Special Talk

BO SANCHEZ:

Give the Lord a big hand and love Him today.

Everybody say: God is in my life.

I want you to encourage somebody beside you.

Tell that person:

So good. So good. There’s something I need to tell you.

You know, when Bishop was talking— Bishop was amazing, right? He’s just 74 years old. May we just give him another big hand? Whoo! Thank God for the Bishop. He really is our spiritual adviser in The Feast, in the whole Community. He really is. And what a blessing.

You know, I’ve noticed that when speakers, especially the priests who would come, the bishops, they think, the way they talk, it’s like, “Bro. Bo and The Feast, Bro. Bo and the Feast.”

They do not know that two and a half years ago, I stepped down. And for the past two and a half years I did not attend any Elders’ Meeting and Regional Builders’ Meeting— except one, they wanted to consult me. But for two and a half years, none— no District Builders’ Meeting. None.

I just want to recognize and honor the leaders who allowed me to step down, and who accepted the burden of leadership. And we need to thank them:

Feast leaders, from left: Arun Gogna, who took over Mega Manila;

Alvin Barcelona, who took over all the provinces of the Philippines.

Vic Español, who too over the world— the International Feasts.

Randy Borromeo, who took over our Media Ministries.

Hermie Morelos, who oversees our Mercy Ministries.

And to all the other Feast Builders, District Builders— you know who you are— Thank you so much.

Honoring Longtime Servants  

Again, God is in your life.

He really is. He really is in your life.

Greater than— there is no one who is greater than God.

God is in your life. And therefore, greater things have already been happening in your life—you just do not know.

There’s another bunch of people I want to recognize in this place. And those people who have served the Lord for many, many decades.

I was talking to Dante Alignay yesterday — 76 years old— someone who was a full-time staffer in the Light of Jesus when he was so much younger.

I don’t know where you are, Dante, In this crowd, but wherever you are,

I just want to recognize you. I want to thank God for you.

May all those who are seniors stand up? I just want to recognize all of you. Just looking at you, serving the Lord, I just want you to know: God is in your life.

You know, my mother-in-law is here, she is 81 years old. Do you know that she is someone who would go to PGH (Philippine General Hospital ) visit the cancer patients, and all the sick there, every single week? She would go there and she would minister to them. When the Coronavirus Disease (COVID) Pandemic came, they told her she should not do it anymore.

But that’s the kind of people we have here.

Amazing!

There is another woman here— her name is Tita Nising, and she is 93 years old. She is over there, in that wheelchair— oh no, she’s standing up, right there. Tita Nising, when she was younger, she would take Kerygma magazines, and then she would go from one place to another and distribute them.

Her children would say, “Mommy, ibinibenta mo ba?—

Are you selling them?”

She would say, “Yes.”

But actually, she was giving them away. She was doing it for years.

I can go on and on mentioning your names. I see some of you. And I know who you are, and what you do. I just want to thank you. I want to honor you. You’re amazing.

If there’s somebody standing beside you, tell that person: “You’re amazing.”   You know, Fr. Kali Llamado,  Jesuit, one of our speakers, he came out to me, he wanted a selfie…and he said, “Bro. Bo, nung bata ako, binabasa  kita.—When I was young, I was reading you.”

Now, he is already a priest, went through long Jesuit training…

I’m so old already.

Fr. Kali’s Facebook post:

My Village

God is in your life. God is in your ordinary life.

I bike every day. When I cannot bike, I walk around the village. I have a small village— three streets, 40-50 families, very simple, wonderful people. My wife and I, when we moved into that village 20 years ago, we did not even have running water.

So, I would walk around that village, and when I arrived home, I looked like a Christmas tree. Because I was carrying a bag of mangoes, I’m carrying another bag of eggplants. Because at the time, when I was walking, and then my neighbors would see me, they would call me, “Bro.Bo! Bro. Bo!”

And they would give me fruits from their fruit trees.

There was this guy with a straw hat,  who handed me a bag of eggplants.

I was so embarrassed saying, “No, no, no.”

Then he showed me his plants, the produce of his garden, and said, “Ang dami-dami. Kunin mo na.— So, plenty, get them.”

By the way, I just saw Randy (Borromeo). (In SVRTV) they call me Kuya.

One time, Randy and I entered a restaurant and the waiter said, “Tatang, dito kayo.— Grandpa, sit here.”

And then, when it was time to pay the bill, the waiter said, “May discount card po kayo? — Do you have a discount card?”

And Randy said, “Ano ang akala mo, senior ako?— Do you think

I am a senior?”

The waiter said, “Oo. —Yes, Sir.”

