𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗦𝗘: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗗? | HOMILY 23 February 2025 with Fr. Jerry Orbos, SVD on the 7th Sunday

𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗦𝗘: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗗?
HOMILY | Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
February 23, 2025

𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺’𝘴 𝘎𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭 (𝘓𝘶𝘬𝘦 6: 27-38), 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰. 𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. “𝘛𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺, 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘥𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶.“ 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵?! 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘺.

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This Holy Mass is celebrated via online and presided by the Rev. Fr. Jerry Orbos, SVD (Missionary to SVD-PH Central Province/ SVD Mission ) at the Diocesan Shrine of Jesus the Divine Word at Christ the King Mission Seminary, Quezon City.

For FULL REPLAY OF THE HOLY MASS, click here youtube.com/live/EKLUR8lX6AA

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The story is told about a señora who asked her house helper if she cleaned the surface of the keyboard of her computer. Her response was: “Yes, Ma’am, I did. Not only that, it was difficult, but I also rearranged the keyboard alphabetically!”
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The Lord tells us today to take the way of humility, sacrifice, and self-denial. It is the “road less traveled,” the “long and winding” road, that leads to meaning, peace, and true joy. The world on the other hand tells us to take the road of worldly success, wealth and pleasures, the road that is “wide, smooth, and straight”—straight to hell. The Lord tells us today to take the way of the C-R-O-S-S.
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COUNTERFLOW. “But rather, love your enemies and do good to them and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High.” What?! The world says: “I get even with my enemies, I collect whatever I lent, and more, and I want my reward now. I am a child of this world!” To counterflow is difficult, and so many just “go with the flow,” and just enjoy the ride.
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RESILIENCE. “Stop judging, and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.” What?! This will not work in a world that is so exacting and calculating! The Lord calls us to be big hearted, to be understanding, and to be forgiving. He tells us to learn how to bend, and to make the circle bigger and bigger to welcome everyone.
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OVERFLOW. “Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.” What?! The Lord is not only asking us to “counterflow,” but to “overflow” as well. The world scorns us who follow Christ, calling us “tanga (stupid)” and “lugi (short-changed).” The Lord tells us to give, and keep giving while the world tells us to get and keep on getting, without end.
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SACRIFICE. “To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic.” What?! Yes, the Lord tells us to take the road of sacrifice and self-denial. He asks us to give, till it hurts, to give without measure, and to give without expecting anything in return.
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SMILE. “… for He Himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” What?! To be kind to those who are ungrateful and those who are bad to us? Yes, we can smile through it all because of our confidence that we have a loving, generous, forgiving, and merciful Father who knows it all, and sees it all. Ours is a joy, an inner joy which the world cannot give, nor take away.
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In the eyes of the world, the way of the C-R-O-S-S is the way of losers. It is not an easy way, but it is a way that is full of freedom, meaning, peace, and joy. Fellow pilgrims of hope, let us continue to take this road and invite others to join us in this road that leads to God’s heart.
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To all the givers out there, remember God is never outdone in generosity. “Give, and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
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May God bless and prosper the work of our hands, but more so, may He increase the love in our hearts. Remember, when God increases our standard of living, may we also increase our standard of giving!
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We pray for our beloved country, the Philippines. May we all help our country, and help our people. What our country needs is more givers, and less stealers.
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A moment with the Lord:
Lord, help us to take the way of the C-R-O-S-S, the way of sacrifice and giving. Amen.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer

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