The Cost of a Sermon

Sa taon ng Eyukaristiya, sino nga ba dapat ang magsasabing, “halika sa Simbahan, pasok tayo?” Gaano nga ba kahalaga ang isang oras natin sa loob? Heto ang isang email na aking natanggap. Do you have the same mind? Are you on the same boat?

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Dear KNOT,

When I was a child, my parents kept on telling me that prayer is important because this is the only way to connect and communicate with God. We can pray in many ways.

One of it is the Holy Mass which is considered as the large form of prayer in Roman Catholic. I am aware that praying alone isn’t enough to save a lost soul so we have to pray together. This is one of the reasons why we have to attend the mass every Sunday.

Furthermore, another reason for the necessity of going to church every Sunday is that we have to feed our own soul. Other than being physically and mentally healthy, we need to be spiritually healthy also.

You might be wondering why I am writing this letter to you. I have tried to talk to one of the nuns and priest but I have noticed that they are very busy. I cannot disturb them from their regular schedule which gave me the idea to write this letter. I realized that doing this gives me the chance to reach my message to every one of you with less effort and time.

Being a Roman Catholic, I manage myself to go to church every Sunday no matter what time or place. Meaning, I had been to many churches around Davao and even in some other cities and regions. I have realized that the important part of the Holy Mass is the “homily” because this is how Christians feed their souls by gaining wisdom, knowledge and understanding about the holy gospel of God. Hence, this is the chance of the priest to talk to the people soul to soul. Their heart or emotion must be moved by feeding them the words of God. By doing so, they will go home with fulfillment in their hearts.

Upon observing the masses that I have attended, I noticed that some of them who did the homily seem like having the reporting during their school days; others are reading it without the essence of conviction in their voice (please pardon me for the harsh description). “Ang taphaw nga pagsangyaw sama lang sa nakig-isturya ka sa imong silingan aron makigchismis. Sama sa usa ka peryudista nga nagataho og kalibutanong balita.” We are dealing now with Christian souls and how to awaken them from the deep sleep of godlessness. As a living temple of God, most of us prepared the room for him but he cannot dwell with it because the door is closed and nobody can open it because our soul is sleeping. They should know how to connect with each soul in one time at one place. They need to persuade by any means of explanation rather than reminding them because they probably know it already. People who attend the mass should have a positive realization in their self, society, family or in some other aspects in life at the end of the homily. The fulfillment of the objective maybe determined through facial reaction of the people.

I presume that my ideas in observing things and the suggestions that I have made will help the growth and development of the church and people. I have no intention to criticize the church nor to the people involved in this issue but rather help for the betterment of everyone. Thank you for giving your time reading this letter. Have a blessed day everyone! – Stephan Jade Germain

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