True story. That has nothing to do with the talk. :)

Picture of the Kingdom

The reason I told you the story of my village…

You know, my father-in-law passed away last week. We had a five-day wake, and my neighbors were there— we’re like a little family. You know, simple, wonderful people. I’m telling you, I’m walking around and I get blessed with fruits and vegetables.

It’s a picture of the Kingdom. It’s a picture of Heaven on Earth. Why?

Three reasons:

No.1: We are a village. This (Feast) is a village. Your Light Group is a village. Your Feast Light is a village. Your Ministry is a village.

No. 2: We have to plant our gardens. Every single one of us has to plant our gardens and we have to be the very best gardener we can ever be. I’ll tell you why:

No.3: We’re supposed to share our harvest with our neighbors. This is the purpose you want to plant your garden very well.

Because you want to say,  “Ang dami-dami, kinin mo na ito.”

Sheila shared yesterday — panel, Alvin was interviewing, remember?

Her husband passed away— kidney failure. And she said once upon a time, she was, First Stage: WW— Walang-Wala— empty. But she was able to put up a business, she worked hard, God blessed her, she became, Second Stage:  LL—ma-Luwag-Luwag—comfortable. You want that?

There’s a Third Stage: It’s called DD— ma-Dami-Dami.— More abundance, harvest. But the reason you want that is not for yourself.

It’s to call out a neighbor and say, “Kuya, Ate, kunin mo na ito. Ang dami-dami!”

That’s the purpose of the Kingdom. For the various talks, the Feast Team uses the same Bible story, and each speaker peels off a layer and focuses his message on that layer.

So,  we’re going to start with John 1:47:

Because you see, today, Nazareth, has one million tourists every year. It’s a sprawling, huge city. But back in the time of Jesus, it was not even on the map. And may I say this: God is a God who likes small. God is a God who likes the underdog.

God Favors the Underdog

You know, the book of Genesis, for example, is a book of brothers— so many brothers there. But in a culture where the eldest has all the power, all the inheritance, all the properties, what God does is He chooses the youngest or the younger brother. He chooses the underdog.

Look at the list of siblings:

Cain and Abel— who does God favor?  Cain.Haran and Abraham—who does God favor? Abraham. Ishmael and Isaac— who does God favor? Isaac. Esau and Jacob— who does God favor? Jacob. Aaron and Moses— who does God favor? Moses was not the eldest. It was Aaron. And God chooses Moses. Why does God do that?

David had seven other brothers. And yet, what does God do? He gets the youngest. God favors the underdog. God chooses Nazareth— doesn’t go to Jerusalem.

Do you feel like the underdog today? Do you feel small? Do you feel insignificant? Do you feel that you have no gifts? Do you feel that you are a nobody?

You know the problem with our world today is that you think nothing is happening in your life and everything is happening for your neighbor.

You look at your neighbor and you say, “How cool is my neighbor, her dress is beautiful, she has a beautiful life.”

We look at their IG (Instagram) and their OOTD (Outfit Of The Day). We look at the way they travel: “Oh, they are in Thailand. Oh, they are in Japan. Oh, they’re in Hong Kong. Then me, I am in Binondo…”

Then they take pictures of their food and you say, “How cool that person is.”

And we think that we’re small. We think we’re nothing We think we’re Nazareth. We think we’re the underdog.

But may I say this: The reason you think that person is cool is that person is not posting about her frustrations, about her pains, about her trauma, about the way she’s having conflicts with her mother-in-law, about her struggles with her son.

She is not posting them.

But when she posts about her trips, her travels, her food, you say, “Sana all.”

Guess what: she’s not posting about her tears.

Every human being is broken. Every human being is carrying pain. Every human being is an underdog. Every human being is suffering.

And God, He favors you. He favors you.

Everybody say,  “God is in my life.”

And in the same way that Jesus came out of Nazareth, God’s goodness will come out of your life. I want you to believe in that.

We continue John1:46-47:

You know what I love about this? When Nathaniel said, “Can anything good come from Nazareth”— it was an insult. It was like Nathaniel wanted to argue with Philip.

And then Philip just said, “Come and see.”

Many times, when we confront people who want to argue with us, we should not argue.

We should just say, “Come and see.”

Don’t go into a debate with people who want to debate—

I mean, most of the time, I think you should not debate. Sometimes, you do. But most of the time, you don’t.

You just say, “Come and see the God who is in my life.”

And allow God to show Himself. How? By the way you love your neighbor.

Jesus does this. When He saw Nathaniel, He said Nathaniel is a  man of integrity.

It was a reference actually to Jacob. Because Jacob’s name means deceiver.

And He was now telling him, “You’re not a deceiver. You’re a person of integrity. Jacob will be referenced later on in the story.

