Maglipay kita!

(An excerpt from the Homily of Most Rev. Romulo G. Valles, D.D., Archbishop of Davao, March 27, 2022 during the live streamed mass of the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday) in San Pedro Cathedral Parish, San Pedro Street, Davao City)

When Jesus eats with us, the bread siya pa ming-offer, this bread is my body. Wow, in the biblical mind when the Son of God eats with us that is miracle, God eating with us. Ingon ang mga Pharisees, this man welcomes sinners and eats with them. You see my dear friends the translation is how can He be the Son of God, holiness, pagkabalaan when he eats with sinners? Meaning the understanding of nilang mga boutan kuno, mga Pharisees and scribes who are sila ang batid, experts about God ingon sila how can He be God when he eats his close with sinners? Therefore, their understanding of God is this God is allergic to sinners, dili dapat magdikit, social distancing. So therefore they questioned Jesus, why would He do it?

So, balik ta sa key, the yawe to our understanding of lent especially fourth Sunday of lent, especially laetare Sunday. Who are we in front of God and unsa may eyes and heart of the Lord towards us? Very important question. Then Jesus said my parable and you know the parable, familiar ninyo. Now, he got his treasure, his inheritance and walked away from the father. Ang sala is walking away from God simple definition, I can leave without God. He got his treasure walk away to a far country that’s the definition of sin. And then another part of the story really my dear friends we cannot find happiness. He supposed to walk away to be happy but the parable tells us when you walked away from God you cannot really be happy. He was really down and he decided I will go back to my father. Unsay song nato at the start of this mass? Come back to me. So, naka hunahuna siya. Then, what is striking the story? Ang tatay, the father, the papa was waiting for the son. Very far pa ang son he saw him, gimingaw ang papa. The style of walking kaila sa papa, he knows him from afar and the father run to meet him. The father did not wait for him to come, the father went to meet him, embraced him and kissed him, did not even listen to the explanation of the son. He told the servants get a new robe, atong ihawon nang patent calf giandam, let’s have a fiesta because my son who is dead has come to life. My dear friends the question is who are we in front of God? Who are we when we walked away from God? Unsay standing nato in front of the Lord when we are like the son? The answer which would cause us to smile, laetare all we have to do is go back to the father. And the father will be so happy, will pardon us, take us back and have a feast for us.

So ang Pharisees and the scribes very wrong in their understanding who God is. Ang mga tax collectors and sinners already by the style of Jesus takes somehow began to understand that this God is a wonderful for God. Therefore my dear friends whoever we are, whatever we are, the worst presentation in the story today easily can be ask. But also we must keep in mind and be laetare, be happy because he is really the merciful father that is the good news. So therefore, think beginning with the think each one of us the worst of us that the Pharisees ingon sila dapat ta maulaw moduol sa Ginoo kay ang Ginoo alang lang kuno sa mga holy. No, they were wrong.

St. Paul in the second reading, St. Paul says brothers and sisters whoever is in Christ that applies to us today whoever who is baptized in Christ, whoever believes in Christ is a new creation like the son in the gospel was lost, who went away and comes back. What did the father say in the gospel reading? My Son was gone, dead now he has comes back to life. Whoever is in Christ is a new creation, the old things have pass away. Behold, new things have come. We should not again I underline dili man na pwede Bishop kay hugaw man ko, dili man na pwede Bishop kay makasasala man ko, dili man na Bishop kay kabalo ka lang si Lord sa akong sala grabe ko. The answer is, whatever sin, come back to me lang, whoever’s in Christ. And lent is precisely that and that is the laetare news, the good news.

So, because even if we are terrible sinners but we become new creation St. Paul says we are ambassadors for Christ as if God were appealing to us. If we come back to God we can be ambassadors of Christ. And through a sinners but new creation we can be channels of God’s grace. If we remained in the mind of the Pharisees and the scribe’s sayang, sayang ang lent, walang kwenta ang lent. But if we just open our eyes and hearts and place ourselves, grabe pa sa prodigal son the Father will always wait for us. And I said Paul says in fact as a new creation we can ambassadors of Christ. And therefore let’s go back to the ending of the gospels story the prodigal son, gi-forgive, gi-hug, magfiesta ta.