THE CALL

I've been privileged to watch shows about our Blessed Mother Mary and almost all of the other shows in EWTN have always something about her. Mama Mary just celebrated her Feast of the Our Lady of Sorrows (Sept. 15). We have a mother in Mary who understands every single sorrow and anguish we are going through. There is nothing that she wouldn’t understand because she experienced the killing of her son. Mary accepted to become Mother of Jesus whom only a woman full of grace is highly honored and privileged to be called. When she responded "Yes" and obediently accepted the plan of God in her life she faithfully submitted to God's will like a handmaid to her master. She did not only accept the honor and privilege that goes with it but also the 7 sorrows which pierced her heart. She left us an example of how we should ponder in our hearts, the word of God that is being conveyed to us through our daily lives. We are God's children and He is calling us in the same way Paul in today's 1st reading is calling the Ephesians. This call is not exclusive and should therefore be taken by everybody as his or hers too. We tend to overlook, set aside and neglect this important call that we all have to respond and take action. If we look at the way most people of this world live then we can say that we are not following this call rather we are heading towards a different path. We ought to stop living like we've forgotten and abandoned the purpose for which God created us and make a decision to heed His call. He is over all, through all and in all. Amen. Hallelujah!

Ephesians 4:1-7. 11-13

1 Brothers and sisters: I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, 3 striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: 4 one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all...

Hearing about the stories of people who used to be Protestants and became Catholic converts is evidence that we are brothers and sisters in Christ. We are not in this world to win arguments but to reach out to others with God's unifying love working through the Holy Spirit overshadowing us the way it did the Blessed Mother. We may still be wrestling with the truths of our faith at this time but we are a work in progress. Let us not be the skeptic that we are anymore and truly believe in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. If we are just to make sense of everything that goes on around us each and every single day then we can never be far away nor get lost in this reality that Jesus is telling us. It is undeniable what God has done for all of us from the dawn of man to this present age of modern civilization. Let us not continue to be negligent, mindless, thoughtless, careless and apathetic of the truth that the Church is teaching us. Until when will we remain deaf and blind to all of these things that have been for a long time being conveyed to us from time immemorial, from the time of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, the Judges, the Kings, the Prophets, in exile until the return and ultimately to the time of Jesus more than 2,000 years ago when God did the unimaginable and stooped down to become man. The bible itself speaks for the long span of time that God has been trying to lure us into an intimate relationship with Him. Are we really that insensitive not to see all of these and remain unaffected by this astounding truth? Can we afford to play hard to get with God, who is as irresistible as He is. The time to enter into that relationship is now, not later nor tomorrow. Let us not waste any more of the precious time we still have in our hands. There is no denying to the greatness of God which is displayed day in and day out. God's power and dominion is declared throughout the world. The wonders of all the things in this world which extends throughout the universe declare the glory of God. Who is greater than He? No one but God alone can make all these wonderful signs and miracles that are before us day and night. No longer can we deny it for God's glory is further emphasized by the psalm reading. There is really no more room for doubt and fear for everywhere we turn we can clearly get the message of God. Just turn on God always and He will never forsake nor abandon. There is no denying to the glory, power and might of God that is displayed throughout the earth. We simply become immune to the wonderful things that God has given us like the importance of the air we breathe that we often take for granted and do not realize most of the time. The ABC of Nursing Care stands for Airway, Breathing and Circulation. Airway is considered the topmost priority of care. The principle is that if the airway is blocked or compromised then this immediately becomes a priority care that needs to be addressed. It follows that the air we breathe is something we owe our life to. Every single thing that surrounds us if we will just take a close look at it is a testimony of God's glorious creation. How it all came to be remains a mystery no matter how hard they try to figure out how the world we live in evolved. Our God is an awesome God. It made so much sense to me when I heard somebody said, "Look up in to the heavens and see the sun, moon and sky. Who can ever deny the greatness of such a creation? Every great artist places their signature in their masterpiece, leaves a mark and fashions a style that is uniquely their own. Our God is holy, mighty, immortal and the greatest artist ever known. A long time ago, I heard of this information that the astronomers found out about the universe/milky way in particular. They reported this unprecedented double helix nebula they saw near center of the Milky Way. To be more specific, it was in March 15, 2006, the date is something I should note of since it is exactly the same date when my mother died only a year after and also the same date of my consecration to the Militia Immaculata (March 15, 2008)  It makes it all the more significant that at the time I found out about this, I was working on my thesis which deals greatly about the DNA. We all know that all living beings have a DNA which is a double helical structure found inside the cell. What these astronomers found out is just another signature of our Master Creator. Can we try erasing or writing over a signature written in the sky? This can never be denied and by all means can not be tampered. There are certain truths that we sometimes take for granted and even pre-existing conditions that we have become used to that make us immune to God's message to us. We sometimes go astray and tend to be lenient in our principles for the Lord due to the pressures of the modern world we live in. Our values have become loose to the point of succumbing to compromise. We have lost touch of what is truly pleasing before the Lord because of our endless justifications and rationalizations. We come up with all kinds of excuses without realizing that we only fool ourselves. In doing this we can declare ourselves justified through our self righteous acts but never in accordance with God's righteousness. Today's psalm encourages us to truly listen to God's message and never be mistaken. All the things around us echo God's glory and power which is undeniable and displayed throughout the earth. God is constantly connecting with us and it's undeniable. We can be disinterested and lacking in enthusiasm but we can never be justified in failing to respond appropriately to a God whose presence is all around us. Let us not continue to be deaf, blind and mute to this message that goes out through all the earth. Amen. Hallelujah!

