Friends and Disciples

Homily on the 6th Sunday of the Ordinary Time We have seen how during this pandemic, those who are tested positive are isolated the technical term is quarant...ined. Most of the senior citizens who were tested positive died not only of the virus but also of isolation they cannot be visited, they do not see their loved ones, their families are prohibited to be beside their sickbed. We hear of stories of pains and sorrows experienced, witnessed and shared by the infected, the medical staff and family members. Cellphones and other gadgets help us say goodbye to loved ones we cannot visit in the hospitals. But these gadgets cannot replace the real presence and cannot totally ease the isolation. We hear of solitary confinement being used in penitentiary system as a form of punishment and security to protect others from any form of danger emanating from the one being confined. The United Nations Organization considers solitary confinement or isolation as torture when it exceeds fifteen days. In any human relationship, when one is given a silent treatment, one feels being isolated and being tortured psychologically and emotionally. The first reading and Gospel today tell us about the leprosy which during the biblical time required isolation. The first reading describes and prescribes the actions to be taken by someone diagnosed with leprosy: The one who bears the sore of leprosy shall keep his garments rent and his head bare and shall muffle his beard; he shall cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ As long as the sore is on him, he shall declare himself unclean, since he is in fact unclean. He shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp. Imagine the double pain one feels the physical pain caused by the disease and the pain of isolation. One is cut off from the family and the community making his abode outside the camp. Thus, when Jesus encountered a leper begging for his mercy to heal him, he was moved with pity. The Greek word for this is stronger literally, it means to be moved as to one's bowels (for the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity) - hence, it means to be moved with compassion. Jesus felt the double pain (physical and emotional) in his intestines. He allowed himself to be touched by the situation of the leper. So, he stretched out his hands and touched the leper, saying be made clean. The cleansing was immediate and Jesus instruct the healed person to present himself to the priest who would declare him clean as we heard in the first reading. But, in his excitement and joy of being healed from leprosy and therefore being re-incorporated with the family and community, the healed person started proclaiming what happened to him. The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere. This is the irony. While the healed person can now enter the camp or town, it became impossible for Jesus to enter the town openly. He remained outside in deserted places. That happens when we reach out to the untouchables, society isolates us too. Remember the early stage of this pandemic, how some health workers were at worst, ostracized or at best, avoided in some communities. This is what happened to those who work for justice and peace and for the rights of the voiceless of the society they are branded as leftists, socialists, communists. And it becomes impossible for them to enter a town or city openly. They are considered outsiders from the mainstream of the society. They are in good company Jesus remained outside in deserted places for it became impossible for him to enter the town openly. Who are the untouchables, the impure, the excluded, the outsiders, those who are confined in the peripheries of the society? Who are the lepers in your life? Who are the lepers who are condemned to remain outside your family? Who are the outsiders of our society? Do you feel pity or compassion on them? Are your intestines or bowels moved with pity toward the lepers in your community? Do you take the risk of being isolated yourself because of your stretching out of your hands to the untouchables? Do you dare to touch the untouchables, in the first place? During the encounter of Jesus and the leper, the sick person said to Jesus: If you wish, you can make me clean. And Jesus answered, I do will it. Be made clean. Jesus was intentional in his action knowing fully well the consequences of his decision. Can you say the same: I do will it? Are you intentional in doing good, in stretching out your hand, in touching the lepers of our time? Are you ready to face the consequences of your actions? Of course, during this pandemic, we cannot even touch one another with our bare skins for fear of contamination. We have seen how some people go around this creatively in order to touch their loved ones. We have seen on television how family members would hug one another with plastic between them. During the pandemic, the need to be touched has become more pronounced. So, imagine the need of those shunned away because of their being the modern lepers of our society. Yes, during the pandemic we avoid touching one another. But we can touch the lives of other people deeper than the superficial skin touch. We can touch their lives with our good words, with our respectful presence, with simple gestures that warm the heart up. O Lord, as we celebrate the day of the hearts, let us cherish the moments we share with our loved ones. Let us enjoy the sweet words and gestures we share and exchange with each other. Let these words and gestures touch us and warm us up to extend the day of the hearts throughout the year. Let us make it a daily and not merely a yearly event. Moreover, let us extend it to other people even the untouchables, the modern lepers of our society. Grant us the courage to make this intentional. Let us say it with your Son Jesus: Yes, I do will it. Grant us the grace to make our tents or circles bigger and wider to include those in the peripheries of the society so that no one is considered outsider. Let us follow St Paul, in the second reading, who tells us to do everything for the glory of God to please everyone in every way, not seeking our own benefit but that of the many, that they may be saved. Make us imitators of Christ, your Son and our Lord for ever and ever. Amen. Fr. Melanio Viuya, MJ

