Here's my (camcorder) video which I took as Bishop Abarquez delivered his homliy during Mayor Uy's funeral. Please scroll down for the full text of the homily.
(The full text of the HOMILY delivered by Bishop Isabelo Abarquez during the Funeral Mass of Mayor Reynaldo Uy held at the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral last Saturday, May 21, 2011)
My Brother-Priests, Honorable Government Officials headed by Congressman Sarmiento and Congressman Casiño, Deacons, Men and Women Religious, Family of the late Mayor Reynaldo Uy, Guests, Brothers and Sisters in Christ.
First of all, I would like to convey again my deepest condolences to the family of Mayor Reynaldo Uy. I do it both, in my personal capacity and as Bishop of this Diocese of Calbayog. What happened to Mayor Reynaldo Uy is a painful loss not only to the family, but also to all of us in Calbayog. The death of Mayor Reynaldo Uy leaves empty spaces in many hearts. You who have known him very well, will always remember his loving and gentle ways. Since Mayor Uy breathed forth his last, there has been a lot of mourning among you. I can understand the grief that you feel, for you loved him dearly. You are sad because you will miss him, because you will never see his warm smile anymore, or hear his caring words or enjoy his many thoughtful acts anymore. But if you truly loved him, if what you want for him is to be happy, to enjoy his richly earned reward, then you should dry your tears and rejoice. For now, he is in full union with our Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier.
The life of Mayor Reynaldo Uy has ended suddenly and tragically and this makes us rather sad. Not only have we lost someone unexpectedly but we ourselves are somehow feeling quite lost. This is because Mayor Reynaldo Uy was not just “someone,” he was “somebody” among his folks in Oquendo. He was not jus “someone,” He was “somebody” among his constituents in Calbayog City. He was “somebody” among the Congressmen in the House of the Representatives. That is why we hope and pray that Mayor Reynaldo Uy is now in the hand of God, now at peace and now filled with immortality.
My fervent prayer is that the family of Mayor Uy finds solace in our Christian faith that considers death not as an end but rather as a beginning, not as a defeat but rather as a victory. Only in our Christian faith can we derive a higher form of life from our death here on earth.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this occasion, I wish to remind everyone that only in Christ, only in the Church, only when we see and consider things in the light of faith can we derive positive, redeeming and perfecting value of what are normally considered as bad from the purely human and natural viewpoint, such as our pain, suffering and death.
We should be wary of the temptation to fall into the logic of violence, rage and revenge, because that logic will bring us nowhere other than to a vicious and worsening freefall spiral of violence and revenge. That logic knows no other motive and no other language. It has no other and better instrument to give closure to our problems and challenges. It breeds worse anomalies in our lives, whether personal, social or political. We have to avoid that kind of logic at all costs. It is a logic that would not know what to do when our failings, our mistakes and offenses we commit with one another, intentionally or unintentionally, happen.
It is only in Jesus Christ that we find the definitive closure to our problems. Jesus Christ has the ultimate answer, the final solution and the permanent remedy to the many questions, problems and predicaments that we may find ourselves in this life of ours. It is only in Him that we can derive good from evil, light from darkness, joy from sorrow, strength from weakness, life from death. Without Him, our human and earthly affairs, our business and politics cannot help but be mired by sin, evil and malice, and these obviously would lead to violence and mutual annihilation.
Where our reason and our feelings reach their limits, our faith in Christ opens for us the door of eternity, giving us a wide variety of options to reach our true joy and peace, where justice, wisdom and charity would reign supreme. Let us be wary then of being held completely captive by the workings of our reason and feeling alone, without being permeated by faith.
Where our human strength reaches its end, the grace of God through Christ in the Spirit can still stretch it to enable us to cover an infinite range of positive and constructive possibilities. Where our knowledge and sciences, our political and judicial systems experience peak and say they already have enough, Christ would still lead them to break new frontiers. We should not underestimate the power of Christ, for what is impossible with men is always possible with God.
Let us see to it that we do not counter evil with another evil. Evil needs to be drowned by an abundance of good, a good that is realistic and down-to-earth.
My brothers and sisters in Christ let us strengthen our faith in Christ. Let us invigorate our spiritual life, our life of faith, hope and love, because only in this way can we reach the end that is proper to us, and that is, to be with God and with everybody else in a communion of life and love. It is only in this way that we can transform our business and politics and all the other fields of human endeavor. We need to put Christ and His social teaching into our politics and society.
Remember the gospel of yesterday’s Mass, when our Lord said: “I am the way, the truth, and life. No One comes to the Father but through me,” (Jn 14, 6). Without Christ, we would be left simply to our own devices, and our knowledge and sciences, our business and politics would have no other alternatives but to degenerate and plunge to deeper human misery.
Let us listen to the invitation once issued by the now Blessed Pope John Paul II, he said: “Open wide the door to Christ, do not be afraid.” It is an invitation that echoes what our Lord Himself said: “Come to me, all of you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you.” (Mt 11,28). May these words be taken seriously by us. And that can only happen if we humble ourselves, if we realize we need to have Christ in our lives and in every aspect of our lives. Humility makes us distrust ourselves and put our trust completely on our Lord. Humility is the doorway through which Christ through which Christ can enter in our life and share what He has with us. When we have this attitude, well entrenched in our personal systems, then we can expect to work better in the higher levels of our social life, including in our politics. My brothers and sisters in Christ let us imbue more our politics with the spirit of Christ.
