psalm 67: blessed for a mission - 20th sunday A

We often see especially in protestant bookstores, or in taxis owned by protestants, instead of a rosary or an image of a saint, we see instead stickers, quotes from the bible and prominent among them is "Jesus saves!"  True indeed God came to save us.  God rescued Israel from the slavery of Egypt and from its enemies, Jesus became man so that he can lead us back to the Father, saved us by his passion and cross and granted us eternal life by his resurrection.  God saves and Jesus is our Savior.  And we celebrate these in a big way in Christmas for example or in the celebration of the Holy Week.

But there is another divine activity we seek more often but we celebrate very little.  We call them blessings - God's blessing activity.   They are the quiet and almost unnoticed actions of God in our day to day life – God blesses us by giving us sunshine and rain, the air we breathe, the homes we have, good health, means of living and employment, our wealth, the bounty of nature, the blessings of our field and our seas and rivers – ang lampirong, ang talaba, ang sirom-sirom kag managat sa breakthrough, (indi bala), the joy of life in a loving family and the joy of friends.  These are all blessings from God and these are quietly and consistently given to us.  We seldom make a big fuss about these things, sometimes we even ignore the fact that these are blessings, undeserved in many ways.  And many times too we ignore the source of these blessings.  And so today our responsorial psalm – Psalm 67 – celebrates this second divine activity – it celebrates as it recognizes God's blessings.   "May God have pity on us and bless us; may he let his face shine upon us.  The earth has yielded its harvest; God, our God, blesses us. May God bless us still."

Abi let us pause for a while and acknowledge our blessings – given to us freely, many of which were not even asked, indi bala?  (mangkota si Vincent, ang driver namon, kon pila bakal niya sang oxygen para makaginhawa bata niya – and yet we take it for granted that we are breathing ours for free .)

But what is this for?  What are these blessings for?  Psalm 67 suggests that Israel was not blessed for its own sake.  They may have received tremendous blessings from the Lord – crossing the Red Sea, the manna that sustained them in the desert, a land flowing with mild and honey, victory from their enemies – but Israel was not blessed so that it can reap and enjoy for itself the bounty of God's blessing.  No, because when God blesses someone, he blesses that someone for the sake of the mission.  God had pity on us, God blessed us, God allowed his face to shine upon us, for what "So may your ways be known upon earth; among all nations, your salvation."

And so also with us.  Ugaling ma realize lang naton ini kon tayan na lang ta.  Tayan na lang ta nabunggoan, tayan na lang ta napatay sa cancer, "baw siguro may misyon pa si Lord sa akon."

Kinahanglan gid bala nga i-"tayan" ka na lang agod ma-realizar naton ina?  Because everyday of our lives we are blessed.

And so what do we do now?

First, is there a consciousness in each of us that we are blessed, so that we will come to bless the God who does not only save us but also sustains us.  Kabudlay sang tawo nga puro lang malain ang kita niya.

Second, do you take time to talk to your children, to talk to your friends about your blessings so that they too may come to praise God?

Third, do you share your blessings so that all peoples and even all nations will exult and praise the goodness of God to you and now to them too?

Remember God blesses you for a mission.