Friday, May 31, 2013

Gospel Reflection



May 31, 2013
Friday – Year of Faith – Ordinary Time
Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
by Rev.  Fr. Joel Jason (Dean, Graduate School of Theology San Carlos Seminary)
12:15PM Mass, Mary, Queen of Peace Shrine (Our Lady of Peace Quasi Parish/EDSA Shrine)

 

Reading 1 Zep 3:14-18a

Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The LORD has removed the judgment against you, he has turned away your enemies; The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst, you have no further misfortune to fear. On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem: Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged! The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, He will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals.


Brothers and sisters: Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor. Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Have the same regard for one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly; do not be wise in your own estimation.

Responsorial Psalm Is 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6

R. (6) Among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.
R. Among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;
among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name.
R. Among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement;
let this be known throughout all the earth.
Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,
for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel!
R. Among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.

Gospel Lk 1:39-56

Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me,that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever.”

Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

HOMILY

Please be seated for a moment. Magandang tanghali po sa inyong lahat.

One time, ako po ay nasa sasakyan, and I was listening to the radio. During the program, the DJ was reading out some text messages, and then he said, "We want to thank all our watch-eners for tuning in." Sa loob-loob ko, ano'ng sinabi no'ng DJ? I want to thank all our 'watch-eners'. (laughs) Sabi ko, meron bang gano'ng word? 'Watch-eners'? And then I realized, kasi ngayon ang mga radio program, hindi na lang nadidinig. Pwede mo na ring panoorin. Kasi they are beamed live via streaming. So while they are doing the radio program, we also watch them. Kaya ngayon, hindi na lang listeners. Meron nang watch-eners. Sino ba 'yong mga watch-eners? Watch-eners are those people who not only listen, but also watch and also observe.

Why did I remember that? I think the word watch-ener is someone that fits our Blessed Mother. She is not only one who listens to the Word of God; she also observes the Word of God. And when I say observe, I do not only mean watching in a passive way. Because in real language, the word 'observe' means to act on the Word of God. One who observes the Word of God, is one who acts on it. And our Blessed Mother is someone who, not only listens to the Word of God, but also observes it. She acts on it. Kaya siguro kung 'yong Ebanghelyo ngayon ay babasahin, let us look at our Mother, the watch-ener of the Word.

Now - what does it really demand of us, if we are to become watch-eners of the Word of God? Pope Francis, in one of his general audience address, always praised our Blessed Mother as a model of the new Christian. And according to him, the new evangelization is the task of every Christian. And if you are a watch-ener of God's Word, you have to be a new evangelizer. Paano ba tayo magiging new evangelizer? Who is the new evangelizer?

Number one, the new evangelizer is someone who is joyful. Paano ba tayo makaka-evangelize? We should be joyful. Dapat po marunong tayong ngumiti. Minsan tayong mga Kristiyano, ang tingin ng mundo sa atin, tayo ay malulungkot na mga tao. Ang tingin ng mundo sa mga Kristiyano, mga killjoy. Kaya hindi tayo maka-attract ng ibang tao, eh. Kasi ang ating image na pino-project sa ibang mga tao ay para bang to become a good Christian, dapat lagi kang nasa loob ng adoration chapel. Eh kapag ganyan ang nakikita lang ng mundo, they will not be attracted to Christ.

Pag nakakita ka ng pari, at 'yong paring 'yon laging nakasimangot, hindi marunong ngumiti, hindi attractive 'yong pari na 'yon. Pag nakakita ka ng mga madre - di ba ang daming mga madre ngayon dito - at pag nakita mo 'yong mga madre laging nakasimangot (laughs) hindi tayo ma-a-attract na pumasok sa kumbento. Pero pag nakita mo 'yong mga madre katulad ng nakikita natin ngayon ano, ang gaganda (laughs)...laging nakangiti, o tingnan n'yo sila....ayan na-conscious na tuloy (more laughs), hindi ba there is something naturally attractive to that? And sometimes, we do not even have to literally evangelize. Once you exude the joy that comes from following the Lord, you are already becoming an evangelizer - a new evangelizer.