And that’s what you need to do. You need to stop arguing and instead show God in your ordinary life— that God is there.

What Jesus Said

Let’s read John 1:47

I love what Jesus said. Because, you know, if you read on, Jesus said, “I saw you under the fig tree—before Philip came.”

Here’s my question: Could it be possible that Jesus also heard Nathaniel’s insult? I think so. I think Jesus knew that Nathaniel insulted Nazareth and insulted Jesus. I believe in that. But did Jesus mention it?

Did Jesus say, “Nathaniel, come here. I saw you under the fig tree and I heard what you said about Me and My kababayans— town mates. And it hurt. I feel offended. Really deep here (in my heart). How dare you?”

Jesus did not say that. You know what Jesus did?

He told Nathaniel, “Good man. Man of integrity.”

Whoo! Shouldn’t we do that? When you do not look at the weakness of the person, you do not look at the failure of the person— you look at the goodness, you search for what’s good about this guy: “Yeah, he insulted me. Yeah, I feel offended. But what’s good? Oh, there’s goodness in this person.”

And then you say that.

You know what happened? Nathaniel, he changed.

You know why Jesus is like that? He’s uninsultable.

That’s the Jesus we follow. And I think more and more, we need to be that kind of a person— that cannot be insulted. That no matter what people will say, we know who we are.

And we say,  “This person is insulting me because he is broken. Because there’s a problem in his life. He’s burdened.”

And we’re not insulted. We cannot be insulted. We’re uninsultable.

This is what God does: When He looks at our mess, when He looks at our brokenness, He sees goodness. He does not even look at our sins. He looksat the goodness that is already in us.

From Insult to Worship

This is what happens: Nathaniel changes.

A few moments ago, he insulted Jesus. A few moments later, he said, “You are the Son of God.”

From insult to worship. He changed.

Why did he change? Because Jesus loved him.

Only love changes people.

You want to help people change? That’s the lesson:

I repeat: God does not focus on your sins. He focuses on your goodness. Only love changes people. Amen.

Let me move on… John 1:50 says:

This is a reference to the book of Genesis, Chapter 28, when Jacob, their ancestor, also experienced this:

This stairway is the Ziggurat.

The Ziggurat is a stairway, a tower.

Does that ring a bell?

Book of Genesis, Tower of Babel.   The Tower of Babel was a Ziggurat.

And it was supposed to be the place where the heavens were connected to the earth. Where the gods would come down. Genesis 28:12 was the link to this verse in the book of John, Chapter 1.

This verse in the book of John, Chapter 1, is a reference to the Ziggurat.

But the Gospel of John is saying something powerful: That Jesus is the Ziggurat.

Miracles of Love

You see, the Babylonians built the tower so that man could reach God. But Jesus is the very stairway — the new Tower. He is the Ziggurat.

It is not for us to go up to God. It is for God to come down to us— so that He would live in us. Why? So that God will be in our life.

Then 13 chapters after the Gospel of John, Chapter 1, you see in John, Chapter 14, Jesus is saying the same thing about greater things.

He says:

My dear friends, does this mean more miracles? Does this mean, you know, more resurrections of the dead? You know, Jesus raised up dead people. And there are some people in this world, some religious people, who think that should happen— that we should also be able to do that. I tend to disagree. I think Jesus was talking about something else. Because the chapter later talks about the Holy Spirit and He says the reason you can do greater things is that the Holy Spirit is in your life. He was talking, I believe, about the prayer that He taught us: Our Father who art in Heaven, holy be Your Name,

Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven — The Ziggurat, the Tower, the Stairway— that Heaven touches Earth.

How does that happen? You go back to John, Chapter 1— you go back to the story of Nazareth: Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?

And the answer is Yes!

What did Jesus do in Nazareth? What did Jesus do from the day He was one year old all the way until He was 30 years old? In the first 30 years of His life, He led a quiet life in a small, itsy-bitsy town called Nazareth where there were only probably 30 or 40 families— just like the village I’m loving in right now— unknown, simple people.

Did Jesus perform miracles? No. Did Jesus raise people from the dead? Did Jesus heal people? No.

Ode to Ordinary Life

What did Jesus do? I really believe this: Jesus only performed in Nazareth, in the first 30 years of His life, the miracle of love. He washed dishes, helping Mama Mary. He swept the floor. When Joseph would come home,

He would massage the shoulder of His dad.  He would help in the family business.

For 30 years, Heaven touched Earth through the miracles of love. And God was in that ordinary life. To tell us right now this is an ode to ordinary life, this is an ode to the simple village that you and I are in right now— our Light Groups, our Feasts, our Feast Lights. Where when somebody is sick, you call up. When somebody is in need of comfort you’re there. When somebody needs a shoulder to cry on, you make yourself available.