May Mary, our Mother, made sorrowful again over the death of Mayor Reynaldo Uy, help us feel the need for Christ in our politics, and find Him and to love Him in our politics as well. May God bless us all!
My Brother-Priests, Honorable Government Officials headed by Congressman Sarmiento and Congressman Casiño, Deacons, Men and Women Religious, Family of the late Mayor Reynaldo Uy, Guests, Brothers and Sisters in Christ.
First of all, I would like to convey again my deepest condolences to the family of Mayor Reynaldo Uy. I do it both, in my personal capacity and as Bishop of this Diocese of Calbayog. What happened to Mayor Reynaldo Uy is a painful loss not only to the family, but also to all of us in Calbayog. The death of Mayor Reynaldo Uy leaves empty spaces in many hearts. You who have known him very well, will always remember his loving and gentle ways. Since Mayor Uy breathed forth his last, there has been a lot of mourning among you. I can understand the grief that you feel, for you loved him dearly. You are sad because you will miss him, because you will never see his warm smile anymore, or hear his caring words or enjoy his many thoughtful acts anymore. But if you truly loved him, if what you want for him is to be happy, to enjoy his richly earned reward, then you should dry your tears and rejoice. For now, he is in full union with our Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier.
The life of Mayor Reynaldo Uy has ended suddenly and tragically and this makes us rather sad. Not only have we lost someone unexpectedly but we ourselves are somehow feeling quite lost. This is because Mayor Reynaldo Uy was not just “someone,” he was “somebody” among his folks in Oquendo. He was not jus “someone,” He was “somebody” among his constituents in Calbayog City. He was “somebody” among the Congressmen in the House of the Representatives. That is why we hope and pray that Mayor Reynaldo Uy is now in the hand of God, now at peace and now filled with immortality.
My fervent prayer is that the family of Mayor Uy finds solace in our Christian faith that considers death not as an end but rather as a beginning, not as a defeat but rather as a victory. Only in our Christian faith can we derive a higher form of life from our death here on earth.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this occasion, I wish to remind everyone that only in Christ, only in the Church, only when we see and consider things in the light of faith can we derive positive, redeeming and perfecting value of what are normally considered as bad from the purely human and natural viewpoint, such as our pain, suffering and death.
We should be wary of the temptation to fall into the logic of violence, rage and revenge, because that logic will bring us nowhere other than to a vicious and worsening freefall spiral of violence and revenge. That logic knows no other motive and no other language. It has no other and better instrument to give closure to our problems and challenges. It breeds worse anomalies in our lives, whether personal, social or political. We have to avoid that kind of logic at all costs. It is a logic that would not know what to do when our failings, our mistakes and offenses we commit with one another, intentionally or unintentionally, happen.
It is only in Jesus Christ that we find the definitive closure to our problems. Jesus Christ has the ultimate answer, the final solution and the permanent remedy to the many questions, problems and predicaments that we may find ourselves in this life of ours. It is only in Him that we can derive good from evil, light from darkness, joy from sorrow, strength from weakness, life from death. Without Him, our human and earthly affairs, our business and politics cannot help but be mired by sin, evil and malice, and these obviously would lead to violence and mutual annihilation.
Where our reason and our feelings reach their limits, our faith in Christ opens for us the door of eternity, giving us a wide variety of options to reach our true joy and peace, where justice, wisdom and charity would reign supreme. Let us be wary then of being held completely captive by the workings of our reason and feeling alone, without being permeated by faith.
Where our human strength reaches its end, the grace of God through Christ in the Spirit can still stretch it to enable us to cover an infinite range of positive and constructive possibilities. Where our knowledge and sciences, our political and judicial systems experience peak and say they already have enough, Christ would still lead them to break new frontiers. We should not underestimate the power of Christ, for what is impossible with men is always possible with God.
Let us see to it that we do not counter evil with another evil. Evil needs to be drowned by an abundance of good, a good that is realistic and down-to-earth.
My brothers and sisters in Christ let us strengthen our faith in Christ. Let us invigorate our spiritual life, our life of faith, hope and love, because only in this way can we reach the end that is proper to us, and that is, to be with God and with everybody else in a communion of life and love. It is only in this way that we can transform our business and politics and all the other fields of human endeavor. We need to put Christ and His social teaching into our politics and society.
Remember the gospel of yesterday’s Mass, when our Lord said: “I am the way, the truth, and life. No One comes to the Father but through me,” (Jn 14, 6). Without Christ, we would be left simply to our own devices, and our knowledge and sciences, our business and politics would have no other alternatives but to degenerate and plunge to deeper human misery.
Let us listen to the invitation once issued by the now Blessed Pope John Paul II, he said: “Open wide the door to Christ, do not be afraid.” It is an invitation that echoes what our Lord Himself said: “Come to me, all of you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you.” (Mt 11,28). May these words be taken seriously by us. And that can only happen if we humble ourselves, if we realize we need to have Christ in our lives and in every aspect of our lives. Humility makes us distrust ourselves and put our trust completely on our Lord. Humility is the doorway through which Christ through which Christ can enter in our life and share what He has with us. When we have this attitude, well entrenched in our personal systems, then we can expect to work better in the higher levels of our social life, including in our politics. My brothers and sisters in Christ let us imbue more our politics with the spirit of Christ.
May Mary, our Mother, made sorrowful again over the death of Mayor Reynaldo Uy, help us feel the need for Christ in our politics, and find Him and to love Him in our politics as well. May God bless us all!
