Mission Accomplished
Homily of his Excellency, Most Rev. Mylo Hubert Vergara, D.D., on the occasion of the 5th Vocation Festival held at St. Paul College Pasig last Nov. 10, 2012.
I’m sure during this whole day, you have
heard, you have listened, and you have gained a lot. There are many graces
coming from the Lord that you have received. After all, the Vocation Festival
has been successful because of the Lord who has been with us. And therefore we
just have to thanks the Lord for the gifts of his presence during this whole
day. Palakpakan natin muli ang Panginoon!
I’d like to give three very powerful
teachings on our readings today with three catch words; the first is gerenerosity, the second is providence and the third is entrustment. Three words I want you to
carry as you go back home. And I’m sure these three powerful words will also
speak about vocation. In our first
reading and in our Gospel, I think it’s quite clear that when we look at the
image of the widow, in biblical literature, widows and orphans in Hebrew are
called the anawim or poor of Yahweh. They are people who perhaps are
relying simply on the grace of God. They are helpless people and they are those
who so even perceive as hopeless ones. That’s
why they are the poor of Yahweh. But you
see, they were challenged to do one thing – they were challenged to be
generous. And look at the experience of Elijah with the widow in Zarephath; he
was asking for the only bread that would sustain her and her child for the
day. But Elijah with the promise of God
said, “Don’t worry. There will be more
in your jar and you will not go hungry.” So the widow was generous in giving all that
she had. And that’s what Jesus was saying in the Gospel, “This poor widow gave
what she had,” just perhaps two pennies or two worthless coins - the only thing
that she had, but she had the generosity to give everything.
Yan
po yung hamon sa atin - generosity of mind, of heart, and of will to give
everything to God. Lalo na ngayon napakahirap maging generous. Obserbahan niyo at mahirap ang mawalan ng
pera sa bulsa. Kahit isang barya
kailangan meron ka para sa pamasahe. Aalis ka ba ng bahay ng walang-wala?
Syempre kahit kaunting pera, kailangan meron ka. Kahit obispo, pari, madre, minsan naghahanap
ng security kaya mahirap basta ibigay lahat – lahat lahat.
And I think this is something that is an
image and a teaching called to us by our Lord. Since everything came from God,
can you be generous to give back everything to Him? We do not own anything; we do not own our
lives. Sabi nga, “We live borrowed lives.”
In our identity as gifts, we are all
gifts and if we are all gifts, therefore we should be gifts to others; we
should be generous. But I think the challenge is more than material generosity;
it is the generosity of self. How can
you have a generous, self-giving heart? Maraming hamon iyan sa maliliit na bagay sa
buhay. Generous ka ba with your
time, talent, sa family mo, sa kaibigan
mo, sa pag-aaral mo bilang kabataan sa eskwela o kuripot ka pagdating dyan?
I think the Lord challenges us to generosity.
Why?
I think the second teaching is very real and the teaching is providence.
We are motivated to be generous because we have a providential God – God who
will always provide. In the first reading, the prophet said, “Don’t worry you
will not be hungry.” And true enough. Everyday
there was something in that basin and that jar. Just when she thought she gave all, God gave everything.
Ganun ang Diyos, akala natin
pinag-aabot-abot natin, ang totoo, pinag-aabot-abot ng Diyos. Have you ever been in a crisis situation? Akala mo
hindi mo kaya, pero nakaya mo pala – God provided, God always provide. Tingin mo kulang na kulang pero pinupuno pa rin
ng Diyos. That’s how God loves us. He will always fill what is lacking. And not
only that, when God fills up, it will be overflowing. Akala mo
lang ang ibibigay niya ang mapuno. Hindi,
paaapawin pa niya. That is God’s
providence. Kaya hindi nagkukulang ang Diyos.
Maaaring involved ang iba sa inyo sa mga ministry niyo sa parish o sa
school, may mga projects kayo. Yung mga pari at madre, may gawain sa
simbahan. Minsan akala natin di natin
kaya. But God provides. Kinakaya
ng Diyos para sa atin, and this leads to the final point - entrustment.
What made the poor widow gave all she
had compared to the rich people who gave from their surplus? And the catchword
is entrustment. Ibibigay ang dalawang kusing at sasabihin sa panalangin, “Lord,
bahala ka na. I entrust myself to you because I know that You will make
miracles to me. You will make all things even though impossible possible for
me.” Yan ang entrusment, ipinagkakatiwala
mo ang buo mong sarili sa Diyos. Diyan
tayo kulang na kulang, kasi, we trust
so much for ourselves, kaya hindi tayo
makapagbigay ng buo. Minsan, gusto natin itira naman ang kaunti
para sa sarili, kahit kalahati. Marami sa atin akalang may sense of
security, insecurity pala, insecure kasi pinagtitiwalaan ang security para sa sarili lamang. When you entrust,
you realize that God is in charge. And I think that is the challenge of this
vocation festival. God is generous and
we live borrowed lives. We are gift and everything
we have is a gift. We do not own
anything and whatever we can do is because of God. God provides even what is lacking and gives
more. So, whatever God is calling you,
entrust to Him because if you’re being called to priestly or religious life,
the challenge is entrustment.
