29th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle A

Readings:

Is 45:1.4-6          1 Thes 1:1-5            Mt 22:15-21

The church celebrates today the World Mission Sunday. We remember today all the missionaries working around the world to spread the faith and the love of our God.  In a very simple act of solidarity, we are given opportunity to be part of this mission through our donations.  In our churches today, a special envelope is distributed among the faithful to solicit help for the missionaries. The amount gathered will be sent to a special office in Rome that takes charge of the missionary activities of the church.
Supporting the missionary activity of the church is one way of responding to the challenges of the gospel. Jesus commanded all of us to go out and spread to the entire world all that he taught us. (Mt 28:19-20). This commandment makes every baptized Christian a missionary. In our baptism, we are incorporated to a church whose very nature is missionary.  The second vatican council's decree on the church's missionary activity pointed to us that this missionary character of the church flows from the very mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit (Ad Gentes 2).  Being born, therefore, in the church through baptism makes us share in this very nature. We are all called to be missionaries.
In today's gospel, we heard Jesus facing the  Pharisees together with the Herodians who are out to trap him with their carefully crafted question; "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" They did not only come up with a very tricky question but they also started the conversation by showering Jesus with praises. "Teacher, we know you are true, and teach the way of God truthfully", they quipped. The entire scenario gives us a view that it is a well-orchestrated and well-planned encounter with Jesus.  The plan was specifically designed  to offer no escape for Jesus this time. Imagine the hostility of the crowd surrounding Jesus.  The pharisees are seen together the Herodians! The pharisees are those who strictly observe the law of the temple while the Herodians are those who willingly pay taxes to the Romans. Their coming together clearly driven by their desire to bring Jesus down. But, they did not succeed. In the end, those listening to Jesus walked away challenged as ever.  What was Jesus' reply? "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's".
We have seen many times this reply of Jesus used in many discussions particularly those discussions related to the issues between the state and the church.  This has become the favorite phrase of those who want the church out of the discussions in the society.  They would often quote this biblical passage to help present their case that the church should only mind issues that are spiritual in nature.  What they forget is that Jesus is also a devout Jew who faithfully observes the law. A devout Jew is someone who sees everything as a gift from God and everything a responsibility to God.  In saying that those of Caesar's should be given to Caesar is a just recognition of individual's due. However, the second part brings us to an even greater reality that the all things in this world is of God. Even that of Caesar's are still of God's because everything in this world came from God.  Jesus does not see a dichotomy between his being a citizen of the state and being a Jew. His faithful observance as a Jew makes him a better citizen.    
The gospel today challenges us to be like Jesus.  Our duty as Christians should make us more participative in the issues of our society because it is God who gave us this society, this community.  The society is within and is God's creation.  We are reminded by today's gospel  not to be remiss of our duty as missionaries in our society. Let us not think that missionary activities are limited to the church.  Let us not think that only the priests and the religious are missionaries.  All of us are missionaries. Let us render to God what is God's.  Every part of lives and everything that we own are of God.  Therefore, our being missionaries should not only be limited in our churches.  In every place that we go, let us bring Christ.  Let us make every encounter with other people an encounter of Christ.  St. Paul asks us to be ambassadors of Christ.  To be a missionary is to be an ambassador of Christ. Let us render to God what is God's.

28th Sunday in Ordinary time- Cycle A

Readings:

Isaiah 25: 6-10    Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20    Mt. 22:1-14

We hear another parable today which for many see it as something quite difficult to understand.  The gospel of today tells us of a king inviting his people to the wedding feast of his son.  Unfortunately, the people whom he invited turned down the invitation and went on with their regular day to day activity instead.  The king in his frustration has ordered his men to destroy these people who did not heed his invitation. Finally, the king extended his invitation to everybody and the banquet hall was filled. However, he found a guest not properly dressed so he ordered that person to be removed from the banquet hall and was put in place where he will weep and gnash his teeth.

Our problem in understanding the parable comes from the difficulty in reconciling our belief of a God who is compassionate and loving to a seemingly punitive and vengeful king we see in this parable. It will truly be difficult to reconcile these conflicting portrayal of God if interpret the story literally.  Scholars agree that this particular parable is an allegorical allusion.  The destruction of the city is an allusion to the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem which the Romans carried out.  The killing of the servants, which we have also witnessed in the parable last Sunday, refers to the attitude of the people of Israel towards the prophet sent by God.

