Drawing from the life of St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula encouraged the faithful to abandon spiritual entitlement, avoid comparing God’s blessings with those of others, and faithfully embrace their daily duties as a response to God’s mercy.
In his homily during the Feast Day celebration at the Saint Padre Pio Chapel in Shangri-La Plaza Mall, he contrasted the quiet peace of the sanctuary located in the middle the fast-paced commercial environment of the mall.
“Here, under the gentle, maternal gaze of the Church and the spiritual companionship of our beloved St. Padre Pio, the Lord invites us to look at life through a completely different ledger,” he said.
“He challenges us to move from the transactional “mall mindset” of the world into the radical economy of God’s grace,” he continued.
The cardinal reminded the faithful that the Lord is not a commercial vending machine wherein good deeds become tokens for graces since His justice is a “lavish overflow of unmerited mercy.”
“We often treat God like a commercial vending machine, believing our good behavior guarantees a problem-free life, but God does not think like a human resources manager,” he underscored.
He then reminisced about the life of St. Padre Pio, recalling how the saint stood for around 16 hours a day in the confessional for the refuge of eleventh-hour souls.
Advincula called out the faithful to not compare the graces of others with their own just as St. Padre Pio taught.
“Do we quietly resent it when we see someone else’s sudden good fortune or a late-life spiritual turning point? But Padre Pio’s life teaches us to celebrate the “eleventh-hour” breakthroughs of others,” he said.
“God’s mercy is an infinite ocean, not a limited pie. When someone else receives grace, it does not mean there is less love left for you,” he added.
Concluding his sermon, Advincula emphasized the need to embrace daily duties, citing how St. Padre Pio lived on with Stigmata wounds for fifty years, making him have one foot already in eternity.
“He longed for the relief of heaven. Yet, he chose to stay in the flesh, to suffer, and to spend his days absorbing human misery so that we could find our way back to the Father. He saw his daily work as the very vineyard where he was called to love,” he pointed out.
Widely known in the Philippines, St. Pio of Pietrelcina is venerated as the patron saint of adolescents and civil defense volunteers. He is most known for his stigmata, as well as mystic and healing abilities.
On Wednesday, September 23, the then-National Shrine and Parish of St. Padre Pio in Santo Tomas City, Batangas was formally declared an international shrine.
(File Photo of RCAM Media)