And these are miracles of love. This is where Heaven touches down Earth. This is where the Kingdom of God comes down.

And you might say, “Bro. Bo, how so ordinary.”

No. That’s how God is in your life. And that is how we say, Come and see: Miracles are happening. And then you look for the lame who should be walking and the blind who should be seeing, and the dead who should be raised up, and you don’t see any of those.

But this is what you see: you see the miracles of love in ordinary people who plant their gardens, and plant their gardens so well, that they say, “Kuya, kunin mo na ito. Ang dami-dami.”

That is what Heaven is. Jesus did two things so well in Nazareth: He loved God and He loved others.

That is what we need to do.

Your ordinary life is beautiful to God.

Your ordinary life— you as a husband, you as a wife. It’s there that miracles are happening.

I’ve been married for 24 years, going 25. And every day, I am just so blessed that there’s this woman beside me who made a decision to love a very difficult husband, who has a difficult mission. But she’s there. She’s there every day.

Can everybody say, “Love in the little things?”

Because that’s where the miracles are happening. Those are the greater things that are happening. And they are all about love.

Big Things…Little Things

I do big things. Last month, I was in Europe. We had a Feast gathering there of the leaders of Europe— our leaders from Italy, Belgium, the UK, Ireland, and Spain. We gathered in Milan. It was wonderful.

And then after that, I led a pilgrimage to Fatima, Lourdes, Paris.

Then I went home, doing my “big” things.

I went biking again around the village.

My parents-in-law live five minutes away.

I passed by and saw my father-in-law. He was doing what he usually does— 7 a.m., he was sweeping the sidewalk, removing the dead leaves. He had a lifelong battle against falling leaves— for some reason. He really did not like them. He was sweeping and sweeping.

I remember, one other morning, I went there and I saw my father-in-law with a long pole removing a dried leaf that was hanging from the wire.

I said, “Okay, I’ll help you.”

We could not do it. So, he convinced me to get the ladder inside the house and we put it in the middle of the road. He was going to climb up. You know, he was 84 years old.

And I said, “No, Daddy. I’ll do it.”

He held the ladder and then I went up. I was trying to reach for the leaf, and I could not. I had to use a stick again, trying to remove it.

And in my mind, I was saying, “What are we doing? Is this dangerous? Is this illegal?”

In the middle of the road, I was trying to remove a leaf, and I was like, “Why is this so important to him?”

You know— a leaf, so little. We’re able to do it, by the way. And he was happy. And we returned the ladder and he thanked me.

One month later, he passes away, goes to Heaven. And I believe, this is what happened. I believe he appeared before God, and God asked him the three-word question that He will ask everybody: Did you love?

And I bet, my father-in-law, he’s very self-effacing, he probably said this:

“I don’t know. I don’t know. I just did the little things.”

Time To Do the Little Things

Every day, at 84, after cleaning the sidewalk, my father-in-law would have breakfast with his sweetheart,  he would have lunch with his sweetheart, and he would have dinner with his sweetheart. And he would make himself available to all his grandchildren,

He did the little things. And I bet he probably said to God, “God, I don’t know if I loved, but I did the little things.”

And I bet God smiled at him and said, “In love, there’s no such thing as little. Love transforms what is small, into something so big and beautiful. God takes the Nazareth and expands it. God takes the underdog and He just lifts you up.

My dear friends, now is the time to do the little things. When you’re washing dishes, when you’re taking care of your elderly mom, when you’re tutoring your kid and he doesn’t get that I plus 5 equals 6, he just can’t take it.

When you’re doing all those little things, Heaven touches down on Earth.

Do you understand that? You are building the Kingdom of God in your ordinary life. When you love God and love others, greater things are happening there in your life.

So, may I invite you to stand and make a decision with me that you will plant your gardens well. You be the best person you can be. Please, grow your gardens. Please make it abundant. Till the soil, water the gardens. So that you can share and be a blessing to others.

In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Put your hands over your chest, and Everybody, say:

Jesus, thank You for being in my life. I don’t have to do anything. I don’t have to pray more. I don’t have to obey you more. I don’t have to serve more for you to be in my life. I don’t even have to remove my sin— for you to be in my life.

You are already in my life because unless You are in my life, I cannot remove my sin. Unless You are in my life, I cannot pray more. I cannot obey more.

Thank You that You dwell in my broken life. Thank You. Thank You that You live in my mess. And Jesus, I’m going to trust You more— that Your love will transform me day by day.

I give You my ordinary life. I surrender to You. I am the underdog. I am the hidden Nazareth— small.  But You will lift me up and I believe greater things have been happening in my life already. And they will continue. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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