Ang atong destino is Heaven

(An excerpt from the Homily of Most Rev. Romulo G. Valles, D.D., Archbishop of Davao during the Livestreaming Mass, March 26, 2023 – 5th Sunday of Lent, San Pedro Catheral, San Pedro St., Davao City)

This Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Lent, and next Sunday will be Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week, but don’t forget that part of the first days of the Holy Week, let say half of it, are the last days of Lent. In so, Palm Sunday is still part of Lent; it is the sixth and the last Sunday of Lent. This Sunday, since duol na ang finale, finale in the sense that the whole season of Lent does not stand by itself. Kulang ang appreciation of Lent, if you don’t connect and place in your mind and hearts that the main character of Lent, beginning of Lent, is to prepare us all this day; 40 days, to prepare us to enter again into that event, to be alive and to be in the event, of the passion and death and glory and resurrection of Jesus.

Our faith is founded on that actual and concrete event, and that event that God who became the son, walked with us, all the way including kanang atong gikahadlokan nga kamatayon, which is the worst and perfect enemy. The son of God, uban nato sa atong palad; our faith, kitang tanan padulong mamatay, but our Savior is with us. Good Friday, Holy Thursday evening, paita sa kinabuhi uy, but the son of God, representing us, walk the same journey. Unbelievable, He rose from death. Lent is supposed to prepare us so that our faith is renewed.

Ash Wednesday, reminds us that we are dust, fundamentally we are dust, we are nothing. You are dust, and to dust you shall return, knowing that we are coming from the Lord. And in the first Sunday of Lent, how to comeback to God? It is in Jesus, temptation of Jesus, grabi ang temptation, showing us, that the world will tempt us. First Sunday already showing us that “pagbantay mo niini, because the world will tell you who you really are.” Second Sunday of Lent, is very beautiful, if you will be strong like my son, you will be glorified. Third Sunday of Lent, women by the well, giuhaw pud sa Ginoo, He is God and Man, listening to that reading, we are reminded that uhawon kita, many times, atong kauhaw pagtapal lang sa kalibutanon nga tubig, but Jesus is the living water. 4th Sunday, not only nga giuhaw kita, dapat mangita ta sa true living water, buta kita. Many times diha sa kangitngit wo don’t seek the true light.

This Sunday, we heard in the first reading, thus says the Lord, “all my people, I will open your graves, and I have you rise from them,” how can you be anything more than that, graves, bukog, bag-ong lubong, baho. Jump to the Gospel, ingon ang igsoon ni Lazaro kang Jesus, nga “Lord, baho na kaayo na,” and makita ninyo this Sunday that I will open your graves and have you rise from them and bring you back to the land of Israel. Even the second reading says, “but if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness.” If the spirit of Christ who was raised, Jesus from the dead, dwells in you, then you will live. This Sunday, in the many concerns of life, do we really dream to live forever? That is the beautiful part of the truth of Christian faith. But, why is it, that the requirement to go to heaven, one of those, is doing works of charity, to be buotan today, to be good today, mao ning training to go to heaven. This Sunday, gipukaw kita, do not surrender to that, mag-enjoy lang ta sa world, total mamatay gihapon kita. NO! if we just sit down and pray ang atong destino is heaven.