Homily on the Funeral of Elsa Villordon (Salesian Cooperator); 22nd Sunday in O.T., 30 August 2026; DBFC Chapel, Lawaan
Today we are gathered as a Salesian Family to celebrate the Holy Eucharist before we bring Mommy Elsa’s mortal remains to its final resting place. I thank Fr Glenn Guanzon, our Presider, for giving me this honor of delivering the homily today. Fr Glenn is Mommy Elsa’s nephew. He is currently assigned as Parish Priest and Team Moderator of Sta Teresa de Avila Parish here in Talisay City. He is also the Liturgy Director of the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission on Worship.
I have known Mommy Elsa since the time we opened our College of AB ReEd here in DBFC back in 2008. If I remember well, it was Fr Randy who invited her to teach English and she willingly accepted it. As many of you have heard last night from the homily delivered by her former student Fr Jhon Robert Mam Elsa was strict and straightforward inside the classroom. She often had a sharp look. And since she always came well-prepared for the class, she demanded that her students deliver accordingly. However, it was very noticeable that once she gets out of the classroom, her mood would transition from sharp strictness to smiling kindness. Her motherly sweetness suddenly shows up and shines. And that’s how Mommy Elsa made a big impact and touched the hearts of so many especially those who were put under her care.
When Fr Jake asked me what set of readings we would be using for today’s liturgy, I told him that the Scripture passages assigned for this 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time are so appropriate for this special occasion.
Several years ago, I was tasked to look for a life size cross for the new Novitiate chapel. So, I went to Paete, Laguna and asked an artist named Paloy Cagayat to carve from Batikuling wood a wooden cross with the crucified Christ. Some months later when I went back to Paete to visit his shop in order to check the statue of the crucified Christ, I was happy to see the work that has been done so far. It was beautiful and seems so alive with all the minute details you would want to see in every statue.
However, one thing was lacking: the wounds of Jesus from the scourging. I felt Jesus’ crucified body was just too clean. So, I asked the artist to carve additional wounds on the statue before having it delivered to Cebu. So, when the statue arrived in Lawaan I was shocked. I saw wounds all over the body of Jesus. It was so bloody beyond my expectation. But then I thought for a while, Jesus must really have suffered terribly for us as these wounds would show. Hence, I thanked Paloy for having made the Crucified Christ so fittingly perfect for our Novices. I thought that our Novices who would be praying every day before this life-size crucifix will have to think, reflect and pray many times over before submitting their application letter for the First Profession of the religious vows.
Brothers and sisters, our gospel today is a continuation of last Sunday. If you recall we heard Jesus affirming Peter for confessing him to be the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Today as we continue listening to this dialogue between the Master and his disciple, we find a sudden shift in emotions. Jesus, who was first happy to hear Peter’s solid confession of faith, suddenly turned sad and disappointed after hearing Peter’s words of remonstration. He thought he was already feeling assured that his mission would continue even after his death. But after realizing that Peter did not yet fully grasp what his messianic mission would entail, he felt really dismayed. And so, he frankly called him Satan and commanded him to get out of the way. For the rock that was meant to be the foundation for his church had turned out to be a stumbling block for him to reach Calvary where he would accomplish his mission as Messiah.
Isn’t it true that often we can be like Peter? We come to Mass and confess him to be our Lord, and yet many times we unconsciously choose to make him follow our own selfish ways. Today Jesus is sharply and straightforwardly calling us Satan for thinking and acting like Peter. But he doesn’t stop at name-calling. He chooses to patiently teach us the important lessons we need to learn as his disciples… to give up our ego, our comforts, and follow Him along the difficult road to the cross.
Jesus had to tell Peter and the disciples what his being a Messiah really meant, that is, to suffer much and be put to death out of love of all of us sinners. And after explaining that, he also had to make it clear for them what their being followers and disciples truly meant. Today, to be a Christian might sometimes seem like walking on a bed of roses, ang ganda, ang sarap, ang saya! But time will come when we ourselves will feel the thorns underneath those roses, big and sharp thorns that may cause us to bleed both physically and emotionally.
Just look back at your experiences in the past. Aren’t they marked with so many trials, pains and sufferings? Even our Mommy Elsa was not spared from various trials before and after she embraced her married life. I guess that, like the Prophet Jeremiah, she too could say “You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped; you were too strong for me, and you triumphed.” But despite being struck down, Mommy Elsa remained faithful, and even offered one of her children to become a Religious, not as a priest but as a Salesian Brother; our beloved confrere, Br Ed who is now the TVET Director of Don Bosco Victorias in Negros Occidental. That is how selfless Mommy Elsa had become. For God’s Word became like fire burning in her heart.
And when Mommy Elsa thought that everything was already smooth sailing, she had to face yet another challenging battle, this time against cancer. I remember that day when Mommy Elsa came in to this chapel almost all by herself. That was before proceeding to the operating room for her mastectomy. She requested to receive the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. She perfectly knew that fighting cancer alone would be suicidal. And so, as a good and faith-filled Salesian Cooperator, she surrendered herself in the hands of God and let the Lord fight for her. And she survived. She won the battle and lived for about 15 years more.
Life will never be without trials, tests, temptations and tribulations… and so many other crosses. But if we keep following Jesus who suffered, died and rose again to a glorious resurrection, we can be sure of sharing one day in his big T, the triumph of his resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven. On that day our tears will finally turn into joy that lasts forever.
Brothers and sisters, Peter and the disciples were told by Jesus to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him. And so, they tried to do that many times following Jesus along the road up to Jerusalem. But unfortunately, many times they have failed. And shockingly, they failed even in the biggest of all tests. When Jesus was crucified on Calvary, they all run away to save their lives, with the exception of Mary, his mother, St. John, his beloved disciple, and a few other women. These closest disciples followed Jesus until the end and stood with Mary faithfully beneath the cross.
This too was the choice of Mommy Elsa. Like Mama Mary, she chose to remain faithful despite being homebound and sometimes confined to her bed by her physical and medical condition. Every single day following the exhortation of St Paul, she chose to offer her body as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God, her spiritual worship. Even if she could no longer teach inside the classroom, even if she could no longer join the meetings and recollections of the Salesian Cooperators, even if she could no longer visit her farm and share the fruits of her labor, even if she could no longer go out for family bonding experiences, she chose to follow the divine Master, and offer her life, her pains, her sufferings as a spiritual sacrifice, holy, pleasing and perfect.
May we in this Eucharist be inspired by the example of Mommy Elsa’s holy life. May we be given that grace of fidelity to Jesus amidst all our trials and sufferings until our last breath, and until we breathe again the breath of God in the Salesian Garden up there in Paradise together with Mary Help of Christians, with St. John Bosco, with Bl. Alessandrina da Costa and with all the other saints for all eternity. GiGsss!