[Homily: Mass on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of Innovative Investors and Financing Co., Inc., July 5, 2024.]
I would like to welcome you to this Eucharistic Celebration on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of Innovative Investors and Financing Co. Inc. The historical handout sketches how this company dates back to the third son, Monet, of Cezar Peraleho Sr and his wife, Marina, and how the company metamorphoses over four decades into the diversified company it is today, including Innovative Bank, the Inno Realty Corp. and the Framego 101 Corp. For the fascinating details it is better to let Monet and his brothers, including my friend, Ambo, speak of these later. On the other hand, since most of you were part of it, all you have to do is remember, especially the moments of great challenge, occasional crisis, and their happy outcomes.
For this Mass, however, our first focus is gratitude. Every Eucharist is a celebration of gratitude, and there is no better way of beginning to express that gratitude than with gratitude to God. Learning from textbooks, that's helpful. (Monet mastered his class' textbook on finance!) So too, learning from the hard knocks of life: that's even more helpful. But we also know that learning and hardship that build competence do not necessarily spell business success. Often, success is gifted in the "breaks" that one has experienced, in finding the right partner, in being able to rely on family, in having friends who are supportive, friends who tell you the truth, and even in the way political and economic stars align. Some call this luck. Others call it good fortune. Believers, as many of us are, call it grace. Not some abstract gift, but God's gift, having been given not to everyone, but certainly to you. At this Mass, it may be good to recall some of those moments of grace. And give thanks.
Gifts are given in love. That's why celebrating this Mass not only on the 5th day of July but on the First Friday of the month, normally reserved to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is significant. It is the day we reserve each month to commemorate the Father's Love expressed to us in his Word of Love, his Son. Jesus' love is expressed in his Heart beating for us, especially on the Cross, when he showed the depth of his love. We commemorate this self-sacrificing love today at this Mass when once again he invites us to "Take and it, for this is my Body given up for you." And "to take and drink, for this is my blood poured out for you." Recalling today God's many gifts to us, even gifts that have made this company prosper, we recall his ultimate gift, where the contract, the covenant," obliges not under pain of loss of money but of loss of being, and where what it exchanged is not money and property but life and love, and where obligation is owned not under pain of imprisonment but under pain of loss of self.
Where we have received so many gifts, he obliges us in freedom, to share our gifts with others. In our first reading, the prophet Amos recalls how God deals with those who "trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land" (Am. 9:4). On the manner we treat these depends our salvation: "Whatsoever you have done or not done to one of these the least of my sisters and brothers, that you have done or not done to me" (Mt. 25: 40, 45).
We are also to recall in our Gospel reading that one of Jesus' apostles was Matthew, who was a tax collector. With his familiarity with the ways of money and commerce, he may very well have been part of Innovative Investors and Financing or among the business partners of Innovative. But he had chosen, on Jesus' invitation, to drop what he was doing and follow him. Soon after, our Gospel reports he tenders a dinner with Jesus and his old investment-literate and financially-astute friends – some of dubious character - as guests. The self-righteous Pharisees object. Why does Jesus, who is supposed to be the Holy Messiah, consort with tax collectors, cheaters, and scammers? Jesus replies, it is not the healthy who need a physician, it is the sick. And he continues to celebrate with them, as he celebrates with us today.
Today, on the 40th anniversary of Innovative, we thank God for this company, its founders, stewards, and workers, those who are here, loyal through the years, and those who have moved on "to a better place." More profoundly, we thank God the Father for the Love that has redeemed us through the self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and for every opportunity in life to be of service to the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the naked, the imprisoned, and those persecuted because of their fidelity to the faith. We thank God for the hope that is ours in Innovative and in its bright future, but also the hope in our faith as we look forward to the day when Christ the King and Judge of Heaven and Earth will say, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me" (Mt. 25:34-36). And when you look at him with astonishment, he adds, "And you did so in a way that was innovative!"
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