homily, Lk. 4:16-30

A Viannista once considered himself incompetent academically. Now, he has become one of the excellent and wholistic parish priests in our diocese. Another Viannista was known to be bugoy-bugoy gamay. Now, he has become one of the good and friendly formators in our college seminary.
We, then, might ask, “How come?!” Perhaps, these Viannistas had not performed the “miracles” the seminary probably expected them to do, but because, like Jesus, they “went back home” to the place where they gradually grew up as good persons, they were able to perform “miracles” in their mission areas.
What do we mean when we say, “They went back home” or “go back home”? First of all, let us see its literal use in our Gospel today. Jesus really went back to his hometown Nazareth. The rejection he experienced from his kababayans is one of the dominant themes we usually see in our Gospel today. And yet, we also recognize the fact that Nazareth had contributed to the gradual formation of his human maturity. Wasn’t Nazareth the place where he grew up from being a good boy into becoming a mature man? Therefore, when we say: Jesus “went back home”, it means that Jesus experienced EVERYTHING in Nazareth. He did not only grow in his human formation, but also grow in the rejection and trials he experienced. Even if he did not perform a miracle that time, even though he was rejected, that did not stop him from continuing his mission with more energy and zeal.
In our seminary context, I believe most of us have experienced rejections in our apostolate areas. I myself was not spared from that. That was when some super-intellectual students of a science high school here in CdO mockingly laughed when my tongue slipped in saying Catechesm instead of Catechism. Even Fr. Norlan, whom I personally regard as a great man, felt how weak he was like any bilibid prisoner. But his “going back home” to his Vianney experiences led him to continue serving with more fire.
My brothers, how do we apply into our lives as seminarians and as priests the call to “go back home” to our Nazareth, St. John Vianney Seminary? “Going back home” means that wherever we go, whatever we do, whoever we meet, let us not forget to always bring with us ALL the memories (the good and the not-so-good memories) we experienced here in our home. So that, as we move on with our lives now as seminarians and soon as parish priests and formators, we will continue, as what Christ did, to “bring glad tidings to the poor, proclaim liberty to the captives, give sight to the blind, and let the oppressed go free”.
Finally, as Bishop Bacani said, during his talk last homecoming, that as we “go back home” to Vianney, we are also called to “go back home” to God, so that the love that we show to the people will be the same love God has showed to his flock.
My brothers, when you feel happy, when you feel tired, bored and discouraged…just go back home!