So siguro ganoon ano, let us smile more often. Katulad ng ginawa ng ating Blessed Mother, she visited her cousin Elizabeth and shared the joy that comes from being the Mother of God. Kaya nga sabi ni Elizabeth, naku narinig ko pa lang ang tinig mo, natuwa na agad ako, at 'yong sanggol sa aking sinapupunan ay nagtatalon na. Sana gano'n din tayo, kung meron kayong makakasalubong na buntis (laughs), 'yong kanyang anak ay magtatatalon din ano, (laughs) because you exude the joy of being a follower of the Lord. So being a joyful Christian, smile more often, and infect the world with the joy of the Gospel.

Secondly, a true evangelizer is someone who knows the faith. Eto ang medyo magiging challenging. We should know what our faith teaches. And to know what our faith teaches does not only mean that we know what the Church teaches. Dapat alam din natin why the Church teaches what she teaches. Kaya maganda na ang bawat Kristiyano ay laging nag-aaral tungkol sa kanyang pananampalataya, dumadalo ng misa, nakikinig sa Salita ng Diyos, nakikinig ng Homily, uma-attend ng mga recollection, uma-attend ng mga formation. These are the means that we come to know what our faith teaches. We cannot share what we do not have, and therefore, we should know what our faith is. The new evangelizer knows what the faith teaches.

Third, the new evangelizer shares the faith. Ibinabahagi ang pananampalataya. Katulad ng ginawa ng ating Mahal na Ina sa Banal na Ebanghelyo, noong unang-una niyang marinig ang Salita ng Diyos, ang sabi ng Ebanghelyo, Mary went in haste. Nagmamadali upang ibahagi ang Mabuting Balita.

Alam ho ninyo, at no time in the history of the world is it easier to share the Gospel. Napakadaling magbahagi ngayon. Di mo na kailangang maging pari. Di mo na kailangang maging madre. Ano lang ang kailangan? Kailangan mo lang ng Facebook account. (laughs) Sino po dito ang may Facebook account - itaas nga ang kamay. (people raise their hands slowly) Bakit parang nahihiya kayo? (laughs)

I am sure most, if not all of you, have a Facebook account. Pero ang tanong - ano po ang nilalagay ninyo sa inyong Facebook account? Ano 'yong mga post ninyo at mga status ninyo? Baka naman puro lang, 'now eating breakfast - yum yum'. (laughs) Ayan o - mamaya pagpunta ninyo sa Robinson's, kukunan ng picture 'yong kakainin at ipo-post 'Ito ang lunch ko ngayon.' (laughs) Minsan ganyan lang ang nilalagay natin sa ating mga Facebook account. Walang kapararakan. (laughs)

Ma'nong gamitin natin ang ating Facebook account to become an instrument of evangelization. Halimbawa, after this mass, kung may napulot kayo sa Homily na ito, compose your own one-paragraph reflection, and post it in your Facebook account. 'This is what I learned at mass today.' Ilang libong tao ang makakabasa niyan. And by simply doing that, you have become a new evangelizer. Siguro mas marami pang matututo kaysa sa mga nakinig ng Homily ko ngayon. Iilan lamang kayo. Pero kung ang bawat isa sa inyo ay ilalagay ito sa kanyang Facebook account, can you imagine how many thousands of people can learn and be inspired by the Word of God? It doesn't take much to become a new evangelizer nowadays. To become a new evangelizer simply means to make use of what God is giving us in this day and age.

As we celebrate the Feast of Mary's Visitation to Elizabeth, let us ask the Lord that we may become agents of the Gospel. That we may become men and women of the new evangelization. Katulad ni Maria, ibahagi natin ang Ebanghelyo nang may saya, nang may bibig. Harapin natin ang ating pananampalataya, and let us make use of all the technology, that we may become simple but effective evangelizers of the Word. Amen