My Homily - St. Stephansdom, Vienna Cathedral

I am a visitor of Vienna already for almost a month. One of the things I miss doing back home is driving. Here I am not permitted. So I end up being just a passenger. Being on the driver’s seat gives me a sense of autonomy and power. I am in control. I’m in command. I can direct myself and go wherever I want. I realize this experience of simply being a passenger is an experience of faith. I always want to control my life.

But faith is an act of surrendering. God is telling me: “Hey Randy, if you really believe, hand over the keys of your life to me! He invites me to relax; take a back seat and let Him lead. Let Him drive. Let Him take control!

My reaction is that of fear and sadness. I fear because I am afraid where God will lead me; where will He bring me? I may not be ready. I also feel sad because I feel surrendering is painful and requires a lot of self-denial. I have to give up my autonomy to direct my life just as I want.

And like the disciples in today’s Gospel (Luke 17:16-21), I need to pray: “Lord increase my faitha!” I am afraid to commit. I’m afraid to surrender. I’m afraid to completely trust in You!

The 1st Reading taken from the book of the prophet Habakkuk is a challenge to faith. The prophet complains: “How long Lord? I cry for help – you ignore. You don’t intervene. I see so much ruin, misery, violence, destruction and strife.”

And the Lord replies: “Don’t quit, Habakkuk! Don’t give up. Don’t you loose hope. Trust me, I am in command. I am in control.

Yet its so difficult to trust and believe in the midst of severe test, or feel the “absence of God” or experience His seeming “inaction.” When you see the good, the just, the honest suffering and in pain.

These are the times when we need to pray: Lord, increase our faith!

In 2006, a contemporary Christian Girl Band made up of 3 sisters known as the “Barlow Girl” released a song entitled: “I believe in love.” It’s chorus goes like this:

“I believe in the sun even when it’s not shining

I believe in love even when I don’t feel it.

And I believe in God even when He is silent.”

These lyrics are based on an inscription believed to be written by a Jewish refugee on a wall outside Cologne, Germany during World War II.

If in our life we feel pain. We feel crushed, feel cheated, feel discouraged. Don’t stop believing. Don’t praying: Lord, increase my faith.

I would like to end with a story. In a certain village there lived 3 men – Alex, Nilo and Ben. Alex was a blacksmith, a drunkard and a dishonest man. Nilo was a farmer, a God-fearing person and hard working. But he need anger management because he can’t control his temper and many times hurt his wife and children. Ben, however, was a lay minister, generous, prayerful and considered a holy man.

One day by a strange twist of fate the 3 of them became lepers. They had to leave their homes and live outside the village. At night they would gather together to pray for healing. After 3 weeks Alex the drunkard was healed. After one year, Nilo the farmer was cured. But what Nilo could not understand: why is been still a leper after 3 years? Perhaps his holiness if a sham. He is a fake holy man after all!

One night in a dream God explains to Nilo why.. Alex got well after 3 week because his faith is only up to 3 week. Yours can only last for a year. But Ben’s faith is total. Whether he is cured or not He trusts me. I am everything for him.

Nilo wakes up. He looks outside the window. As he gazes far outside the village, he still sees Ben praying. He has not stopped believing. He has not stop hoping. And Nilo kneels and prays deep in his heart: Lord, increase my faith!

God is good - homily at the Shrine of the Black Madona

God is good!

It’s my first visit to Poland. I feel I’m a Promdi Pilgrim: promdi because I come from Cebu Province. Promdi pagkat ako’y nalulula sa nakikita ko. Yesterday we were in the Wieliczka Salt Mine descending 440 feet underground. A lot of “what if” came to my mind – what if mag brown out, what if mg earthquake & we’ll be trap. Yet here we are still alive to see the light.

This experience is very overwhelming for me. I’m so amazed! My heart is full of joy and exaltation. Like Mary I would like to exclaim and explode in my own Magnificat – my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord! That why I started with “God is good!” I choose to feed and to nourish my faith through this experience. I choose to learn and understand.

I have 3 reasons for the overwhelming experience:

1. We visited the chapel of the apparition and the tomb of St. Faustina – the Apostle of Mercy. I said to myself: and swerte mo Randy! I used to speak about her in my talks and homilies reading from a book; now I’ve come to the real thing. Reflecting on her life, Sr. Faustina was almost illiterate. She was turned down by several religious congregations because she was academically poor. But soon after entering the Congregations of the Sisters of Mercy, she began to receive visions of Jesus. She became the Apostle of Mercy throughout the world. God has a strong bias for the little ones. If you think you are “small” – congratulations. God loves you!

