Last week I told a confrere who was a little hard of hearing that I was invited to lead a pilgrimage to Turkey and Greece, and the Holy Land. He looked at me and said, “Yes, when you eat turkey, you will have grease on your hands.”
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In today’s Gospel (Mt. 22, 1-14), Jesus likened the Kingdom of Heaven to a king who invited guests to a wedding feast, but those invited refused to come, ignored the invitation, made excuses and, worse, mistreated and even killed those sent to invite them. Sad to say, we often dishonor God’s gracious invitation for us to share in His life because there are more “important things” in our lives. We snub the Feast that awaits us because of our selfishness, greed and personal agenda that we cannot let go of and cannot let God.
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How gracious and generous God is and how selfish and how calculating we are. Our God is a God of justice, but more so, He is a God of mercy. This is our hope—that God’s heart is so big, and God’s embrace is so wide that we all can be accommodated in His loving heart, unworthy as we are.
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I remember my paternal grandfather, Felix Orbos, who was a simple public school teacher. Thursdays and Sundays were market days in our little town, Bani, Pangasinan, and that was the time when people from the barrios came to town to buy and sell goods. I fondly remember how Tatay Felix would invite people waiting for a ride in front of our house to come in and have a meal. I remember, too, how our Lola would chide him as we had meager food supplies ourselves, but Tatay Felix always had his way somehow, telling us, “the barrio people will be so hungry by the time they get home if we do not give them something to eat.” Thank you, Tatay, for a precious life lesson on generosity.
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I remember, too, how Papa and Mama taught us to give something, anything to those who came asking or begging. They taught us that nobody should leave empty-handed when they come to our home and that nobody should feel unwelcome or be made to feel a lesser person. Early on, they taught us to be grateful, to be generous, and to be respectful.
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The Chamorro word for “thank you” is “Si Diyos maasi.” Literally, it means “God is merciful.” Whenever we thank God, we acknowledge not only His generosity but also, and more so, His mercy. When we thank God for any blessing in our lives, we attribute it not to our own efforts or achievements, but to God’s mercy. May we never forget, may we always remember God’s mercy in good and bad times, in happy and sad times. Humility is the key that leads us to God’s heart. Humility reminds us that we have received more than we have achieved in this life.
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Greed imprisons us. Generosity frees us. Those who tread the road of greediness are constantly stressed and restless, laden with fear, and with real or imagined insecurities. On the other hand, those who walk the road of generosity are less stressed and burdened. Maybe they end up with less luggage and provisions, but precisely because of that, their journey is lighter and brighter.
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Are you more of a giver or a taker? Is your hand a closed fist or an open palm as you go through life? Remember, an open hand gives much, and receives much.
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Remember this song we sang as little children? “I have two hands, the left and the right; hold them up high so clean and bright; clap them softly, one, two, three; clean little hands are good to see.” Let this song remind us to open our hands, to raise our hands to God in surrender and in praise, and to keep our hands clean to please our God, as we go through life.
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The best help is in our own hands, especially if we fold them in prayer. May our hands hold the rosary again especially this month of October. Better if we pray again as a family, as a nation, and as a world.
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When we come face to face with God, may we not be filled with shame that we trusted less in Him because we trusted more in material things.
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Today is Indigenous Peoples’ Sunday and Extreme Poverty Sunday. Let us remember and pray for the indigenous peoples in our land, and for the poor, that they be spared from further injustice and suffering.
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Think about this: “When we stand up with ego, walls are created; when we bow down in humility and reach out in generosity, hearts are connected.”
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A moment with the Lord:
Lord, you are loving and generous. Set us free from our prison of greed and selfishness. Amen.