God continues to be loving and compassionate to his people.  Today's gospel shows us that He has prepared for us something beautiful, a feast and he is never tired of inviting all the people. A king inviting anybody is already unbelievable.  When Prince William and Kate Middleton got married, there were only a handful of people who got invitations to join in the ceremony.  They were not even ordinary people but heads of states and luminous personalities around the world.  But in today's gospel everybody was invited.  Yet, when guests went into the hall, one man was found to be improperly dressed so he was removed and was thrown in a place proper for his behavior.
How often do we think and behave that we can do anything we want even if we say we are a Catholic. We behave and think without considering what God teaches, what our church teaches. God is always willing to give us all the beautiful things as what the prophet Isaiah tells us:"the Lord of host will provide for all people". However, our affiliation to our church requires a degree of obedience to her teachings.  In the same manner that responding to the invitation of God requires conversion of mind and of heart.  We have to dress properly according to the occasion. We have to act like a true christian.  We have to be loving and merciful like the God we say we believe and love

27th Sunday in Ordinary time- Cycle A

Readings:

Is 5:1-7           Ph 4: 6-9          Mt 21:33-43

The beautiful readings in today's liturgy reminded me of a story I've heard in the past.  The story tells of a lady sitting in a hospital waiting room when she noticed a man staring at her. She became upset and angrily glared back at the man, but he didn't turn away.  Finally, she walked up to him said, "I don't appreciate you staring at me."  He replied, "I wasn't staring at you. I am blind."

St. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, reminded them to dismiss anxiety from their lives.  "Have no anxiety at all", he said. In the case of the lady in our story, she was upset because of a man staring at him only to find herself in an embarrassing situation. There could already be something running and formed in the mind of the lady even if she wasn't sure of what's really happening in her outside environment. In one way or another, many of us have experienced what the lady experienced.  Psychologists call it as an anxiety disorder.  Anxiety is different from fear. Fear is valid because it is a result of something that happened. Anxiety, according to definition, is a painful uneasiness of mind over anticipated ill.    While fear has a foundation, anxiety lives in mind and may or may not happen.  Many of these anxieties do not really materialize in to real fears but their result in the life of a person can wreck havoc.  Anxiety can disable the person's capacity to think straight and make wrong choices.

Confronted by so many problems and bad experiences in life, we also start feeling anxious of so many things in life without noticing that we have already acquired a negative stance in life. We start becoming suspicious of people around us. We become easily distracted. We start losing peace of mind. St. Paul reminds us today to return to the Prince of Peace by prayer and petition. Let our anxieties reach the ears of God and we shall experience again the peace that is beyond all understanding. To pray to God is to make him take charge of our lives once again.  This is what we forget when we start to be anxious of our lives, of our future.

This is what the tenants in the parable had forgotten.  The vineyard is only leased to them.  There is a real owner. There is an owner who invested and poured his resources so that in the future he may collect the produce of the land.  The tenants failed to see their reality because greed and pride had already filled their minds. Their next actions had led them to greater sins by killing the servants of the master and, ultimately, killing his son.  In the end, their lives had to pay for their actions.

Many times we are our own tormentors. Our worries drive us to do crazy things. In today's mass, let us pray to God that we may experience peace of mind. After praying the Lord's Prayer, let us offer the sign of peace with genuine affection to our seatmates in the church. 

Update on Re-Roofing of our Parish

The Parish Pastoral Council of St. Anthony of Padua headed by Rev. Fr. Sabino Fulo would like to express our deepest gratitude to the tremendous support we got from you, Gubatnons and Devotees of St. Anthony, for the Re-Rooffing Project of our Parish Church.   We are happy to announce that we have already fixed those part of the roof and gutters that were destroyed by the typhoon Glenda, last July 15, 2015. 

However,  we have decided to pursue the long-over-due major overhaul of the whole roof after discovering its dangerous condition. As of the posting time, the repair is about 40 percent done. 

In view of this, we reiterate our appeal for your continuous help for this project may come to completion as soon as possible. For our financial report of your donations and our disbursements, please see this link

Showing you the following:

1. status of the ongoing Re-roofing work of our Church, 

   

   checking the back side of the roof

   

   checking the condition of the existing wood, changing the dilapidated ones.

    
   

   

   
   
2. the condition of the old wood and;

   

   dilapidated woods

   
   

   

   70% of the woods needs to be changed according to the estimate of the Engineers

3.  some of the finished areas

   

   gutters were also changed

   
   

   

   this is at the right wing of the Church

   In everything TO GOD BE THE GLORY! Dios Mabalos po!

Update on Re-Roofing of our Parish

The Parish Pastoral Council of St. Anthony of Padua headed by Rev. Fr. Sabino Fulo would like to express our deepest gratitude to the tremendous support we got from you, Gubatnons and Devotees of St. Anthony, for the Re-Rooffing Project of our Parish Church.   We are happy to announce that we have already fixed those part of the roof and gutters that were destroyed by the typhoon Glenda, last July 15, 2015. 

However,  we have decided to pursue the long-over-due major overhaul of the whole roof after discovering its dangerous condition. As of the posting time, the repair is about 40 percent done. 

