‘How to get the prize of heaven?’

Excerpts from the homily
November 2, San Pedro Cathedral

“We remember the dead today.”

Abp. Valles started his homily with the reflection on why the readings all year round lead us to the same theme. “Resurrection. Life eternal. The offer of salvation.”

Comparing salvation to a diamond, he added, “throughout the year, we can stand around it from different angles. Everyday of the year, n’ya usa lang man ka diamond, magtuis tuis lang na, the same message, the message of eternal life, the message that God loves us, that the Lord wants to share His life to us.”

“We are here to honor the dead, to remember the dead. Even pagans remember the dead. It is a universal custom or act.”

What is distinctly ours?

“What is the gift of faith that we have? The beautiful things that we remember the dead is really, they are not dead, they are not gone. Always there is an offer of salvation, kini atong paghandum sa nangamatay, we join the whole of humanity.”

Yanong Muloy remarked that we are “different from others, we remember the dead as faithful, and so we hear today, reading number 3, ‘on this mountain, the Lord of host will provide for all people, destroy the veil, …destroy death forever.’ They realized that we will not be afraid anymore of death…the Lord will destroy death forever. That’s why they are waiting for the Messiah.”

“St. Paul said,” according to him, “Jesus the son of God has destroyed death. We are victorious already.”

How do we got to heaven?

Pope Francis said: “Be like God. Know the mind of God. Participate in the work of God.”

Yanong Muloy translated, “The Lord hears the cry of the poor. Obey the commandment. Love God above all. To become like the other, and we become like God. We become godly. To see and understand the mind of God, He hears the cry of the poor, and to go to heaven is to be like God.”

Finally, he reminded the faithful, “we are on the right track to Heaven if we see the cry of the poor, the hungry, the suffering. As we remember the dead today, we remember then with so much trust and confidence with the mercy of the Lord. We always go the cemetery hoping that this loved one is now enjoying heaven. We remember in our prayer ourselves, to become God, to serve the poor.”