FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

April 28, 2024

Theme: “Go and Proclaim: Abide in Him, as He abides in us”

First Proclamation: Acts 9: 26-31

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 22

Second Proclamation: 1 John 4: 7-16

Gospel Proclamation: John 15: 1-8

Homily by Fr. Romie- Jun Peñalosa

In this Sunday Mass Homily at Saint Michael Kalibo, Fr. Romie- Jun reminded us that we are to abide in Jesus. Abiding in Jesus means is to remain in Jesus.

Jesus is The Vine and we are His branches. But there are two kinds of branches:

1. Branches that bear fruit
2. Branches that do not bear fruit

Branches that do not bear fruit are cut off and tossed into the fire. The only way that we can be fruitful is when we abide with The Vine – Jesus. If your life is producing fruit, God will prune you so we can bear more fruit.

If we remain in Christ, these are some of the fruits that we will bear: A bigger love for God, and bigger faith in God.

Love means to order your life for the good of others. The fruit of your life will be disciples – from your life, people will be drawn to Christ.

How do we remain in Christ? We are to obey Jesus until our last breath. We can do this as we continue to encounter God through listening to His word and partaking of the sacrament of Eucharist. As we encounter Jesus faithfully, we remain in Him. As we remain in Him, people will see Christ in you.

Remember, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” So let life flow as we continually abide in the vine.

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FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

April 21, 2024

Theme: “Go and Proclaim: Focus your life on the Good Shepherd”

First Proclamation: Acts 4:5-12

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 23

Second Proclamation: 1 John 3:16-24

Homily by Fr. Romie- Jun Peñalosa

In this Sunday Homily in Saint Michael, Kalibo, Fr. Romie- Jun reminded us to imitate Christ as the Good Shepherd. Easter is the season of celebrating His resurrection. And this Sunday, we celebrate the Good Shepherd Sunday to remember the purpose of His death and resurrection – to save us from death and to guide us in to the right path.

A good shepherd leads his people. He goes before them. He goes in front of his flock so he can see where they are going. The shepherd should know more than the flock. Leading is about going ahead to find a good place for the flock. He goes ahead and becomes a good example because action speaks louder than words.

God also calls us to serve with Him as shepherds. As His followers, we should also show forth to other people His goodness by imitating His kindness and mercy towards other people. Let us put God’s love into action.

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Second Sunday of Easter- April 7, 2024

Theme: “Go and Proclaim: Lord Jesus is alive and His appearance is thru His Churches”

First Proclamation: Acts 4:32-35

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 118

Second Proclamation: 1 John 1-2:2

Gospel Proclamation: John 20:19-31

Homily by Fr. Romie- Jun Peñalosa

For this Season of Easter, Fr. Romie-Jun Peñalosa is basing the them from Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

The life we have now is the life of Jesus. Remember, there is no resurrection if there is no crucifixion. So we rise up from our old life of defeat and sin into the newness of life where there is joy. If you identify with Jesus in His death, then you will understand what the resurrection is.

Without faith, you will not understand the resurrection because the resurrected life is lived by faith. If we decide to live be faith, our lives will change. And this new life in Christ is a life lived in community. Love is the expression of our faith in Christ. Just like the early Christians in the Acts of the apostles, when everybody started sharing, poverty is defeated.

In community, there is sacrifice – for you cannot love without sacrifice. It’s possible that the reason why we don’t love much is because we do not understand that we have been forgiven much. It is gratitude that prods us to love. Our faith in Jesus is expressed in our love for one another. Fellowship is born out of love. And Fellowship is the way we grow as a community.

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Easter Sunrise Mass- March 31, 2024

Theme: “Go and Proclaim: The Father honors those who serve Jesus”

First Proclamation: Acts 10: 34- 43

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 118

Second Proclamation: 1 Corinthians 15: 1- 11

Gospel Reading: John 20: 20- 19

Homily by Fr. Romie- Jun Peñalosa

“The Lord is risen, indeed! Hallelujah!”. This is our battlecry.

In today’s Easter Sunrise homily at Saint Michael Kalibo, Fr. Romie-Jun Peñalosa reminded us that He rose from the dead to save us, and together with Him we are also raised into new life. Rise up from sin. Move from the old mindset into the new mindset.

