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Week 30 – July 21 – 27:  Paglilingkod Sa Isa’t Isa, Walang Nagkukulang, Walang Naiiwan  

Service or paglilingkod in Filipino is an over-used or sometimes abused word. Establishments that seek to promote their products and services often make use of this word. There are those who claim that their primary aim is to be of service to their customers and not to gain profit, even if it is obvious that their claim is contrary to the aggressive advertising that they do.  Two of the leading broadcast company also make use of service as their primary concern, one claims its commitment to serbisyong totoo while the one claims that all that it does is for the service of the Filipino people. On the other hand, a big supermarket chain used to require its employees to shout “happy to serve” every so often.  There are many more companies who make the claim that service is their business not because it really is the reason for their existence but such claim proves to be effective in attracting more customers.  It is clear then that the meaning of service is watered down or even used irresponsibly for some selfish ends.

There are pieces of evidence showing that service is used for some personal gains but there are also countless evidence to show that there is still Filipinos who truly and genuinely serve. There are Filipinos who serve because they are moved by genuine malasakit that translates into acts of paglilingkod even to random people. Some of these pieces of evidence showcasing the Filipinos’ commitment to serve not only their immediate circle of relatives and friends but even those whom they may not personally know is showcased in an article that appeared in Philstar Global in June 13, 2017 entitled “9 random acts of kindness (https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/arts-and-culture/2017/06/13/1709641/9-random-acts-heroism).”  It lists the following acts of heroism by Filipinos

•           Filipinos volunteering to join a a meal-packing event sponsored by an outsourcing company in partnership with Rise Against Hunger.  The activity sent 14,000 meals to families in Don Bosco Calauan in Laguna.

•           The corporate social responsibility program of a big corporation gives one of the biggest scholarship programs for Grade One to Senior High School student-beneficiaries of Hope for Change from Smokey Mountain.

•           A popular food chain provides work immersion for students coming from the public school in order to provide them training and make them work-ready.

•           Countless Filipinos do volunteer work in the line of raising health, environment and local products awareness to help poor farmers and the poor who have poor access to basic health care services.

•           A soft drink brand in cooperation with the United Nations conceptualized The Women Reach program to help women attain economic sustainability and to effectively integrate returning women overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) into the economic mainstream by providing them access to livelihood programs, building their entrepreneurship know-how and connecting them to resources that will help them establish their own small enterprises.

Besides those mentioned in the article, each day we receive news of random acts of kindness by Filipinos of all ages, to people in need, to those who suffer from disabilities and those who are in emergency situations.. The proliferation of these random acts of kindness by Filipinos in social media gave rise to comments that unanimously express the Filipinos restored belief in human goodness.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, in a Pastoral Statement, Conquering Good with Evil  (http://cbcpnews.net/cbcpnews/conquering-evil-with-good) speaks of service to the poor, the weak, the disadvantaged, the elderly, the children, those with special needs and all those who tend to be left out in society as the genuine barometer for being civilized, rather than mere advanced technology and infrastructure. The letter also emphasizes that makes humans superior is not just their intelligence or their capacity for survival “but our innate sensitivity and capacity to love, to respect, to care for one another, to be both just and merciful, to be compassionate, to build community and to be genuinely concerned about the common good.”

On the other hand, Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est amplifies the various opportunities by which followers of Christ can engage in service:

•           At present, he said, we see one of the challenging yet also positive sides of the process of globalization—we now have at our disposal numerous means for offering humanitarian assistance to our brothers and sisters in need, not least modern systems of distributing food and clothing, and of providing housing and care. Concern for our neighbour transcends the confines of national communities and has increasingly broadened its horizon to the whole world (n. 30)

•           In talking about service, he quotes his predecessor St Pope John Paul II, who, in his encyclical Sollicitudo Rei Socialis [28]  asserted that “the readiness of the Catholic Church to cooperate with the charitable agencies of these Churches and Communities”, rests on the belief that humans “all have the same fundamental motivation and look towards the same goal: a true humanism, which acknowledges that man is made in the image of God and wants to help him to live in a way consonant with that dignity” (n.30).

•           In describing those who engage in true Christian service, he says, “Those who work for the Church’s charitable organizations must be distinguished by the fact that they do not merely meet the needs of the moment, but they dedicate themselves to others with heartfelt concern, enabling them to experience the richness of their humanity. Consequently, in addition to their necessary professional training, these charity workers need a “formation of the heart”: they need to be led to that encounter with God in Christ which awakens their love and opens their spirits to others. As a result, love of neighbour will no longer be for them a commandment imposed, so to speak, from without, but a consequence deriving from their faith, a faith which becomes active through love” (n. 31).

•           In characterizing the fruit of serving others, he says this, “This proper way of serving others also leads to humility. The one who serves does not consider himself superior to the one served, however miserable his situation at the moment may be. Those who are in a position to help others will realize that in doing so they themselves receive help; being able to help others is no merit or achievement of their own. This duty is a grace. The more we do for others, the more we understand and can appropriate the words of Christ: “We are useless servants” (Lk17:10). (n.35).

