david's five stones from the brook - acquaintance program 2014

Our reading tonight is about David picked five smooth stones from the brook before fighting Goliath.  Whatever giants we are facing, like David, picking up and arming ourselves with these five stones will help us overcome them.  What are these five stones of which we should arm ourselves with?

The first stone is the stone of responsibility.  For our Grade VII fresh from their homes, just newly weaned as it were from the secure embrace of their parents, responsibility can be a big word.  But it is not really that big because like everything else it starts small.  Last June 12 you had a free day and you probably had a foretaste of what being responsible is on the day when we became independent and free.  I took a peek in your dorms and I saw mattresses scattered everywhere, pillows, used clothes, shoes all scattered in the dorm pasillo as if some giant entered the dorm to bring havoc.  But it was no giant.  It was your prefect who little by little is arming you with this small stone which you will one day bring with you to kill the giants of your life.  This little stone, this first stone is called responsibility.  Fixed your bed.  It is a small responsibility but it is inculcated early on because you will bring it with you to slay giants.  Later the responsibility will grow bigger – do your homework, flash the toilet, finish your paper work and projects on time, do your duty, confront your problems, finish and fulfill your exams and what is required of you.  It is a small task – fixing one’s bed, but that is the first step on taking charge of your life.  You cannot fulfill a bigger responsibility if you cannot fulfill the little responsibilities given to you.  So that is the first stone – the stone called responsibility.

The second stone is the stone of commitment.  Again a big word, but again like all big things it starts small, very small..  After your house cleaning when you were made to scrub floors a mother of a first year came to me and told me that his son was complaining nga nagapalanakit na ang lawas niya sang scrub.  And the mother said, so are you backing out?.  And the son said, indi ko ya, masigi ko di.  Ti sakit man bala lawas mo.  Sige lang agwantahon ko i.  Now what is that?  That is the beginning of commitment, our second stone to slay the giants of our life now and in the future.  Commitment needs somebody or something to commit ourselves to.  Commitment is never done for its own sake.  David in our reading had commitment, his commitment is to the Lord, he is facing this giant because of his love for the Lord because he could not bear that this pagan giant keeps taunting the Lord he so loved.  A grade VII may not have the same commitment like David – but it starts as a commitment perhaps to himself, perhaps to the parents who love him and expects much from him, perhaps some of you are doing it because of a benefactor, perhaps you are doing it for somebody you love, perhaps you have reached that point where you are doing it like David - because you love God, and you want to serve him and his church, you have already forged a relationship of love with God.  We have different levels of commitment but two elements are always present in this commitment.  And what are these?  Love and sacrifice.  It’s a simple housecleaning but you are already arming yourself up with something to slay the giants of the future.  It is called the stone of commitment.

The third stone is the stone of partnership.  You are not alone here, you are partners with God.  David was brave because he knew that he was not doing this alone.  God was with him.  God is giving him strength.  That is the reason why David shunned the armor, and the breastplate and the shield and the sword given him by King Saul.  He was going to meet the giant of his life with God.  His was a partnership with God.  This is the reason why prayer life in the seminary is important.  This is the reason why we need to punctuate our lives daily with times of prayer, silence and reflection because we are not doing things on our own.  Rather we are doing things in partnership with God.  And yet many times in our desire to be good in so many things we set aside prayer or if not we do not give it the same importance.  Pulaw kita for a project and we end up sacrificing our prayers.  Bira-bira kita tuod tuon, cramming kita, and we end up having our prayers sidelined, even absenting ourselves from the mass.  And where did this lead us?  How many seminarians are we recommending to the regional seminary for the priesthood?  You want to slay the giants of your life, then you cannot rely on your own strength, you cannot rely on armor of steel.  It has to be a partnership and the partner is God.  This is your third stone. 

So let me remind you of the first three of the five stones David picked up from the broor.  The first stone is responsibility.  The second stone is commitment.  And the third most important stone is to realize that your stay here is a partnership with God and you can only nourish that in prayer.  The 4th and 5th stone will be given somewhere else.