God or god?

Who is your priority #1 in your daily life?  Is it the God with a capital “G” or the god with a small “g”?  God is the loving Creator of your person, and god is your ego, your own self.  Most if not all would say, “Of course God my Creator is the #1 priority in my life.”  But in actual practice, so many end up preferring the self to be their god in their day-to-day life.

Due to the influence of postmodern technological and cultural preoccupations, many people end up having hardly any time and attention for God and what God is inviting them to do.  Instead, more and more people become their own gods.  Egocentric and narcissistic.  Today’s Gospel reading is very relevant in this regard.

What does it mean, then, to respond to God’s invitation and come to the wedding feast?  To live each day in God’s presence, with Him as our constant companion, thus becoming a true and faithful disciple of God’s one and only law:  Love + Justice = Peace.  Easier said than done.  But doable indeed.  Doable, but it takes time and a continuing process of spiritual conversion. 

In the meantime, many ignore God’s invitation, or delay their response because of the influence of their own gods.  These can come in various forms, from social injustice, corruption in political life, business, all the way to murder.  There may be political leaders who won by cheating in the last elections, and may be planning to run again for the next elections by using the same means.  These are some of those invited by God to His feast, but they refuse to come.  There are some wealthy businessmen who continue to succeed in their businesses but refuse to increase the meager salaries of their poor employees.  God invites them to His feast but they send excuses that they are too busy to come.  But then, almost all those mentioned above may even be attending Holy Mass on Sundays and holydays of obligation, and give some contributions when the basket is passed around.  How do you explain all this?

And just a couple of weeks ago, a couple from Sampaloc, Manila were shot and killed in their own home by an unknown assassin.  They have a five-year old son, who is now totally orphaned!  Was this murderer not invited by God to His feast?  Tell me!

All, yes, all are invited by God.  The good and the bad, the rich and the poor, the educated and the ignorant, all.  We are all related to one another.  We are all brothers and sisters in the Lord.  “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Lk. 10:27).  If that is not enough, Christ precedes this with the following:  “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. . . . Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”  (Lk.6:27-28,36).

Overall, I would say that inspite of the fact that many do not respond to God’s invitation, there are many more who do!  This is truly a great blessing from God.  Another consoling reality in our country today is the great number of NGO’s and apostolic organizations that are reaching out to the poor in many different ways.  I am more familiar with those where our fellow-Jesuits are involved, so give me the opportunity of singling out one of them as an ending to this homily.  Moreover, today we are celebrating Indigenous Peoples Sunday, so allow me to focus on our Jesuit Indigenous Peoples Ministry in Cabanglasan, Bukidnon.  Its director, Fr. Braulio M. Dahunan, S.J. is worth quoting, so let me end with his description:

“We . . . strive to empower the Umajamnens and be one with them in their struggle for self-determination.  Our way of helping them is to provide them with opportunities for education that will suit to their actual needs and will aim at overcoming illiteracy, which will eventually help them succeed in the wider culture.

Hence, we have been running education programs for the Umajamnens.  Currently, we have three literacy centers in far-flung villages for day care and kindergarten pupils who are taught in their mother tongue, using a culture-based curriculum.  Our volunteer  para-teachers are also teaching adults and out-of-school youth using the alternative learning system by the Department of Education.  We also have the “Binhi Te Peglaom” IP Scholars Dormitory (“Seeds of Hope”) for elementary and high school students.  The dormitory aims for a holistic formation of the students who will eventually serve their respective communities.  Our high school graduates will undergo a two-year ongoing formation while doing community service, and then we facilitate for their possible acquisition of scholarship grants.  We hope to instill a sense of responsibility in our scholars to serve their own people and develop their communities.”

A blessed Indigenous Peoples Feast to all!