02-14-2020 | LIVE WELL - Fr. Dave Concepcion
LIVE WELL (Homily of Fr. David Tampus Concepcion | Memorial of Saint Cyril, monk and Methodius, Bishop | St. Catherine of Alexandria Church, Bethlehem | Feb. 14, 2020) 1st Reading - 1 KGS 11:29-32, 12:19 Psalm - Ps 21:10-15 Gospel - MK 7:31-37 What is more important Christmas or Easter? If you were not born, there is no Easter to celebrate. What is being born without an essence? If you have not lived your life well, people will curse the day you were born. What is more important to live long or to live well? The taste of the food or the nutrition? The diploma or the education? I guess you know the answer but we have failed to live according to what is more important. Your life today is a product of your choices. If you are miserable, it is because you have chosen to be miserable. No one can make you unhappy without your permission. What is really important: birth or essence? Of course, you know the answer, so do not waste your time. Life is short. If you make a choice daily and you made a choice for God then you know you will be blessed. But if you have made wrong choices then it is up to you. Don't waste your life. You came to this world with nothing and you will leave this world with nothing but you can always leave behind a legacy. Dumating kang walang dala, aalis kang walang dadalhin. Harinawa, hindi lang utang ang iyong iiwan. Mag-Iwan ka ng magandang ala-ala Meaning is important. Jesus was born not merely to exist but to give meaning. That is why everytime he forgives, what is more important is salvation. Everytime he heals a person, what is more important is salvation. Remember the words “Ephphatha!” (“Be opened!”). What prevents you from growing is because you are so closed. Open your life! You do not have the monopoly of the truth. What are the things you have failed to see because you have remained so closed or myopic? You cannot separate Christmas from Easter. You cannot separate the crib from the cross. You cannot separate the swaddling clothes from the garments for which the soldiers gambled. You cannot separate the baby from the man. You cannot separate that birth from the death. Go beyond existence. What is more important is to live well, not simply to live long. Amen. #frdaveconcepcion #pilgrimage
