Fr.

Bembol: God is the Faithful God

As the ninth and last day of Misa de Gallo concludes today, many parishioners are seemingly rejoicing
for they are able to attend and complete all of the masses in line with our Pre-Christmas Catholic
tradition. But for others, though they didn't complete such, being able to participate on some of the
Simbang Gabi masses are blessings to be thankful for.

Today's Gospel talks about the story on how God remembers his people. As we all know, Zacharia,
father of John the Baptist, was turned into mute because of his response on the good message gave by
Archangel Gabriel for he couldn't fathom on how would Ana, his wife would be able to conceive a child
knowing that she is barren. But after the birth of his son who will soon to be the precursor of Christ,
Zacharia rejoices and expresses his gratitude to the Lord but not through pen and paper, but by saying
how greatful he was for such beautiful gift.

On the homily given by Rev. Fr. Lopito "Bembol" Hiteroza, he emphasized two things that we should
grasp and live by. The first one is "God is the Faithful God." Looking back to the Gospel, we could assess
how God kept his promises to Zacharia despite of his doubtfulness before.

"God remains faithful no matter how unfaithful we are." said Fr. Bembol.

In connection to that, he also mentioned the three key elements of the act of remembering in which,
will help us to embody the context of being faithful. The Past-reminds us to have a sense of gratitude to
all the blessings that we have received before; The Present-reminds us the to treasure no matter what
we have today as if it is a gift; and The Future-which tells us that we must anticipate blessings... to
remain hopeful and optimistic on the things that will come in our lives.

Aside from the act of faithfulness, Fr. Bembol also discussed our role as servants of God.

"Kung ano lang ang papel natin, yun lang ang gampanan natin; Ang Panginoon dapat ang makilala hindi
tayo." he reiterated.

A Blessing to Receive

Misa de Gallo is one of the longest tradition of Filipino Catholics have. With this fact, most of us believed
that if we complete the novena masses, one of our wishes will be granted.

But Lee Salonga, a parishioner shared that attending Simbang Gabi is more than just a physical blessing
to receive.

“Yung siyam na simbang gabi actually puno siya ng struggle at biyaya para sa akin. Struggle kasi ang
hirap gumising ng maaga, ang hirap hanapan ng oras kasi gabi ka na umuuwi from work, tapos
blessing… actually hindi siya physical na blessing. It’s more a blessing na nakikita mo yung faith ng ibang
tao. Kasi for me, hindi pa naman kumpleto yung faith ko. Yung makita mo yung faith ng ibang tao, yung
mga matatanda, yung mga bata, yung mga nagsisimba na yun nga despite na maaga, despite na
walang tulog, parang natatransfer din sa akin. Yung light nila na-shashare din papunta sa akin para
magkaroon din ako ng light," Salonga stated.

As Salonga completed the 9-day masses, he wished for more enlightment for it will help him strengthen
his relationship to God.