07/10/2026
HOMILY TRANSCRIPT | OCT 5, 2026
๐๐ฒ๐๐๐'๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ - ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ & ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐
๐๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ฟ. ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ค๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ผ ๐๐ฟ.
๐ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐น๐ด๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ก๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฒรฑ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฝ๐ฒ (๐๐ฎ๐ 6)
๐ง๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฎ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ง๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐ป๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐๐น๐ฎ,
๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฟรฉ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐น๐๐น๐ฎ, ๐ฃ๐๐ฒ๐ฏ๐น๐ฎ, ๐ ๐ฒ๐
๐ถ๐ฐ๐ผ
It's easy to be generous and kind. Very easy, especially if it's part of your personality. But I think what the Lord is teaching us is the importance of coming straight from the heart. When you experience the presence of God in your life, then you will be able to respond in like manner. Because deep inside us, when we have this experience of being loved by God, then we shall be able to give what we have. We cannot give what we do not have. If we do not have the love of God within ourselves, it is impossible for us to give from the heart. That's true. Because most of the time, if we are very an activist, okay? I can be an activist, but I don't have God in my life.
I am just coming from my own heart and my own soul. But if deep inside my soul, there is no God there, I'm just giving what I am, my limited love. But if we're coming from deep inside us when we pray, then mercy comes out of the heart. What is mercy? It is receiving the compassion and love, unconditional love of the Father and Jesus. Then the Holy Spirit can transform the love that we experience from above or within us and share it with those around us. Now, that's what you call prayer and prayer life, and this I learned from the Carmelites. What is prayer? Prayer is having a conversation, an intimate conversation with the Lord.
But prayer life is: what do you do after you have prayed? When we have Jesus right at the center of our lives, then we come out of our normal and formal prayer, and prayer becomes part of our life. And what is that prayer? The love and mercy and compassion of the Lord put into action. And that is important, brothers and sisters, because we're not just coming from our own personal personality, or we're, you know, we're just kind. That's part of being human. But when divine comes inside and the human and the divine are combined through our experience of Jesus, wow, that's powerful. It's not mere activism or social action. It is both spirit-led. The Holy Spirit leads us and allows us and guides us to where, how, where, how we are to express that love.
Sometimes we see poor people, but deep within ourselves, we ask the Lord first, Lord, how am I going to respond, not just react? Okay? There are two important things there: I can react, immediate reaction, Oh, I'm going to give money. But response is, how am I going to sustain this kind of merciful love coming from deep within me? That is coming from experience. It is not just an intellectual experience of God, but a combination of the intellect and the affect. When they are combined, wow, how beautiful that is, because we are doing the will of God, not ours. Always obey what God wants, but we have to discover through discernment. I am saying many, many things about spiritual life, but let us focus on: what do you want, dear Lord, for me, so that you will be glorified, not myself, not Andres, not Andre, not Jojo, because I have so many names and nicknames.
But what do you want, Lord? What is it that you want? I'd like to end with that. My neighbor is the person who cannot repay me. My neighbor is the person who allows, whom God allows me to see the face of Jesus and experience His real presence. I thought I'm going to end. I would just like to end with a story, so that I can combine the intellectual with the affect. The life of Saint Teresa of Calcutta is important for us, so that we will see how social action and our spiritual experience of God can be combined. You see, Saint Teresa of Calcutta, Teresa de Calcutta, was a teacher. Teacher for the rich, the rich kids. Then at one point, of course, she's a very prayerful woman. At one point, she was at class, and then she wasn't listening anymore to what was being said by the students, or a student was reciting something, and then she spied, and she saw outside the blinders, Oh, there's a dying man outside.
And then immediately she saw Jesus right there in the face of that dying man. That was not only the first time that she experienced the Lord at prayer. And while she was traveling on a train, the Lord spoke to her: I want you to open your eyes, the eyes of your heart, because I am now speaking to you. This will be your mission in life, because your vocation is to serve me and your neighbor. I want you to have a specific way of reaching out to me. The Lord must have said, Do you see me among the poor? And she said, I'm going to tell my superior. I will be leaving teaching. I will not be teaching anymore. I will reach out to the poor. That was the specific direction of our Lord to her.
One of the challenges that she had to face was to go around Bombay and ask for donations, because she was poor. And while she was asking a donation from a merchant, what did the merchant do? The merchant spat, spat at her hand. She froze, of course, but deep inside her she says, Jesus is right here with me too. This guy doesn't know what's going on in my heart. She prayed a little, and then she calmed down. What did she say to the merchant? Now that you're done with spitting on my hand, could you give something to the poor? That completely changed the life of the merchant. That completely changed the life of Saint Teresa of Calcutta. Question: where is the Lord leading you? You can be very generous with your money, but what specific intention does God want for you? It's not just one thing of giving, because we can give. But how? How would we link it to our spiritual life if we have a relationship with Jesus, loving God and loving neighbor? That will change your life, brothers and sisters. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
