"IKAW ABOG UG SA ABOG IKAW MOBALIK"

ASH WEDNESDAY

(Homily given at Davao City Jail, Ma-a)

“Hinumdomi, tawo, nga ikaw abog ug sa abog ikaw mobalik.”

Kini ang mga pulong sa atong Simbahan nga atong madungog sa Miyerkoles sa Badlis. Sa atong pagdawat sa abo nga ibadlis sa atong agtang, kita gipahinumdoman karong adlawa nga kita isip binuhat pinaagi sa yuta, ug tungod sa sala, mobalik kita sa abog, sa yuta.

Diha sa Genesis, si Adan ug si Eva nakasala batok sa Dios. Ug kita, isip mga kaliwat ni Adan ug Eva, nakaambit niining sala, ang sala nga panulondon.

Akong mahinumdoman, kadtong naa pa ko sa kolehiyo, nag-tan-aw-tan-aw ko sa mga pictures sa internet. Ug didto nakita nako ang patayng lawas, pinaagi sa slideshow sa mga pictures, nga sa hinayhinay natun-as. Gikan sa unang adlaw, ikaduhang adlaw, ikatlo... hangtud sa usa ka semana.

Ang pagkaagnas sa lawas sa tawo sama niini mahitabo sa bisan kinsa sa atoa. Kini ang kamatuoran nga kita mobalik gayud sa abog.

Anaay lain pang mga pulong nga atong madungog diha sa Badlis: “Paghinulsol ug tuo sa Ebanghelyo.” Kini ang mga pulong nga gikan gayud kang Hesus sa iyang pagsugod sa iyang misyon.

Kining mga pulong ni Hesus maoy tawag ug hagit alang kanato sa pagbalik kaniya, sa paghinulsol ug sa pagbag-o sa atong kaugalingon.

Kita, isip tawhanon, makasasala. Huyang. Apan ang Ginoo anaay plano alang sa atong kinabuhi. Siya kanunay nagtawag kanato sa pagbalik kaniya. Kini ang kinahanglan nato nga timan-an sa kanunay, nga ang Ginoo nahigugma pag-ayo kanato. Hinigugma kita.

Tataw kaayo ang iyangdakong gugma ug kalooy didhi sa atong unang poagbasa gikansa basahon ni Propeta Joel. Balik sa Ginoo nga inyong Dios, kay maloloy-on siya kaayo ug mapailobon. Andam siya sa pagpasaylo. Gitawag kita sa Ginoo: “Balik kamo kanako...”

Diha sa atong salmo karon, mao unta kini ang hilak ug agulo sa atong kasingkasing: “Kaloy-I ako, ODios, diha sa imong kalooy.” Gitawag kita sa matuod nga paghinulsol.

Diha sa atong paghinulsol, gihatagan kita sa Ginoo ug giya. Niining panahon sa Kwaresma gitawag kita sa pagbuhat ug maayo ngadto sa uban, pag-ampo nga matinud-anon, ug pagpuasa. Kini atong buhaton nga tinuoray ug gikan gayud sa atong kasingkasing.

Gihatagan kita sa Grasya sa Ginoo. Kinahanglan lamang nga dili nato usikan. Diha sa atong kasingkasing, sa atong konsensya, anaa ang Ginoo. Kinahanglan lang nato nga maminaw kaniya. Si San Pablo naghangyo pinaagi sa iyang sulat ngadto sa mga Corinto nga makig-uli kita sa Dios.

Si Kristo nakig-ambit kanato sa atong pagkatawo, aron kita mahiusa kaniya ug makaambit sa kinabuhi nga tunhay. Namatay siya sama nato, apan mabanhaw kita uban niya.

Karong adlawa, sa pagsugod nato sa Kwaresma, gipahinumduman kita, pinaagi sa abo, sa atong kamatayon. Ang kamatayon ngakabayaran sa atong mga sala. Mobalik kita sa abo, apan diha sa atong paghinulsol, ug pagtuo sa Ebanghelyo, makaambit kita sa kinabuhi ni Kristo – nga namatay, nabanhaw ug mobalik.

Kita abog --- paghinulsol, ug tuo sa Ebanghelyo!

PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD

Second Sunday of Advent

We respect life. We have a commitment to preserve life. We love life.

Yesterday, a woman and her companion approached me. They asked me to bless the fetus. They don’t want to bury the fetus without the blessing. It was put in a little jar, with water in it. Poor little fetus! It was started to form a human body, but no life. No more life. I felt so sad when I looked at it.

Before the blessing, I talked to them in private and listened to what had happened. I listened to their heavy feelings, their frustration, their anger, their hatred. There were tears. It was the sister of that woman who intentionally killed the baby in her womb. The young mother didn’t want the child. She took medicine, supported by her boyfriend, who is a student of a prestigious school of Davao, and tried to abort the child in her womb. They destroyed the life of the innocent.

Why is it easy for our youth today to have a premarital sex? Why is it easy for the people to stop life? Where is our value? Are we concern about this? Abortion is not just a personal sin. It has an implication in our society. It will become a social sin. We are one body. We also have responsibilities for each other, to care for each other, to be concerned for each other.

Just like the prophets of the Old Testament, we have the responsibility to bring our society back to God. The prophets are those people inspired by the Holy Spirit who called the people of Israel to conversion, to be reconciled again with God. They tried to awaken true repentance among the people unconcerned with things of God. The prophets, like the prophet Isaiah, calling the people to “Prepare the way of the Lord!”

After centuries of prophetic silence, another prophet in the New Testament came. John the Baptist appeared and began to speak the Word of God to the people of Israel. His message is the same: “Prepare the way of the Lord!” For John the Baptist, to prepare the way of the Lord is to turn away from our sin, to turn back to God and to witness to the Truth. John the Baptist pointed the whole nation of Israel to Christ and the coming of the kingdom. His baptism with water was for repentance and taking a new way of life, a change of life, according to God’s Word.

The message of the Gospel today is to change our life in a way that God wants us to be. It is also to change our society in a way that God wants it to be – a society that protects life, preserves and respects life, a society that gives value to human life.

Life is a gift for us. (That is why we celebrate it in our birthdays.) In this season of Advent, we also celebrate life because the God of life is coming to us. In his first coming, Jesus lived his life with us. Then, he gave his life for us. He died on the cross that we might live.

Now that we are waiting for his second coming, we are challenge to truly prepare the way of the Lord – that is – to change our whole society, to bring it back to God. Like John the Baptist, we too are called to draw all people back to God. We are baptized in Christ with the Holy Spirit. We are prophets of our time. Each of us has a responsibility to point others to Jesus Christ and to the coming of his kingdom, the kingdom of life and love.

We have parents here; do we value and promote life within our family? We have especially youth here; do we condemn killings and abortion that destroy life? If so, we are preparing the way of the Lord and opening our hearts to receive him in this Holy Eucharist.