Fr. Kenneth Masong

Celebrating Pentecost Sunday Mass with the El Shaddai community in Iba

Some people protect their heart so much that it becomes too small to love anyone.

St Francis chose another way.
He allowed God to stretch his heart wide enough to carry both beauty and suffering without becoming hard.

A big heart is not weakness.
It is spiritual strength.
It is the ability to remain tender in a world that trains people to become cold.
To remain compassionate after disappointment.
To remain open after betrayal.
To keep blessing a world that does not always bless you back.

A small heart asks:
“What do I get from this relationship?”

A Franciscan heart asks:
“How can I bring peace, dignity, and kindness into this moment?”

St Francis loved with a heart that had been broken open by God. That is why he could embrace the poor without superiority, speak gently without needing power, and walk through the world without bitterness.

People often think greatness comes from influence, status, or being noticed.

St Francis discovered something deeper: a person becomes truly great when their heart becomes large enough to make room for others.

The tragedy of life is not having a broken heart.
The tragedy is having a closed one.

So guard your soul from cynicism.
Do not let pain make you smaller.
Let God use it to make your heart deeper, wiser, softer, and more alive. Because the holiest people are not always the loudest.
Sometimes they are simply the ones who learned how to love greatly.