We remain in death when we focus on sin. Let us instead focus our minds on the Word of God so life can take over. Let us bring our minds to the truth and reality that Christ is alive!

“Matamorphoo” in Greek means change or transition, and metamorphosis is the process of change. This is what happens to us when He changes us as we set our mind on Him. Like the caterpillar  that begins as a taker of life, it dies inside a cocoon and changes in appearance and purpose. It is now beautiful and useful – from a taker of life to a promoter of life.

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In this Sunday Homily at Saint Michael Kalibo, Fr. Romie- Jun reminded us that as we enter this Holy Week, we should focus on the love of Christ that redeemed us with His blood. Let us not forget the benefits that God has given to us. He loves us so much that He embraced humanity for us to be saved. He never leave us – in our success or failures. And we also should remain with Jesus even if problems come after us.

In the Passion Gospel, there are different kinds of people that Jesus encountered. Firstly, the three disciples who fell asleep when Jesus invited them to pray with Him. We, as people, also tend to sleep or forget about Jesus. Second, the people who judged Him. We also are judgmental to other people- evaluating others without even evaluating our hearts. Instead of judging, let us help others because what we do to others is what we do to Christ. Third, being neutral. Pontius Pilate chose to be neutral in the situation that He had faced. In Jesus, neutrality is not an option because as He said in His word, “If you are not for me, you are against me”. We should take the side of truth. And lastly, the soldiers who mocked Jesus. As Christians, we should not mock people especially fellow Christians.

Jesus came down from heaven and stayed with us. We should also do the same. Remain with Christ, especially this season of Holy Week.

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Fifth Sunday in Lent- March 17, 2024

“Go and Proclaim: The Father honors those who serve Jesus”

First Reading: Jeremiah 31: 31-34

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 51: 5-6; 7-8;9-10;12-13

Second Reading: Hebrews 5: 5-10

Gospel Reading: John 12: 20-28

Homily by Fr. Romie- Jun Peñalosa

In this Sunday Mass Homily at Saint Michael Kalibo, Fr. Romie- Jun reminds us die to ourselves so that our lives will be transformed.

The First Reading tells us about God’s coming new covenant to Israel- that He will put His law in their minds and write it on their hearts. This reminds us that even though we are unfaithful, God will remain faithful to us. He made a new covenant for us to live eternally, and that covenant was manifested on Jesus’ death on the cross. That through His death, we are saved. The second reading speaks about Jesus, as the Son of God, Who obeyed to His Father so the new covenant will be fulfilled.

The Gospel tells the story of Jesus, predicting His death to the newly- converted Gentiles. He compared it to a grain – when it dies and gets buried on the ground, it will live and multiply. This reminds us that in Jesus, there is no death, but only transformation.

Fr. Romie- Jun also tells about the two kinds of death. The first one is Terminal Death wherein our life here on earth is already finished. The moment that we die, everything is finished. Our hopes and dreams have come to an end. On the other hand, Paschal Death talks about the death that we should anticipate- that when we die, life will begin. Through the Paschal Death, we are changed. This Lent, we are entering the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ- He died, rose from the dead, and will once again come back. His life does not end here on earth, but it will continue on.

People are afraid of death because we do not practiced dying in our daily life. We could practice dying on a daily basis by dying to ourselves. If we die to ourselves, we are to follow Jesus. God does not want us to simply look forward to Terminal Death, but Paschal Death. We should let Jesus enter our hearts, and that would only be possible if we die to ourselves first. Unite our heart to the death of Jesus Christ to witness His resurrection.

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Fourth Sunday in Lent- March 10, 2024

Theme: “Go and Proclaim: The Saving Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!”

First Reading: Numbers 21: 4-9

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 107: 1-2;17 &19;20-21

Second Reading: Ephesians 2: 1-9

Gospel Reading: John 3: 14-21

Homily by Fr. Romie- Jun Peñalosa

GO AND PROCLAIM: THE SAVING GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

(A RECAPITULATION BASED ON THE HOMILY OF +FR. ROMIE JUN PEÑALOSA)

The fourth Sunday of Lent is called “Laetare Sunday” taken from Latin verse “Laetare, Jerusalem” (“Rejoice, O Jerusalem”.)

