THE PHILIPPINES

Have you ever had this feeling when you feel you ought to do something and it turned out to be the right thing to do. It usually happens to most of us that's why it's very important to be always attuned to God so that we would know right away what He wants us to do.
If we get rid of all the things that bring us far away from God then we can always feel His presence lighting, guiding and guarding our way. It makes sense doesn't it? We are perfectly aware of our daily activities and should know whether they bring us closer to God or not. Today's 1st reading tells us of Philip whom the angel of the Lord spoke with and one thing led to another. A human being came to believe and was baptized instantly. Philip was preparing to go someplace else but suddenly found himself being led to another place. Sometimes we wonder how we ever end up to be in a particular situation as if the circumstances surrounding us were arranged in such a manner that everything just fell into perfect place. This reminds me of our bus tour to San Francisco when we met this lady from Thailand. Her name is Pei and she could hardly speak or understand a word of English that was why I was so surprised that she kept on following and joining us (Filipino group) despite the fact that there are other Thai people in that bus tour whom she could easily relate with. I gathered from this experience and especially relating it with the 1st reading today that we are just like Phillip in the reading not just because of the close resemblance of our country's name the Philippines to Phillip but more importantly because of the good news of God's love that we have imparted to her with all sincerity and warmth. Though she was unable to understand our verbal language she understood fully well the language of love and concern that is universally known to all men. Let us continue to be sensitive to the moving of the Holy Spirit in our life and humbly obey. Never doubt and completely trust His judgment and leading. If we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us through the work of God we will surely find ourselves being held by the hand, confidently standing on the right path, safe and secure. Let us keep God first place and He'll take us to places we never ever dreamed of. Amen. Hallelujah!




Acts 8:26-40
26 The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, “Get up and head south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route.” 27 So he got up and set out. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, that is, the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury, who had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and was returning home. Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and join up with that chariot.” 30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 He replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him. 32 This was the scripture passage he was reading: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 33 In [his] humiliation justice was denied him. Who will tell of his posterity? For his life is taken from the earth.” 34 Then the eunuch said to Philip in reply, “I beg you, about whom is the prophet saying this? About himself, or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this scripture passage, he proclaimed Jesus to him. 36 As they traveled along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, there is water. What is to prevent my being baptized?” [37] 37 38 Then he ordered the chariot to stop, and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 When they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but continued on his way rejoicing.




During the bay cruise we were able to come up very close to the Golden Gate Bridge and went under it and see the amazing structures that hold it. The engineering of the bridge was amazing and very strongly built. During the cruise we got information that the bridge can withstand the powerful forces of the wind and can hold a tremendous amount of weight. It was as if this bridge was really built to last a long time and still be of service to various forms of transportation. Man's ingenuity is so impressive to come up with such a bridge that used to hold the world's longest suspension span record for a long time since 1937 when it was built. And what's amazing is that it continues to draw people to it up to the present time. Just like this bridge we have to be strong and of good courage as spoken of in Joshua. We have a God who is fighting our battles for us. Let us believe that we are at the right place and time. God is in control. Although God will not stop every adversity but if we stay in faith, He will see us through. He did not promise life to be smooth sailing all the time but He definitely assured us of a safe landing. God has already lined up the right people, right places at the right time. He has prepared for our victory and so we should be ready for God's favor. Let's open up our senses to the Lord's call and take action. We can always render service to God in our own personal humble and little ways. And be assured that the Big Boss does not fail a single moment in fully compensating all the work that has been rendered for Him. I know that someday these things that used to impress us will cease to amaze us any longer once we've reached the place that lead us to our eternal destiny with our Almighty God. Amen. Hallelujah!




Psalm 66:8-9, 16-17, 20
R: Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
8 Bless our God, you peoples, loudly sound his praise; 9 he has given life to our souls, and has not let our feet slip. (R) 16 Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare what he has done for me. 17 When I appealed to him in words, praise was on the tip of my tongue. (R) 20 Blessed be God who refused me not my prayer or his kindness!




The gospel for several days has been mentioning about manna, the physical bread that our ancestors ate in the desert. Abraham gave them the 10 commandments or the Torah, which is the path of life and the Law. It can not save by itself we need God's Grace more than just the right actions. We are made of flesh and have the tendency to stay in the natural or physical level. We need to go beyond this level for a spiritual, supernatural and divine life. We thirst and hunger and seek to satisfy it in the things that the world offers. Despite our prosperity we are still dissatisfied. We can't satisfy our deepest hunger if we just turn to natural things. Even the outward or physical sign of bread seemed nothing and no longer enjoy it. This happens when we are caught up in the web of this fast paced world we live in and forget to stop for a little while and think. We need to slow down and savor each bite. Jesus is the True Bread that will give us supernatural life. He is the Law that has become flesh. Scriptures tell us of the several occasions when Jesus demonstrated to us the importance of the Eucharist and partake of the Body and Blood of Christ. The Road to Emmaus, the Upper Room in Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee are only a few of these when Jesus took bread and fish, broke it and gave to His disciples. The temptation of Jesus in the desert to turn the stone into bread and His response based on scripture in Deuteronomy 8:3, "Man does not live on bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." There is a need to correct the misunderstanding. The Old Testament mentality tells us that the brain is not associated with thinking rather with the senses to feel, hear, see etc. It is the marrow of the head and thinking is associated with the heart, stomach and kidneys. Humans process thought in the internal organs as in the digestive system. In Sirach 21, "Come to me, eat and be satisfied." Wisdom that can be processed inside and stay within us. The word of God nourishes us more than bread. The Old Testament prepares us to something more profound. We need to recall these instances and the miracles especially of the multiplication of the loaves of bread and fish. An example that could give light to this is the concentration camps during the time of the Nazis. It was said that people who are more focused on the word of God lasted longer than those who are physically fit. Those who do not have the physical strength were sustained. The act of faith is necessary in every walk of life. It could be faith in anything, in science, logic and other things. There are so many things we can take from faith but not everything will ultimately lead to life that removes ultimate hunger. The physical things like riches, power and fame could lead us to destruction. Nowadays, we see the effects of drugs, sex and other things. People are dying from overdose, sexually transmitted diseases and more that we may not know of. We have to refrain from things that are not necessary and take things that God gives us. We need to cooperate by believing in Christ. They say experience is the best teacher, and God wanted us all to learn from Him by living it out in our own lives whatever instructions we heard from God and was taught to us. And who could best teach us other than Jesus who experienced it all. Accept the word of God, digest, process and be nourished. We tend to ignore the deeper meaning and the mystery of the Holy Eucharist. It is not simply a philosophy like the others which are great tools and help a lot but can never sustain us. Easter invites us to reflect on these miracles of the bread and wine in the scriptures both in the Old and New Testament and still understand our faith today. We have witnessed nice things, places and situations in our lifetime that help us to appreciate the goodness and graciousness of God. No one in this whole wide world can ever claim that he or she has not been given the chance of knowing our Supreme God and Creator for it is written in the scriptures that all will be taught and come to know about God. It is just a matter of listening well, making a decision to come to Him and really believe. Amen. Hallelujah!

John 6:44-51
44 Jesus said to the crowds: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets: ‘They shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; 50 this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”