TRUE FAITH

We should be very careful of the kind of company that we keep. In today's 1st reading we are told of the fate of King Solomon because of his intermarriages with women from other faith. We may not be practicing polygamy the way King Solomon did but we could be married in a sense to a person or thing if we have become joined in such a way as in blended flavors, which the dictionary uses as an example to further elaborate on the word, marry. In fact, I have often heard this joke in the Philippines when someone likes a person and they are always together, are very good friends although not romantically linked, they would say, " E di pakasalan mo" In English, marry him, her, or it because it could pertain to a person, place or thing. Now it makes better sense if I would hear somebody throw a similar joke. To marry is a very strong word that it requires loyalty and total devotion. No wonder, the Catholic Church maintains its position regarding marriage and divorce. Today's 1st reading tells us of how the life of King Solomon which started so beautifully ended in misery all because he failed to uphold his faith and got carried away by the influence of his many wives. We must learn to stand up to be faithful to God and never compromise our morals. We need to protect our faith in God in various ways and one of the things we can do is to learn the lesson of King Solomon's story. Amen. Hallelujah!

1 Kings 11:4-13
4 When Solomon was old his wives had turned his heart to strange gods, and his heart was not entirely with the LORD, his God, as the heart of his father David had been...

Our Lord's instructions are very simple and easy to understand. It is in the following and obeying part that we find difficulty in doing. Let us always focus our eyes on the Lord and remember to follow and keep what the responsorial psalm tells us if we intend to live a blessed life not just in the beginning but to the end. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 106:3-4, 35-36, 37, 40
R: Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
3 Blessed are they who observe what is right, who do always what is just.


In today's gospel we are being reminded to always keep our feet on the ground and always maintain a spirit of humility knowing that we are all sinners and if we will just come to God with this kind of attitude then God who can discern anything even those hidden in our hearts will surely grant all our heart's desires. We must be willing to accept whatever situation is pulling us down and offer it to God with all trust and confidence that He will make a way. This woman in today's gospel is pagan. Jesus didn’t want to preach in Tyre and didn't want anybody to know He was there. Jesus seems not inclined to grant the woman’s request. He says, “The children should be fed first, because it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” Instead of leave, she agreed to what He said and remarked herself, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” She was full of faith, humility and love in her heart that Jesus said to her, “For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.” When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. Jesus already healed many and He did so by personally and actually touching them or allowing them to touch Him. This time, Jesus performed a “remote healing.” for this woman's daughter. There is definitely and absolutely no barrier too strong, big and remote for the healing of Jesus to flow. It is in this extreme demonstration of faith coming from a pagan woman since birth that Jesus was compelled to pronounce an instant blessing. She may not be worthy to receive any blessing judging from her current status but God did not look on her sins but on her faith. In the same way that we, too are not worthy but as we profess in all the masses we attend to, only say the word and we will be healed. The gospel connects to the 1st reading in a way in what happened to King Solomon who had all the right qualifications being the son of King David but did not live up to his legacy. This woman may have not been born from a chosen race but had definitely lived up to the expectations of true faith in God and was rewarded. Amen. Hallelujah!

Mark 7:24-30
Jesus went to the district of Tyre. He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it, but he could not escape notice. 25 Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” 28 She replied and said to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” 29 Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30 When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.