Kanina
po bago po ako nag-talk sa inyo ininterbyu ako ng ating mga
media persons. Tinatanong nila sa akin about vocations at papano na nga ba tinutugunan ang kakulangan sa mga pagpapari’t pagmamadre.
May
crisis ba, parang yung iba ayaw nang
magpari o magmadre? Kung paano kukumbinsihin
ang mga kabataan sa totoo lang ay napakahirap.
Naalala
ko tuloy yung mga magulang natin nung bata pa tayo, tinatanong tayo o patuloy
na tinatanong anong gusto natin maging paglaki natin.
Bihira ang magsasabing “Gusto kong mag-pari o
gusto kong magmadre.” Minsan nga yung mga magulang, pagtinanong,
ayaw din nila. Kayong mga magulang,
anong gusto niyo sa mga anak ninyo? Gusto
ko maging mayamang negosyante, maging successful accountant, engineer, maging presidente ng kumpanya o maging
artista. Pero bihira yung magpari o
magmadre. Pagmeron siyang anak na pangit, “O ikaw, magpari ka nalang” o “Ikaw magmadre ka na lang.” What will you give to God? We should give the best to God. Pero magandang pag-isipan di ba? Kayo, anong
option niyo sa buhay - magpari, magmadre
o yung what is popular in the world?
I’d like to end by sharing you my
vocation story. Tatanungin niyo, bakit ka
ba nagpari, Bishop? Ano bang nangyari sa
iyo? Ang nagplano sa buhay ko ay ang
Diyos.
You will ask me, “Naisipan mo magpari, Bishop,
nung nag-aaral ka?” Napag-isipan ko.
Pero yung vocation story ko malalim ang pinag-ugatan. Napakalalim.
I remember when I was having a retreat,
I went as far back as the womb of my mother. Kasi nung nabubuhay pa yung lola ko naikuwento niya sa akin na yung
nanay ko na panganay sa kanila, noon daw na isinilang siya ay nakapalupot ang
umbilical cord sa leeg at halos namamatay
na raw. Di ba delikado yun? Ayon sa mga
matatanda basta may sinilang daw na ganun lalaki o babae, ang tawag nila parang
“rosary” sa leeg. Kaya kasabihan daw ng mga matatanda, “magmamadre
yan o magpapari yan.” My mother is a very religious person pero hindi siya nagmadre. Ako
ang nagpari at ako lang sa aming magkakapatid. Kaya siguro, noong sinauna pa, pinapaplano na
ng Diyos. Even from the womb of my
mother I was already being form by God to become a priest.
Pero hindi pa natatapos yun, meron pa
akong interesting scoop sa inyo. Alam ninyo, noong mag-aaral na po ako ng Grade
School doon sa Ateneo de Manila, bumagsak po ako sa entrance exam. Totoo po yan.
I failed in the entrance exam for grade school. During that time and
this is what my father told me, my grandfather was close to the bishop of
Cabanatuan City, Neuva Ecija – the late
Archbishop Gaviola. Sabi ng lolo ko, “Tignan natin kung makakapag-appeal tayo
at baka maawa sa akin.”
So they went to the Grade School at yung
namumuno noong Jesuit o Head Master ang tawag, in reviewing my case, sabi niya
dahil I was five (5) years old then at wala pa akong kaisip-isip, “Give me one good
reason why should I accept this boy in this school; one good reason and I will
reconsider him.”
Sabi ni Archbishop Gaviola, “This is my
reason - I have a mission for this boy.” And you know what the head master has
said? He said, “accepted.” At hindi niya tinanong kung ano yung mission kung
mission impossible. Tinanggap ako, pero
alam niyo, yung first two years ko sa Grade School, talagang halos nasa
borderline ang mga grades ko, wala akong line of eight (8) puro line of seven
(7). Totoo yan pag tiningnan nyo yung
report card ko. Hirap na hirap ako. Talagang hindi ko alam kung makakalusot ako.
So to cut the long story short, I was
ordained a priest in 1990. And you know before ordination, I had this priestly
retreat of preparing for ordination at the Carmelite Monastery in Lipa,
Batangas. Ang Obispo nun at that time
was Archbishop Gaviola and I wrote to him the circumstances of my vocation. Nagrespond siya in writing and said, “I
remember well, and I thank God that you will become a priest - mission accomplished.”
Moral of the story - you never know
where you will be, be generous of yourself, rely on God’s providence, entrust
to Him and you will be happy. /dpoc20130106
log: Bishop's message / Homilies 2013
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