Love’s last attempt

(An excerpt of the Most Reverend Romulo G. Valles D.D. in his Homily during the 5th PACOM in University of the Southeastern Philippines (USEP), BO Obrero, August 28, 2025.)

In the Gospel reading today, on this Feast of the great saint, Saint Augustine, Jesus uses the parable of the faithful and the unfaithful servants to urge His followers to be ready for His return. But when that return happens is unknown. The faithful servant entrusted with responsibilities is commended for his diligence and is rewarded. The unfaithful servant consumed by wickedness and greed is punished for neglecting his duties and abusing his authority.

But I think the parable is not limited to Christ’s second coming. The parable, I think, can apply to every time the Lord approaches us and invites us to come closer to Him, to partake personally in His mission, to invest more of ourselves in witnessing to His message and His love.

What happens then when we fail to respond as faithful servants? Are we condemned? Are we punished? Are we fit to be punished from the love of God forever? This fifth Philippine Apostolic Congress On Mercy which we begin today is a privileged time for remembering that really and in truth we are not condemned, but are pardoned; that we are not punished but will be given another chance, and many chances; that we are not cut of from God’s love but are healed by the power of that love again and again and again.

We live in a world that has very little patience for failure. In a world that puts a premium on heart driving, success driven masters, it is comforting to cling to the truth of a forgiving God. Hence, our chosen theme of this congress, Divine Mercy, Our Hope. Embracing God’s Merciful Love.

In his allocution on March 20, 2025, Pope Leo XIV invites us to look at one of the most striking and luminous gestures in the Gospel, the moment when Jesus during the last supper, the first Santos nga Misa, the first Eucharist, offers a morsel, a bit, a piece of bread to one who is about to betray Him. It is love’s last attempt not to give up. Unfortunately, Judas does not understand, and I quote again what Pope Leo said, “After the morsel”, the Gospel says, “Satan entered him”. “This passage strikes us”, the Pope continues, “as if evil hidden until then manifested itself after love showed its most defensive display. And precisely for this reason that morsel is of salvation because God tells us that He does everything, absolutely everything to reach us even in the hour when we reject Him. It is here,” the Holy Father says, “that forgiveness reveals all its power and manifests the true face of hope. It is not forgetfulness. It is not weakness. It is the ability to set the other free when loving him to the end.”