•           Finally, he emphasizes the importance of prayer in giving genuine service to others.. He says, “37. It is time to reaffirm the importance of prayer in the face of the activism and the growing secularism of many Christians engaged in charitable work. Clearly, the Christian who prays does not claim to be able to change God’s plans or correct what he has foreseen. Rather, he seeks an encounter with the Father of Jesus Christ, asking God to be present with the consolation of the Spirit to him and his work” (n. 37).

Word of God

First Reading:              DEUTERONOMY 24:17-22

You shall not deprive the resident alien or the orphan of justice, nor take the clothing of a widow as pledge. For, remember, you were slaves in Egypt, and the LORD, your God, redeemed you from there; that is why I command you to do this. When you reap the harvest in your field and overlook a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; let it be for the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the LORD, your God, may bless you in all your undertakings. When you knock down the fruit of your olive trees, you shall not go over the branches a second time; let what remains be for the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow. When you pick your grapes, you shall not go over the vineyard a second time; let what remains be for the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow. For remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt; that is why I command you to do this.

Res. Ps.:          PS 72:12-13
For he rescues the poor when they cry out,
the oppressed who have no one to help.
He shows pity to the needy and the poor
and saves the lives of the poor.

Second Reading:          1 PETER 4: 7-11
The end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be serious and sober for prayers.  Above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace. Whoever preaches, let it be with the words of God; whoever serves, let it be with the strength that God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Gospel:           MK. 10:35-35  “Jesus Came To Serve”
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” He replied, “What do you wish [me] to do for you?” They answered him, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” They said to him, “We can.” Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;40but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared.” When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John. Jesus summoned them and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.

For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Values/Attitude

Charity            Service        Humility    Dignity

Piety                           Compassion Doctrine

The Church is God’s family in the world. In this family no one ought to go without the necessities of life. Yet at the same timecaritas- agape extends beyond the frontiers of the Church. The parable of the Good Samaritan remains as a standard which imposes universal love towards the needy whom we encounter “by chance” (cf. Lk 10:31), whoever they may be. Without in any way detracting from this commandment of universal love, the Church also has a specific responsibility: within the ecclesial family no member should suffer through being in need (DCE n.25).

Moral

“Love and charity, are service, helping others, serving others. There are many people who spend their lives in this way, in the service of others. … When you forget yourself and think of others, this is love! And with the washing of the feet the Lord teaches us to be servants, and above all, servants as He was a servant to us, for every one of us.”

(Message of Pope  Francis to Jubilee audience, March 12, 2016)

Worship

It is time to reaffirm the importance of prayer in the face of the activism and the growing secularism of many Christians engaged in charitable work. Clearly, the Christian who prays does not claim to be able to change God’s plans or correct what he has foreseen. Rather, he seeks an encounter with the Father of Jesus Christ, asking God to be present with the consolation of the Spirit to him and his work. A personal relationship with God and an abandonment to his will can prevent man from being demeaned and save him from falling prey to the teaching of fanaticism and terrorism. An authentically religious attitude prevents man from presuming to judge God, accusing him of allowing poverty and failing to have compassion for his creatures (DCE 37).

Faith Realities in Local Context

Reflecting on the true meaning of service as exemplified by Christ and affirmed by the teachings of the Church, share how you will actively participate in your parish’s mission of service to the following marginalized sectors of society:

1) those who are deprived of the basic necessities in life – food, clothing and shelter

2) those who are sick, especially those who are terminally ill;

3) those who are victims of abuse;

4) those who are victims of violence or calamities, whether natural or man-made.

Faith Response

Affirmation/Conviction

The life that is love in the Kingdom of God is first of all “not that we have loved God, but that He has loved us and sent His Son as an offering for our sins” (1 Jn 4:10). The basis for moral living, then, is not our good intentions or efforts, but rather the incredible fact of God’s love for us. Now, since “God has loved us so, we must have the same love for one another” (1 Jn 4:11), a love that is “forgiving” (cf. Eph 4:32), universal, “for all” (cf. 1 Thes 3:12), and necessary, for without love we are merely “a noisy gong, a clanging cymbal” (cf. 1 Cor 13:1). Two direct effects of this love are fellowship (koinonia) and service (diakonia). Fulfilling the commandment “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Rom 13:9) creates community fellowship, the “fellowship of the Holy Spirit” (2 Cor 13:13). So too we bear one another’s burdens and serve “in all humility” (Acts 20:19), “in the newness of the Spirit” (Rom 7:6). (CFC 742)  (PCP II, 576).

Action/Commitment:  Having learned that the love of Christ impels us to fellowship and service, do you:

* in your own capacity as a young person commit yourself to serve others out of the fact that in Baptism you made a promise to follow Christ?

* strive to contribute to transforming society by exerting effort to do your share in uplifting the dignity of others by your acts of genuine service?

*actively participate in your parish and community efforts towards family prayer and in the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist?

Celebration/Prayer

Prayer to Mary to be Loving like His Son Jesus
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
you have given the world its true light,
Jesus, your Son – the Son of God.
You abandoned yourself completely
to God’s call
and thus became a wellspring
of the goodness which flows forth from him.
Show us Jesus. Lead us to him.
Teach us to know and love him,
so that we too can become
capable of true love
and be fountains of living water
in the midst of a thirsting world (DCE 42).
Amen.