Kababaang-loob

The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

19 June 2020

First reading                                                                        Deuteronomy 7:6-11
Moses said to the people: ‘You are a people consecrated to the Lord your God; it is you that the Lord our God has chosen to be his very own people out of all the peoples on the earth.   ‘If the Lord set his heart on you and chose you, it was not because you outnumbered other peoples: you were the least of all peoples. It was for love of you and to keep the oath he swore to your fathers that the Lord brought you out with his mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know then that the Lord your God is God indeed, the faithful God who is true to his covenant and his graciousness for a thousand generations towards those who love him and keep his commandments, but who punishes in their own persons those that hate him. He is not slow to destroy the man who hates him; he makes him work out his punishment in person. You are therefore to keep and observe the commandments and statutes and ordinances that I lay down for you today.’

Second reading                                                                1 John 4:7-16

My dear people,
let us love one another
since love comes from God
and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Anyone who fails to love can never have known God,
because God is love.
God’s love for us was revealed
when God sent into the world his only Son
so that we could have life through him;
this is the love I mean:
not our love for God,
but God’s love for us when he sent his Son
to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.
My dear people,
since God has loved us so much,
we too should love one another.
No one has ever seen God;
but as long as we love one another
God will live in us
and his love will be complete in us.
We can know that we are living in him
and he is living in us
because he lets us share his Spirit.
We ourselves saw and we testify
that the Father sent his Son
as saviour of the world.
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God lives in him, and he in God.
We ourselves have known and put our faith in
God’s love towards ourselves.
God is love
and anyone who lives in love lives in God,
and God lives in him.

Gospel                                                                     Matthew 11:25-30

Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
  ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’

Reflection

By  Pietro S. Albano

Matea "Sis.Tayang" Bernardo (RIP) used to lead the Rosary every weekday evening before the 6:30pm Mass in St Joseph de Gagalangin Parish. Back in the day, I would normally attend that Mass and got acquainted with Sis. Tayang. She was a warm person who asked me a few times to lead one decade of the Rosary. Because I was a regular churchgoer, I made it a point to come earlier to church and sit on the front pew where Sis.Tayang would sit so I could help her lead in the Rosary. 

One evening, as I sat in the front pew with her and other parishioners, I noticed that there were too many of us to lead. I found out later that leaders have already been allocated for each decade and I wasn't one of them. Realizing this, I slowly moved to another pew.

The following evening, Sis. Tayang spoke to me. She noticed my behaviour the previous evening and asked me what does the scapular of the Sacred Heart (which I used to wear every time I go to Mass) mean to me? I said it symbolizes love. She corrected me. It was kababaang-loob (humility). I was dumbstruck with what she told me. In her wisdom, she noticed my hurt pride. Today's feast day reminded me of that conversation I had with her years ago. It was as though Sis. Tayang was echoing her namesake, San Mateo (St Matthew), on what true devotion to the Sacred Heart is: be "gentle and humble in heart". 

In his humility, Jesus became like one of us, except sin. I always have in mind that image of Christ washing His disciples' feet. Humility is beautiful, but it's a path we would like to avoid. For one, who would like to bend and wash someone's dirty, smelly feet? Or who would want to be nasapawan (overshadowed) by others in the community? Who would settle for second place? Or who would choose not to get even with their enemies?  And yet, Jesus chose to be the servant of all, the one humiliated by the powers that be, the one who asked the Father's forgiveness for His tormentors. 

As we honour the Sacred Heart of Jesus on His feast day, may we realize the value of humility so that we may live in love. If we do so, as mentioned in our Second Reading, we would allow ourselves to live in God and God to live in us.

Prayer

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, we adore and thank You. By Your grace, transform our proud heart into a gentle and humble one like Yours so that we may mirror Your saving love to all.  Through the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Amen.