Homily on the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time The first reading and the gospel today are a study in contrast. On one hand, we see Job whining as he says, Is not ...man’s life on earth a drudgery? Are we not caught up in the daily grind of life? Are we not like hirelings or slaves longing for the shade and for wages? The night drags on filled with restlessness until the break of dawn. Life is like a wind, a vapor, a smoke we feel, hear and see it for a while and it disappears. Job seems to be very busy complaining about the meaninglessness of life. In a way, we have seen this during the pandemic we became restless until dawn, our days and nights became longer. We have seen people complaining about almost everything. And if we are honest, we might see that we are part of those who are busy whining and complaining about the protocols, about the restrictions, about the lockdown. There were some who did not see any meaning to all these. The gospel, on the hand, shows us Jesus very busy doing what he is sent to do: preaching the Good News, serving by healing sick people, and praying. He has just come from the synagogue where he preached with authority in words and in deeds. He went to Peter’s house to rest and to eat. But they informed him of the sickness of Peter’s mother-in-law. He cured her. At sunset, the whole town was gathered at the door. Jesus cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons. Very early before dawn, he rose and went off to a deserted place to pray. Peter and company pursued him to say, Everyone is looking for you. But he told them, Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come. During the pandemic, a lot of people rolled up their sleeves to work to defeat the virus and also to make life bearable for us. The scientists, doctors, health care workers, essential services workers continued being busy doing what they promised to do protect life, save lives, enhance life. The friends of Jesus were busy savoring the good feelings of success imagine, the whole town gathered around them until night. And in the morning, they told Jesus, everyone is looking for you. They are so happy that they have chosen to follow Jesus and not any other teacher of their time and place. They feel that they have bet on the winning horse. They wanted Jesus to go back to the house to continue what he was doing the day before. Again, we see these kind of people also during the pandemic, those who want to take credit for anything that goes well while playing the blame game when things go wrong. They want to be in front of the camera, basking in glory in front of the spotlights. They focus on places and things of success and they want to keep going back to those places and events, neglecting other people in the process. But Jesus is busy fulfilling the purpose of his coming: he has to preach to other villages, heal the sick there also and drive out demons. The psalmist in the responsorial psalm is busy praising God who is busy fulfilling his part of the covenant: Praise the Lord who heals the brokenhearted. The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem; the dispersed of Israel he gathers. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. The LORD sustains the lowly; the wicked he casts to the ground. In the first reading, we hear Job saying: So I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights have been allotted to me. On the other hand, in the second reading, St Paul tells us that an obligation has been imposed on me that is to preach the gospel. And woe to me if I don’t preach it. He is so busy preaching the gospel that he has no time to boast about it. Job is complaining about the drudgery of life to the point of comparing it a slave and a hireling longing for shade and waiting for wages. St Paul considers himself like a slave too, but with different reasons. I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible. To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak. I have become all things to all, to save at least some. All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it. We are looking at the same life, the same moments of day and night, the same sunrise and sunset. We are given the same opportunities. How we use our time, our talents and treasures spell out the kind of person we are and with what we busy ourselves day and night. Someone says: It’s not how busy you are but what you are busy with that counts. The bees are esteemed; the mosquitoes are swatted. Are we busy like Jesus - making this world a better one, healing the sick, driving out what is evil and preaching the good news? Are we busy like the bees bringing colors, life, fruits and yes, the sweet honey we all like? Are we busy like God rebuilding what is damaged; gathering the dispersed; healing the brokenhearted; binding up their wounds; sustaining the lowly; casting to the ground the wicked? Are we busy like St Paul preaching the gospel and no time for boasting? Or we like the mosquitoes annoying people with our constant noise similar to the whining of Job; complaining about the drudgery of life? When we do not enjoy what we are doing, time passes slowly exceedingly and painfully. We are always looking at the passing of time. This is what Job is saying about the hirelings we are anticipating every tic-tac of the clock so that we can insert our card to check out. Every second, every minute passes like a thousand years. When we enjoy what we are doing, time passes so quickly. As if, there is not much time to do everything we want to do. When what we do gives meaning and fulfillment to our existence as human beings and as Christians, time is fleeting away. When we are busy not for ourselves but for the Kingdom of God time is so short and we do not have enough of it. Allow me to pray the prayer of St Francis with some revisions: Lord, make me a channel of your peace, that where there is hatred, make me busy bringing love; where there is wrong, make me busy bringing the spirit of forgiveness; where there is discord, make me busy bringing harmony; where there is lie, make me busy bringing truth; where there is doubt, make me busy bringing faith; where there is despair, make me busy bringing hope; where there are shadows, make me busy bringing light; where there is sadness, make me busy bringing joy. Lord, grant that I may be busy seeking rather to comfort than to be comforted; to understand than to be understood; to love than to be loved; for it is by forgetting self that one finds; it is by forgiving that one is forgiven; it is by dying that one awakens to eternal life. Amen. May I never get too busy in my own affairs that I fail to respond to the needs of others with kindness and compassion (Thomas Jefferson). Grant that I always be busy like Jesus proclaiming the truth of the Kingdom of God, healing and serving the sick and the needy, driving the demons - of divisions, injustice, inequality and indifference out of myself and of the society. And in the midst of being busy doing your mission, give the grace to pause, to pray alone like Jesus your Son, our Lord. Amen. - Fr. Melanio Viuya, MJ