Lent may be focused on the sufferings and sacrifices of Jesus, but as God’s people we also need to see beyond it. And this is what Laetare Sunday teaches us, that in spite of all the hardships and sacrifices of Jesus, we can look to the future and hope for eternal life and salvation.

John 3:16 is one of the most powerful verses in the Bible and many of us memorize it. It is part of today’s gospel, but Father Jun wants us to understand better the passages before and after. Here, we can take two (2) important lessons: First, God wants us to face our fears. Salvation begins when we look up to God; when we confront our fears. In the time of Moses, people suffered difficulties while on their journey to the promise land and through it they learned to obey and trust God. God  asked Moses to lift up the bronze serpent so that those who were bitten by snakes could look at it and be healed. Just like that image of the serpent, Jesus must also be lifted up in our lives. Jesus on the cross is symbolizes God’s perfect love for us. And this perfect love drives out all fears.

Secondly, God doesn’t condemn us no matter what. When we were still sinners, Christ already died for us. He already loved us then. When we don’t see Him as a loving God, condemnation sinks in. So when we sin, our instinct is to run away. We punish ourselves thinking that we deserve to take the burden. But the truth is, no matter how bad we are, God will never hate us, nor condemn us.

We become the playground of the enemy when we murmur and grumble in life. When we continue to look away  and not align our life to  the cross where Jesus was crucified, we will continue to live in darkness. God extended His hand to help us, but understand that we also need to do our part. Because our part is as important as His part in order to fulfill His plans and purposes in our life.

In this season of Lent, Father Jun encourages us to face our fears and to continually have check-ups of our spiritual life. If we think we are healed, then confirm. There is no need to run away, no need to punish ourselves nor try to repay Him; for there is no price that can match the love of God for us. God loves us not because we are good but because He is a loving God. It’s not about who we are but about who He is. Embrace that love!

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Third Sunday in Lent- March 3, 2024

Theme: “Go and Proclaim: Let Jesus Cleanse our Hearts”

First Reading: Exodus 20:1-17

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 19:1-2;7-8;13

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Gospel Reading: John 2:13-22

Homily by Fr. Romie-Jun Peñalosa

GO AND PROCLAIM: LET JESUS CLEANSES AND REIGNS IN OUR HEART

(A RECAPITULATION BASED ON THE HOMILY OF +FR. ROMIE-JUN PEÑALOSA)

“If you want to go far, accomplish more, become successful in life, go back to the basics.”

Oftentimes, we think we are already walking on the right path. But when we try to look back, we will discover that we passed through a crooked road. This is true for all of us. And the Lenten season allows us to pause for a while to check and evaluate ourselves, especially our spiritual life. To ask the question – “Where are we in our life now?”

In our gospel today, Jesus shows us His other side. We often know Him as meek, kind, and humble. But in the gospel, we see anger. The scene of a market in the temple made Him angry because people no longer cared to worship God wholly and instead cared more about their earnings and businesses. Understand that God is not against us doing business but we should not forget that He is the One who gave that to us. Many things in our life start right, but as time passes by our hearts become greedy and things slowly start to crumble down.

When we come to Him, we should be prepared and give our all to Him alone. The problem with many of us is when God gives us something, we tend to love the benefits more and forget Him. We should never love the benefits of God more than God. God is not against the things that we value, but He is jealous when it becomes our obsession. Therefore, guard your heart so that it would not love things more than God; for anything you love equally with God is idolatry.

The cleansing of Jesus in the temple is a reminder for people to go back to the basics of life. In this time of Lent, let us allow God to search and cleanse our hearts, for He is the gravity that pulls you toward God and helps you make Him the center of your life. We all have something we value in life, but Jesus teaches us today to give God  supreme value. He should be the utmost priority in our life. We have been so attached to the benefits that God gives us, but He wants us to go back today to the basics of life – prayer, fasting, sharing/giving. These will allow us to put our lives in order, physically, morally, and spiritually.

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