In view of this, we reiterate our appeal for your continuous help for this project may come to completion as soon as possible. For our financial report of your donations and our disbursements, please see this link

Showing you the following:

1. status of the ongoing Re-roofing work of our Church, 

   

   checking the back side of the roof

   

   checking the condition of the existing wood, changing the dilapidated ones.

    
   

   

   
   
2. the condition of the old wood and;

   

   dilapidated woods

   
   

   

   70% of the woods needs to be changed according to the estimate of the Engineers

3.  some of the finished areas

   

   gutters were also changed

   
   

   

   this is at the right wing of the Church

   In everything TO GOD BE THE GLORY! Dios Mabalos po!

Laity Week Celebration: Laiko, Like Ko!

Saint Anthony of Padua Parish was all out in reflecting the significant place and roles of the Laity in the Church as it joins the celebration of the National  Laity Week, September 21 - 27, 2014. 

program of activities

program of activities

The week of the Laity was formally opened with a Solemn Eucharistic Celebration at the Christ the King Park, September 21, coinciding with the feast of INA, Our Lady of Penafrancia. It was however preempted with the Parish Youth Congress held on September 20 as part of the Laity Week celebration. This particular activity was attended by over three hundred (300) young men and women from all over  29 Kapilyas under the Parish.

Another significant activity of the celebration was Men's Fellowship. This 3-night activity exclusively for men aimed to empower the men of the Church and to reflect on their significant part in the life and mission of the Church. The Parish Pastoral Council decided to hold this particular activity coming from the common observation of the weakening  participation of men in most of the barangaychapels and in some BEC groups. 

Finally the celebration was culminated last September 27, 2014 with the 2nd General Assembly of the Laity, with the guest speaker Ms. Judith Ayo, diocesan lay commission head of the Commission of the Laity, and the celebration of the Holy Eucharist which was presided over by Rev. Fr. Sabino Fulo.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of  the Philippines (CBCP) has declared the celebration of Year of the Laity from December 01, 2013 - November 23, 2014,  as part of the  preparation of the 500 years celebration of our Catholic Faith in the Philippines. This year's theme is LAITY: Called to be Saints and set forth as Heroes

For the duration of the year, the Laity are recognized as significant part of the Church and thus called to choose to be brave in witnessing the Gospel of Christ

http://www.cbcpnews.com/cbcpnews/?p=32666

26th Sunday in Ordinary time- Cycle A

Readings:

Ez 18:-25-28/Ps 25:4-5. 6-7. 8-9/ Phil 2:1-11/ Mt 21:28-32

http://www.madreseton.it/nuovosito/en/

“Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future” says Oscar Wilde.  This saying speaks a lot about one’s personal responsibility in setting a direction for his or her life.  A person is always confronted whether he or she would like to dwell and curse his/her ugly past or set things straight as the future continues to unfold before his/her eyes. 

The house of Israel believes that everything in their past has something to do with what is happening to them in the present.  This is what we heard from the first reading taken from the book of the prophet Ezekiel.  When the house of the Israel starts complaining that the Lord’s way is unfair, it is because they believe that they should not be suffering or be held responsible for the sins of the past generations.  The house of Israel plays a blame a game and they extend it to God by accusing him of being unfair.  Yet, the Lord reminds them that he has always been fair to them by giving them the chance to correct their mistakes.  He gives them the chance to choose virtue over evil. The preceding verses show God as saying that a son will not die because of his father’s iniquity.  God in all his fairness does not count the offenses of the past.  He only wants his people to turn away from their wickedness and start living a just and holy life. This is more than what fairness can give.  In our world’s standard, we always consider what a person did in the past. An ex-convict has a hard time finding a job even if he is completely reformed because of his record.  

We see the same thing in the gospel of today.  Jesus addresses the parable of the two sons to the chief priests and elders of the people.  These are the people who regard themselves highly in front of the people. They condemn the tax collectors and prostitutes for they choose to live a life that is evil and sinful.  While they look at themselves as holy and righteous because they try to follow the letters of the law.  Jesus in telling the story of the two sons who have different responses, the one saying “yes” but did not go, and the other one who initially said “I will not” changed his mind and went instead, clearly delivers his message to the chief priests and elders of the people.  They certainly feel alluded to in this parable most especially when Jesus spoke of John.  They did not recognize the authority of John nor consider his message when they should have been the first ones because of their knowledge of the scriptures and the law. Yet, it is the sinners who lined up to be baptized in river Jordan to be cleansed. They, who have initially rejected God in their lives, have now expressed sorrow by recognizing that they need the mercy of God and so they go to John for baptism.

The good news in today’s readings is that we are shown that we have a lively possibility of turning our “no” into “yes”. For many of us who are sinners, the tax collectors and prostitutes in Jesus’ time taught us that we can always change and that God is always willing to take us up.  It is a challenge for all of us struggling to not ever give up.  We are challenged not to lose hope. The question for all of us is “where do we stand in regards to God’s invitation to change and to fulfill our God-given mission?”