2. We visited the hometown and birthplace of the future Pope John Paul II. I was overwhelmed. He sparked the flame of my vocation. JP II was the reason why I became a priest. He was one of the biggest thing that ever happened to me. The story goes back in 1981 when he came to visit Cebu. I was observing the tarpaulins beside the basilica. To my dismay, nothing about the Philippines. Not even the World Youth Day 1995 was remembered when it gathered 5-7 million and considered as the largest single gathering in Christian history. My story may not be written in history but deep in my heart his visit changed my personal history. He made such a deep impact on me and my life story. I’m a fruit of his visit.

I was then a grade 6 student in USC. Our religion classes were discussions and stories about the pope. Our teacher asked us one time: who among you would like to become a priest?” I raised my hand to impress my classmates and my teacher hoping to get additional points in class. Other classmates also raised theirs. Perhaps they were thinking the same way. The teacher was delighted! But I realized – you can’t make jokes with God. Talagang tutuhanin Nya! Since I was willing He called me. Now I’m going 13 years in the Ministry.

3. We are in Poland’s holiest relic and one of the country’s national symbol – the Black Madonna. Legend says St. Luke the Evangelist made the icon from a cypress wood while Mary was narrating her experience of Jesus. According to one of the oldest document of Jasna Gora, the picture transferred ownership many, many times as it travelled from Jerusalem, to Constantinople (now Turkey) and finally it ended here in Czestochowa. This icon has been claimed to be miraculous. One of its famous intervention is saving the monastery of Jasna Gora in the 17th century from Swedish invasion known as “The Deluge.” For such a miracle King John II of Poland crowned the Black Madonna as “The Queen and Protector” of Poland in 1656.

The icon has 2 scars on her right cheek. The story is told that there was a religious war between Catholics and Protestants in 1430. Protestants stormed the monastery plundering it. One of the stolen item was this icon. Putting it in their wagon, the horses would not move. One guy threw the portrait on the ground while another d and drew a sword and inflicted 2 deep strikes on the Madonna’s right cheek. At that point he fell to the ground and squirmed in pain. So the men retreated and left the painting.

Before I came to Vienna, my younger sister experienced a miracle. On August 20 they boarded a bus on their way to a retreat with about 40 young people in Mantalongon, Dalaguete. The bus had an overheat and the driver opened the radiator which squirted burning him. He jumped off and the bus skidded downwards to a ravine 500 meters deep. In panic some students jumped off pushing my sister wounding her nose. Through Mary’s help, the bus was caught by a small tree preventing it from falling.

These experiences may seem very simple, common place and part of our iter. But its God way of telling us that He is acting in our lives. He is part of our journey, our pilgrim companion. Let us not take them for granted. We choose to understand and learn. We grown in faith. Let us really be thankful. God is with us. And He is infinitely and definitely good!

Jesus, the New Wine

Jesus tells us that “new wine must be put into fresh skins.” In the Lord’s time wine was not kept in bottles like today but in skins. When the new wine was placed in a skin, it continued to ferment, producing carbon dioxide. And old skin do not have the elasticity of a new one and so it would burst and the wine is lost.

What is the meaning and the messages of this Gospel reading for us? Jesus is telling us: stay fresh, stay young in spirit. Be open to challenges and new ideas.

Old people are afraid, get tired easily, find it had to adjust to change. They prefer the status quo. They are afraid to risk, have no more drive. That’s why they say: “you can’t teach old dogs new tricks” you can’t correct and old tree anymore.

But young people like challenges. They are courageous to the point of being reckless. They want to prove themselves. Take risks, sacrifice even die for something they believe in.

The Gospel of Jesus is this new wine; new way of life which requires a new mind and a new attitude; new values, new courage and new enthusiasm. Jesus wants us to have this new fire in our hearts. I wonder if you have this fire within you?

In the Inquirer Supplementary last Sunday, entitled: “Against all odds.” It’s the story of Grace Padaca, this year’s Ramon Magsaysay awardee for Government Service. At age 3 she was afflicted with polio that made her mobility difficult. She had to overcome teasing in elementary and high school; instead of being discouraged it pushed her to study more. She graduated magna cum laude in college! The people of Isabela urged her to run. But she had no political machiner, no funds. The grassroot support made all this possible. At first she ran for a seat in Congress but lost. The second time she ran as Governor against a formidable political clan and won by an overwhelming majority. She was again re-elected. She had to battle a stagnant economy, illegal logging and corruption. In all these, Grace did not give up. She was brave and persevering. She accepted the challenges with courage. Indeed, she is an amazing grace!

This is the spirit of our Gospel today. Keep your flame alive and burning bright!

Lord Alfred Tennyson wrote an energizing poem “Ullyses.” At this point in his life, Ullyses is now an old man. Though old and his youth and strength well spent still he would say:

“We are not now that strength which in old day
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are.
One equal temper of heroic hearts;
Made weak by time and fate, but strong and will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

Be brave. Be hopeful. Shun pessimism and cynicism. I saw a powerful icon that can teach us: a lighted candle giving and sharing its light to another unlighted candle. Be that candle. Be that light. Be that flame. Burn for Christ!