P S A L M

 Psalm 19:2-3. 4-5

R: Their message goes out through all the earth.

1 [2] The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. 2 [3] Day pours out the word to day, and night to night imparts knowledge. (R) 3 [4] Not a word nor a discourse whose voice is not heard; 4 [5] through all the earth their voice resounds, and to the ends of the world, their message.

  

 During our clinical rotations when I was just a student nurse I have encountered several patients who are already terminally ill. One of them can no longer tolerate his oral medicines and just vomit it out. When they tried to give it intravenously the veins ruptured. No amount of medicine can heal a terminally sick person. Let us not wait for the time when we are already too sick to respond to God's healing and end up rejecting it rather than accept it. It is written in Isaaih 55:6, “Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near.” And also in Ephesians 5:15-17, “Watch carefully then how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not continue in ignorance, but try to understand what is the will of the Lord.” We all know too well, that God will never get tired of loving, caring and running after us, for He is a perfect God  but we are imperfect and the problem lies not on the love of God but on our response to His love. If only love can be forced then God would have done that to us but He never did and never will. Love is perfect, patient and kind. Let us respond to this love while we're still in perfect shape. Jesus has the biggest and most compassionate heart for sinners especially those who choose to respond to His call, leave everything behind and follow Him. Despite the stigma attached to tax collectors and sinners during His time, He did not hesitate to call them. We are all being called to live a life with Him no matter what our situations are. Whatever we may be going through right now, a problem, difficulty or sin that is preventing us from responding to His call, we have to always believe that God can overcome all of these if we are willing to give Him room to act in our lives. Once we turn our backs on our sins, leave it behind and give God the go signal then He can accomplish almost anything. If we really believe this then it doesn't matter if we may be experiencing already a life of comfort and ease, our acceptance and consent to shifting to the unknown will only serve to emphasize the extraordinary nature of both our unwavering faith and the grace of God. The grace of God is worth celebrating as it can bring about wonders that will stretch the ability of our imagination. And we can not deny the fact that we’ve been privileged to watch this happen not only in the lives of people on a number of different occasions as in the life of our forefathers like Abraham, Jacob, Moses, the life of the Blessed Mother but also to us. For He doesn't only call the qualified but He also qualifies the called. No one is hopeless and desperate for God. Nothing is beyond His healing love and mercy. We must not be impatient or judgmental of our brothers and sisters who have strayed from the Lord. We must keep in mind that He has a special eye for the sick and the sinners. We have all sinned and fallen ill because of the disease that sin brings to us. No matter how big and grievous our sins are, God is always able to heal us. This song tells us about it, "He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities and the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him for by His wounds we are healed." It should inspire us to reach out to Him more than anyone or anything else. God is indeed an Almighty God who knows our specific needs be it spiritual, emotional or physical and He will surely heal every single one of them. He is a God who makes us whole. Amen. Hallelujah!

Matthew 9:9-13

9 As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. 10 While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. 11 The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 He heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. 13 Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”