PHOTOGRAPH BY RONALD DE JONG
Archdiocesan Shrine and Parish of St. Jude Thaddeus, Naga City | v.2, n.40 | 24 - 30 September 2017
giya sa prayer meeting
GIVING EVERYTHING Was the master unjust in his dealings with his hired servants? experiences. Is God just to us or is He We have a common understanding generous? about justice. Even in ancient political If justice is that which we desire from teachings before Jesus, justice is understood Him, can we really handle his rewards? as giving what is due. And when we talk How about his punishments, which I think about giving what is due, it includes the are more than what we can count? Can we agreed terms or conditions between two endure it if he exercises justice? In the light parties involved. For example: a piece of what we have, are we really, really worthy of bread costs one peso. The store of them? gives me a piece of bread with all SUNDAY The best thing that we need the expected characters connected REFLECTION to do is to acknowledge God’s to it. I, as the buyer, should give a generosity, and never set aside the reality peso in return. Failure to give what that despite our utter unworthiness, he is expected from either the baker or me continues to make us worthy because he would be tantamount to injustice. is not only a just or a generous God, he is In the gospel, Jesus used the example of filled with tremendous. the master who hired workers for various Let it be known that when we give what tasks done within different work hours. is due, it is justice. When we give more When the time came for the master to than is due, it is generosity. When we give pay them, he was accused of being unjust everything, it is charity. God is just, he is because he gave them equal payments. The generous, but more than that, he is a loving master emphasized that he was true to God who gives all that he has for the sake of his promise and, therefore, was just. He our salvation, up to the point of shedding provided whatever was due to those whom and sharing his life as ransom for our sins. he hired ealier in the day; and he pointed The challenge for us this Sunday is to out that those who were hired much later in transcend our attitude from mere strict the afternoon were compensated not out of observances of what is written and what is justice but out of generosity. expected; but to give more than enough to These are things that we really need to understand. Our God is not only a just God; satisfy too the needs of others. And with grace from God himself, we can even move he is a generous one. He gives whatever is toward the greatest challenge of loving, and due to us and even if we are unworthy of giving all that we have, for the sake of other gifts and graces, he continuously shares peoples’ wellbeing. 4 — Fr. Nunilon Arnold them all with us because of his generosity. F. Bancaso Jr. If we can only look at our personal
Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last. { mt 20:16 }
Mateo 21:28-32
Domingo 26, Ord. Panahon (Taon A)
S“
arong tawo may duwang aki.” Duwa an simbag sa alok kan Dyos. ‘Habo ko’ asin ‘Opo, Kagurangnan.’ Pareho sinda sala huli ta an enot nagduwa-duwa, asin an ikaduwa, dai man talaga nagsunod. An enot iyo an mga kobrador nin buwis asin mga paramuta LECTIO DIVINA (prostitutes). Dawa naghabo sinda, pag-abot ni Juan Bautista, sinda nagbagong buhay. An ikaduwa, an mga líder kan templo. Dawa ina-pod nyang kagurangnan, dai man giraray nagdangog. Kaya dai gabos na nagsasabing ‘kagurangnan’ makakalaog sa kahadian kan langit. Ano an simbag ko sa pangapudan kan parokya?
“Sisay sa duwa an nagkuyog kan buot kan ama?” An simbag kan mga puon na padi iyo an ‘enot.’ Bakong gayo ining tama, huli ta an pagkuyog kaipuhan puon sa kapinunan sagkod sa katapusan, asin dai dapat magduwa-duwa. Kan nagsimbag sindang ‘an enot,’ kinundinar ninda an saindang sadiri. Alagad, dai ninda ini aram na sinda iyo idtong ikaduwang aki na pag-abot ni San Juan Bautista, dai sinda nagdangog asin nagbakli. Ano an pagkakaagid ko sa ika-2 aki?
“Amen, nagsasabi ako saindo...” Buot sabihon kan ‘amen’ iyo na dapat magdangog kita. An mga kobrador nin buwis asin mga paramuta iyo idtong sa mata kan mga puon na padi mayo nang kaligtasan. Sinda idtong mga dapat isalya na sa ibang lugar huli ta mayo na sindang pakinabang sa banwaan. Sa presenteng panahon, sinda idtong mga kriminal na buot na nyatong ipagadan sa kamot kan gubyerno. Alagad, binubuksan ni Jesus an pintuan para sa mga tawong ini, asin kun sinda magbakli, maeenot pa sinda sa mga nagsasagin-sagin nga mga banal. Ano an hiling ko sa sadiri? 4