth and source and instruments of hope.

Only in Christ, can humanity find hope. (St. Pope JPII)

"The Lord always reminds us how precious we are in His eyes, and He entrusts us with a mission." (Pope Francis)

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

We say in our Profession of Faith: We believe in one, holy catholic and apostolic church. We are the apostolic church. The word “Apostle” means “one who is sent to deliver or proclaim the teachings to others.

That is why at the end of the Mass… after having been nourished by God’s word, His Body and Blood, we are sent to go out there into the world in the peace of Christ, to glorify the Lord by our very lives…. By proclaiming the Good News of God’s love, grace and mercy in Christ by our very lives.

Actually, in essence, the mass never ends. It must be lived.

God bless…

29th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – CYCLE C

OCTOBER 20, 2019 - Luke 18:1-8