Generosity and Responsibility
Homily on Wednesday, 16th Week in OT; 23 July 2025, DBPH Chapel Talamban
Last week a group of us met with a certain lady who had two properties. On one property somewhere near Tabunok she built a kind of retreat house with a chapel and a few rooms, while the other bigger property up in a mountain near Sirao Garden, she developed into a kind of a shrine with outdoor stations of the cross ascending to a huge cross which she erected beside a chapel.
Since she had already retired from her occupation as a nurse in the US she was willing to donate both properties to us, Salesians of the FIS Province. For several months she had been looking for a religious congregation to whom she can entrust all that she had succeeded to build for the Lord. And she said that finally she found us. The only condition she is attaching to the deed of donation is that we keep both properties well maintained. That is why we asked Fr Boni to come along so that he could discuss with her all the legalities involved in this great act of kindness and generosity.
As I was trying to reflect on this providential meeting, I realized on the one hand how certain individuals can be unexpectedly super generous with us. On the other I also felt the burden of responsibility if we are to accept her offer and sign the contracts. Can we Salesians truly take good care of what is being entrusted to us?
The parable of the sower which we have heard today shows the great kindness and generosity of God to us. Like the farmer who tries sowing abundant seeds in the farmland so randomly that some seeds would even fall along foot paths, on rocky ground, or among thorny bushes, the Lord sows the seeds of his Word to all people but especially to us Catholics, and particularly to us who come to Mass daily. He does not mind at all whether we are open or not, attentive or distracted, docile or stubborn, he just proclaims his Word day by day and apart from that he also lavishes his goodness to us throughout the day.
The burden of responsibility, therefore, rests on us to take good care of these little seeds so that these can really grow and become abundantly fruitful in us. Remember this: when the Lord blesses, he demands an ROI, a return of investment. Therefore, may we, just like the fertile ground in the parable, be docile and responsive in listening to God’s Word. And we pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit we may soon yield an abundant harvest of good works, even much more than a hundred-fold.
We are glad to have with us Rev. Robert who has responded generously to God’s call and is now making His Word bear fruit in his ministry as a Salesian deacon especially to the youth of Victorias. We pray that as he prepares for his presbyteral ordination on August 16, he may continue to allow God’s Word to bear abundant fruit in his life and transform him more and more into the image and likeness of Jesus, the Good Shepherd. GiGsss
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