23/12/2025
Homily by Fr. Dave Concepcion - Sixth day of Misa De Aguinaldo
December 21, 2025
Gospel: Matthew 1:18-24
Sto. Nino de Paz Greenbelt Chapel
Full link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXU3pnf6Ztk&t=9s
For those who just attended our Misa de Gallo, the morning mass, we are doing a series in the morning entitled “How to Grow Spiritually”. As we do our Novena Mass for the Misa de Gallo, today is our seventh day. And today we'll talk about being righteous. The first reading speaks of Ahaz. Ahaz was an evil king, yet he never questioned God. As I have said previously, you can never question the ways of God. But look at this. Even an evil king never questioned the ways of God.
What is the second reading trying to tell us? A righteous man is being set apart for God. A simple definition of holiness. If you see, if you go to a store and you look at the clothes, they are the same colors, even though some of them vary in their sizes. The moment you take one, and you buy it, those clothes become set apart. It is being set apart from its normal place. It becomes yours.
A holy people is being set apart for Himself, for God. Does that person being set apart automatically become holy and righteous? No. He goes through the process, as I've said, of disciplining himself, trying to learn the ropes.
And what is the Gospel trying to tell us? Joseph, even though he doubted, never questioned the ways of God. He never questioned. He's a righteous man. And you know the context that if a woman is caught in adultery, adultery means you slept with someone you are not married to. You will be stoned to death. So Joseph did not expose Mary that she was already pregnant. Why? Not just to shame her, but he knows that she can be stoned to death. Up to now, there are countries that stoned women to death for adultery.
Ang kuwento ko nung isang araw, sa Israel, the Druze, there's a group of people, Druze, when you are caught in adultery, the husband can bring back the woman to the family, and says, "I cannot take your daughter." It's one way of saying she is not a virgin anymore. Magugulat kayo. Siyempre naman pag Pasko, dami ring kalokohang post. Sa ibang bansa daw, wala daw Christmas. Bakit daw? Wala ng Wise Men at wala nang Virgin.
Try to understand that Mary has to undergo the tension. And I'm sure alam ni Maria 'yun, that getting pregnant without getting married can end up with her death. It's not just a painful death, but a shameful death. But the focus of today is Joseph, because we understand that Mary never doubted God. In her innocence, she never doubted God. That’s why she said, "Be it done to me according to your word."
And how does Psalm 1, if you look at Psalm 1, the first psalm, define a righteous man? A righteous man is a person who walks with righteous people. He never walks with sinners. As I always say, a righteous person walks with the right people. As Simon Sinek has said, "If you want to walk fast, you can walk alone. If you want to walk further, you walk together. But if you want to reach your destiny, you walk with the right people." Do not forget that.
A good Carmelite can never be a good Carmelite if she walks with the Salesians, even though they are both religious. Why? Because they differ in spirituality. If you want to be a good Salesian, you can never walk with the Benedictines because the Benedictines have their own spirituality. We need to understand our purpose, we need to understand our calling, so that we know who to walk with. Not all people who accompany you walk with you. Do not forget that. Later on, we will separate ways depending on our priorities, depending on our values. So keep that in mind. A righteous people walk with the right people.
Second, they don't walk with sinners. Ano sinasabi sa First Book of Psalms? They don't walk with people who shame others. That's the character of Saint Joseph. He avoids shaming Our Lady.
Pagka-minsan, ugali natin itong mga Pilipino, ano un? Mahilig tayong mang-hiya. Kasi yung iba sa atin, nagbabago lang pag napahiya. Nagbabayad lang ng utang pag pinahiya. Magkaiba yung shame sa guilt. Saint Ignatius of Loyola have said this, "A shameful person realizes that she did or done something wrong even though no one knows about it." Yung mga taong nahihiya, nahihiya sila na meron silang ginawang mali kahit walang nakakaalam. Yung guilty, nahuli un. Hindi un nahihiya kung walang nakakaalam. Napahiya lang dahil or guilty lang kasi may naka-huli. Magkaiba 'yun. A righteous man knows how to shame, not just being guilty. But Saint Joseph avoided putting Mary to shame. Walk with the right people. You don't shame others.
Third, it is a person who prays. Nagdadasal. You can be righteous, and yet you do not pray. There are righteous people who don't go to church. That's why it is scandalous to compare people going to church who are unrighteous compared to people who don't go to church and live a righteous life. Mahirap yung hindi nagsisimba pero maayos ang buhay, madangal, marangal, pero 'yung nagsisimba, nangungurakot. Yun ang malaking iskandalo. Graduate ka ng Catholic school pero corrupt ka. Graduate ka ng Catholic school pero nagnanakaw ka. Graduate ka ng Catholic school pero nanghihingi ka. Yun ang malaking iskandalo.
You were put in a situation where, hopefully, you grow because you walk with the right people. The school tries to help you grow or discipline you to have a better character, and yet in spite of being a graduate of a Catholic school, you go to mass, live a sinful life.
Ano sabi ni Mother Teresa ng Calcutta? "We are not called to do great things, but to do ordinary things with great love." Righteousness is a product of discipline. A good saying from a Bisaya, a Cebuano good saying. Hinay hinay basta kanunay. I guess you have heard those words, hinay hinay basta kanunay. Dahan-dahan but consistent. We develop character by doing things consistently. Hindi iyan biglaan. Mastery is being done consistently.
If you heard the words of the fastest man who won the sprint, the best person who ran for six seconds. Can you imagine? Can you run 100 meters in 6 seconds? Yung iba nga, bago maka-tayo, seven seconds na. When he was asked, "How did you do that?" Ano sabi niya? He practiced, "I practiced for six years." It takes 6 years to master a 6-second run in a 100-meter dash. It takes practice. It's one way of saying if you want to be holy, it's not an overnight thing. It is a consistent way of living. Hinay hinay basta kanunay.
You want your children to be honest? You want your children to be good? You must be consistent in reminding them so that when you die, you are confident that they will live the kind of life that you tried to make them embrace.
Bakit tayo ganito? Kuwa naman tayo? Produkto ito ng ating pagkatao. Produkto ito ng ating nakaugalian. Kaya nga sabi nung isang pari, "Pag nasanay kang magulo ang buhay mo, pangkaraniwan na lang ang gulo. Pag nasanay kang magsinungaling, pangkaraniwan na lang ang pagsisinungaling." "Pag nasanay kang natutulog sa misa, pangkaraniwan na lang ang matulog."
Seriously, look at yourselves. There are things you don't do without thinking anymore because it has become a habit.
On our first day, we talked about the generosity of God, take courage to ask. We would rather ask and not receive than fail to receive because we did not ask. The second day is the Serenity Prayer, that we may learn and understand that there are things we cannot change, but there are things we can change, and may God grant us the grace and the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. On the third day, we all go through life. If we want to develop a character, go through life, never go around it. And the fourth day, character is more important than skills. I advise single women looking for a husband, look for a man with character, not just with a car. Yesterday, we talked about not questioning the ways of God. I said so many examples, and I've said this, miracles do happen, not because I am a priest, but because I believe. And today, we have to remind ourselves that to grow spiritually, you need to be righteous. Not all righteous people are spiritual people, but if you want to be spiritual, you have to be righteous.
